I have a confession to make. I usually skip the "tips" section of video game magazines.
Also known as the "cheats", "codes" "hints" or "strategies" section, the tips section has become sort of an anachronism to me. In the Internet era, there just doesn't seem to be much point anymore to printing codes and strategies (outside of detailed, dedicated strategy guides). Magazine's long lead times give their reviews and news some advantages over their Internet equivalents, but game magazines are usually just plain worse than the Internet when it comes to codes. After all, the Driv3r invincibility code is the same everywhere, but only the Online version is available through massive searchable databases. Online codes are sometimes even available before a game's domestic release. Why spend fruitless hours looking through back issues for strategy tips on Hamtaro: Ham Ham Heartbreak when a few keystrokes can get you five walkthroughs for the obscure game (this sentence inspired by real events).
Anyway, I usually skip the tips section, which is why I was pleasantly surprised when I stopped on page 147 of the latest issue of Game Informer (No. 145, May 2005) to find a feature on God of War, in which "The Game's Testers Take You to Task on How to Become a Truly Godlike War of Destruction."
I haven't played God of War, but the one-page feature still managed to capture my interest with detailed descriptions of game-winning strategies. The explanations made me want to play the game just to see these moves in action. The last time I was so interested in strategies for a game I didn't own was when I bought an NBA Jam strategy guide and tried to memorize all the players' stats (I was going through a strong NBA phase).
What seperated this strategy feature from the rest should be obvious. While most magazine "strategy" sections are written by overworked game journalists who are rushed by deadlines, and Online guides are written by fans with sometimes questionable experience (both at writing and playing), this feature was written by the game's testers -- people who had lived with the game for months and examined its every detail many times over -- and edited by the experienced team at Game Informer.
Opening up the back issues, I was shocked to see the Game Informer had been doing this since issue 137 (Sept. 2004 ... did I mention I usually skip this section altogether?). Articles on difficult moments in Jak 3 from Naughty Dog's test manager; leveling tips from a Everquest 2's community manager; and demon hunting tips from Devil May Cry 3's director made me reevaluate the value of this previously next-to-useless section. Here we're getting strategy straight from the horse's mouth, each article written in a unique voice and giving a deeper look at a game's intricacies than even most reviews.
This Game Informer feature isn't totally original, though. Electronic Gaming Monthly has talked to developers about recent releases in their "Afterthoughts" section for a while now, and I seem to remember Next Gen magazine having some sort of strategy/interview hybrid in later years. But those both seemed more like offshoots of the news and review sections than dedicated tips from the developers available in Game Informer.
So, to Game Informer, I give somewhat belated congratulations for renewing my interest in a magazine section I had all but given up on. Keep it up!
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I understand the concept as an attempt to give print mag tips an advantage over online sources. I understand the "creator strategy" sections are a hybrid of a tips section and an interview.
ReplyDeleteBut whenever I read them, I cannot help but feel that they are just a page of unpaid and unlabelled advertising.
The creators hype and shill their games like crazy with each bit of "advice" they give, without any pretense of impartiality to keep them in check. I think it was a Rogue Agent "strategy" page that really drove it home, as you'd think the game was one of the greatest achievements ever after reading it.
Although I believe the game speaks for it self, the makers of God of War have been the biggest pushers of the game out there.
ReplyDeleteThey should be by all respects since they spent a very long time on it making it the perfect examble of action that it is. but in the GoW demo i recieved from the playstation underground there were at least 2 video's in it to tell you how awesome the game was made by them themselves. The demo was playable and sold me way before gave the videos a glance..
moving on from there is the specail G4 had detailing every step of the proccess the GoW developers went though making the game. While it was awesome to see a making of a game in such a in depth way, it felt like nothing more then a subliminal push from them personally to buy their game.
on a side note the GoW developers also spent the time to sit with the people of the show Cheat and give them their personal tips and tricks personally.
Like I said, I enjoyed the game and hope to play a sequal (not something I say openly very often)but the game it self sold me, not the propaganda. Lets hope this doesnt become a trend to have developers force feed us their games. while these labors of love are the bread and butter they live of of, they should be very careful not to look to needy. otherwise we may start seeing "Feed the gamemaker" infomercails in the wee-hours of the morning real soon.
All I have to say...I love GameInformer and refurse to read any other gaming magazene. Though that may seem a bit harsh...it's the only magazene for reviews/previews and just plain information that's actually enjoyable for me. But I don't necissarily read the magazene for the latest hypes in the VG world. To be quite blunt, I know what I want and I wait for the release, then I buy it. It's simple, really.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah GI rocks!
a truly godlike war of destruction, eh?
ReplyDelete