How a Game Magazine works
Inspired by the XBV thread and a misconception there.
General Info:
Cover: How is the cover decided? Well, EGM pretty much get's to pick and choose 1st, having the biggest circulation and all. Deals can also be made, such as "We'll give you x number of pages for the 1st cover on it". Cover is obviously very important, as people see that thing 1st.
Games: What's in on time, before the deadline. Usually, games are sent out en masse on one day, to all of the gaming magazines (same builds and such), unless it's the exclusive situation. Some times, companies will send PR people on a Trip around the country, and hit all the major mags and such. Pretty rare, and done if the game is very early and the company wants to limit access to it (they'll leave a PR asset disc for ScreenShots or a Build of it, if the game is more complete).
Generally, when a game is finalized, a company will send out 1-3 copies of it, along with extra materials. Nets and stuffed monkeys for Ape Escape, Shirts are very common, and so on.
Exclusives: Beyond the cover, things are negotiable. Companies want free pub and PR, mags want 1st look info. Getting an interview is easily done at E3, where people like Miyamoto, and teams and such have intervews set up throughout the day (or, in the latter's case, will do presentations with 6-8 journalists at the time).
Info: People talk, and even thought a PR contact is only going to be nice to get the free pub, sometimes they let things slip. Usually, you keep that under wraps, because that's the right thing to do. Sometimes, people talk too much, like Matt at IGN spilled the info on Link in SC2 far far too early. Guess breaking that info meant more than class, but I digress. You are told what people want to tell you, and the notion of 'journalists' is moot, there is no hunting down a trail of evidence to see what is what, you just get told what PR people want you to hear.
NDA's: Pretty rare, usually it's a situation of 'this game is embargoed online until X date, and print until X date', and that, along with the unspoken threat of 'fuck us over and you'll never deal with us again' is enough to keep things on the up and up. NDA's are usually done when going to a company, where you might see something and they, justly, want control over what you can and cannot say. I'd say an avg of 1-5 a year signed per editor.
Work load: Simpliest way to put it is 'do 400 words on this by the day after tomorrow' and so on. 400 a day is about a page, and, from what I hear, pretty standard on expected work.
Screenshots: You take them, via the computer, generally last, after the editorial deadline has arrived and the artists, busy doing layouts, have finalized them (leaving spots open for the shots).
PR Trips: =Perks, and such. Companies float almost the entire bill, and tailor it to the game. ATV riding for ATV Off Road Fury, Gun Shooting for a Gun Game or, one time, boxing against other jounalists for a Boxing game.
They pay:
airfare to wherever.
hotel room.
provide food.
show the game or whatever.
usually a good dinner/booze (always a plus).
You really only need money for expenses, or drugs. No, I'm not kidding about that last one, but, it's kept on the down low.
That's it, any questions?
