OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

'''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 first issue to include a demo disc was Volume 1, December 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 current editor-in-chief is Francesca Reyes, while the UK version is edited by Steve Brown. 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.

Contents

Review system

Xbox Live Marketplace and Arcade

Criticism

Bonus materials

External links

Review system

From issue 1 (December 2001) through issue 52 (December 2005), ''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 receiving an Editor's Choice award. Beginning with issue 53 (Christmas 2005), ''OXM'' switched to a 20-point scoring system, scoring games out of 10.0, but instead with increments of .5. A score of 10.0 is not considered perfect, but is called "Classic" and is considered to be of high quality. ''OXM'' does list a score of 11.0 (termed "Mecha Godzilla's Choice") and is considered perfect, however it has been said 11.0 is not attainable.

Xbox Live Marketplace and Arcade

Recently, ''OXM'' also has begun reviewing Xbox Live Downloadable Content (DC), on a three-point scale: Buy, Fanboys Only, and Deny. The exception is '' expansion pack in issue 70, which, due to the game's size, being "much more than a simple map pack" (Issue 70, Page x, Paragraph y) was reviewed on the normal 20-point scale, receiving an 8.5.

Criticism

As an officially branded Xbox product, some have alleged the magazine is biased to first-party titles. However, ''Official Xbox Magazine'' is created under license by an independent, external company (Future US, publisher of gaming magazines including PC Gamer and PSM); that licensing agreement lasts until 2011. [1] In section III of its Frequently Asked Questions list, ''OXM'' maintains that its content is not dictated by Microsoft. [2]
Despite the allegations of favorable bias, recent high-profile first-party games Shadowrun and Crackdown received review scores of 7.0, which were on-par or lower-than-average ratings.[3] Currently, there is no statistical evidence to suggest that ''OXM's review scores are unusually favorable to Microsoft games.
One notable criticism of ''OXM'' can be seen in a Penny Arcade comic, where ''OXM'' is called a "husk or peel for the demo disk" that should be "thrown away immediately upon peeling." [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.

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.
In the Holiday 2004 OXM Disc, a version of the Japanese game Metal Wolf Chaos was included as an easter egg. To access it one must hold the left trigger and then press in order LEFT, X, Y, UP, A, Y, B, UP, DOWN, DOWN, Y, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT and then press the back button at the root menu.

External links

★ OXM 360 Official UK Website

★ Brazilian Xbox Magazine Official Site

★ OXM Video Podcast

★ OXM Audio Podcast

★ MySpace Page