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This article is about the print magazine covering computer and video games. For the online scientific magazine, see Edge – the third culture.

Edge
File:EdgeIssue234.jpg
The cover of Edge Issue 234 (December 2011)
EditorTony Mott
Staff writersBen Maxwell
CategoriesComputer and video games
FrequencyMonthly
Circulation24,443 (Jan – Dec 2011)[1]
29,007 (Jan – Dec 2009)[2]
28,898 (Jul – Dec 2008)[3]
31,304 (Jul – Dec 2007)[4]
35,145 (Jul – Dec 2006)[5]
PublisherMatthew Pierce
First issueOctober 1993
CompanyFuture plc
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.gamesradar.com/edge
ISSN1350-1593

Edge is a multi-format video game magazine published by Future plc in the United Kingdom, which publishes 13 issues of the magazine per year. It is known for its industry contacts, editorial stance, distinctive anonymous third-person writing style, yearly awards and longevity.[citation needed]

History

The magazine was launched in August 1993 by Steve Jarratt, a long-time video games journalist who has launched several other magazines for Future.

The artwork for the cover of the magazine's 100th issue was specially provided by Shigeru Miyamoto. The 200th issue was released in March 2009 with 200 different covers, each commemorating a single game; 199 variants were in general circulation, and one was exclusive to subscribers.[6] Only 200 magazines were printed with each cover, sufficient to more than satisfy Edge's circulation of 28,898.[7]

In October 2003, the then-editor of Edge, João Diniz-Sanches, left the magazine along with deputy editor David McCarthy and other staff writers.[8] After the walkout, the editorship of Edge passed back to Tony Mott, who had been editor prior to Diniz-Sanches. The only team member to remain was Margaret Robertson, who in 2006 replaced Mott as editor.[9] In May 2007, Robertson stepped down as editor and was replaced by Tony Mott, taking over as editor for the third time.[10]

Between 1995 and 2002, some of the content from the UK edition of Edge was published in the United States as Next Generation. In 2007, Future's US subsidiary, Future US began re-publishing selected recent Edge features on the Next Generation website;[11][12] the Edge website and blog were subsequently incorporated into the NextGen site.[13] In July 2008, the whole site was rebranded under the Edge title, as that was the senior of the two brands.[14][15] In May 2014 it was reported that Future intended to close the websites of Edge, Computer and Video Games and their other videogame publications;[16] in December 2014, it was confirmed that the C&VG website would close and its content would instead be published at GamesRadar,[17] and in January 2015, it was announced that the same would happen to the Edge website.[18]

Edge has been redesigned three times since the magazine launched. The first redesign occurred in 1999; the second in 2004; and the third in 2011. The first redesign altered the magazine's dimensions to be wider than the original shape. The latest design changes the magazine's physical dimensions for the second time, and introduces a higher quality of paper stock than was previously used.

Features

Each issue includes a "Making-of" article on a particular game, usually including an interview with one of the original developers.[19] Issue 143 introduced the "Time Extend" series of retrospective articles. Like the "making-of" series, each focuses on a single game and, with the benefit of hindsight, gives an in-depth examination of its most interesting or innovative attributes.[20]

"Codeshop" examines more technical subjects such as 3D modelling programs or physics middleware, while "Studio Profile" and "University Profile" are single-page summaries ("like Top Trumps, but for game dev") of particular developers or publishers, and game-related courses at higher education institutions.

Although an overall list of contributors is printed in each issue's indicia, the magazine typically has not used bylines to credit individual writers to specific reviews and articles, instead only referring to the anonymous Edge as a whole. Since 2014, some contributed features are credited with a byline. The magazine's regular columnists have been consistently credited throughout the magazine's run. The current columnists are James Leach, Clint Hocking and Tadhg Kelly. In addition, several columnists appear toward the beginning of the magazine to talk about the game industry as a whole, rather than focusing on specific game design topics. They are Trigger Happy author Steven Poole,[21] Leigh Alexander, and Brian Howe, whose parody article section "You're Playing It Wrong" began with the new redesign.

