Electronic Gaming Monthly is no overnight success story, they came onto the scene at a time that proved to be one of the most turbulent periods for game magazines. Competition was very fierce, and there were many good and bad choices in the mid to late 80's...Electronic Gaming Monthly is a testament to the durability of both Videogames, and well written content. They stand at the head of the major Gaming publications of Parent Company Ziff-Davis. The evolution of the Brand into Sister Magazines has allowed EGM to narrow their focus significantly.
As it stands today, EGM is the Champion of the "Grown-up gamer" people who cut their teeth back on Nintendo, and even as early as the Atari VCS and Odyssey. Here you will find articles not only on content, but on the history of the medium, the various social aspects of the game, and a wry sense of humor that is apparent, but certainly not heavy handed.
The Editors themselves will make personalities of themselves, and encourage readers to empathise with one or more. I often find that the Recommendations of their Editor-in-Chief Dan "Shoe" Hsu, among specific others, will often carry more weight that other editors.
Their Reviews are often handled by three editors, for the same reason I spoke above. Having the resident Fighting Game Fanatic rate a game higher than his compatriots will often tell me more than enough about whether I will by a game or not.
Among some of the more Creative articles found in EGM:
- Retired Mob-informant Henry Hill gives his blunt opinion of Grand Theft Auto and other Crime Drama videogames, Eventually deciding that he prefers the token wildcard, Nintendo's "Animal Crossing", to the protests of his 11 year old Son.
- Humor/Satirist Seanbaby of www.seanbaby.com lends his stinging wit to rate the 20 worst videogames of all time alongside the editor's choice of 100 best, leading to him becoming a regular contributor, giving the best of the worst every month in reviews.
- Creating a section for good games you might have missed, or let fall through the cracks... It is never too late to snag the last Copy of Car Battler Joe or Gitaroo man in the store.
Special note...
Related to EGM is Gamenow, a more Family oriented of EGM and GMR a more digestable version benefitting those who recieve a Gamers Edge card at Electronic's Boutique, and probably made in response to Gamestop's "Game Informer" I personally find GMR more informative of the two. Computer Gaming Monthly is the long running answer to those who wonder why EGM does not cover PC Games, And Expert Gamer is the Evolution of EGM2, a code and strategy intensive version of EGM from the past.
