Is Gamestop Evil? The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[CD AGES]

If you read DCM before, you'd know that much of their reviews were pretty blunt!

[dsheinem]

If you read DCM before, you'd know that much of their reviews were pretty blunt!

I have. Not sure about "blunt" -they were quite guilty of over-romanticizing their own hardware/first-party games/etc.

[noiseredux]

I have issues of ODCM that bash games. But I'm with you on Sega Visions.

[dsheinem]

I have issues of ODCM that bash games. But I'm with you on Sega Visions.

I have the full run, and while I've not read every issue line by line I seem to recall it was pretty rare they'd bash things, especially Sega titles/DC exclusives. I'd bet GI averages a lower review score in aggregate across any random 12 issues.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Gotta agree with Luke about Game Informer. I had a subscription for about a year and it was terrible. I think I only attempted to read the first few issues and then started giving them away to my middle school students. Way too much hype and coverage for AAA games, only tiny little blurbs and middling "reviews" for stuff I was interested in. It did precious little to cover the full spectrum of gaming, and was just focused on what GameStop knew they could sell.

Now I'm aware that all video game magazines are biased to some extent, but issues of Nintendo Power read like they were actually written by human beings. Game Informer is duller than a Sears catalog.

[dsheinem]

and was just focused on what GameStop knew they could sell.

So you are faulting the magazine for focusing on new AAA games? Pretty sure that's what all game magazines have always done.

If anything, GI has had some pretty awesome retro-focused content over the years, including: https://www.flickr.com/photos/racketboy ... 646724120/

[dsheinem]

also, here's some stats on GI, which shows they are .7 points higher on avearge per rview than the competition: http://www.metacritic.com/publication/game-informer


I remeber stuff like this in Dreamcast Magazine: http://www.mobygames.com/game/dreamcast ... o/mobyrank

Would love to see some aggregate stats...

[BoneSnapDeez]

and was just focused on what GameStop knew they could sell.

So you are faulting the magazine for focusing on new AAA games? Pretty sure that's what all game magazines have always done.

Oh, I agree. But as hard as Nintendo Power shilled their first-party games they always gave ample room for everything else. Just flipping through some of the issues I have beside me I see articles about games like Brandish, Faxanadu, and Star Ocean (which was never even localized!) and other more obscure titles. GI seems to cater to the IGN-type crowd, which is fine for some people I suppose. But it isn't for me. I will concede that Nintendo Power certainly had an easier type being so inclusive when they only had to cover three systems at once, vs. six or whatever GI has to juggle.

For the record, I don't think retro game mags are inherently good by any stretch of the imagination. I recently inherited a bunch of PlayStation mags from my brother and holy hell are they painful to read.

[Opa Opa]

GI covers nine platforms iirc. (PC, 360, ps3, ps4, xbox one, wii u, vita, mobile, and 3ds... I think that's it.)

But yeah, the next niche jrpg isn't going to get a front page display because more people would rather read about Gears of War. It's only logical to appeal to the masses as best they can.

And I'd rather read about a new Gears than Disgaea too.

[Jmustang1968]

For what it's worth, Shovel Knight received their game of the month in this latest issue. They also usually have some retro focused article and an indie article each issue. I often see them being critical of many game industry issues.

It isn't a niche platform, so they will focus on the bigger stuff, but often still cover the smaller stuff which is nice.

Gamestop be peddling all those used Shovel Knight discs!