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UK video game magazine From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edge is a multi-format video game magazine published by Future plc. It is a UK-based magazine and publishes 13 issues annually. The magazine was launched by Steve Jarratt. It has also released foreign editions in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
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One of four covers of Issue 323 (Oct 2018), the 25th anniversary edition | |
| Editor | Tony Mott |
|---|---|
| Deputy editor | Chris Schilling |
| Art director | Warren Brown |
| Operations editor | Miriam McDonald |
| Categories | Computer and video games |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Circulation | Unavailable from 2015[1] 18,082 (Jan – Dec 2014)[2] 20,485 (Jan – Dec 2013)[3] 25,571 (Jan – Dec 2012)[4] |
| Publisher | Future Publishing |
| First issue | October 1993 |
| Company | Future plc |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Based in | Bath, UK |
| Language | English |
| Website | www |
| ISSN | 1350-1593 |
The magazine was launched in October 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] Alex Wiltshire was the magazine's editor from May 2012 to March 2013,[10][11] followed by Nathan Brown. Jen Simpkins took over the editor's role from Nathan Brown in April 2020.[12]
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;[13][14] the Edge website and blog were subsequently incorporated into the NextGen site.[15] In July 2008, the whole site was rebranded under the Edge title, as that was the senior of the two brands.[16][17] In May 2014 it was reported that Future intended to close the websites of Edge, Computer and Video Games and their other videogame publications;[18] in December 2014, it was confirmed that the C&VG website would close and its content would instead be published at GamesRadar,[19] and in January 2015, it was announced that the same would happen to the Edge website.[20] Between 2015 and 2018, Edge articles were occasionally republished on Kotaku UK.[21][22]
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.
Each issue includes a "Making-of" article on a particular game, usually including an interview with one of the original developers.[23] 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.[24]
"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,[25] 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.[26]
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":
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.[27] 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 twenty-seven games:
| Title | Platforms | Issue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Super Mario 64[28] | Nintendo 64 | E035 | 1996 |
| Gran Turismo[29] | PlayStation | E055 | 1998 |
| The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time[30] | Nintendo 64 | E066 | 1998 |
| Halo: Combat Evolved[31] | Xbox | E105 | 2001 |
| Half-Life 2[32] | Windows | E143 | 2004 |
| Halo 3[33] | Xbox 360 | E181 | 2007 |
| The Orange Box[34] | Windows, Xbox 360 | E182 | 2007 |
| Super Mario Galaxy[35] | Wii | E183 | 2007 |
| Grand Theft Auto IV[36] | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | E189 | 2008 |
| LittleBigPlanet[37] | PlayStation 3 | E195 | 2008 |
| Bayonetta[38] | Xbox 360 | E209 | 2009 |
| Super Mario Galaxy 2[39] | Wii | E215 | 2010 |
| Rock Band 3[40] | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | E222 | 2010 |
| The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword[41] | Wii | E234 | 2011 |
| The Last of Us[42] | PlayStation 3 | E255 | 2013 |
| Grand Theft Auto V[43] | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | E259 | 2013 |
| Bayonetta 2[44] | Wii U | E272 | 2014 |
| Bloodborne | PlayStation 4 | E279 | 2015 |
| The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | Nintendo Switch, Wii U | E304 | 2017 |
| Super Mario Odyssey[45] | Nintendo Switch | E312 | 2017 |
| Red Dead Redemption 2[46] | PlayStation 4, Xbox One | E326 | 2018 |
| Dreams | PlayStation 4 | E344 | 2020 |
| Elden Ring | PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S | E370 | 2022 |
| Immortality[47] | Android, iOS, Windows, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 | E375 | 2022 |
| The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Nintendo Switch | E385 | 2023 |
| Baldur's Gate 3 | Windows, PlayStation 5 | E389 | 2023 |
| Astro Bot | PlayStation 5 | E403 | 2024 |
| Rank | Series | Number of 10/10 scores | Developer(s) | Timescale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Super Mario | 4 | Nintendo EAD/EPD | 1996–2017 |
| The Legend of Zelda | 1998–2023 | |||
| 2 | Bayonetta | 2 | PlatinumGames | 2009–2014 |
| Grand Theft Auto | Rockstar North | 2008–2013 | ||
| Half-Life (inc. The Orange Box) | Valve | 2004–2007 | ||
| Halo | Bungie | 2001–2007 |
In contrast, only two titles have received a one-out-of-ten rating, Kabuki Warriors[48] and FlatOut 3: Chaos & Destruction.[49]
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 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.
A number of Edge special editions were published in the UK. These included:
An Edge Special Edition - "the 30th anniversary special edition" - 100 greatest games of Edge's lifetime (2023)[57]
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 in May 2009. It includes articles translated from the UK magazine alongside original local content.[58] The magazine was cancelled in November 2010, with 18 issues.[59]
A translated selection of articles are published with the French magazine Joypad. In 2017, La Financière de Loisirs licensed the title for France, starting with a 200 pages special issue about popular games that changed the gaming industry, as well AAA as indies.
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 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.
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,[60] a Globus magazine about DVD video and consumer technology, not in any way related to video games.[61] It lacks some articles contained in the UK edition, such as the Virtua Fighter 5 story which was omitted from the corresponding Spanish edition.[62]
At the end of May 2009, a post in the official Edge Spanish forums[63] 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.
In October 2017, a new official Edge Spanish edition is released. A new number comes every two months.
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