Off the Newsstand: Game Informer Issue 232

Just two months removed from the events of E3 2012, magazines are still covering all the big news from the huge conference.  While the July issues of each magazine covered most of the games showed off to the press before E3, the August issues are usually when each magazine breaks down everything at E3.  Giving their grades for each of the Big Three, ranking the games at this year's event and giving away their Best of E3 awards.  For those of us that cannot see every single thing at E3 due to publishers and developers keeping certain games and demos behind closed doors, these issues of each video game magazine serves as our one stop shop for everything that we may have missed at E3.

Being the annual E3 issue, every article excluding the reviews and Game Over sections are all about E3 2012.  From Game Informer's annual breakdown of the Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo's showings at E3 to the humongous cover story, which includes previews of Game Informer's Top 50 Games at E3 2012, you are in for some of the most comprehensive coverage of E3 found in any magazine.  For collector's Issue 232 of Game Informer has six different covers.  Each cover showcases a game highlighted in the E3 Hot 50 cover story.  They are all pretty cool, but my personal favourites are the Castlevania, Resident Evil 6 and Splinter Cell Blacklist covers.  The bulk of the issue is dedicated to the cover story which is more or less an expanded previews section and that is not a bad thing.  I am baffled at how Game Informer picked some of the games on this Top 50 Games of E3 list such as Gears of War: Judgment and Star Wars 1313 when they had little to nothing to show at E3 this year, but everybody is entitled to their opinion.  Honestly I do not really see the purpose of even making this a Top 50 when each writer is essentially writing a preview and not selling why a certain game is at a certain spot on the list.  For the sheer amount and quality of the content in this cover story, it is a must-read for any gamer.  Just forget about the numbering because it does not mean much of anything.  This issue of Game Informer also includes interviews with some big names in the industry, an in-depth analysis of Square Enix's Agni's Philosophy tech demo, a rundown of the most interesting downloadable games and Action MMOs of E3 2012, an in-depth interview with Jason Rubin on his new role at THQ and his plans for the future of the struggling company, reviews and a retrospective look at the first game Rod Fergusson, the director of production at Epic Games, ever worked on.

If you have been living under a rock for the past two months and completely missed out E3 2012, Issue 232 of Game Informer is your one stop shop on all the big announcements and up-to-date game previews.  The sheer amount of content crammed into these 116 pages is incredible.  Definitely an issue of Game Informer that any gamer should go out of their way to read.