Customer Reviews

Official Xbox Magazine [with DVD] (1-year)

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(51)

 

 

If you've got a 'BOX (and why would you be subscribing to this mag if you didn't?) DON'T get the subscription without the disc. somebody got me the subscription from here as a gift, and i have to occaisionaly go out and buy a second copy of the mag just so i can get the disc! (hello, splinter cell demo!)

The magazine itself is a wicked great read; all of the editors have distinctly cool personalities and game preferences. In the year that i've been reading, i've gotten to know all of their gaming preferences and feel i can trust their reviews of the games i'm looking for advice on.

to sum up my feelings on the magazine: i'm always excited when i get a new one, i always read it from cover to cover, i'm always sad when i finish the last page, i'm always waiting for the next one, and i've never been disappointed.

I have a subscription to this magazine which comes with the demo disc. The magazine itself is great. Typical of all Imagine publications, there is quite a bit of humor to be found in the mag. The screenshots are clear, the writers are knowledgeable about XBOX technology and the reviews are generally right on. When they rate a game, they aren't afraid to be honest and this has saved me some money from buying games that I THOUGHT looked good, but turned out to be pretty bad. Let's face it, new games are $50 and that's no small sum for anyone.

If you own an XBOX or are thinking of buying one, this should be required reading for you.

Honestly, I am so glad I only paid $5 for a 1 year subscription, and will NOT be renewing. Why?

1. All game demos can be downloaded from xbox live(Gold or Silver memberships) for free. The ONLY thing occasionally interesting on the disc is the occasional free gamerpic. If this was really to be of value they could throw in a premium theme or avatar gear from time to time...but they haven't yet.

2. Stale articles - by the time I get the magazine, I've already read news online for free from my favoirte gaming websites. Rarely do any print magazines scoop the internet. Unless you like the feel of glossy paper in your hands, I just don't see the value in paying for a gaming magazine anymore. I'm a cheapskate trying to be thrifty in this struggling economy, and I just don't see any value in magazines like this anymore.

3. I will say it is a nifty feature that they keep a full archive of every video game review on the disc they provide every month, but again it is freely available on the internet and easier to find the review for the game of interest online than via the disc.

Ok, I know I am not a great writer, but I hope this review is of value to someone.

Cheers!

As the other reviewers have noted, the real value of this magazine is the disk. There have been many games I thought I wanted to buy, only to be severely disappointed by the demo. The money you shell out for the disk will pay for itself in games you don't buy after playing the demos. As for the magazine itself, it is useful and entertaining. You have to read through the bias though. Remember, they work for Microsoft.

Half of the reason to get the Official Xbox Magazine is because of the demo disc. Unlike the Official PS Magazine or Nintendo Power (Official magazines for their respective consoles), the official Xbox magazine provides very little in terms of magazine content. Just one or two short articles, some previews and reviews. So what is the magazines saving grace? The demo disc. So when you subscribe, find an offer so that you get the disc.

My 3 star rating has less to do with the magazine itself than the fact that I ordered this subscription after reading that the magazines would include the XBox game disc. I was excited that I had found such a great deal, mainly because the price is about half what I saw it going for everywhere else. But days after my order, I got an email saying that the descriptions were wrong, and there would be no game disc included. I cancelled my subscription and I'll probably just end up paying the extra money to get the subscription that includes the demos.

Here's the deal, I purchased this subscription thinking "[PRINT + DVD]" was actually TRUE. My first issue just came with NO DEMO DISC, and after calling Future (the subscription service provider) I was informed that the only way to get the Demo Disc is to either pay an extra dollar per issue over the phone, or have my amazon subscription canceled, and a new one started directly through them. Of course you have to pay again, and wait 4-6 weeks for a refund check for the original subscription.

In summary:

1 year subscription of magazine from Amazon = $24.95

1 year subscription of magazine AND DEMO DISC from Official Xbox Magizine website = $24.95

You fail Amazon

I'm a mom who didn't know about the demo disk that does not come with this subscription. My son is very disappointed with this subscription through Amazon, and he ends up buying the store copy just for the demo disk.

This is a great magazine, and well worth the money. It has great articles and reviews.

HOWEVER, why would any sane person subscribe to this with out the disk? The extra few bucks are worth having the demo disk every month. Don't waste your time with out the disk, go to the horse's mouth, spend the extra few bucks, and get it with the demo disk!

I enjoy the magazine but.....FYI - this magazine does NOT include the demo discs with each issue. (...)