var json_comments = new Array("

$\"user-pic\"$

Deweavy

June 19, 2009 4:37 PM

Moderate | Flag for review

When Jane folded I received a subscription to Glamour for the remainder. It just made me feel bad about myself and went into the trash. I'd rather have been able to refuse it, but I guess they have ti get new readers for their crappier magazines somehow

3 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

June 21, 2009 5:17 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Deweavy: Ugh, I remember that! I loved Jane so much; I was so dissappointed when they went under. It amazes me when they do a weird transfer like this. At least Jane to Glamour was fashion to fashion, albeit a more alternative one to a mainsteam one. Gaming to porn? Color me confused. I know that when Jane folded, I called up and got a refund of my subscription. Maybe the OP could do that as well?

$\"user-pic\"$

tongsy

June 19, 2009 5:50 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Deweavy: I stopped by the house to drop the car off, and I went inside for a few minutes.. Nobody was there - they're supposed to be working. My mother had a Glamour magazine, I started leafing through it..

$\"user-pic\"$

swearint

June 19, 2009 6:55 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@tongsy: Yes, but are you still \"Master of your Domain\"?

","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 4:38 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

What are the demographics of EGM readership?

I'm curious what percentage of them are male. If it's an overwhelming majority, that may indicate why they chose to switch to Maxim.

I still think they should have offered subscribers a choice.

Also, what's left for a decent gaming magazine these days? Game Informer?

10 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

June 20, 2009 3:08 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@dragonfire81: These days I find gaming magazines to be old and out of date the moment they're put on the shelf. Personally, I enjoy getting all my gaming news from sites like Kotaku and IGN. The fact that blogs are free is nice to!

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 6:07 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@dragonfire81: So screw women, kids, gay men, and anyone else?

It's not about who would enjoy it, but who would be offended.

$\"user-pic\"$

mythago

June 19, 2009 7:49 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@The_IT_Crone: And lots of us who are fine with looking at hot naked ladies would be offended at having our subscriptions to a GAMING MAGAZINE converted to one for frat-boy near-porn, rather than having our money refunded.

$\"user-pic\"$

johnva

June 19, 2009 4:56 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@dragonfire81: If their assumption was that Maxim would be a good \"fit\" for their demographic were true, wouldn't they be duplicating subscriptions for a lot of people? And if it were false, wouldn't they be sending a magazine a lot of people didn't want?

I don't think the issue here is so much that they chose Maxim (not really my cup of tea, but whatever) so much as that they decided to transfer people to a different magazine without asking instead of just giving them the prorated refund. THAT is what's wrong here, in my opinion.

$\"user-pic\"$

pecan 3.14159265

June 19, 2009 4:52 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@dragonfire81: A larger picture is that they assume most of their male demographic is straight as well? I don't read into this like they're homophobic or making stereotypes, but Maxim doesn't necessarily entice gay men or straight women, and yet all kinds of people play video games and there are no rules dictating the kinds of people who do (as exampled by Ally, a girl, subscribing to EGM). Are they making assumptions based on demographic, that if they have a majority of men who subscribe, they also must obviously be straight men?

$\"user-pic\"$

kaceetheconsumer

June 19, 2009 7:49 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@pecan 3.14159265: Exactly. And even then, not all hetero men appreciate exploitation. My husband is straight but I've seen him cringe at magazines like that, or even more when we lived in Vegas and the porn pushers downtown would try to press stripper ads into his hands.

Then again, it's not surprising that they'd link the two. There was a reason for Laura Croft's ever increasing bustline. I was aware of a creepily high number of guys who liked to get her killed because apparently she had a sexy death scream. Ewwww.

$\"user-pic\"$

ret3

June 19, 2009 5:19 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@pecan 3.14159265: I think it's safe to assume that most groups of males selected by affinities apart from sexual preference will be majority straight, owing to the fact that gays are a statistical minority in the general populous. Now, women constitute a majority on their own in the US, and straight women + gay men probably also constitute a majority in the US, but probably not in the subscribership of most gaming mags.

$\"user-pic\"$

Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)

June 19, 2009 5:03 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@pecan 3.14159265: I have a friend from college who worked for Maxim. At the time of his interview with Maxim, he was engaged (now married), and one of the questions the interviewer asked was, \"Your fiancee isn't one of those annoying feminazis, is she?\" Because apparently they've lost staff when staff members were forced to choose between their employment and their extremely pissed-off significant other over something Maxim had them do in the course of employment (visit and rate strip clubs, or get shitfaced and have embarassing pictures taken, or whatever).

He figured the right answer was \"no,\" even though his now-wife is a super-feminist. But not all that worried about her fiance going to strip clubs.

