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*Specials issue ten: "Retro: The Collector's Series" - This final edition in the Retro series reprinted all of the "Collector's Series" of articles from the main magazine. Each feature focused on a specific video game console of yesteryear and examined its history and the collectors market surrounding its rare or collectable games. Unusually for ''Edge'', the majority of these articles were written by one video games journalist, [[Simon Parkin]] &#x2013; a long-time freelance contributor to the magazine.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.chewingpixels.com/?page_id=8 | title=Chewing Pixels biog | accessdate=2006-09-19}}</ref>
*Specials issue ten: "Retro: The Collector's Series" - This final edition in the Retro series reprinted all of the "Collector's Series" of articles from the main magazine. Each feature focused on a specific video game console of yesteryear and examined its history and the collectors market surrounding its rare or collectable games. Unusually for ''Edge'', the majority of these articles were written by one video games journalist, [[Simon Parkin]] &#x2013; a long-time freelance contributor to the magazine.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.chewingpixels.com/?page_id=8 | title=Chewing Pixels biog | accessdate=2006-09-19}}</ref>


==Editorial history==
==The Redeye controversy==


In February 2004 then editor of ''Edge'', Joao Diniz-Sanches, left the magazine along with all of the editorial team bar one (Margaret Robertson - current editor of the magazine). No details were officially given as to why the team walked out of the magazine
{{sources}}


In February 2004 (E133) the editorship of the magazine passed back to [[Tony Mott]], a previous editor.
In February 2004 then editor of ''Edge'', Joao Diniz-Sanches, left the magazine along with all of the editorial team bar one (Margaret Robertson - current editor of the magazine). No details were officially given as to why the team walked out of the magazine so suddenly but a few unofficial details surfaced on ''Edge'''s then immensely popular official forum. Members of the Edge staff indicated on their forum (soon thereafter disbanded before being reinstated again in 2005) that the walkout concerned a dispute over editorial content in Issue 129 of the magazine ([[November]] [[2003]]). The Edge readership quickly reached the conclusion that the controversy surrounded that month's column by the anonymous and frequently scathing columnist, Redeye.

In E129's column, Redeye attacked the marketing of video games with an 18+ rating to younger teenagers. Explicity, the column mentioned the "reckless homicide" of [[Aaron Hamel]] by 13-year-old Joshua Buckner and his 16-year-old stepbrother William, who shot 45-year-old Hamel on June 25, 2005. Both boys claimed that they had been influenced by the violent video game ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]''. Redeye implied that video game PR and marketing teams were complicit in the killing at a time when most video game journalists were rushing to the hobby's defence. At the end of the column Redeye then turned on video game magazine publishers claiming that, as all bar ''Edge'' in the UK were aimed at children and teenagers, for any others to carry a game such as Grand Theft Auto on the front cover was wholly irresponsible marketing and that, as a result, "there [are] a lot of people covered in Aaron Hamel's blood".

As ''Edge'''s publisher [[Future Publishing]] also publishes ''Official PS2 Magazine'' – which at the time had recently featured an issue with ''[[Grand Theft Auto: Vice City]]'' on the front cover – in retrospect it seemed likely that these comments had angered Edge's publishers and likely led to the editorial dispute.

Later, Ste Curran, Edge's reviews editor at the time of the controversy, revealed on his blog [http://web.archive.org/web/20050308172639/http://ste.thetriforce.com/] at the website [http://www.thetriforce.com The Triforce] (where he blogs alongside fellow games journalists Simon Byron and David McCarthy) that he had written the majority of the Redeye columns adding considerable weight to this argument. For one of Future's in-house staff to write such controversial comments attacking its own publications was clearly an awkward situation for the publisher - especially if it had fielded complaints from other maligned PR and marketing departments. It seems likely then (and has been conjectured by much of the ''Edge'' readership) that Diniz-Sanches walked out of the editorship in support of his staff - perhaps by refusing to issue a subsequent retraction to Redeye's comments in the magazine.

Since the incident none of the parties involved have issued any statements on the matter although Diniz-Sanches went on to briefly edit Future Publishing's [[GAME (retailer)|GAME]] in-store magazine before jointly setting up the handheld gaming specialist website, [http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk Pocket Gamer]

In February 2004 (E133) the editorship of the magazine passed back to [[Tony Mott]], a previous editor, who guided the magazine away from its heavy emphasis on video game culture (cultivated throughout the Diniz-Sanches era) back into more traditional areas of video game hardware previews and specific game-related editorial. This move was bemoaned by many readers and some high-profile video games journalists such as [[Stuart Campbell]] on their websites, but has perhaps contributed to a steady rise in the official ABC figures for ''Edge'''s readership.


