And people wonder why nobody takes gaming journalism seriously.

Uglyshoe

Okay, you have a point. They don't ALL do it. But many have for quite a while. "Future" Mags being the main ones that I remember.

ajm1240

mergedwarrior

Yes, the Metro newspaper sometimes has ads like these that works like a slip. I don't know if it's regional or anything though. It may be free but it's still a waste of paper / trees.

Oh and about subscription cards: Man I thought they waren't attaching them correctly to the magazine or something...

Malaky

moonbunnychan

Wolfkin

TearsandScreams

I can't remember the last time I bought a gaming mag. Downloading is so much faster now that demo discs are pretty much useless barring exclusivity, and even that is usually temporary at most. My other big issue is that, again barring exclusivity, I've already read all the articles and reviews on sites like IGN. I personally enjoy a daily fix of gaming news/rumors, so waiting a fucking month in between helpings just doesn't work for me.

To quote Egon, "Print is dead."

The one gaming magazine I would buy is PC Accelerator, and they've been extinct since 2000-01.

Strangelove

Barf#1

peAr nectAr

DanAmrich

predatorgsr

ViolentLee

Dontdrop

I remember when the ad campaign for the HP/Voodoo Blackbird was going on.
Multiple magazines featured this perforated page on the front and back of the actual magazine.

I get irked when being "forced" to see the same ad over and over.
In all fairness, the pages were perforated...

thisisasignin

@Spoony Bard:

I actually counted the number of pages in the "cell play" section of a recent OXM issue! Including regular advertising, the "cell play" section comprised nearly 30% of the entire magazine. Comparing "cell play" to the actual written content in OXM? It's more like a 50-50 split.

How does the Official Xbox Magazine justify having half of their written content (despite the fact that "cell play" is an ad masquerading as game journalism) having absolutely nothing to do with Microsoft or the Xbox 360 whatsoever?

Epic fail.

@RagingBull:
I'm an EGM subscriber, never have I seen an ad fronting as the cover story. Which issue was it?

stranger

Konchu

Simply awful.

Spoony Bard

DrWorm

KingDavid73

DanAmrich

And this has been going on for at least a few years.

Thorax

Tarmac

I could be wrong, but I bet most game mags aren't doing anything different (sans disclaimer).

GhaleonUnlimited

Bobby Bokista

Mr.SithNinja

*looks at his EGM with a Dark Sector cover*

RagingBull

Trust me, I'm a doctor

TheTog

Between double covers and advertorials (ads posing as actual editorial copy in a magazine), advertisers will do anything to try to prevent you from skimming over what they're selling.

malaya

Now broadband is everywhere and even consoles can download demos. :D

fuchikoma

These aren't magazine covers that are for sale, they're on top of the covers. You can easily remove them.

strictnein

Anyway, they probably do it in the UK now - or if not they will soon, seeing as the UK is basically a three-years-late version of the US.

They do use this practice on the local free newspapers but you know what? it's free, so I don't have a major objection.

quen

Jabbertrack

latinogamer

Dagon

alb1221

Still, better in the magazines than in the games, I'm still worried about the day I'll have to watch un-skippable ads before my game boots up, like what happens on some movie DVDs.

Jay

i should go to the ATM to see if my bank account has inflated since the posting of this link.

also, i see a fair share of magazines over here, in The Japan, and this was the first time i'd seen something like this.

shame on all of you for not making a very big deal about this sooner.

seriously.

108

As a subscriber to the magazine, I have noticed this several times over the past years. I already purchased the magazine so I did not purchase the magazine based on the cover content, and since the Newsstand edition does not feature the ad cover, consumers are not being misslead. I do not see this as an issue.

Now a real issue is how to post a title like "Achievements on Xbox Original games?" Then inside the magazine the article says "NOT", to me that is missleading.

Thryon

el_rezzo

StupidDufus

Yep, UK, Benelux, France... Publishers pay hard $$$ to be the one on the cover.

That's why only games with big marketing budgets go on the cover. That's why you don't see Okami or Viewtiful Joe covers... Or Atari covers :D

Prodigy_BE

I'm convinced it's one reason why magazine circulation is in the toilet. Who wants to pay money for a 30 page advertising section? Especially when the actual editorial content of the magazine probably doesn't add up to any more than that, these days. There really is a perception that actual content is being replaced with ads.

(It'd be different if there were just more pages, but there aren't.)

badasscat

ssh83

s0lid

Doomstalk

Anarchist_Gamer

DarkDragonDave

Tale

Monsieur Fap★Fap!

I think it was the Aliens game cover.

Han Daimond

archibaldleech

Soralinkyuna

IronsUK

Nico8332

Slap Bet

NateN

Blind_Evil

Brian Ashcraft

okenny :)

Unfourtunaly, I suppose a lot of people aren't that bothered by it, so there's not really any market for that kind of high-priced mags..

Nico8332

nxp3

Heinrad

jayntampa

aka Bitter

In this case, it may be a smart move on OXM's part as Fallout probably isn't as iconic as Tom Clancy's name so it may move more magazines.

I would take pause though before declaring something like "Game Magazine Cover was for Sale" as that kind of makes the magazine unscrupulous when that couldn't be further from the truth. It's probably more of a sad commentary on just how much advertising is drying up in game enthusiast print media.

okenny :)

photoboy

ajm1240

alb1221

MCV magazine does exactly this all the time, but it is a trade rather than a comsumer magazine.

Any game featured on the front of any games magazine, or indeed featured on almost any commercial website is there because the publisher's publicity people "arranged" for it to be there, though.

Mentalist-air

And if I'm not crazy, GI pulls this stunt from time to time. I know EGM definitely does it, so it's not just other places, it's in America, too.

karasu is my homeboy

cocomo

El Patricko

sariah

i like to call them cover protectors.

bigbadron

alb1221

I work in the publishing industry. This is actually a standard practice. One of the magazines I work for is having a Hershey cover tip this month.

I really don't think this is as bad as you guys are making it out to be. This practice has been going on for years and years now!

Monsieur Fap★Fap!

Kyle81

Flawless101