Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) vs. EGMmag.com
Well here it is folks, the battle we've all been waiting for. It seems like this fights going to continue -- for a large number of magazines, newspapers, and various other print publications -- for a long time down the road. Print vs. Online, who'll win out in the battle of editorial bliss? Well in this case, I know you are all waiting for the outcome, so let me get to this one first.
NO ONE WINS in this case. Hard to believe? Well just open your eyes and view. Like a smart magazine would and should do (something I will do when I have my own magazine ;), the online version of the magazine is just and "extension," compliment and extra advertisement of the materials that are in physical form of the mag.
The online site (EGMmag.com) has several advantages over the print form of the magazine. One in particular -- the biggest in this case -- is the ability of direct contact with the magazine and its readers through the online message board. The editors and readers of the magazine can interact with each other, getting feedback on a continuous basis, thus allowing them to alter both the website and the magazine at the same time -- killing the proverbial "two birds" with one stone.
But as the intelligent people are at EGM, most of the "real" and more meaty editorial content still remains within the confines of the actual print version of the magazine, in which they cover: reviews/previews of games, feature stories, and interviews about and within the gaming world, along with cheats, and other misc. news content.
The website version of the Magazine provides -- obviously -- more up to date and simply MORE news than the magazine provides. This is because it's much easier to update, and can go into detail more about certain things without restraints on length, where as the magazine only covers the more major and 'most' relevant of stories as quick as possible. You could consider the website version of the magazine some of the finer details of what's covered in the print version. For the most part, EGMmag.com is lacking in the amount of content, but is strong in other aspects. This being the case, I think both the website and the physical magazine complement each others strength to a impressive degree. The website is clearly more interactive, and the magazine is filled with more content.
Other quick advantages of the online site are that it can allow the users to download actual demos of some of the games covered in the magazine, thus creating a more interactive environment. The Online version of EGM isn't completely devoid of any editorial content of course, but its got nothing on the print version amount and/or quality. So it's a tie, each working well together -- how it should be I might add. No one medium -- if one wants to stay in business -- should outshine the other in that large of a way, just use the strengths of each to eliminate the weaknesses of each, works quite well.
So its a DRAW, and the crowd is pissed cause they wanted a K.O.? Well boo-freaking-hoo, read a different magazine then. Until we meet again evil doers...