The cover of Edge Issue 234 (December 2011) |
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| Editor | Tony Mott |
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| Categories | Computer and video games |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Circulation | 29,007 (Jan 09 - Dec 09)[1] 28,898 (Jul 08 - Dec 08)[2] 31,304 (Jul 07 - Dec 07)[3] 35,145 (Jul 06 - Dec 06)[4] |
| Publisher | Matthew Pierce |
| First issue | October 1993 |
| Company | Future Publishing |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Website | Edge online |
| ISSN | 1350-1593 |
Edge is a multi-format computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. It is known for its industry contacts, editorial stance, distinctive anonymous third-person writing style, yearly awards and longevity.
Contents |
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.[5] Only 200 magazines were printed with each cover, sufficient to more than satisfy Edge's circulation of 28,898.[6]
In October 2003, the then-editor of Edge, João Diniz-Sanches, left the magazine along with deputy editor David McCarthy and other staff writers.[7] 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.[8] In May 2007, Robertson stepped down as editor and was replaced by Tony Mott, taking over as editor for the third time.[9]
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 U.S. subsidiary, Future US began re-publishing selected recent Edge features on the Next Generation website;[10][11] the Edge website and blog were subsequently incorporated into the NextGen site.[12] In July 2008, the whole site was rebranded under the Edge title, as that was the senior of the two brands.[13][14]
Edge has been redesigned three times since the magazine launched. The first redesign occurred in 1999; the second in 2004; and the third and most recent 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.
Each issue includes a "Making-of" article on a particular game, usually including an interview with one of the original developers.[15] 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.[16] As of the new redesign, this feature has been removed.
"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 usually does not use bylines to credit individual writers to specific reviews and articles, instead only referring to the anonymous Edge as a whole. The magazine's regular columnists are exceptions to this practice. The four current columnists are James Leach, Randy Smith, Clint Hocking and Tadgh 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,[17] Leigh Alexander, and Brian Howe, whose parody article section "You're Playing It Wrong" began with the new redesign. In addition, several Japanese writers contributed to the regular "Something About Japan" feature, which no longer runs.
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".
James Hutchinson's comic strip Crashlander was featured in Edge between issues 143 and 193.[18]
It was almost three years before Edge gave a game a rating of ten out of ten. This score was previously defined as "revolutionary", with the other ratings having similar labels. 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 and a stab at magazines who often give high above average scores for most games.[19]
The magazine has awarded a 10/10 score to fourteen games:
In contrast, only one title has received a one-out-of-ten rating, Kabuki Warriors.
In a December 2002 retro gaming special, Edge retrospectively awarded ten-out-of-ten ratings to two titles released before the magazine's launch:
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 "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".
A number of Edge special editions were published in the UK. These included:
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.
The Brazilian edition was launched in Brazil on May 2009. It includes articles translated from the UK magazine alongside original local content.[24] The magazine was canceled in November 2010, with 18 editions.[25]
A translated selection of articles are published with the French magazine Joypad .
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.
In October 2004, an Italian localized 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.
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,[26] a Globus magazine about DVD video and consumer technology, not in any way related to video games.[27] It lacks some articles contained in the UK edition, such as the Virtua Fighter 5 story which was omitted from the corresponding Spanish edition.[28]
At the end of May, 2009, a post in the Official Edge Spanish forums [29] made by the main administrator, stated that Globus was about to close it's videogame division, which meant the closure of Edge magazine Spain and NGamer Spain. Consequently, issue Nº 36 (march 2009) is to date the last Edge magazine published in Spain. Globus still holds the rights on Edge's Spanish localization, and will eventually retake its publishing if the magazine seems profitable enough.
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