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Home The almighty dollar updates

Shocker: Official Xbox Magazine a blatant advertisement for Xbox games
3:34 PM on 04.16.2008, Jim Sterling 54 comments

Shocker: Official Xbox Magazine a blatant advertisement for Xbox games photo
     The almighty dollar

Sean Ridgley over at Neoseeker seems to have a problem with the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine. Not surprising, considering the entire cover is little more than a full-blown advertisement for Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (available now at all major retailers BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT and tell them Destructoid sent you). It can't even really be considered a magazine cover.

I have no problem with advertising of course, provided it doesn't encroach on the integrity of the editorial content (ie, reviewers and marketers not sleeping in the same dirty bed), but I must admit that the sheer obnoxious blatancy of this "cover" (complete with "advertisement" written at the top and bottom of the page) causes a raised eyebrow. At least they're being up front.

BUY TOM CLANCY'S RAINBOW SIX VEGAS 2 AVAILABLE ON XBOX 360 & PS3!

According to Insert Credit, the real cover is found underneath the advertisement by tearing along perforations, and reveals that the magazine's main focus is actually Fallout 3. It's not really a surprise that an official Xbox magazine, of all magazines, would be heavily advertising a videogame (and let's face it, we all have bills to pay), but to essentially obscure your magazine's entire cover in order to do it just strikes me as a little bit excessive. 

What do you think? A bit too heavy on the marketing, or is it all fair game in the name of the almighty dollar? Also, how much do you think OXM got from Ubisoft?


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galagabug 's Avatar
galagabug at 04/16/2008 15:34
[comment presented by Eidos]
i have no problems with it, and its a great way to stay in shape.
[/comment presented by Eidos]
MechaMonkey's Avatar
MechaMonkey at 04/16/2008 15:36
To obscure your entire cover does seem a bit extreme. But it is ad space, and Ubi paid for it. I'm curious to see what kind of review the game got in OXM though.
Neonie's Avatar
Neonie at 04/16/2008 15:36
They did the exact same thing with Darkstar on EGM a couple months ago. I could really care less, it's not that hard to pull a piece of paper off a cover.
DaedHead8's Avatar
DaedHead8 at 04/16/2008 15:36
Official Playstation Magazine used to do it and Game Informer does it from time to time. Not a big deal to me.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 04/16/2008 15:36
"Those covers CAN be removed and underneath are THE REAL covers"

Which I mentioned in the article.

To me, a magazine's cover is to tell you what is happening in the magazine. It's meant to sell the book, not someone else's game. I'm not offended by the ad, but I think it's silly.
Neonie's Avatar
Neonie at 04/16/2008 15:38
I'm sorry "Darksector" not "Darkstar" my bad.
lvl54spacemonkey's Avatar
lvl54spacemonkey at 04/16/2008 15:39
I posted this on gamefaqs and no-one could see the issue. Glad Jim sees it the same way as me. Remember when all magazines had real artwork? They should bring that back.
DryvBy's Avatar
DryvBy at 04/16/2008 15:41
Needless to say, the irony in all this is when you actually go out and buy R6 Vegas 2, ads are once again thrown in your face (MLG and Dodge, mostly). Curse the day someone thought of putting ads in a game and then kicking the price up a notch!
MrSadistic's Avatar
MrSadistic at 04/16/2008 15:41
Needs more... um.. needs more.. Yeah screw it. It doesn't need anything else, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 = game of the damn year and quite possibly the greatest game to come out the last 10 years or so.
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 04/16/2008 15:41
I posted this on gamefaqs

There is your problem right there spacemonkey
blehman's Avatar
blehman at 04/16/2008 15:42
Yeah, EGM had a Dark Sector thing up a month or two ago. I see no issue, just tear the damn thing off.
Dudemullet's Avatar
Dudemullet at 04/16/2008 15:43
It'd be silly if they didn't tell you what's inside the magazine, maybe theres one of those plastic covers on the outside that gives out the info, than the ad, then the info again. That way wouldn't bother me, otherwise it would be sheer stupidity since who would buy a magazine when you don't know what the hell they're gonna be talking about.

Also if you're a subscriber this shouldn't be a problem since you already paid for the inside info anyway.
Dexter345's Avatar
Dexter345 at 04/16/2008 15:45
Why are we getting upset about this now? This certainly isn't the first time I've seen something like this. Hell, I haven't even read a gaming magazine in years, but I remember it happening back when I had a few subscriptions.
DryvBy's Avatar
DryvBy at 04/16/2008 15:45
@spacemonkey
Like this clay crap?

lvl54spacemonkey's Avatar
lvl54spacemonkey at 04/16/2008 15:47
That Nintendo power cover is awesome.
MrJunko's Avatar
MrJunko at 04/16/2008 15:48
What? Thats like people complaining about Oprahs magazine always having her on the cover. Its her fucking magazine!