So, yeah, straight women not so much Maxim's target demographic. ;)

$\"user-pic\"$

Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)

June 19, 2009 5:03 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): *any women, not just straight women. :)

$\"user-pic\"$

pecan 3.14159265

June 19, 2009 5:12 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): Yeah, I find Maxim pretty ridiculous and slightly revolting. I'm not a huge feminist, but I can think of better ways of getting attention than posing half naked in a magazine designed to pose women as objects of desire. Charitable contributions, museum benefits, photo shoots by Annie Leibovitz involving feathered headresses and $6,000 dresses...you may be half naked in those as well, but Annie Leibovitz is hardly one to promote the peddling of women as objects. What she does is art.

$\"user-pic\"$

Rugbydan

June 20, 2009 5:45 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@pecan 3.14159265: Occasionally, women are objects of desire. Right? I mean, babies are born everyday, so I assume those women are objects of desire in some cases.

$\"user-pic\"$

sockrockinbeats

June 19, 2009 6:24 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@pecan 3.14159265: i'm not into the photos in maxim, but a lot of the articles are pretty cool. stuff about how to survive a plane crash, bowling with skulls, rating various products, etc.

i am a lesbian, if that counts for anything. for what it's worth, the women who pose for maxim are not my type :P

$\"user-pic\"$

June 21, 2009 4:30 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@sockrockinbeats: I will also admit that Maxim articles can be interesting. But even women I find attractive or appealing (also a lesbian, hi) would still probably not look as good to me in a Maxim photo shoot, though... there's just something trashy and Skinemax-y about most of them.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 4:48 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@dragonfire81: The only reason to get GI is if you decide you want an Edge Card from Gamestop, that's about it.
There's really no good gaming mags anymore, not compared to online options. If you want gaming news, IGN, Gamespot, and blogs (like Kotaku) should serve the purpose. Things like cheats are readily available via GameFAQs.

$\"user-pic\"$

Garbanzo

June 19, 2009 9:14 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Brain.wav:
When I first got Game Informer I thought of it as a magazine that I get for free with an Edge card. Very quickly I switched to conceptualizing an Edge card as something I get for free when I subscribe to my favorite magazine. So...I guess opinions vary.

A coworker lent me a copy of EGM once. I was unimpressed. I can't even be bothered to leaf through the back issues he donated to the break room.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 4:42 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

My Maxim came in the mail yesterday, and caused my wife to freak out and act like I had ordered Hustler. Thanks for the great night of fighting Ziff-Davis! At least I can send her this link and say \"I told you so\".

As much as I like looking at Olivia Wilde, I just want my video game magazine back.

8 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

DH405

June 20, 2009 11:13 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@PrimeMovr: [www.divorcelawfirms.com]

$\"user-pic\"$

June 20, 2009 10:26 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

To paint a picture, I've been an EGM subscriber for the better part of the last decade. I'm now a university student, but it is summer, so I live at home. My issue of Maxim came, and my mother literally said something along the lines of \"If you want to send this kind of trash to your dorm room, fine, but don't send it to my house\" to which I quickly protested that I hadn't signed up for Maxim, that I didn't want Maxim, and that she needed to take her head out (sorry mom, getting nagged for non-porn magazines when you are in your twenties isn't ok).

This is a great memory of the death of EGM. I know for a fact that a TON of kids read EGM (I was one of them) and that they've gotten Maxim as a replacement. I can only imagine the awkward conversation that has been happening between kids and their parents at homes all across the country because of this bungle.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 20, 2009 10:50 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@KCChiefsFan: Yeah, my 14 year old is one of those kids. I haven't seen any Maxim mags around here, and he is usually the one who brings in the mail. HMMMMM.

On the other hand, I seem to recall him asking me to send in the renewal form and me asking him if he had cash or wanted me to take it out of his allowance, so maybe he decided not to renew.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 20, 2009 7:24 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Please, Maxim is no worse then any: redbook or female equivalent book..

$\"user-pic\"$

June 21, 2009 1:26 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@kcvaliant: Does Redbook have pictures of nude, but discretely-covered, men in them?

$\"user-pic\"$

June 21, 2009 4:34 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@MikeM_inMD: Don't forget, I think they need to be greased up and draped over pieces of furniture, too.

