I'm not happy with IGN (or myself)

[tomster2300]

If anyone is thinking about becoming an IGN Insider (their paid membership) then I don't know if I can recommend it. In paying the fee (I got their basic membership ~ $8 - 3 months) I assumed that I wouldn't have to wait in line on public download servers for demos, would get first priority on things, etc. This obviously isn't the case. I do get access to their Insider's section on the website (which isn't much) and free game guides (which is why I joined in the first place), but if I want to download anything without having to wait in line I have to fork over more money. By clicking a demo the site sends you to fileplanet.com where it asks you to buy another membership for the exclusive downloads. What I didn't realize initially was that IGN is associated with a handful of sites which offer different things (game help, game downloads, etc.) and you must either buy an individual membership to each one, or join their "founders club"for around $60 a year for access to everything. All of these things should be in one site (you would think so at least ~ gamespot seems to have done it) but they break it up into more to make more money.

While this was an oversight by me, I'm still unhappy. If you're thinking about actually getting a paid membership to a game website then I'd have to say go with gamespot.

[Hi Ho]

Gamespot gives you free game guides, don't they? I can't see any reason why I would ever pay for "free" game demos. Yahoo Games (http://videogames.yahoo.com/files?page=0) has no lines, no membership, and very fast servers.

[tomster2300]

Thanks for the link Hi Ho. I didn't pay for the demos (they're free), just the spot at the front of the line to get the demos. I originally went into this because I wanted some help in Madden and all the free help was stuff I already knew. I wanted play by play, detailed information, and the only websites that offered that required a paid membership. I figured I'd get more out of IGN since I read reviews there, plus they were one of the cheapest ones at $8. IGN's game guides used to be free, but now they're practically all restricted to Insiders. Turns out that their guide wasn't that helpful either unfortunately.

I don't think I'll be renewing my membership when my three months are up.

[chaosiscandytome]

try gamefaqs.com for ur gaming needs!

[tomster2300]

Just an update to this old thread. I emailed IGN to cancel my subscription, and they haven't charged me since. That's the one thing they did right.

[786ARS]

i have a gamespot gold subscription, and have a direct 2 drive subscription, which is like an ign normal subscription. and to be honest if you want anything for games its a lot better to get it off gamespot.

[tomster2300]

I like IGN because their guides are a bit more polished visually...but they're definately not good enough to pay for.