If Microsoft wants to put ads as their covers, well then do it up. Granted, Id appreciate something a little less subtle, you know maybe some styalized art OF rainbow Six, but whatever..you know what your getting when you read an "official" magazine from anyone.
GrayFox's Avatar
GrayFox at 04/16/2008 16:19
Seila Broflofski voice: Wha-wha-whaaaat??
Rockefellow's Avatar
Rockefellow at 04/16/2008 16:31
Not only with Dark Sector, EGM has done this multiple times in the past two years. And to repeat what everyone says, just tear it off, if it bugs you.

Too bad we can't tear out those stupid ads in the magazine, that try to look like a real article from it like we've never read the publication before. Those things are annoying, for whatever reason it is.
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 04/16/2008 16:34
I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
~ Capt. Louis Renault
Gameboi's Avatar
Gameboi at 04/16/2008 16:35
This practice has been going on forever. Doesn't bother me much, and I've always marveled at the mysterious glue they use to stick the ad to the cover. Pretty cool the way it doesn't rip the page when you remove it.
hammburglar's Avatar
hammburglar at 04/16/2008 16:38
if its just an ad for a video it doesnt bother me. as soon as they put a mcdonalds ad as the cover, then i have a problem.
JamnOnTheOne's Avatar
JamnOnTheOne at 04/16/2008 16:40
This just in...Magazines have been putting fake "covers" on magazines since the 1980's!

Anyone that had a magazine subscription to any video game publication in years past had a little cardboard slipcover that would come with most bagged copies that would sometimes cover the actual cover of the magazine.

Jim, haven't you ever subscribed to an enthusiast print magazine before and seen this happen?
Dave Shields's Avatar
Dave Shields at 04/16/2008 16:46
Any "enthuisiast" magazine cover can be bought.. from Xbox to Rolling Stone.. this is not new. If anything, I give Xbox Mag credit for disclosing that it is an advertisement, the rest of them don't.
JDUB X's Avatar
JDUB X at 04/16/2008 16:51
EGM and OXM have been doing this for ages
Putthebottledown's Avatar
Putthebottledown at 04/16/2008 16:57
I agree with JDUB. This has been going on for a really long time. I believe game informer also does it. Its not hard to figure out its an advert by the white letters at the top. I mean Redbook this month does the same thing... I mean....what?
unangbangkay's Avatar
unangbangkay at 04/16/2008 17:04
I figure OXM got less dosh from Ubisoft than Game Informer would have. "Gamestop" Informer bloats its circulation with everyone in its trade-in program (including myself, embarrassingly), and thus gets more eyeballs on the ads. I don't have circulation figures for either, but I'm just working on the assumption that GI has more people reading it since it's arguably platform-agnostic.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 04/16/2008 17:04
Well it must be an American thing, then. Not that common for we Brits, I must way.
SpiderChrist's Avatar
SpiderChrist at 04/16/2008 17:39
Yeah, a bit excessive but I would imagine that the amount of people buying these magazines has dropped considering you get the most up to date information for free on Dtoid and its ilk, so more advertising might be necessaary for them.

In the end if you don't like, don't buy it.,
syrstorm's Avatar
syrstorm at 04/16/2008 18:03
This just isn't anything new to the magazine business. It's only new to the video game magazine business. Print media is in plenty of trouble - I just don't see a reason to freak out over a different way to generate ad revenue for them. Hey, I prefer web-based news as much as everybody else here, but I really don't want the print mags to go away.
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 04/16/2008 18:07
I hate when they put fake covers on top of the covers. Annoying and pathetic, regardless of how common it is. Anyway, I have no problem with an official Xbox magazine plugging Xbox games, same goes for Sony and Nintendo.
Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 04/16/2008 18:32
The fake covers feel weird, and they piss me off. Plus when I tear them off it fucks up the magazine occasionally.
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE LOOKS BABY.
CosmicQueso's Avatar
CosmicQueso at 04/16/2008 18:36
Wow... this has been going on for years... why is this news now? Slow day of things to be pissed off at?
pic2021's Avatar
pic2021 at 04/16/2008 18:50
ummmmmmmm......yeah......... getting mad over an ad on a magazine.... is a bit much i must say...... this isnt the first time they did this.. and frankly it doesnt bother me.. it does not take a way from the magazine at all... and on my issue it was attached to the actual cover like you guys stated, it was just another page on top of it. people are very odd theses days to get mad at this... get mad at uwe bowl being a director... which i am.
Spectrum's Avatar
Spectrum at 04/16/2008 18:52
Well, really, with the decline of print media in favor of electronic sources, can you really blame them for sticking an additional advertisement for more revenue? Granted it is a service that we pay for, but it's a way to keep that particular part of the industry alive.