$\"user-pic\"$

ludwigk

June 19, 2009 5:13 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@PrimeMovr: I own (I think) an issue of Maxim with Jolene Blalock, a Playboy with a korean playmate, and I *think* a Stuff mag. My girlfriend has ended up reading them more than I have. In particular, the Playboy issue had an excellent retrospective on James Bond, and an interview with Daniel Craig, or so she tells me.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 4:46 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@PrimeMovr: Oh, you got to have the Ziff/Davis-sponsored fight too!? Glad I wasn't alone on that one.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 4:54 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@AngryEddy: Worst part is, I never even got to read the magazine :/

$\"user-pic\"$

Aphex242

June 19, 2009 5:12 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@PrimeMovr: Your wife sounds tremendously rational.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 7:51 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@aphex242: She could be perfectly rational. I think that men who like Maxim are douchebags. My husband always told me he wasn't into that. Therefor, part of our relationship rests on the fact that I think he is NOT a douchebag. If he started receiving that magazine, I would have to stop to think \"Why would he lie about that?\" ...and think about if there is anything else he has ever lied to me about.

Yes, it's far fetched, but possible.

$\"user-pic\"$

Aphex242

June 20, 2009 5:12 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Porcelina: It's not perfectly rational to fly off the handle because a Maxim arrives at your house with your husband's name. It's just not. Ever. hehe

I think Maxim is douchey too, I'm not saying it's high art or something. I'm just stating that the overbearing wife thing can be a bit much, and this is a perfect example.

Poor guy :/

$\"user-pic\"$

johnva

June 19, 2009 8:30 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Porcelina: Why would you jump straight to the conclusion that he was lying to you if he said he never signed up for it and doesn't know why it's coming in the mail?

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 8:50 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@johnva: Oh, personally, I wouldn't. I guess I was just trying that woman the benefit of the doubt.

I tried!

$\"user-pic\"$

johnva

June 19, 2009 9:52 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Porcelina: It's cool. Personally I just don't understand why anyone would \"freak out\" on their spouse over something so trivial, especially if the person told them they had nothing to do with it. I'd give my wife the benefit of the doubt on that.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 7:44 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@aphex242: Yeah, my issue of Maxim arrived a few days ago. My wife had finished reading it before I even got to it. It's not like there are sex acts in it! It's not even remotely like playboy or hustler. What ticked me off was that as a subscriber, I never got a copy of the \"Hot 100\", that was only for newsstand purchasers. Consumerist ought to investigate that!

","

$\"user-pic\"$

NerdBurger_GitEmSteveDave

June 19, 2009 4:42 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Uhhhhh, Stuff went under. I know, b/c they converted the remainder of my subscription to Maxim, which I AM NOT complaining about. They have given me Ali Larter, Melissa Joan Hart, and others scantily clad, w/interviews! There's also some articles, but ALI LARTER!

2 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 6:26 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@NerdBurger_GitEmSteveDave: Megan Fox, end of story.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 6:06 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@NerdBurger_GitEmSteveDave: I subscribed to EGM and much like OP I just brushed it off as \"oh well im out of luck\" but where the hell is my Maxim!?!

","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 4:43 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I got a free year subscription to Maxim thanks to eHarmony (signed up for a month on there). I never understood that since I never requested the subscription and was never billed anything for it. I never even read the issues, just recycled them all.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

Jacob Geiser

June 19, 2009 4:43 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Thats what I got yesturday in the mail. Me and my fiance had a good laugh. We figure, hot babes in the mail for a little while. Its not like I paid anything for the sub cause I got it when they were giving out free 1 year subs.

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 6:01 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Jacob Geiser: I got a freesub as well but i haven't received any Maxim yet :(

","

$\"user-pic\"$

jscott73

June 19, 2009 4:44 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

mmmm Maxim, the married man's Playboy :)

5 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)

June 19, 2009 6:05 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@jscott73: I thought the Victoria's Secret catalog was the married man's Playboy ... \"Oh, I was buying something for you, sweetie!\"

$\"user-pic\"$

mythago

June 19, 2009 7:51 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I'd be much happier if my husband got a VS catalog just to drool over the models than if he bought something from it. Their stuff is flimsy, overpriced crap.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 5:09 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@jscott73: lol I don't get the difference. If my wife will get mad at Playboy, she'd get mad at Maxim. Thank god she cares less and sometimes reads both herself.

$\"user-pic\"$

jscott73

June 19, 2009 5:14 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@superhumanben: No Maxim is not a big deal around our house but Playboy is not allowed, not that I would want that stuff around anyways with a 5 year old daughter, but Maxim is entertaining here and there but my subscription expired a couple years ago and I didn't renew it, but I pick it up at the news stand every now and then, along with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. There is no way she would freak out or anything if I started getting it again, especially in the case from this story.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 5:00 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@jscott73: Married men really read Maxim? It's a pretty juvenile rag. Though I don't read it, Playboy is much classier.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

GMFish

June 19, 2009 4:45 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

\"Clearly, You Also Like Scantily Clad Women\"

Can we at least agree that regardless of what else we like, e.g., video games, movies, mowing the law, etc. we all like scantly clad women.