Previous columnists have included Paul Rose ("Mr Biffo", the founder of Digitiser), Toshihiro Nagoshi of Sega's Amusement Vision, author Tim Guest (whose column on MMOs preceded the publication of his book Second Lives), N'Gai Croal, and game developer Jeff Minter. In addition, numerous columns were published anonymously under the pseudonym "RedEye", and several Japanese writers contributed to a regular feature called "Something About Japan".

James Hutchinson's comic strip Crashlander was featured in Edge between issues 143 and 193.[22]

Scoring

Edge scores games on a ten-point scale, from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 10, with five as ostensibly the average rating. For much of the magazine's run, the magazine's review policy stated that the scores broadly correspond to one of the following "sentiments":

1 - disastrous 2 - appalling 3 - severely flawed 4 - disappointing 5 - average 6 - competent 7 - distinguished 8 - excellent 9 - astounding 10 - revolutionary

However, with issue 143 the scoring system was changed to a simple list of "10 = ten, 9 = nine..." and so on, a tongue-in-cheek reference to people who read too much into review scores.[23] It was almost three years before Edge gave a game a rating of ten out of ten, and to date the score has been given to eighteen games:

List of games with a top 10/10 score
Title Platforms Issue Year
Super Mario 64[24] Nintendo 64 E035 1996
Gran Turismo[25] PlayStation E055 1997
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time[26] Nintendo 64 E066 1998
Halo: Combat Evolved[27] Xbox E105 2001
Half-Life 2[28] Windows E143 2004
Halo 3[29] Xbox 360 E181 2007
The Orange Box[30] PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 E182 2007
Super Mario Galaxy[31] Wii E183 2007
Grand Theft Auto IV[32] PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 E189 2008
LittleBigPlanet[33] PlayStation 3 E195 2008
Bayonetta[34] PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 E209 2009
Super Mario Galaxy 2[35] Wii E215 2010
Rock Band 3[36] PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 E222 2010
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword[37] Wii E234 2011
The Last of Us[38] PlayStation 3 E255 2013
Grand Theft Auto V[39] PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 E259 2013
Bayonetta 2[40] Wii U E272 2014
Bloodborne PlayStation 4 E279 2015

In contrast, only two titles have received a one-out-of-ten rating, Kabuki Warriors[41] and FlatOut 3: Chaos & Destruction.[42]

Retrospective awards

In a December 2002 retro gaming special, Edge retrospectively awarded ten-out-of-ten ratings to two titles released before the magazine's launch:

  • Elite (originally released in 1984)
  • Exile (originally released in 1988)

Edge also awarded a 10/10 score in one of the regular retrospective reviews in the magazine's normal run:

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 perhaps "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".

Resident Evil 4, which came second in Edge Presents The 100 Best Videogames, originally obtained a nine, but according to the 100 Best Videogames issue, it came "as near as dammit to the sixth (at the time) Edge ten".

The 20th anniversary issue (E258) published in August 2013 carried a feature called "The Ten Amendments", in which the following seven games' scores were retrospectively adjusted to ten-out-of-ten. A rationale was provided for each.

