Official Xbox Magazine

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Official Xbox Magazine
December 2006 issue of Official Xbox Magazine
Editor Francesca Reyes
Categories Xbox, Xbox 360
Frequency 13 yearly
Circulation 425,000/month (US)[1] and 66,894/month (UK)[2]
First issue 2001
Company Future Publishing
Country U.S.A
Language English
Website Official Website
ISSN 1534-7850

Official Xbox Magazine is a monthly video game magazine which started in November 2001 around the launch time of the original Xbox. A preview issue was released for E3 2001, with another preview issue for November 2001. The magazine is bundled with a disc that includes game demos, preview videos and trailers, and other content, such as game or Xbox updates and free gamerpics. For those without broadband and Xbox Live access, the discs also provide the software for the Xbox 360 for backward compatibility of original Xbox games.

The magazine features previews, reviews, and cheat codes for Xbox games. On November 22, 2005 the Xbox 360 was released, and the magazine began including Xbox 360 game reviews, previews, and Xbox 360-compatible games on the demo disc. The Official Xbox Magazine is dedicated to review every single Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade, downloadable content, and expansion pack title that ever comes out no matter how small or unpopular the game is.

Contents

[edit] Staff

The current editor-in-chief is Francesca Reyes, while the UK version is edited by Jon Hicks. The US magazine's executive editor is Paul Curthoys and the senior editors are Dan Amrich, Ryan McCaffrey. Several subsidiary magazines of the UK version are published in other parts of the world, such as those to the rest of Europe, Australia, and Brazil. OXM is the sister magazine to PC Gamer, although OXM rates games out of 10.0 at 0.5 incremental points, compared to PC Gamer which rates games on out of 100% with 1% increments. OXM used to host several pages for a Review Roundup, which was a summary of all previous game scores, but due to the sheer number of games that have been reviewed since then, it is now included within every OXM demo disc, beginning with the August 2006 issue.

[edit] UK Edition

The UK edition was relaunched in September 2005 to pre-empt the launch of Xbox 360 in Europe. Its title was changed to Xbox 360: The Official Magazine. The original editor was Stephen Brown and the team consisted of Features Editor Gary Cutlack, Community Editor Ben Talbot, Reviews Editor Dan Griliopoulos, Operations Editor Vanessa Hards and Online Editor Graeme Boyd. The current team includes Editor Jon Hicks (journalist), Staff Writer Gillen McAllister, Online Editor Ryan King and Community Editor Ben Talbot.

Both the magazine and disc differ considerably from the US edition. The disc does not feature the game 'OXM Universe' but includes an interactive database of all reviews written after Issue 18.

[edit] Magazine Content

On the Disc
Every issue contains a demo disc with both Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade games. Each demo contains unlockable content like gamer pics and hidden demos. There is also a sim-like game called 'OXM Universe'. Gamers play the games on disc and view the videos on the disc to gain points, but only 800 points are needed for the unlockable content. The points have another use in which gamers use their points to research and build equipment for the in-game game 'OXM Universe'.
We Heart Xbox
In this section, new games which are not yet shown to the mainstream public or user-modified hardware such as consoles or faceplates are shown here.
Message Center
Besides showing readers' mail, the OXM crew reveals their 'Top 5' things on their mind at the moment. The 'Top 5' tradition was broke in Issue #85 of July, 2008, when the staff instead answered to the question "What's your worst habit - and do you even want to break it?"
Xbox Next
In this section, upcoming games are highlighted and previewed.
Features
In this section, games may get prolonged previews, or OXM may have an exclusive 6-10 page review for a certain game. There may also be special featured content like Issue #77's 'HDTV Buyer's Guide'.
Xbox Now
This is the section where every Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox Live Arcade game, and downloadable content is reviewed.
Xbox 365
This section contains Xbox business articles, gaming news, 'Hard Stuff' (a section that reviews contraptions related to an Xbox console), '2,000 Pennies or Less' (a section that shows the best cheap games that can be bought for either Xbox or Xbox 360), the codes of the month, 'Forza Showroom' (a brief column that shows some of the best Forza Motorsport 2 car designs that people have made), a section for versing the OXM crew in games like Lost Planet, Halo 3, Gears of War, and more, 'Media Ho!' (a section that talks about movies, books, and other items related to games), 'Live Space' (a section which shows gamers' Xbox Live gamertags, 'Ask Dr. Gamer' (a section in which gamers ask a Health doctor gaming related information), and 'The (insert something here) of Xbox' (a section that talks about business and other things of the Xbox gaming world. The column 'The Business of Xbox' was written by Geoff Keighley through the May 2007 issue, but the column is currently written, on a less frequent basis, by Chris Morris. As of Issue #71, the end page rotates columnists, with guests including game creators Tim Schafer, Denis Dyack, and Randy Pitchford.