Now, liking the crap published in Maxim... that's something different entirely.

4 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

GuinevereRucker

June 19, 2009 6:19 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@GMFish: I like my scantily clad *wife*, and don't want crap like this in my house. I'm sure she doesn't either.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 20, 2009 10:52 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@GuinevereRucker: A guy named Guinevere? I bet you caught hell in middle school..

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 5:06 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@GMFish: Only for pretty limited values of \"we.\"

$\"user-pic\"$

Aphex242

June 19, 2009 5:13 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@floraposte: ...a little over half the population is a limited value of \"we\"? hehe

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 6:09 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@aphex242: conversely, half the population not liking it is pretty high for crap like this.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 4:46 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Sorry folks, I have no time for anyone who complains about the photos in mags like Maxim. Get the $#%^ over it. There are few things that offend me as much as people who are offended by (or feign offense by) such images. I'm sure there's a nice cave somewhere very far away you can move.

8 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

P_Smith

June 20, 2009 7:26 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@YouDidWhatNow?: Now we know where you stand on the issue of gay rights.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 20, 2009 7:21 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@P_Smith:

...what?

For the record, I'd vote in favor of gay rights every time I had the chance...if I ever voted at all, which I don't.

So please educate us on who you figured my stance was on such a non-sequitor topic, and how you came to it, oh Great Kreskin.

Seriously...WTF?

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 6:10 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@YouDidWhatNow?: so don't worry about demographics, just go with stereotypes in marketing? Got it.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 6:51 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

?

I don't get what you're trying to say. Are you saying that since the demographic for EGM and Maxim are likely to overlap quite a bit, it's OK for them to substitute one for the other?

$\"user-pic\"$

mythago

June 19, 2009 5:01 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@YouDidWhatNow?: Chill, friend. Nobody is going to take your PG-13 stroke magazine out of your grubby little hands. You can have Maxim if you want it.

$\"user-pic\"$

mianne

June 19, 2009 4:57 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@YouDidWhatNow?: Then by your logic, readers wouldn't have a reason to complain were their EGM subscriptions were converted to say, Cosmo? After all, it has pages of scantily-clad women as well, and thus should fit the demographic?

$\"user-pic\"$

spanky

June 19, 2009 4:52 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@YouDidWhatNow?: Well, there's a non sequitur.

Nobody in this story is saying they were offended by the pictures.

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 5:06 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Was responding to comment entries, not the article itself. Sorry I didn't make that clear.

To that point though...it does baffle me that you'd substitute a men's entertainment mag for a video game mag. Even if the demographic overlaps considerably...it's not even close to the same thing.

","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 4:51 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

This is officially one \"problem\" that I do not take issue with.

","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

Carolyn Gabriel

June 19, 2009 4:55 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

My friend had paid for three years of EGM, so when she got the note with Maxim she was a little ticked and called about the refund.

Now, if it had been me...? I would've enjoyed three years of scantily clad chicks. But it wasn't, so there you go.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 4:55 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I admit I'm a little amused that people employed (albeit perhaps indirectly) by a magazine don't know how these things work. I've worked for a few magazines that didn't survive various recessions, and when the decision is made to fold, the subscriber list is sold off to the highest bidder. That's it. There are no \"marketing ploys\" and there's no time to politely contact readers asking what they want a dying business to do. If you're independent, it's all about paying off as many creditors as you can as best you can; if you're not, like EGM, it's all about the corporation cutting its losses as quickly as it can.

2 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

June 21, 2009 8:15 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@StutiCebriones: Consumer Reports operates differently, and we're pretty far removed from the day-to-day of magazine operations. We don't work out of the Consumers Union building, for starters.

$\"user-pic\"$

yasth

June 19, 2009 5:42 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@StutiCebriones: To be fair consumer reports is not run like most magazines at all. (i.e. no non in house ads, non profit, etc)

Also in this case (as in most major magazine foldings) no one sold the list, it was transferred to what someone thought was the best corporate (Ziff Davis) stablemate match. Witha n eye toward maximizing ad sales, and minimizing refunds.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 4:55 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

If your wife freaks out because you got Maxim in the mail, I feel sorry for you.

7 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

H3ion

June 19, 2009 6:28 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@robotrousers: If you received your issue and discovered that your wife was in Maxim, then I don't know whether to be sorry for you or not.

$\"user-pic\"$

HiPwr

June 19, 2009 5:28 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@robotrousers: I see the lawsuit coming from the husband whose wife divorced him over the unrequested Maxim subscription.