Special issues

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

"1996 essential hardware guide" (1996)
Special edition issue focussing on PS1, Saturn, Ultra 64, PC CD-ROM, 3DO, M2, Atari Jaguar, Amiga, Virtual Boy, Mega Drive, Super Nintendo. This was the first special edition produced, the front and spine displaying Premiere Issue.
"Essential hardware guide 2000" (2000)
Special edition featuring the top ten formats ever, Sir Clive revists the ZX Spectrum and sections on Xbox, PSOne, PS2, Dreamcast, Gamecube, GScube, Game Boy Color, PC, Game Boy Advance, Wonderswan Color, Ericsson R380s, Palm IIIc and GP32.
"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 retrogaming-themed special issue applied the format of the standard edition of Edge to classic video games. This was the most fully formed of the Edge specials, being an edition that only featured new material.
"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 involved in their title's creation.
"Equip: PlayStation 2"
"Equip: GameCube"
"Equip: PC"
"Equip: Xbox"
Each Equip issue discussed the state of a particular games platform, looking back on significant releases with the benefit of hindsight and outlining future developments. For example, the GameCube issue featured lengthy retrospectives on The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Animal Crossing, plus a feature on upcoming titles that would use the Nintendo GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable.
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.[44]
"FILE Volume 1" (2006)
"FILE Volume 2" (2007)
"FILE Volume 3" (2007)
Three "File" editions reprinted selected content originally published between 1993 and 1996 in Edge issues 1–36. Each volume of "File" covered 12 issues.[45]
"Edge Presents The Art of Videogames" (2007)
This went on sale 26 April 2007 showcasing the visual aspect of gaming.[46]
"Edge Presents The 100 Best Videogames" (2007)
On sale from 3 July 2007. The list was compiled through a combination of suggestions from Edge readers, Edge staff and additional "industry experts". Each game in the list had a retrospective article, a full-page illustration, and a sidebar listing readers' comments. In addition, the volume contained reprints of the magazine's previous "Top 100" lists from 2000 (issue 80) and 2003 (issue 128).[47] The top 10 of Edge Presents The 100 Best Videogames were:
  1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
  2. Resident Evil 4
  3. Super Mario 64
  4. Half-Life 2
  5. Super Mario World
  6. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
  7. Halo: Combat Evolved
  8. Final Fantasy XII
  9. Tetris
  10. Super Metroid


"The 100 Greatest Videogames"(2015)

Foreign editions

Australia

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.

Brazil

The Brazilian edition was launched in Brazil on May 2009. It includes articles translated from the UK magazine alongside original local content.[48] The magazine was cancelled in November 2010, with 18 editions.[49]

France

A translated selection of articles are published with the French magazine Joypad.

Germany

In November 2005, a German translation was launched by the publishing house Computec Media AG. The German edition was thinner than the English original, the covers were slightly changed and the ratings raised. In January 2007 it was changed to a bi-monthly schedule and in July 2007 it was finally shut down.

Italian

Main article: Game Pro

In October 2004, an Italian localised edition was launched under the name Videogiochi and published by Future Italy. In December 2006, Future Italy was sold to Sprea Editori which renamed it Game Pro in May 2007. Last issue: September 2009.

Spanish

A localised edition of Edge was launched in Spain on 15 April 2006 by publisher Globus, which shares some staff from the On/Off editorial,[50] a Globus magazine about DVD video and consumer technology, not in any way related to video games.[51] It lacks some articles contained in the UK edition, such as the Virtua Fighter 5 story which was omitted from the corresponding Spanish edition.[52]