[edit] Review system

Up until issue #52, Official Xbox Magazine used a 100-point system, scoring games out of 10.0 with .1 increments. All games receiving at least a 9.0 received an Editor's Choice award. Beginning with issue 53 (Holiday 2005), OXM switched to a 20-point scoring system, scoring games out of 10.0 with increments of 0.5. This ratings scale is detailed on the introduction page to every issue's review section. A score of 10.0 is not considered perfect, but is called "Classic" and is considered to be "one of those rare and very best of games." OXM's review scale does include a score of 11.0 (termed "Mecha Godzilla's Choice") as "Perfect," however the description for that score is "The unicorn. Will never happen. Never."

Seven games have received a 10/10 score from OXM: Fight Night Round 3, Gears of War, BioShock, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect, Grand Theft Auto IV (UK edition only).

OXM also has begun reviewing Xbox Live Downloadable Content (DLC), on a three-point scale: Buy, Fanboys Only, and Deny. The exception is The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles expansion pack in issue 70, which, due to the game's size, being "much more than a simple map pack" was reviewed on the normal 10-point scale, receiving an 8.5 (Great).

[edit] Bonus materials

Some disks have come with additional material for Xbox games. Early issues' demo disk included a costume expansion to Dead or Alive 3. Some material seen only available for download on Xbox Live was included on demo disks.

[edit] Podcasts

Audio Podcast

KOXM is the weekly Official Xbox Magazine podcast, hosted by Dan Amrich and Ryan McCaffrey. The audio podcast features a recap in the week's past events and game releases, two trivia contests (Name That Xbox Sound Effect and Dan's Useless Trivia) for a prize (usually a tee shirt), and developer interviews.

Video Podcast

The OXM Video Podcast is updated much less frequently, with gaps over a month or more. Hosted by Ryan McCaffrey, the podcast features game discussions and developer interviews.

[edit] Awards

On October 12 2007, the UK edition was awarded 'Best Xbox Magazine' at the Games Media Awards. [3]

[edit] Criticism

One notable criticism of OXM can be seen in a Penny-Arcade comic, where OXM is referred to as a "husk or peel for the demo disk" that should be "thrown away immediately upon removal.". The disk in question contained an exclusive demo for Eternal Sonata.[4] This can be taken as either a criticism of the magazine's content and quality, or as a satiric comment on its existence as a print product in a space dominated by online outlets. However, it is most likely a display of Penny Arcade's enthusiasm for the Eternal Sonata demo, as opposed to a distaste for the magazine.

[edit] Favouring Microsoft

As an officially branded Xbox product, some have alleged the magazine is biased to first-party titles.[citation needed] However, Official Xbox Magazine is created under license by an independent, external company (Future US, publisher of gaming magazines including PC Gamer, PSM, and Nintendo Power); that licensing agreement lasts until 2011.[5] In the Magazine Stuff section of its Frequently Asked Questions list, OXM maintains that its content is not dictated by Microsoft.[6]

Despite the allegations of favorable bias,[citation needed] recent high-profile first-party games Shadowrun and Crackdown received review scores of 7.0, which were on-par or lower-than-average ratings.[7] Currently, there is no statistical evidence to suggest that OXM's review scores are unusually favorable to Microsoft games.

[edit] Controversy

Amuze, developers of Headhunter Redemption pointed out certain factual errors in Official Xbox Magazine review of the game, implying that the reviewer did not play enough of the game to write a proper evaluation of it.[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Future US: Official Xbox Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  2. ^ Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine: Print. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
  3. ^ "Media stars hailed at the GMAs" (10 2007). MCV. 
  4. ^ Penny Arcade! - Shucking: A Tutorial
  5. ^ Xbox is key to Future - news - www.mcvuk.com
  6. ^ Xbox.com | Official Xbox Magazine - The OXM FAQ - please read!
  7. ^ Crackdown Reviews
  8. ^ Amuze

[edit] External links

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