$\"user-pic\"$

pecan 3.14159265

June 19, 2009 5:02 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@robotrousers: As a wife, I think I'd be freaked out that I suddenly started getting a magazine that was addressed to me, without knowing why. And also, some wives may wonder why their husbands are subscribing to Maxim. Good thing they actually provided an explanation, but they needed to do that before they sent the magazine so they could give people the option.

$\"user-pic\"$

Deweavy

June 19, 2009 5:20 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@pecan 3.14159265: I occasionally get magazines that I never subscribed to, like Ladies Home Journal, which as a 25 year old, is a little out of my age range. Magazines are given away with online orders etc all the time now

$\"user-pic\"$

pecan 3.14159265

June 19, 2009 5:29 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Deweavy: Usually with your consent, though, right? I see those offers on Amazon once in a while and I've never consented.

I think my mother in law would like Ladies Home Journal. Me, not so much. I'm more of a \"I can get this on the internet for free\" girl. But I do have a subscription to Gourmet.

$\"user-pic\"$

Garbanzo

June 19, 2009 8:57 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@pecan 3.14159265: Not always with your consent. My husband bought some gear on NewEgg. \"Congratulations!\" they said, \"Your order qualifies you for 6 free issues of (some piece of garbage he doesn't want)!!!\" The subscription was listed as an item in his shopping cart, but it was the only item that was missing the check-box to let you delete it. I was the one who sent him to NewEgg in the first place. \"People on Consumerist say that they have really good customer service!\" Then they pull this crap. Grr.

$\"user-pic\"$

Garbanzo

July 1, 2009 8:33 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Garbanzo: For the record, it turns out that they just included in the shipment a form to send in for the free magazines. They didn't automatically sign him up for anything. They could have been clearer about that on their web page, though.

$\"user-pic\"$

Deweavy

June 19, 2009 5:38 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@pecan 3.14159265: I knowingly signed up for a free health subscription, but I have no idea where the LHJ came from. I did get some sweet cleaning tips from it though

$\"user-pic\"$

DoubleBaconVeggieBurger

June 19, 2009 6:33 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Deweavy: I've been getting Woman's Day lately and I have no idea how that happened. I'm 27, and it's clearly geared toward a different demographic. I like to cook and decorate, but this thing is all about doing crafts and making dinner out of cream of mushroom soup and frozen peas. Plus it comes weekly, so even if I'm sort of interested in an article, I usually haven't gotten around to reading it by the time the next one comes.

$\"user-pic\"$

johnva

June 19, 2009 4:59 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@robotrousers: Agreed. I don't really have a desire to read it, but seriously, it's not that big a deal. It's just a magazine.

I highly doubt my wife would care about this. She probably wouldn't care about me getting Playboy or something either as long as I was open and honest about it.

$\"user-pic\"$

pecan 3.14159265

June 19, 2009 5:13 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@johnva: I think that's the reason why some wives would freak out...that this just showed up, and there was no discussion.

$\"user-pic\"$

mythago

June 19, 2009 5:02 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@johnva: I would care if my husband got Maxim, not because of the pictures but because of the articles. Naked hot babes, okay. Sneering, juvenile, pretentious writing? Uh, dear, you know there's porn on the internet?

$\"user-pic\"$

puka_pai

June 20, 2009 9:46 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Sneering, juvenile, pretentious writing? Uh, dear, you know there's porn on the internet?

+1.

$\"user-pic\"$

spanky

June 19, 2009 5:44 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@mythago: Exactly. There are plenty of things that someone might take exception to that don't have anything to do with the fact that they show some skin in it.

I'd probably be a little freaked out if my husband started getting it because it would be very much unlike him. Not because of the girly pictures, but because so much of the content is just childish and bigoted.

$\"user-pic\"$

johnva

June 19, 2009 7:51 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@spanky: I agree that the content of it is stupid and moronic, and I don't read it. I just don't think it would make sense to \"freak out\" over just because neither of you know why you're getting it.

$\"user-pic\"$

bunt

June 19, 2009 7:41 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@spanky: please. so you're saying that if a random subscription to \"cosmo\" or \"US weekly\" or \"people\" magazine showed up in your mail w/ your name on it, you and/or your husband would freak out?

cause not to sound like a complete chauvinist, but the content in those magazines is debatably just as bad as maxim (which i am NOT a subscriber to, FYI). they are purely entertainment magazines.

if anything said husband would probably shrug, shank his head a bit and mumble something about $30 worth of subscription money down the drain and that'd be the end of it.

stupid double standard...

$\"user-pic\"$

mythago

June 19, 2009 7:54 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@bunt: The fact that you can't see any difference between Cosmo and People says volumes about how dumb your argument is.