==Trivia==
==Trivia==
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{{NPOV-section}}
{{NPOV-section}}
In [[November]] [[2005]], a German translation was launched.
In [[November]] [[2005]], a German translation was launched. It is a translation of selected articles from the original Edge, usually dropping articles of minor interest to the German audience. The translation is considered below standard.{{fact}} The cover is usually altered by adding text to make it more in line with the German market. These changes to the original are generally frowned upon by fans of the English magazine,{{fact}} not affecting the reputation among people new to either the hobby or video gaming press which does not expect comparably high standards. Even so, the German Edge maintains a relatively high readership due to the high price of the original edition when imported to Germany and the quality of the source articles.


===Spanish===
===Spanish===
{{NPOV-section}}
{{NPOV-section}}
⚫
of ''Edge'' shares some staff from the "On/Off" editorial <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.globuscom.es/staffs/staffonoff.htm | title=On/Off staff | accessdate=2006-05-30}}</ref>, a "Globus" magazine about DVD video and consumer technology, not in any way related to video games <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.globuscom.es/sum/onoff1.htm | title=On/Off Magazine | accessdate=2006- 05-30}}</ref>.
A localised edition of ''Edge'' was launched in [[Spain]] on [[April 15]], [[2006]] by publisher ''Globus'', with an initial run of 50,000 copies for the first issue{{fact}}. It is essentially a translated version of the original magazine with a few additional articles and extra reviews of games that fit the tastes of Spanish audiences.

⚫
The translation is very poor usually making the magazine hard to read, and completely incomprehensible in some cases due to the translators lack of knowledge about the video games industry. The local writers are unskilled compared to the professionals of the original ''Edge'' publication.{{fact}} "Globus" didn't hire any experienced writers{{fact}} but re- uses and shares some staff from the "On/Off" editorial <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.globuscom.es/staffs/staffonoff.htm | title=On/Off staff | accessdate=2006-05-30}}</ref>, a "Globus" magazine about DVD video and consumer technology, not in any way related to video games <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.globuscom.es/sum/onoff1.htm | title=On/Off Magazine | accessdate=2006- 05-30}}</ref>.

The spanish edition arrives at least one month later than the original, so the latest spanish issue is the translation of the english one released one month ago. It usually removes some articles from the "current" english issue adding others from months ago, and the actual cover can also be replaced with an older one. The second issue (May 2006) features an old and outdated PS3 main article and cover from months ago. It also lacks of some articles from the "current" (April 2006) UK edition, like the ''[[Virtua Fighter 5]]'' one.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.globuscom.es/sum/edge1.htm | title=Spanish Edge issue 2 (May 2006) | accessdate=2006-05-30}}</ref>

The translation of the "Gangs of London" review scored a 7 out of 10 in the spanish edition, while in the original english review it got a 3 out of 10. It's not a factual error, the editorial translates the original reviews and raise the score "when needed" or replace the low scored reviews with local ones with higher scores, just to keep the advertisers happy.{{fact}}

All in all, the spanish edition has only kept the ''Edge'' name from the ''Edge'' publication, having a bad reception from the people that expected it to be on the same level as the original.{{fact}}


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 03:30, 25 November 2006

Edge
EditorMargaret Robertson
CategoriesComputer and video games
FrequencyMonthly
Circulation33,522[1]
First issueOctober 1993
CompanyFuture Publishing
CountryUnited Kingdom, Spain
LanguageEnglish, Spanish
WebsiteEdge online

Edge is a multi-format computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. It is well known for its industry contacts, uncompromising editorial stance (which has frequently given it problems in obtaining pre-release review code for games), yearly awards, and longevity. The magazine is very strict in its scoring; it was several years before any game was given a ten-out-of-ten rating, and the scores it grants major games are often controversial. In 2003 it celebrated its tenth anniversary.

The magazine was launched by Steve Jarratt, a long-time video games journalist who has launched many different magazines for Future. The current editor is Margaret Robertson.[2] Other regular contributors to the magazine include My Life In Orange author Tim Guest, Digitiser founder "Mr Biffo" and game developer Jeff Minter. Previous columnists have included Trigger Happy author Steven Poole, who chose to end his column after issue 148 (marked April 2005), and Toshihiro Nagoshi of Sega's Amusement Vision, whose column has been on hiatus since issue 142 (November 2004). Artwork for the cover of the magazine's hundredth issue was specially provided by Shigeru Miyamoto.

