Gaming Literature And Deciding What Games To Buy.

Gaming magazines and news sites, etc. Does anyone read reviews and recommendations on web sites or within gaming magazines to formulate their opinion on the game before they buy it? Does anyone buy a magazine each month? Do you get an opinion on the game before you go out to buy it?

I used to read a magazine by the name of Total! Here in the UK that was based around Nintendo gaming during the early SNES era, and that was the only one I bought regularly. I also read Playstation Power for about six months before I decided that I wasn’t going to listen to reviews before I bought them anyways, so these days I just go with gut feeling when I buy.

PC Gamer is my bible :p , It’s informative, well supported, their DVD is always chocked full of cool stuff, and it’s as funny as hell.
It’s MONSTRO!!! Completely ROBO-CRAZY!!! And other funny cult sayings.
I’ve trusted the mag for the last 4 years, It encouraged me to pick up CounterStrike before it became popular :p and buy the overlooked classics ‘Giants: Citizen Kabuto’ (featuring those loveable Cockny Space Aliens who just want to get to Planet Majorca) and ‘Sacrifice’ (if only for the ‘You are low on Mana’ soundbyte, which has become a staple saying for me some of my gaming buddies).

I also pick up ‘Edge’ twice every year, along with the occasional issue of Nintendo Official Magazine, depending on what freebies they’re giving away. Don’t pay much attention to their reviews mind. ^_^

I’ve also got a truckload of old Dreamcast magazines, which I don’t pay much heed to for obvious reasons,
And a shelf full of Official PS2 Magazines, which I got free when I bought my 2nd Hand PS2 😀 .

I do read reviews of games that I have recently bought or am soon going to get to see how good they are. I almost always never use a review to judge whether or not I get a game. Take Tomb Raider: AoD. This game is pretty glitchy and alot of reviewers bashed it to very low scores… But I still got it because I’m a fan of the Tomb Raider series. True, I expected more from it but I’m not gonna not get the game. However, I do read some reviews and try to avoid the lower scoring ones (with an exception or two, depending on the game.) The only game I got based on a review was Ape Escape and that was a fun game!

As for what magazines I read. I get PSM. It’s a great mag. I also use online sources as IGN, GameSpot, and sometimes GameFAQ’s…

I got this dutch Power unlimited delivered every month and I read it xD Just for fun most of the times, but also for the games … to at least from my opinion on it more. Their reviews kinda lack though, so that’s why I buy NOM every now and then as well xD (Uk mag)

bwa…i hate those game-magazines,its al a bunch of lies…sometimes they say that some game is good bu the game sucks so hard that it hurts

so i only listen to reviews of other gamers

i search on the internet for info,and if can’t decide because i haven’t enough good info,i send an e-mail to some americans who put their review on the net

and ask for detailed info 🙂

in the U.k the games get released urlier

I remember ‘Total!’ wow, I thought people had forgotten that. I always didn’t like how Mario was on almost every flippin page.

*shudders*

I do collect quite a few magazines. Not only for entertainment, it’s all strictly research. I read:

Play
The Official Playstation 2 Magazine
P2
PSM2
Computer & Video Games Magazine (CVG)
PSW

I admit I don’t always buy them, just whatever catches my eye on the shelf. Heh, I’d have to have a bloody good wage to be able to afford all those.

Anyway, you could say I rely on a magazine for information upon an upcoming game. Plus a fair opinion, but I’m not one of those people who is taken in by simply what the magazines tell you to buy. No. That is my choice. If I wasn’t so sure of a game I would rent it first.
Yes I read the reviews and take careful consideration…why? Well because as a person interested in working in the industry it’s my nature to do so.

I read the PSM magazine sumtimes, and i get a feeling from it if a game is going to be good, plus i will rent the game for a day or two to decide if its worth buying, but i try not to get very far so it becomes useless to buy.

I used to get Official PlayStation Magazine quite a bit. I used it for the news and previews mainly and the letters pages were sometimes funny. I usually read the reviews and took in stuff about the game I like. For example "such and such game is very inivative because…." I didnt really check the scores.

Now, I just check out game-revolution.com. There reviewers crack me up and the reviews they write are quite in depth. I dont usually look at scores though, usually on what good points the reviewer describes.

Metacritic.com is easily the best, instead of one reviewers, its many.

It gives a composite score based on all reviews like ign, gamepro, gamespot, electronic gaming monthly, all that…

You can then select the article you want to see more about. I generally look for common praises/complaints.

Normally I go to Gamespot.com just to get some information about games but I don’t really go there now because I can’t get information like strategy guides since they locked those up

Mostly I listen to what other people tell me about things (games, movies, music, etc.) and/or just try them before I buy them, one way or another. "Official" reviews in magazines or on web sites or something just piss me off.

For some of the rarer stuff where I’m lucky to find any information on a game at all besides release dates and screenshots, I’ll buy something based on a single positive comment. And I haven’t been dissapointed too often.

For new releases and hte like, I usually know enough about them to decide I want the games, so I hear from other people mostly to snag negative opinions. But I’m usually sure enough of where I’m going as far as purchases are concerned to not really think much about finding opinions on games at all~

Greetings.

I used to get the magazines all the time. Started with a mag called Mean Machines (UK Based, which also came to AUS.) and the old CVG. Even after Mean Machines split and became Nintendo Magazine System and Mean Machines Sega, I still got them. Used to get Hyper, not anymore though. The only reason I got the Dreamcast mags, was for any help they had in regards to Skies of Arcadia, Shenmue and Shenmue II.

But, in my desicions to buy games, I tend to ignore the mags anyway. I think any game can be the best one around, In the eye of the buyer and/or gamer. Fortunately, a lot of the places I buy games from, have a 7 day return policy. So I buy a game, play it for a few days, don’t like it, take it back and either exchange for another or get my money back.

Personally, I ask the people behind the counter at the store about the game. Granted that most would lie through their teeth to sell a game, but some of them, who I know, are honest enought to express what they really think about a game. In the end, I read the back of the game, read the manual and even have a play test of the game in the store, to get a feel for the game, and then decide whether or not to buy it.

In the case of the Dynasty Warriors series…. I got 3 first, then grabbed 2 and 4 without looking into them… And I love the series.

Nuff said.

Oh, the old CVG! That was so great…. Unlike how it is these days, being specifically aimed at kids. Can’t stand it, it’s just like that one show they have, on some station I can’t remember. You know, I find it really likely that those black gangster sterotypes enthuse about games in between drive-bys.

I only read Edge and Games TM. Edge because, well, it’s the best gaming mag ever, and it’s not aimed at kids, or trying to make gaming particularly hip. Games has a great retro section, and, likewise, it’s not aimed at kids.