That said, my husband would be pretty pissed if I suddenly started getting Cosmopolitan. For one thing, he'd assume I'd lost my mind, and for another, their articles are about half as obnoxious as Maxim's - which is bad enough.

$\"user-pic\"$

bunt

June 19, 2009 9:52 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@mythago: oh no, i definitely see the difference between cosmo, and people (and maxim for that matter). but they all fall under the same umbrella \"entertainment magazines\". the \"human interest\" pieces that 'people' runs are no more insightful than the ones that cosmo/maxim runs once in a blue moon.

and i dont see how my argument was dumb, but thanks for that.

granted, i dont know you or your husband. however, i assumed that a simple magazine (especially a transfer due to bankruptcy, sent with a written notice and a clause to get a interpolated refund) doesn't warrant a \"freak out\" no matter the content within at that level of \"glossy paper entertainment media\". i guess i assumed that people are more understanding and communicate better. i was wrong.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

gmanj

June 19, 2009 4:56 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Darn, my 8 year old autistic son's EG sub had already run out. Maxim would have been so useful for him.

Sharp, these publisher guys.

","","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 4:57 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I had an EGM sub a while ago but I get Maxim for free (wonder when my year is up) and other than some pictures there and there its a clean mag.

","","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 4:58 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

When \"Premiere\", the movie magazine that was kind of like a more-serious \"Entertainment Weekly\" went under, those same geniuses decided that for the rest of my subscription period, I should get a publication of just such in-depth stories and gravitas: \"Us Weekly\". Because why would I want to read Meryl Streep's thoughts on roles for women when I can see four hundred thousand pictures of drunk Britney Spears?

","","

$\"user-pic\"$

Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)

June 19, 2009 4:59 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

\"This could also be upsetting for some women who find this magazine waiting in the mail for their husbands\"

It's Maxim, not Penthouse.

(And even then, it's Penthouse, not bestiality porn ...)

6 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 7:56 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I agree Etoiles, besides, as a wife, I would never get upset about the pictures. I like hot chicks too. It's the douchey articles. I wouldn't want to think that the wonderful, rational man I married suddenly became a complete douche who wears Axe and watches Spike TV. Ew.

$\"user-pic\"$

mythago

June 19, 2009 7:46 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): Exactly. Penthouse is an honest jerkoff mag. Maxim is a snotty, juvenile rag for little boys in men's bodies.

$\"user-pic\"$

Etoiles

June 19, 2009 5:55 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I dunno, I'd be pretty pissed off at my fiancé if I thought he was paying for crap that he could get for free online in thirty seconds or less. What a terrible waste of money!

$\"user-pic\"$

Munchie

June 20, 2009 7:06 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Etoiles: I was considering weighing in but this comment sums it up perfectly

$\"user-pic\"$

Kd McEntire

June 19, 2009 9:40 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Etoiles: Sing it, sister! I'm with you all the way!

$\"user-pic\"$

Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)

June 19, 2009 6:06 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Etoiles: ROTFLMAO, the true Consumerista response!

","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

Ken Mennell

June 19, 2009 5:03 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I had my subscription fulfilled by LATINA magazine even though I am a white male living in Toledo.

...subscription runs to May 2010.

I've tried to write/call etc. to no avail. I'm dropping the magazines off to the guys at work (I work as a contractor) with the address portion ripped off. At least I get the amusement factor.

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)

June 19, 2009 5:22 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Ken Mennell: Obviously they thought it was Toledo, Spain.

","","

$\"user-pic\"$

cuchanu

June 19, 2009 5:03 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I had a subscription to a video game magazine that covered all of the consoles (Next Generation). The magazine went under and they replaced it with a Nintendo only magazine! Does me no good if I don't have a Nintendo.

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 10:02 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@cuchanu: Again, sounds like Future US. Nintendo Power is now one of their properties, and I imagine it was the only one not encumbered by some sort of property rights.

","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 5:08 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

It's not an error, this is apparently what they do with dead magazines now. When the print version of Radar went under a few months ago, they tried to fulfill the rest of our subscription with the worthless paparazzi-photo and celeb gossip mag Star. There was no choice offered.

3 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

June 21, 2009 4:51 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@statolith: My subscription to OMNI was fulfilled with Discover, which was actually pretty cool. Judging by other comments here, I lucked out.

$\"user-pic\"$

johnva

June 19, 2009 7:53 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@statolith: THAT is the real issue here. It's not the magazine they chose so much as that they didn't give you a choice.

$\"user-pic\"$

Lippmann

June 20, 2009 2:20 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@johnva: Exactly. My subscription to the now defunct Premiere (a mag about films) was fulfilled with OK. How special for me. I would have been happier with nothing.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

Sean Beattie

June 19, 2009 5:08 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

This is obviously a \"problem\" no one should take \"seriously\".