With that said, it's still annoying not being able to see what the magazine actually features without having to peel the faux-cover back.
skullivan's Avatar
skullivan at 04/16/2008 19:05
Mags have been doing these pull off ad covers for years. EGM and GameInformer do them all the time. Just a month or two ago GI had a Dark Sector cover.

You just pull them off and throw them out, no big deal.
loki d20's Avatar
loki d20 at 04/16/2008 19:39
Please, this is the internet and anyone posting on it should know that people will advertise anyway they can. What a waste of server space with an article like that.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 04/16/2008 20:12
I fail to see where I said I was pissed off at this, but whatever. Presume away.

Like I said, we don't do this in England. You might be used to it but I was quite surprised. But again, please soldier on with presumption.
Mason Rhade's Avatar
Mason Rhade at 04/16/2008 20:21
after reading this i walked into my closet to find the specific issue in question.
Not only did i not find the rainbow six cover that you could pull away but the latest issue has GTAIV on the cover.
am i just looking at the wrong OXM or do they package the magazines differently for mail orders verses store bought copies?

I'm looking at the April'08 (which came out in march of course) and its got the Fallout 3 cover but no Rainbow Six advertisement on the cover.
Now the January'08 has the rainbow cover.. but it wasnt a advertisement.

so seriously, apart from them labeling issues a month behind (Decembers issue labeled january, etc etc). What exactly am i missing here?
And why is the guy complaining about advertisements. Advertisements is how magazines are paid for since not enough people suscribe to magazines anymore.
MPHtails's Avatar
MPHtails at 04/16/2008 20:29
The only time I ever really cared about this was that one time when I got a sealed ad instead of an actual issue. Of course, seeing as EGM's customer service does jack shit about anything, I never got that issue.

But yeah, I'm not stupid enough to not know that the ad is not the real cover. There's no problem here.
aborto thefetus's Avatar
aborto thefetus at 04/16/2008 20:44
Game magazines have been doing this for years. It pisses me off more because I've accidentally ripped magazines by taking them off.
protomark's Avatar
protomark at 04/16/2008 20:47
You get your magazine in the mail, or you see it on the shelf, and the FIRST thing you see is a marked, paid advertisment.

first impressions are important. had i not known better, i would have thought the whole magazine was a paid advertisment.

oh, wait...
Shalashaska's Avatar
Shalashaska at 04/16/2008 21:00
Why the outcry now? I remember EGM doing this a bunch of times. It's not really that big of deal.
MotherCanucker's Avatar
MotherCanucker at 04/16/2008 21:22
I bought EGM and Gamepro and Nintendo Power magazines 20 f-ing years ago that did the exact same thing.

And since when were printed game magazines (natch - ALL magazines) anything but 50+% advertising content? Byline for an EGM cover in 1993: "75 Games your just GOTTA BUY this year!!!!!!!", adorning a cover featuring not much more than a giant picture of Zelda or some such thing.

If Ubisoft wants to pay a magazine the Big Bux to put a card stock ad inside or outside or folded up and humping the bloody magazine, that's their right.

There's really a story here? Call me once you can prove there's an editorial conflict of interest.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 04/16/2008 21:22
"Why the outcry now?"

Because I suck cock, that's why. I suck massive amounts of cock and swallow the jizz that appears as a result of that cock being sucked by me.
GrayFox's Avatar
GrayFox at 04/16/2008 21:28
lol Jim sucks penis.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 04/16/2008 22:51
Pretty much every gaming mag I've subscribed to does this from time to time. Never bothered me personally, they've got to pay the bills and it's just another ad.
Detry's Avatar
Detry at 04/16/2008 23:04
Lol. Clicked for Sterling cocksucking.
Slacker's Avatar
Slacker at 04/16/2008 23:29
Woo, Neoseeker!

Lol, Sterling loves the cock. He's English though, I don't think it's gay to put another man's penis in your mouth over there. You know, they're much more polite and shit.

I've had many OXM's with fake covers like that over the past few years. It's not surprising, it was obvious they were cashwhores when Fight Night Round 3 got a 10 out of 10 from them. I mean, that's not leaving much room for improvement with their rating scale. They hand out perfect 10's like they get paid to do it. Oh wait...
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