Videogiochi aka EDGE Italy is dead. Well, not exactly. Alright, let me explain. The current management has been shelved by the publisher, Sprea, and a brand new editorial board has already taken over. The magazine has been renamed MEGA and it will be a 100% faithful translation of the British counterpart, unlikeVideogiochi, which featured at least 40% of indigenous content delivered by the very best of Italian game journalism - (disclosure: I have been contributing since issue one with a monthly column titled MATTSCAPE - and no, I am not a journalist). It deeply saddens me that such a marvelous publication is no longer with us - even though it was "inexplicably" biased towards Sony ;-). The rationale behind the turn over is purely economic: it appears that, in an effort to dramatically reduce the expenses, the publisher opted to fully translate EDGE UK into Italian, giving up the additional, exclusive material that the team had been producing at a staggering pace. Bottom line: More money in the pocket for Sprea, but less food for thought for the readers. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Background info here: Game Over for Future Italy
UPDATE: I would like to thank all the readers - some of them not even Italian - who wrote me in the last few days to express their support. Some even left a comment on this blog. Grazie a tutti. My appreciation goes to Marcel, Simon, Andrea, and the rest of the crew for their amazing job. I have the feeling that this is not going to be 'real' game over just yet but that's probably because I am optimistic by default.
UPDATE 2 (June 5 2007): Good news. It's official: EDGE Italy has been renamed GAME Pro. It will contain at least 30% Italian content. My monthly rant, "Mattscape" is part of that content, along with new columns by such game journalist legends as Bonaventura di Bello (the Italian equivalent of Julian Rignall). The first issue should be available any moment.
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