Customer: \"You're delivering Maxim to my door technically for free!\"

CSR: \"And...?\"

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

Coyote

June 19, 2009 7:30 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Sean Beattie: Not free, I paid for a 3 year subscription to EGM, only got about 6 issues and then this. And since they sent 2 issues at once I'm sure the \"prorated\" will include those too.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

Shoelace

June 19, 2009 5:09 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Who the hell is this magazine publisher to not offer a refund for the balance of the gaming subscription or a choice of another magazine vs. sending Maxim to all of these people instead? The magazine is not appropriate for everyone and is understandably distasteful to some.

The people who don't want it now have the additional hassle of trying to get their money back or get switched to a magazine they actually want.

3 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 6:08 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Shoelace: Not offering a refund? The hassle of trying to get their money back? It says right in the post (along with the little tag on the front of the magazine, despite the person that wrote in complaining about there not being an explanation sent with the first issue that explains it) that if they don't want the subscription and would rather have the refund, they can.

This isn't a big deal. The original mag went out of business. Rather than all of these people, myself included, just being out of luck and losing that money they paid for it, they are now being given a different magazine to replace it. If they don't like it, they can get their money back.

$\"user-pic\"$

Deweavy

June 19, 2009 5:22 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Shoelace: If they filed for bankruptcy would they be protected against having to issue a refund?

$\"user-pic\"$

Shoelace

June 19, 2009 5:36 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Deweavy: Are they filing for bankruptcy?

","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 5:09 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I don't think it really matters what they \"convert\" the subscription to--it's still keeping people's money without giving them what they paid for. If I order a pizza, you don't get to say \"We're out, but we've brought you $20 worth of Coke instead. Bye.\"

2 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 11:13 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@floraposte: Except they are offering people a refund. If you don't want the Maxim subscription, they will happily give you your refund.

$\"user-pic\"$

klynb

June 22, 2009 5:29 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

@NinjaMarion: At least they offered a refund to EGM readers. I got switched to Maxim when Blender folded and wasn't even offered that opportunity.

","","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 5:12 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I'm not surprised, considering I recently heard a game producer say \"I want to make more games for the Maxim demographic.\" (Because there aren't enough!) That's the big huge thing right now - because apparently kids don't play video games anymore, and women never did. (And never will, if this kind of marketing keeps up. I know I'm not impressed by it.)

EGM's publishers (and some editors) definitely perceived it, at the end, to be aimed at the straight male ages 18-24 who wanted some \"edginess\" with his game reviews. I hear it didn't used to be like that. As a former industry source has told me, game journalism used to be less about the attitude and more about the games.

The amount of pointless macho in the video game industry astounds me. Or maybe that's just Xbox Live.

","","","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

sirwired

June 19, 2009 5:16 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

When COMPUTE! magazine dived under, I got it replaced with Omni. (This was like 20 years ago.) That's even more odd than this switch, which, while offensive, makes some remote level of sense. COMPUTE! -> Omni was like swapping out Monster Truck Weekly with U.S. News and World Report.

SirWired

","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

Nicole Jordan

June 19, 2009 5:22 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

This definitely seems to feed the stereotype of hardcore gamers getting most of their \"action\" from places such as Maxim magazine, eh?

","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

CaptainSemantics

June 19, 2009 5:25 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

\"Quick, boss, magazine subscriptions are running low because no one reads them anymore! What do we do?\"

\"Let's buy a bankrupt company's list and just take over their subscriptions. It'll give us a huge boost in 'readership' and the advertising folks will want to stay with us.\"

\"You're a genius, boss, I guess that's why they pay you so much!\"

That's just a guess, really. Who knows what kind of genius came up with this one.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 5:26 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

When Radar went under they replaced it with Star (and the attached letter clearly said refunds were not an option). The Radar subscription went to my office mailbox, so I just told the receptionists they could help themselves to Star if they saw it in my mailbox and wanted it. I never saw a copy again :)

","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

XTC46

June 19, 2009 5:37 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Its a demographic thing. Teenage boys are the demo for both mags, also Maxim covers a lot of video gam and electronics stuff...scantly clad women are like 20% of the content, the rest is random \"guy stuff\" like sports equipment, car reviews, gaming reviews, movie/music reviews, etc.

","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 5:48 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I liked the change from manly stuff to even more manly stuff.

Man, Olivia Wilde is hot.

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 7:58 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@Bearded Rapper: Yeah, because a form of entertainment that men, women, and children all enjoy is \"Manly\".

