Electronic Gaming Monthly
This article is about the magazine EGM, or Electronic Gaming Monthly. For the type of meeting, see Extraordinary General Meeting.Electronic Gaming Monthly (often abbreviated to EGM
) is a United States-based video game magazine published by Ziff-Davis as part of the 1UP Network that releases 12 issues a year (and an occasional extra "13th" issue for the Christmas season, also known as the "Smarch" issue, a reference to an episode of The Simpsons''). It concentrates on news regarding current
video game consoles (including, at the moment, the
Nintendo GameCube,
Microsoft Xbox and
Sony PlayStation 2 as well as portable systems such as the
Game Boy Advance,
Nintendo DS and
Sony PSP. Recently added to the lineup was the new
Xbox 360, in addition to reviews and previews for the games released on these consoles.)
EGM has gained some attention for the way the editors write their reviews and interviews. The articles are usually straight-forward, and honest. They are somewhat infamous for the way they criticize shortcomings of consoles, such as the
Xbox 360's numerous problems, and the
Playstation 3's steep price.
Notable writers for the magazine, past and present, include founder Steve Harris, Ed Semrad, Martin Alessi, Ken Williams (Sushi-X) all who made up the original Review Crew, Terry "Trickman" Minnich, Danyon Carpenter, Mike Weigand a.k.a Major Mike (now Managing Editor at GamePro), Al Manuel, Andrew Baran, Howard Grossman, Mike Vallas, current Editor-in-Chief (since 2001)
Dan Hsu, artist
Jeremy "Norm" Scott, Jennifer Tsao, Shawn Smith, Crispin Boyer, John Ricciardi, John Davison, Notable personalities include "Quartermann" originally penned by Steve Harris,
Seanbaby and the infamous "
Sushi-X", a pseudonym which was modeled after Taco-X of the multi-panel review in Famitsu magazine in Japan which inspired the Review Crew to begin with. Sushi-X was originally David Siller in the early years and then taken over by Ken Williams for almost a decade. After Ken's departure the moniker was used by several people through the years until phased out by Ziff Davis as a "maturing" of the magazine.
The first issue of
Electronic Gaming Monthly came out in the summer of 1989. The third issue famously featured
Fabio on the cover for the game
Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II.
Computer games are occasionally mentioned, although they are the territory of
EGM's sister publication,
Computer Gaming World, and
cell phone games have recently seen coverage as well.
Extra content
Throughout much of its publication, the magazine has included mini-posters for then current games with newsstand issues, as well as occasional one-page extras such as alternate game box cover art slips and calendars. From October 2004 to January 2005 (and including 2004's "Smarch" issue), the magazine included DVD's with newsstand issues, which gained both positive and negative feedback. Positive feedback was mostly received for having plenty of features and interesting Bonus Material, like a
Seanbaby video diary of
E3, and exclusive or rare episodes of
Red vs Blue, but negative feedback was also received for increasing the price of newsstand issues including the DVDs, as well as not being available with subscriber issues (this last point is also a consistent complaint about the mini-posters).
April Fool's
EGM is also notorious for its
April Fool's pranks. They are often hit-and-miss; after claiming a 'nude cheat' for
Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (The 'cheat' caused quite a commotion, and was even sold over the internet by some people through the bidding website
eBay. Ironically, hackers were able to create a "patch" for the game that allowed for "nude" bathing suits to be worn by game characters, but the patch could only be applied to unauthorized copied versions of the game.), many readers sent threatening letters to
EGM. They also get bragging rights over other magazines for more successful pranks. Their most popular jokes have included:
*1992
Sheng Long code for
Street Fighter II*1998 "All Bonds" cheat in
GoldenEye 007*2002
Super Smash Bros. Melee 'Unlock
Sonic and
Tails' code, where players had to defeat 20 opponents in 'Cruel Melee' mode. (This is easily the most notorious and widely-believed hoax. Many people still think it's true)
*2004 Competing kart racers would be released for the
PSP, one based on the books and one based on the movies, featuring characters from
The Lord of the RingsThe 2002 prank went widely believed for months, to a point where rival magazine
Nintendo Power had to create a blurb to try and explain the origin of the rumor. It also ended in retribution for readers who wanted their favorite
Sega characters duking it out with
Nintendo's characters, which would seem like a play on their rivalry back in the 1990s. After the prank was revealed,
EGM held a contest where those who sent in videos of their 'Cruel Melee' battles with over 20 KOs would win a copy of
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.
In 2005 prank EGM told readers if they preordered
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (at that time it was not known as
Twilight Princess so they just used a generic title) they would receive a copy of
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker with updated graphics equal to those of the new game.
The 2006 prank appears to be a story that states that Apple is making a portable gaming device called the
iGame, unfortunately, this one wasn't as successful as it's predecessor. [
1].
As a celebration of their 200th printed issue,
Electronic Gaming Monthly released their list of "The Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time." They ranked the games based on how much of an impact the titles originally had on arcade or consoles, rather than a compilation of games based upon how well they hold up today.
The list includes, in ascending order:
EGM was also published in
Brazil as
EGM Brasil by
Conrad Editora since 2003. Since the last quarter of 2005,
EGM Brasil is being published by
Futuro Comunicação, a new company founded by André Forastieri, one of Conrad Editora's former owners.The magazine has gathered a strong user base along the years, featuring (or having featured) well-known gaming journalists such as
Eduardo Trivella, Pablo Miyazawa, Fabio Santana, Ronny Marinoto, Eric Araki, Renato Viliegas, Odair Braz Junior, Gustavo Petró, Rodrigo Guerra and many others in its staff.
EGM was released in
Mexico in November of 2002. It is published by Editorial Televisa and is edited by a different staff. Sometimes the content is more focused to the Latin American gaming crowd (i.e.
Football games had more attention than
NASCAR or
American football games), as well as the humor and other features. Sometimes it features good jokes among the Mexican community and supports the production with a poster insert every month.
Starting in 2006,
EGM will strategically launch its magazine in the
Philippines as
EGM Philippines, catering towards local gamers and the
Filipino culture/society.
Official
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EGM on 1UP.com -– Official Website
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EGM Brasil*
EGM PhilippinesOthers
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The greatest 200 videogames of their time