A forerunner of the magazine was ACE[3] and its main competitor is Games™. Between 1995 and 2002, some of the content from the UK edition of Edge was published in the United States as Next Generation.

List of games receiving a "ten out of ten" score

See also: Computer and video games that have been considered the greatest ever

It was almost three years before Edge gave a game a rating of "ten-out-of-ten". The magazine has only awarded this score—which prior to issue 143 was defined as "revolutionary"—to five games:[4]

Posthumous Awards

In December 2002, Edge awarded posthumous "ten-out-of-ten" ratings to the following titles:

In Edge's 10th anniversary issue in 2003, GoldenEye 007 (1997) was included as one of the magazine's top ten shooters, along with a note that it was "the only other game" that should have received a "ten out of ten" rating. The game had originally been awarded a "nine out of ten", with the magazine later stating that "a ten was considered, but eventually rejected".

Special issues

A number of Edge special editions were published in the UK. These included:

  • "The 100 most significant reviews from the first 100 issues" (2001) - A collection of reprints of notable reviews from the magazine's history, along with retrospective commentary on each game. In addition to reviews of popular titles (including the three "ten out of ten" scores that had been awarded during that period), it also included Edge's comments on notable hyped disappointments such as Rise of the Robots and Daikatana. The issue also included an index of the content of those 100 issues of the magazine.
  • "Retro: The Guide to Classic Videogame Playing and Collection" (2002) - This was the most fully formed of the Edge specials being an edition of the magazine that only featured new material. It took the format of the standard edition Edge including all of the usual columnists, reviews, and features, albeit themed around retro and classic video games.
  • "Retro: The Making Of... Special" (2002) - The second edition in the Retro series was a collection of "Making of" features, most of which had run previously in the main magazine. These features usually contained interviews with the makers of classic video games talking about the process invoved in their title's creation.
  • "Equip: PlayStation 2"
  • "Equip: GameCube"
  • "Equip: PC"
  • "Equip: Xbox"
  • Specials issue ten: "Retro: The Collector's Series" - This final edition in the Retro series reprinted all of the "Collector's Series" of articles from the main magazine. Each feature focused on a specific video game console of yesteryear and examined its history and the collectors market surrounding its rare or collectable games. Unusually for Edge, the majority of these articles were written by one video games journalist, Simon Parkin – a long-time freelance contributor to the magazine.[5]

Editorial history

In February 2004 then editor of Edge, Joao Diniz-Sanches, left the magazine along with all of the editorial team bar one (Margaret Robertson - current editor of the magazine). No details were officially given as to why the team walked out of the magazine

In February 2004 (E133) the editorship of the magazine passed back to Tony Mott, a previous editor.

Trivia

  • Edge has only ever awarded a score of one to a single game, Kabuki Warriors.
  • Edge does not credit individual writers but instead references itself as one collective being in the third person, often printed in bold type.
  • Prior to Margaret Robertson's promotion to editorship, veteran video games journalist Tony Mott was senior editor of the magazine. Notably, this was Mott's second time as editor of Edge having been replaced a few years earlier by Joao Diniz-Sanches. Diniz-Sanches left the magazine in 2003 (taking with him his whole editorial team bar one - Margaret Robertson) in a cloud of undisclosed controversy.

Foreign Editions

Australian

An Australian edition was briefly published in early 2004, for less than six months. The Australian edition consisted mostly of content from the UK edition, along with news on the local games industry.

German

In November 2005, a German translation was launched.

Spanish

A localised edition of Edge was launched in Spain on April 15, 2006 by publisher Globus, which shares some staff from the "On/Off" editorial [6], a "Globus" magazine about DVD video and consumer technology, not in any way related to video games [7]. It lacks of some articles from the "current" (April 2006) UK edition, like the Virtua Fighter 5 one.[8]

References

  1. ^ "ABCs Show UK Game Magazine Circulation Issues". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2006-09-09.
  2. ^ "Margaret Robertson appointed Editor of Edge". gamesindustry.biz. April 20, 2006.
  3. ^ "Multi Format Magazines". Retrogames. Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  4. ^ "Edge Online : Reviews Database". Edge Magazine. Future. Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  5. ^ "Chewing Pixels biog". Retrieved 2006-09-19.
  6. ^ "On/Off staff". Retrieved 2006-05-30.
  7. ^ "On/Off Magazine". Retrieved 2006- 05-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  8. ^ "Spanish Edge issue 2 (May 2006)". Retrieved 2006-05-30.

External links

Template:Computer Magazines

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