Edge Issue 134 *Official Thread*

[Ian(not Ian)]

Nothing too surprising.

What are the features/coverstory this month?

Life After Lara - what the Heath-Smiths did next

[/quote]

Good God!
It amazes me that those two can take a World class franchise, beat seven shades of crap out of it and still be considered worthy of an article, which no doubt will be as ambiguous as could possibly be writtten by a fox who has just graduated as professor of ambiguouty at Oxford university.

For goodness sake EDGE.

[Ady]

But Edge wants to be mainstream now, you see? That's why they did an article on lara - it's what the kids want...

[Saurian]

A successful arcade 2D shoot 'em up in Japan, the PS2 version of Psyvariar brings together the original arcade version, Psyvariar Medium unit, with a new revision that adds weapons and refinements. Highlights of the gameplay is the Buzz system, in which damage powers up the player, but there's not enough variation here to earn it classic shooter status.

Like I said - they cant tell you **** This is the same mag that slags off mainstream press for the same type of misinformation and lack of understanding.

When it comes to a big epic graphical powerhouse of a game you can read an Edge review and get some good info cos of they way they gush on about the engine etc.....but as far as beat em ups and shoot em ups are concerned where you'd like trustworthy info on the game system - ignore Edge.

[mid]

That whole section on budget stuff is full of 'reviews' like the Psyvariar one. It really doesn't look like they spent more than 30 minutes with any of the games. No mention of the fact that "Mobile Light Force 2" is actually Shiki, which they've already (positively) reviewed once already, nor that Psyvariar is a far superior PAL conversion, for instance.

[superkully]

I still enjoy Edge, no magazine is perfect and this and GamesTM complement each other, so.. blah.

Saying that, I have noticed rough edges getting into the production:

+ One column articles with a two page spread... This reeks of padding, I don't like.
+ Last months reviews, what happened to ordering this list, rather than just chucking them all in willy-nilly?
+ And the inaccuracies in the budget piece they had, which has been mentioned already, it seemed that they gleaned their information from lurking at games forums... such as this one.

[Crispin]

Lies! We're never wrong. In fact I would go so far as to say I'm inflatulence.
No wait, impotent.
No hang on....

[Durham Red]

But Edge wants to be mainstream now, you see? That's why they did an article on lara - it's what the kids want...

*Family Fortunes wrong answer.wav*

The article is all about how a company managed to screw up a 'sure thing' and the subsequent fallout, ie. getting the boot from Eidos, the franchise being taken away from the devco that created it and what they all decided to do about it. Lara Croft barely figures at all - it's all about biting off more than you can chew, a fall from grace and if you can honestly say that such a tale is **** purely because it's *OH NO!* the Tomb Raider guys, then you have little idea of what makes interesting copy. I suppose you found the Tetris doc from last week equally tedious, eh?

"Maxwell, rights issues? Who cares! Why no more Nintendo? Booooo!"

[Ady]

"Maxwell, rights issues? Who cares! Why no more Nintendo? Booooo!"

?

[Ian(not Ian)]

Life After Lara - what the Heath-Smiths did next

That's what I was commenting on. Giving column inches to those two is what I was moaning about Mr. Red!
If the article is concentrating on 'Life after Lara' as indicated then the Heath-Smiths need not be mentioned at all, or at best very little need be said about their part in the saga. No...Eidos, Crystal Dynamics, Lucozade, Marmite, Durex, Ford Motor Co, Pepsi, McDonalds, The Royal Navy, Laurel and Hardy, Dr. Martens, Colt, UZI, Head and Shoulders, some bloke down the pub and my window cleaner all deserve inches in columns in magazines on the subject of 'Life after Lara' before the Heath-Smiths do.

[Prine]

That reminds me, i need to renew my subscription. Good to see OTOGI 2 scoring well, i just hope MS or Sega bring it over to the west

[Marvelon]

I always enjoy reading edge. The columns are good and the editorial bits (though they are self-indulgencing) usually make good points that I tend to agree with. Just the feeling/idea that there are people out there who feel the same way I do and can write about it better than I'll ever be able to is reassuring. (and worth the price of entry)

The reviews are, always have and always will be a problem. I trust Saurs judgement in that their Psyvariar review is indeed bollocks and find it a bit disappointing. I'm no shmup player, but I expect edge to at least give a knowledgable review about any gametype.

[Ady]

Admittedly, I've been very hard on Edge of late, and to be fair, I'll have no real idea of this issue's content until it arrives in the shops on the 19th. However I'm hard on Edge for the very reasons Marvelon lists above.

I've always enjoyed the magazine and -of late- really do think it has taken a very sudden nosedive in quality. Whilst I appreaciate a lot of it could be transitory, I don't think that excuses everything that's wrong with the magazine at present.

Edge appears to be getting sloppy (superficial reviews and features, one page articles spanning two to fill space, typos and a few grammatical errors that are genuinely shocking for Edge) and is in danger of losing its focus and identity.

It feels as if the magazine is currently more concerned with baiting its readers than providing genuinely interesting content (imo, before anyone puts any more words in my mouth).

I genuinely hope these are mere teething troubles and Edge recovers some level of consistency soon.

[Ian(not Ian)]

The real proof that EDGE is careering down the slippery slope to mediocrity can be found on page 94.

[Londonner]

Yup, free flights and entry to trade shows, really awful Id guess.

I've not read the aforementioned article, nor attended E3 (I have worked with those who do). However, I've done my fair share of ECTSs (when it really was trade) and press launches etc. etc. You'd be surprised how utterly soul destroying these events can be - if you're there to work.

To the outside observer, they're glitzy games appreciation fests. If only. Games are commodities and these events are where market players act their role as traders: the experience is one big conveyor belt of PR or distributor meetings in which people conduct business transactions. The fact that the business is based around games is insignficant..

Ultimately, the only games playing you do is either from a 10 metre fleeting glance as you rush past booths on your way to a meeting or where you have your hand held, literally, by some PR for 2 minutes as you attempt to dig into the latest demo before being rushed off to the next one. Hours of such repeat activity, for several days in a row.

After a while, everything becomes a blur. The excitement of catching sight or getting your hands on a much anticipated title wanes. Every PR person you meet starts to sound the same (unsurprising, perhaps, given that the games industry is very incestuous). All the blurb appears indistinguishable. And you forget why you were there in the first place.

The only fun to be had is when you're at the pub afterwards!

I think it's very easy to bash games journalism. It is perhaps unlike any other form of writing, in that you have to spend a lot of time with the products other people are interested in order to critique or report on it. Film or book reviewers at best watch/read a product a couple of times and have much more time building their knowledge or tweaking the final copy.

Though, of course, some of the bashing is rightly justified and no one advocates lazy reporting.

Nevertheless, don't understimate how the element of 'fun' can evaporate when your favourite interest has deadlines, budgets, and financial results attached to it.

Anyway, I haven't read the article (link? summary?), so I could be missing the point completely. Forgive me if I have

[Len]

Look, who cares, they're finally offering Edge folders again, surely that's what really counts...?