On the EDGE?
We always get EDGE a few weeks late around here. So it was only this week that I got my hands on The Girl Issue. Now contrary to what you might think, I'm not going to write about EDGE being biased because Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball scored eight out of ten. (On the contrary, after what I've read I can imagine the game having said qualities. I'm a distinctive Animal Crossing junkie myself).
What bugs me is EDGE itself. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it seems the magazine has changed. Take the comments from the Primal> review about the shoulder-buttons. A harsh comment, especially out of EDGE's mouth. Also in the Out There section significant sneers were made towards Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and the GC-SNES controllers. Although I'll be the last to claim EGDE was wrong there, the tone was... not EDGE. It was more... well, CVG (although that comparison is a very hyperbolic one).
Maybe the pressure of dropping sales ignited the change, maybe it's the existence of rival GamesTM, maybe the 'newbie' they just hired is placing it's mark, I don't know exactly. But you can read it between the lines; EDGE is changing. Whether that is for better or for worse is something we'll have to wait for. It might become more evident in subsequent issues.
On the bright side, the forum snippets have grown from side column to two page filler. I wonder why…