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EGM is Dead

AprecheApreche
edited January 2009 in Video Games
While we no longer care for video game magazines, or really any magazine, I think this is important to notice. The January 2009 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly will be the last issue. The first issue was in 1989. That's about 20 years of magazine. In the late '90s as the Internet started to rise, we started to talk about the death of print. Well, that was over a decade ago. Now we are seeing the actual death of print. If you've been a denier or naysayer, it's time to accept reality.

Also, video game magazines used to be cool.

Comments

  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    No, video game magazines were always lame; we just didn't know any better. Case in point: Gamepro.
  • RymRym
    No, video game magazines were always lame;
    There was a time where they were the only way to know what was happening in the industry. There used to not be an Internet. ;^)
  • AprecheApreche
    No, video game magazines were always lame; we just didn't know any better. Case in point: Gamepro.
    GamePro was good back in the Scary Larry days. Later on it lost its unique attitude, and ended up just like every other gaming media outlet.

    Interesting note, Scary Larry is now editorial director of Pokemon USA.
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    edited January 2009
    No, video game magazines were always lame;
    There was a time where they were the only way to know what was happening in the industry. There used to not be an Internet. ;^)
    Just because it was the only option for a time doesn't mean it was ever a good option. :P

    EDIT: Even when I was a kid who didn't know any better, I knew that Scary Larry was lame.
    Post edited by TheWhaleShark on
  • BlattusBlattus
    In other magazine news, Hardcore Gamer is being sold on Ebay. Kotaku article.
  • TechparadoxTechparadox
    'Tis truly the end of an era. I can remember discovering EGM on the magazine rack at the grocery store back in '89 and being totally blown away. Back then:
    • EGM was the go-to for actual news and rumors.
    • Diehard Gamefan was good for the pretty pictures and screen shots of games we would likely never see in the 'States.
    • GamePro was lame, no matter which way you cut it.
    • And I wouldn't have lined my birdcage with the trash that was Game Informer.
    Sadly, EGM lost its shine for me right around the "Sheng Long April Fool's Joke" era. They had just gotten too full of themselves and were riding their own hype like there was no tomorrow. Once I hit college and discovered the mass of FTP sites out there that had move lists for fighting games, strategy guides for the RPGs, and pretty much everything else that the magazines were printing, I quit buying them.

    I wouldn't necessarily say that the internet was what killed the magazine, though. It contributed to it, but it wasn't the sole cause. EGM has been pretty worthless for the last five (if not ten) years. The writing has been sub-par, the content has not been fresh, and advertisers noticed. Less advertisers = less revenue, and with a revenue model like EGM had (inflate the subscription numbers so you can charge the advertisers out the yin-yang), that spells disaster. It just took longer than expected for the bottom to drop out. :)
  • Neutron PongNeutron Pong
    edited January 2009
    Don't forget Next Generation for smarter looks at the industry itself and better writing than video game magazines of its time could ever hope to provide. I'm alright losing EGM, but it's still sad to see the talent at 1Up (their podcast hosts, in other words) shown the door. I'm sure most of them worth their salt will land on their feet, though.
    Post edited by Neutron Pong on
  • TechparadoxTechparadox
    ... but it's still sad to see the talent at 1Up (their podcast hosts, in other words) shown the door.
    I think that is the part that bugs me the most about it. I didn't really go to 1up.com very much but I was an avid listener of the LAN Party (formerly GFW Radio) podcast. I haven't seen a full list of who got the axe over there but I know at least two of the members of that one were laid off.
  • MankoonMankoon
    I used to really love Nintendo Power. I especially loved the "Epic Center" (?). I must admit, it was mostly for the fact they would use Game art to help fill in their lay outs. In a time when there was no internet, this was a huge deal to me. I started disliking the magazine when the Nintendo64 came out. They replaced the game art with really crappy low poly models. What a bad Idea. They also killed the Epic Center around that time. Envelope art was a fun thing to partake in. I got in the 100th issue! woo! *cough* eh hem.
  • Delam3Delam3
    ... but it's still sad to see the talent at 1Up (their podcast hosts, in other words) shown the door.
    I think that is the part that bugs me the most about it. I didn't really go to 1up.com very much but I was an avid listener of the LAN Party (formerly GFW Radio) podcast. I haven't seen a full list of who got the axe over there but I know at least two of the members of that one were laid off.
    .

    I agree, it is a bummer. MTV did a good job covering the 1upocolypse http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/category/ugo-buys-1up/, they also talked to UGO to get their side of it. Jeff Green gave his own summary as well Greenspeak.

    For a complete list of those let go try http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/06/assessing-the-damage-at-1up/.

    If you want to listen to some of the people who lost their jobs there is Rebel FM and the 1UP Show staff is working at Talking Orange.
  • DkongDkong
    I used to really love Nintendo Power. I especially loved the "Epic Center" (?). I must admit, it was mostly for the fact they would use Game art to help fill in their lay outs. In a time when there was no internet, this was a huge deal to me. I started disliking the magazine when the Nintendo64 came out. They replaced the game art with really crappy low poly models. What a bad Idea. They also killed the Epic Center around that time. Envelope art was a fun thing to partake in. I got in the 100th issue! woo! *cough* eh hem.
    Yeah, I used to love NP, too. Back when they had game guides in the magazine, the Epic Center, and all that shit. Now it's just a completely run of the mills news magazine which only focuses on Nintendo.
  • Gabrial FoxGabrial Fox
    I, for one, will miss the personalities on 1up and in the pages of EGM.

    As for gaming magazines in general, however, there is some good to be had. IMHO "Play" magazine is still my favorite print mag. Great art, in depth editorial, and enthusiastic previews and reviews. Best of all, it's actually written for adults and other people that can read above a fifth grade level.

    It bugs me that people don't like print mags in favor of the net news, because there is a big difference in the kind of news. Two paragraph news bites on a minute by minute news blog is fine and I certainly read them, but they lack the significant writing and editorializing that a print article or long form net post can have.
  • AprecheApreche
    It bugs me that people don't like print mags in favor of the net news, because there is a big difference in the kind of news. Two paragraph news bites on a minute by minute news blog is fine and I certainly read them, but they lack the significant writing and editorializing that a print article or long form net post can have.
    While I agree that long-form print certainly carries more valuable and in-depth content than a throw-away blog post, I think that also shows exactly why video game magazines are obsolete.

    Most people out there don't want or need in-depth analysis or editorial on video games. They just want information. For example, it's pointless to write a huge editorial essay on the pros and cons of having Yoda and Darth Vader in Sould Calibur 4. All you need is one sentence to get that information across. Anyone who is reading it is someone who self-identifies as a gamer. They are going to form their own opinions and expectations based on the information, and don't care about anyone else's.

    There are plenty of sites out there that have true in-depth game essays and such, but very few people read them. The only audience for those things are people who actually care about game design, or the gaming industry. The consumers just want the information. They want screen-shots, they want videos, they want release dates, they want titles, they want specs. Some of them want cheat codes and strategy guides. All that other stuff is great, but there is no audience for it.
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