Home of the Best Reviews

Background- Game Informer is a monthly video gaming magazine put out by Sunrise Publications, Inc. Andrew McNamara is the editor-in-chief, and is also a head reviewer. Game Informer began very humbly in 1991, as a free small pamphlet at Funco Land Stores. Gradually it has expanded and gained a much larger reader base. In the fall of 2000, the magazine underwent a huge redisign that improved it in many ways. It became much larger, more attractive, and began covering many more games, especially in the PC realm. I first began subscribing in March 1995. Since then, I have never missed a single issue. The primary focus is definetly the games, but recently there have been some feature articles on other more mundane topics, such as the culpability of video games in the corruption (so some say) of America's youth.

The Layout- The magazine has several sections that are part of every months issue. Each issue opens with a comic picture of the editors posing as various personalities, a word from the editor-in-chief, and blurbs from all the other reviewers. The blurbs usually contain the reviewer's favorite games at the moment and are often humorous as well. GI Spy follows on the oppossing page, with various snapshots from the last month.

"Dear GI" comes next. This section has letters from the readers. I highly suggest reading this section. I usually do not read such section in other mags, but find that these letters are quite worthwhile. Video game novices will learn a lot here about meanings and the workings of the industry. The editors/reviews respond to every letter published. Usually a couple of letters will be humorous. This section is generally about 1.5 pages long. The other half page contains envelope art, of which, one is picked every month as a winner.

GI News is spread out over about 6 pages. GI does a pretty good job of getting cutting-edge info to these pages. Here you will find screenshots of games in developement. There is also news about the video game companies, software makers, and release timetables. A small poll of various information is also found here.

The next 15 or so pages are where you'll find the feature articles. These often focus on a single game that has very high expectations. Interviews are frequently included, and the featured game is heavily dissected. Sometimes several games of one type will be in a feature article, where they are compared against one another. This is also the place for articles on new and upcoming video game systems.

The previews and reviews sections subsequently follow and are the meat and potatoes of the magazine. After the review is a Charts page with sales rankings of video games. Then there is a 1 page reviews archive and a 1 page listening of the release dates for upcoming video games.

After all of this, there is still a Play to Perfection section that provides strategy tactics for a particular game. These are usually done in depth, but a guide published for the game will always yield far more comprehensive info.

Then there are a few pages of codes for all the different video game platforms. Classic GI has a spotlight on various past games that were usually significant for some reason. The mag ends with ETC. This area contains several short articles on cool items that may or may not have to do with video games. Often video game peripherals are featured here.

The Previews- The Previews pages are usually about 20 pages total in length. They feature all different genres of upcoming games. There are large, beautiful pictures to accompany the text. The writing here is not generally analytical in nature. The focus is usually around the developement, progress, and characteristics of the game. Games previewed could be anywhere from 1 month to 1+ years away from release. Sometimes, there are a few pages (called At A Glance) with primarily screenshots of upcoming games that may be cool but are not the most prominent. The previews are well-done and thorough, though sometimes they do ramble a bit.

The Reviews- The Reviews cover about 20 pages. They are very analytical in nature. These reviewers are not afraid to tear apart games, which is very important, because it means that you get the truth. In my 6.5 years as a subscriber, I have hardly ever found a review I disagreed with or thought didn't analyze the game well. The reviewers will also use humor in cases where the games are obviously horrible or contain a blatantly stupid quality.

The review format consists of 1 main review that gets the "bottom line" score. This reviewer fills out the short summary of concept, graphics, sound, playability, entertainment, and replay value. These are the main basis for scoring a review. Then there is a reviewer who does a shorter second opinion and gives his own score. This is great because it gives you a comparison, and you can favor the reviewer that may be your favorite or is closer to your interests. The reviews vary in length depending on the game.

Value- I feel that a subscription to Game Informer is a very economical choice. $20 for 12 issues is certainly not unreasonable. This price has been constant since I began subscribing. But the deal for 24 issues for $24.98 is unbelievable, and is far better than anything they used to offer. At this price you save 80% of the newstand price of $4.99. The newstand price is all right, but I think subscribing is the far more economical way to go. In addition, I have found that Game Informer tends to have far fewer ads than most magazines. This means you get much more for your buck. Reading the magazine from front to cover will take a long time.

Recommendation- I highly recommend this mag after having subscribed to it for 6.5 years. The reviews may not be eloquent, but they are honest and very insightful. The humor is also a very nice quality. And I don't care much about eloquence in a video game mag anyway. I care about getting the score right and providing a good basis for the reader to make purchasing decisions. Though there are some obvious informalities from time to time, I do not find that they are really a detriment to the quality of the mag. Game Informer does exactly this at a reasonable price for all video game platforms: PC, Playstation, Nintendo, XBox, Game Boy Advance/Color, etc. They even covered Neo Geo Pocket Color during the very short time that games were coming out for it.