At the end of May 2009, a post in the official Edge Spanish forums[53] made by the main administrator, stated that Globus was about to close its video game division, which meant the closure of the Spanish edition of Edge and NGamer. Consequently, issue No. 36 (March 2009) is to date the last Edge published in Spain. Globus still holds the rights on Edge's Spanish localisation, and will eventually retake its publishing if the magazine seems profitable enough.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Standard Certificate of Circulation – Edge" (PDF). ABC. 16 February 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  2. ^ "Standard Certificate of Circulation – EDGE". ABC. 11 February 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  3. ^ "Standard Certificate of Circulation – Edge". ABC. 12 February 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2009.
  4. ^ "Standard Certificate of Circulation – Edge". ABC. 14 February 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
  5. ^ "Further decline for print mags". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
  6. ^ "Edge 200 on Sale Now". Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  7. ^ "Edge Magazine". ABC Ltd. 11 March 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Bramwell, Tom (30 October 2003). "Senior EDGE staff quit". Gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 13 December 2006.
  9. ^ "Margaret Robertson appointed Editor of Edge". gamesindustry.biz. 20 April 2006.
  10. ^ "Edge editor quits Future". gamesindustry.biz. 21 May 2007.
  11. ^ "Edge Section : Next Generation". Future US. 2007. Archived from the original on 6 May 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2007.
  12. ^ "Offers Daily Edge Content – Edge Magazine". Next-gen.biz. 3 May 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  13. ^ Mott, Tony (26 September 2007). "Welcome to the new Edge blog". Next-Gen.biz. Archived from the original on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  14. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions (Edge Online)". Future US. 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
  15. ^ "Future to rebrand Next Gen website as Edge". Future US. 10 July 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
  16. ^ Dring, Christopher (29 May 2014). "Future plans 170 UK job cuts as it sells bikes and craft magazines". MCV. Newbay Media. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  17. ^ Dring, Christopher (19 December 2014). "Official: Future will close CVG website, news and reviews now coming to GamesRadar+". MCV. Newbay Media. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  18. ^ "Edge is moving to GamesRadar+". Edge. Future plc. 29 January 2015. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015. In late February, Edge is moving to GamesRadar+. We'll be joining CVG, Official PlayStation Magazine, Official Xbox Magazine and GamesMaster to create the most comprehensive gaming website in the world.
    Articles from the Edge archive will be available alongside new interviews, opinion and features and the best content from the website will be migrated over to our new GR+ homepage. Our print and digital editions will remain unchanged, as will our Facebook, Twitter and Google+ pages.
  19. ^ Examples of "The Making Of..." articles available online: System Shock 2 (archived from the original on 16 June 2011).
  20. ^ Examples of "Time Extend" articles available online: NiGHTS Into Dreams, Second Sight, Perfect Dark, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
  21. ^ Archive of "Trigger Happy" columns at Steven Poole's website
  22. ^ Hutchinson, James. "Crashlander Archive". Retrieved 31 October 2008.
  23. ^ "Does a perfect score mean a perfect game?" Games Radar
  24. ^ "Super Mario 64 review". Edge Online. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  25. ^ "Gran Turismo review". Edge Online. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  26. ^ "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Review". Edge Online. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  27. ^ "Halo: Combat Evolved review". Edge Online. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  28. ^ "Half-Life 2 Review". Edge Online. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  29. ^ "Halo 3 Review". Edge Online. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  30. ^ "The Orange Box review". Edge Online. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  31. ^ "Super Mario Galaxy review". Edge Online. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  32. ^ "Grand Theft Auto IV Review". Edge Online. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  33. ^ "LittleBigPlanet Review". Edge Online. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  34. ^ "Bayonetta review". Edge Online. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  35. ^ "Super Mario Galaxy 2 review". Edge Online. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  36. ^ "Rock Band 3 Review". Edge Online. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  37. ^ "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword review". Edge Online. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  38. ^ "The Last of Us review". Edge Online. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  39. ^ "Grand Theft Auto V review". Edge Online. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  40. ^ "Bayonetta 2". Edge. No. 272. Bath: Future Publishing. November 2014. pp. 100–103.
  41. ^ "Kabuki Warriors Review | Edge Online". Next-gen.biz. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  42. ^ "FlatOut 3: Chaos & Destruction review | Edge Online". Next-gen.biz. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  43. ^ Super Mario Bros.: Edge takes a fresh look at a seminal game classic from yesteryear. Edge. No. 122, April 2003, p. 107.
  44. ^ Simon Parkin. "Chewing Pixels biog". Retrieved 19 September 2006.
  45. ^ "The history of interactive entertainment". Future. Archived from the original on 8 December 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2006.
  46. ^ "Edge Presents The Art of Videogames". Edge Online. Future. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2007.
  47. ^ "The 100 Best Videogames". Future plc. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  48. ^ "Revista EDGE". Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  49. ^ "Revistas Edge e NGamer são canceladas no Brasil". Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  50. ^ "On/Off staff". Archived from the original on 26 October 2005. Retrieved 30 May 2006.
  51. ^ "On/Off Magazine". Retrieved 30 May 2006.
  52. ^ "Spanish Edge issue 2 (May 2006)". Archived from the original on 5 January 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2006.
  53. ^ "COMUNICADO DE DESPEDIDA No. 1". Archived from the original on 30 March 2009. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
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