Edge Christmas 2008

Cover: Miyamoto unplugged

This is the first general-purpose Miyamoto interview I've seen in the print media for a fair while. Hardcore Gamer does a similar interview in their latest issue (see below), but that's purely a text affair, while Edge has the design sense to snap a few pics of him doing humorous things in front of a white background. The interview's already been placed on the net and is fun to read, as Miyamoto never gives a pat PR-ese response to questions -- even when he doesn't have anything to say, he still gives you something substantial to play around with in your mind. It's like interviewing your dad at this point, really.

Further thought-provoking bits on EA's hiring practices and the terrible state of iPhone games round out the feature well, giving way to a massive review section that's already Internet-famous for its generally grumpy disposition. 5 for Mirror's Edge, 6 for CoD: World at War, 6 for Resistance 2, and a remarkable 3 for EA's triple-A-ish holiday title Need for Speed: Undercover are all notable, especially since the text on all of 'em reads a lot more scathing than even the number at the end as it usually does in Edge-land. I'd consider Tomb Raider outscoring Fallout 3 another example of British developer rah-rahing, but Tomb Raider isn't even a British production any longer. What the hey?

PC Zone December 2008

Cover: Deus Ex 3

I'm a bit surprised that Game Informer didn't leap on a Deus Ex 3 cover-exclusive by this point. PCZ's feature has tonsa art and in-game renders and everything, and the text is at least as good as the GI hotsclusive standard. Warren Spector and Harvey Smith even spend two pages discussing the past and apologizing for Invisible War and everything.

This is PCZ's 200th issue, and there's the required feature inside where all the old editors contribute their favorite memories and so on. I have the impression I missed out on some mighty good times, including one "pulled from the newsstands" scandal in 1998 and the simple fact that Terry Pratchett's daughter wrote for the rag from 2000-03 (and, OK, is a good game scriptwriter in her own right these days, too). There's even a new Mr. Cursor back-page column from Duncan MacDonald, the direct inspiration for the back page of PiQ that nobody read because the thing lasted for only four issues and smelled like elderberries. I'm amazed (and elated, of course) that a mag like PCZ gets to last for 200 issues, to be honest.

Official Xbox Magazine January 2009 (Podcast)

Cover: Halo now!

I wonder: could this cover be better if it were simply some 20-something hipster gettin' air on Weta's Warthog, blue sky in the background, no text? The feature inside on the experience is way more fun than the bits on Halo Wars and the rundown of the Recon trailer, especially since it's written by a man named Alistair Wallis who I mainly know for his work on Game Developer's salary reports and therefore imagined as a man with slicked-back hair and an alligator-skin briefcase. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Although he did do some altogether neater/weirder stuff for GameSetWatch, aha.]

Also noteworthy in this 2009 opener issue: a quick spread on recent well-known 360 games and how active (or non-) their Live component is. It surprised me how dead GTAIV is online already, too. Just encourages the stereotype I have in my mind of the general public buying each GTA, then selling it back to GameStop within a month for Bratz money.

PC Gamer January 2009 (Podcast)

Cover: Left 4 Dead

Eight pages out of 100 are devoted to reviewing the cover game, and four-ish more to GTAIV -- they reserve a final verdict on the latter until they have a chance to try out multiplayer, the same multiplayer that's already dead on the 360 version. That, along with the rest of the reviews and a very quick tech discussion with John Carmack, rounds out the issue nicely.

The EIC discusses in his letter how PC Gamer will change its review policy to work on "reviewable" burns instead of ready-for-pressing "gold" copies. I honestly didn't realize they had such a stringent policy on this sorta thing before now. No wonder their reviews tended to be pretty behind over most of this year.

Beckett Massive Online Gamer January/February 2009

Cover: Two guesses

Yep, the same opaque MMO coverage as always. I'm surprised at the total lack of a Blizzcon report, with tons of spreads instead given to yet more interchangeable free Korean games that I can't tell apart.

Tips & Tricks January/February 2009

Cover: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

T&T Video Game Codebook is still going strong over a year after the "real" T&T folded -- and despite the fact that the only paid advertising is a page and a third from the ringtone overlords at Jamster. I'm shocked, to be frank. It must be doing seriously (or at least tolerably) well at the newsstand, despite all its disadvantages. Must be the pencil puzzles.

This one has a ton of Madden content, a bit late but hopefully useful to readers.

Hardcore Gamer Winter 2008

Cover: Street Fighter IV

It may be seasonal and only 68 pages, but Hardcore Gamer's clearly in its element with this issue, covering SFIV with the panache and attention to detail that only GameFan and EGM gave to fighting games back in the day. (In fact, this coverage reminds me of the old UK mag Maximum if anything; it's got that same sort of design, where reams of text mix with Capcom's character designs in pure, reference-caliber harmony.)

There's also an amusing holiday game guide that covers the most expensive classic-era games you could possibly get for your nerdy lover.

The Ultimate Guide to Gears of War

Quite a bit fewer man-hours went into this special than I anticipated -- basically, there's expanded reviews, a bit of strategy, some OXM reprint stuff, lots of big art, a novel excerpt, a comic excerpt...you get the idear. I much prefer CVG Presents' approach, but I'm also fully aware of how much painful work goes into each issue of CVG Presents.

Beckett Massive Online Gamer Presents Ultimate Guide to World of Warcraft Issue 2

The second in this series of newsstand exclusives. More Beckett MOG, really -- that's to say, more really dry MMO strategy and stuff way over your head if you are anything besides someone who raids more than he sleeps.

PC Gamer Presents the Ultimate Guide to Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

The same deal as Future's previous Age of Conan special -- dev interviews, strategy, lotsa art, another book excerpt (Future US loves book excerpts), something nice to strum through for a bit. I particularly liked the comparisons between in-game NPCs and their cinematic-render counterparts.

It amuses me no end, by the way, that the senior game designer of Warhammer Online is named Dan Enright...but that's another obsessive-nerd-hobby entirely.

[Kevin Gifford breeds ferrets and runs Magweasel, a site for collectors and fans of old video-game and computer magazines. In his spare time he does writing and translation for lots and lots of publishers and game companies.]