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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Is Nintendo unwittingly nailing gaming print mag coffins shut?

KZ2 said:
Magazines and newspaper sales are on the continuous downhill slide. All the information you need is on the internet.

BTW: Less magazine and newspaper sales = less trees are cut down and more environment friendly.

This.

 



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If Gameinformers target markets are Xbox360/PS3 owners then why would it not be surprising that they would cater to that markets needs first and foremost?



Tease.

Most magazines, and especially gaming rags do seem like a hell of a waste of perfectly good trees.



@Squiliam: That's true. But eventually it may prove out to be less/non profitable way of doing business. Especially if the purpose of GI is to create additional sales for a certain store.



Ei Kiinasti.

Eikä Japanisti.

Vaan pannaan jalalla koreasti.

 

Nintendo games sell only on Nintendo system.

I have Game Informer and I thoroughly enjoy it. My interpretation of the magazine is that it's for hardcore gamers, I've always felt that based on the types of front page features and full-to-multiple page reviews vs. half-or-less page reviews.

The Nintendo Wii is a casual machine. Some games are kinda fun, but it's a casual Machine. Trying to say that it appeals to hardcore gamers is like reversing that psychology and saying the PS3 is a casual machine because of LBP.

That being said, I'm grateful that Game Informer doesn't waste my time on casual games. They don't completely skip over either Wii or DS either. I'm glad the focus on 360 and PS3 because I'm a hardcore gamer. I don't want to learn about Mario Party 23 or Brain Training or Animal Crossing. In my opinion, some titles you know what they are regardless of a review, like Mario Party titles. If I like Mario Party games, the last thing I'm going to do is read a review about it because they're all the same. Either I'll want to buy it or I won't.

Also, most Wii games aren't that complicated to begin with and don't need 5 page reviews. The games aren't big enough to go far enough in depth to use 5 pages. Games like Gears 2 and Resistance 2 can easily take 5 pages and still not give enough information. This paragraph alone is why this thread is a moot point.



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The collective attitude of a lot of the gaming industry's "press" seems to be an outright smear campaign for Nintendo and casual gamers.  Just check out the Wii section of N4G (a collection of video game stories from around the web) and you will see numerous stories bashing the Wii for mostly stupid reasons.  Unfortunently it appears that video game "news" is just as much about the opinion of others and the blogs of fanboys as it is about real facts.  In relation to the Wii, I suspect many of these so called "journalists" are just biased fanboys attempting to draw negative attention to the console that is currently destroying their favourite system in sales world wide.  For these reasons it isn't surprising that you can't find Wii news in many gaming magazines, and it will be their loss. 



Phrancheyez said:

I have Game Informer and I thoroughly enjoy it. My interpretation of the magazine is that it's for hardcore gamers, I've always felt that based on the types of front page features and full-to-multiple page reviews vs. half-or-less page reviews.

The Nintendo Wii is a casual machine. Some games are kinda fun, but it's a casual Machine. Trying to say that it appeals to hardcore gamers is like reversing that psychology and saying the PS3 is a casual machine because of LBP.

That being said, I'm grateful that Game Informer doesn't waste my time on casual games. They don't completely skip over either Wii or DS either. I'm glad the focus on 360 and PS3 because I'm a hardcore gamer. I don't want to learn about Mario Party 23 or Brain Training or Animal Crossing. In my opinion, some titles you know what they are regardless of a review, like Mario Party titles. If I like Mario Party games, the last thing I'm going to do is read a review about it because they're all the same. Either I'll want to buy it or I won't.

Also, most Wii games aren't that complicated to begin with and don't need 5 page reviews. The games aren't big enough to go far enough in depth to use 5 pages. Games like Gears 2 and Resistance 2 can easily take 5 pages and still not give enough information. This paragraph alone is why this thread is a moot point.

Read them HELL! You are just about prejudiced enough and narrow minded enough to write for them.... maybe even an editorship.

There is a small problem however. Game Informer is a trademark of GameStop and it is used as an inducement to get people to obtain a discount card. Therefore it is not a truly independent magazine but in large part a GameStop catalogue. If it were a strictly subscriber/advertiser driven-magazine they could call themselves Super Cool Hard-Ass Gamers - No Nintendo Allowed and require you submit proof that your balls weighed half a pound if they wanted to, and they would be well within their rights.

A commercial publication with a huge blatant invested interest in the content has a requirement to make some reasonable attempt to fairly and proportionally reflect their buying public. It doesn’t take an expert to detect a distinct bias in Game Informer which is not balanced that way. In fact, any product that they expect to have a hard time obtaining supplies of, is lucky to get mentioned at all.

This bias has not gone unnoticed and because of that reason my copy goes straight to the circular file and I go online where I have a much better chance (or somewhat better chance) of getting some impartial reviews.

 

Fishey Joe started a thread a few months ago about GameStop losing sales, especially of Wii products, to Best Buy, Target and even Walmart. Not very surprising actually; to get customer loyalty you have to show it.

 

And by the by, I’m so glad YOU find so much greater depth in a first person shooter (there’s a concept) than Zelda, or more complexity in driving around Freedom City than in Super Mario Galaxy. I would debate the point if there was the slightest chance of it changing either of our minds. Just don’t assume the whole world thinks like you. In fact, I think you can safely assume that if video games are the most important thing in your life, you definitely belong to a small minority indeed.

 

 



Squilliam said:
If Gameinformers target markets are Xbox360/PS3 owners then why would it not be surprising that they would cater to that markets needs first and foremost?

I agree with this sentiment and have no problem with them catering to their market but they shouldn't insult the Wii every chance that they get. It's as though Game Informer is running a personal smear campaign on the Wii. I could give several examples but all anyone has to do is read an issue.



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"There are like ten games a year that sell over a million units."  High Voltage CEO -  Eric Nofsinger

@Grampy
Truer words were never spoken.
I dont know what happened to make people forget how much fun they had with their SNES/Genesis games, a time when a good concept was all that made a game good, not its "pushing the hardware" capabilities.
And I really disagree that a game like Gears II is deserving of a 5 page feature and something like Wii Fit, which is so much more revolutionary,and an actual big step for the industry as a whole,does not



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 ....and I'll look down and whisper  "no."  

                                                                   - Rorschach

Scary4Eva said:
Yeah, I don't read game magazines that much. The only one I read anymore is Nintendo Power.

same with me..