Please.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

jiffyp

June 19, 2009 5:50 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I used to get PC Magazine, before they apparently went under. Since my subscription wasn't yet up, the publisher(I guess?) decided that business-centric magazine \"Inc\" was a suitable substitute...wtf

Anyone had luck changing these subscriptions to other publications after their preferred read folded?

","","

$\"user-pic\"$

joharp

June 19, 2009 5:51 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Just find another magazine that the publisher produces and call them up and ask to switch. I have multiple free subscriptions to magazines I like by getting a free 1 year offer off of the net (to some random mag) and calling them and asking to switch. Has worked for at least 3 years in college, I just read the mag and leave it in the lobby for the next person.

","","","","","","","","","","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

H3ion

June 19, 2009 6:29 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

The alternative was a subscription to Boy's Life.

","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 6:54 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

anyone who has a wife with a problem with maxim, needs a new wife not a new magazine subscription.

1 replies

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 7:59 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

@JohnDeere: I have a problem with it, because from what I can tell, only young, lame college/high school guys read Maxim. Neither my husband nor I are interested in that sort of magazine. Because it's completely vapid. I am not interested in Cosmo, either. I was interested in videogames. Those two are not one in the same.

","","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 6:58 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

This is the first I'm hearing about EGM going under, but I'm not that shocked. I was a subscriber from about 2000-2004, then let it run out. The content quality and volume had steadily decreased over the years. They were less a victim of the recession and the decline of magazines and more a victim of declining product quality.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 7:04 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I had a subscription to Budget Living or something like that. When they went under it was replaced with Lucky, the shopping magazine.

It never makes any sense.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

cc82

June 19, 2009 7:06 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

\"This could also be upsetting for some women who find this magazine waiting in the mail for their husbands...\"

I'm pretty sure my wife would be more upset if I subscribed to Electronic Gaming Monthly as than if I got Maxim.

","","","","","","","","","","","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

Anonymous

June 19, 2009 8:08 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Well, good news for EGM readers, at least: It's been bought by its original publisher, and will be relaunched later this year.http://www.egmnow.com/press1.html

","","","","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 19, 2009 9:59 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

Since EGM is going bankrupt, I doubt they give a shit anymore if customers are pissed, offended, etc or going to sue. Lawsuit payouts are generally the last, if at all, creditors to get paid in bankruptcy proceedings.

","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

Anonymous

June 20, 2009 1:45 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

This is really interesting, because I had a subscription to Stuff magazine a few years ago. Suddenly Stuff went under and they replaced it ESPN magazine.

I like scantily clad women, but sports... not so much.

","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

Steve Ly

June 20, 2009 6:28 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

While on the subject of EGM, the original founder bought the rights to the magazine and plans on bringing it back! So hopefully you can put your pro-rated refund towards the new EGM.

[www.egmnow.com]

","","","","","","","","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

Justifan

June 21, 2009 12:17 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

adults read egm?

egm was the type of gaming mag you'd read as a young kid, i stopped reading it rather early. glossier ones like next or edge were better. they took the route of going more detailed, taking more care in what they published because for the quick and dirty low down you can get that better online.

maxim has a bit of general popular media content in it as well. hardly something to complain about if you get it free. and anyways, anyone that can get past pc nonsense knows these mags are majority male subscribers.

","","","","","","

$\"user-pic\"$

Justin Linett

June 21, 2009 5:00 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

ehhh chun-li or jeniffer love hewitt , dont matter im still spankin. lol

","","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 22, 2009 4:01 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Angry about scantily clad girls? Why don't you just grin and \"bare\" it!

","","

$\"user-pic\"$

June 22, 2009 7:28 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

Is anyone seriously debating this? Most gamers are guys who spend almost as much time looking at porn as they do playing games. Maxim is soft-core and has some gadget/geeky reviews and articles.

Anyone who doesn't think most people who get game magazines wouldn't take a free subscription to Maxim is fooling themselves.

","

$\"user-pic\"$

Dyscord

June 25, 2009 7:13 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I remember Gamefly used to offer a free subscription to EGM years ago. However about a year before EGM shut down, they changed it to Maxim. What that has to do with videogames I dunno. I know they have some reviews in Maxim, but come on....

","

$\"user-pic\"$

Anonymous

June 30, 2009 3:06 AM

Moderate |Flag for review

The same thing happened to me. I was so annoyed and even Tweeted my confusion on Twitter. Being a married female and mother of 2 sons, I was very embarrassed to receive this magazine in my name. What were they thinking? I offered the magazine to my gifted 20 year old son and he wasn't even interested in reading it. I guess this magazine is so bad the publisher has to play bait and switch subscriptions, what a shame..

","");