This is a true story...Last night, my friends wanted to watch that stupid dancing show, so I went looking for a magazine. I happen to pull out EGM #200, which happens to be the last issue of EGM I ever bought because I hated the direction the magazine went in. So I start flipping the pages and realize how long it's been and I think to myself, "Gee, I wonder if they've improved since then...It's been awhile since I last read it."

So I go to do a quick wiki on the magazine and I get this article:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_i … tory=21759

Wow....So for three years, I didn't pay it any mind, then on the day I decide to wiki it, I find out it's now officially gone. That's...scary.

Any thoughts?

I started reading it in 1998, after something of a hiatus from gaming and I really liked the layout and the writing and the features. It and Gamefan were my main gaming mags for the next few years. Then...I dunno, right around the middle of the PS2/GC/Xbox1 war, the writing seemed to take a hit and started to resemble GameFAQ's-quality writing. Like the editors were trying too hard to be funny and attract attention to themselves, instead of really letting their content speak for itself. It got to the point where it was painful (and useless) to read. The content suffered along with it, IMO (loss of great features, nauseating emphasis on high profile games instead of the nice mix it used to have, too many "perfect" scores given out, telling people to go online to read the "full" versions of articles, too much Seanbaby AFTER the man was funny for about 3 months). I personally never liked Dan Hsu that much as an editor and I notice so much of the poor writing and awkward layout choices began when he took over the mag.

Oh well, it's gone. I just didn't think it would be that fast.

I always liked EGM, but I can't say I will miss it.  I just wish I hadn't renewed my subscription recently.  D'oh!

I used to digest EGM monthly but tapered off a good year or so ago when I began withdrawing from video gaming of today.

Never liked EGM.
I only ever bought one issue, like 10 years ago or something, didn't like it, never bothered again.

My psychic abilities aren't quite on par as yours, but the very last issue of EGM I picked up was No. 224, January 2008 - the one that featured Street Fighter IV as their cover story - which makes it exactly one year ago to the very last issue that is to be this month.  Besides that, I haven't picked up a single issue of EGM in about fourteen years. 

I stopped subscribing regularly right around when EGM² had started, but I have some fond memories of EGM back in the day.  Sushi-X, Quartermann's rumor page, the envelope fan art (remember Guile fangirl Jen Seng?), wondering which reviewed games would earn that Platinum/Gold for the month...... and, of course, the legendary 4/1 Sheng Long.  Classic EGM, man.  That's right, and I always remember looking forward to the November and December issues specifically.  They were GIGANTIC. ;)

Such a shame, especially since affiliates such as 1up.com and GameVideos.com are also taking the fall.  Here's hoping the staff who got the pink slip will be able to land back on their feet soon.

Honestly, I'm surprised there are still gaming magazines in print!
I think in a decade or so, there will be basically (except for perhaps a few small press items) NO magazines left around. Everything will have gone digital. That's my prediction, and I hope I'm wrong (but I doubt it)! Electronic readers such as amazon's kindle will eventually be as popular as ipods. Current technology has advanced to the point where a reader actually arranges the crystals (liquid crystal display) in such a way that it remains permanently on screen, except when you turn the page, at which point it rearranges the screen. This uses very little power, and isn't as painful on the eyes. So I think in the future, people will have these devices and they'll automatically download magazines into their readers. As for books... well I love books! Currently, e-books are still in the evolutionary phase and fairly expensive. I think many people will abandon conventional books when it gets to the point where e-books are say $10 each, and instead of taking up a bunch of room to store them, you'll just need your reader. Personally, I don't like this. I just prefer something tangible. However, I'm old school
So, you know how you can argue that ipod and all these companies have "killed" the CD, I predict that in a decade or so, the same thing will happen to books. I find that sad...

-avatar!

Back in 1997-2000, PCGamer was my favorite magazine. The issues were often large (400 pages) and filled with detail. I stopped bothering around 2005-2006 when the issues were regularly 100 pages and all the articles (especially the reviews) were going through the motions.

Never bothered with EGM. Doesn't sound like I'm missing much.

Wow. Another part of my childhood goes pbbht. I have boxes full of old gaming magazines of all stripes from the 90s; I used to revel in the screens and pore over maps of games and 'play' them with my finger. Every now and again I pull a issue of one off the shelf and re-visit what used to be the issues of the day (it's kind of funny to read comments about say, how Devil May Cry 2 cannot possibly fail). Even nowadays, while I pick up 'news of the moment' from online sites*, I'll still wait until there's a lush article in print to read up on a title in-depth - it was EGM's feature, in fact, that educated me on what LittleBigPlanet actually was and got me interested in playing it.

I'm not foolish, I know it was inevitable. But I think a dismissive 'good riddance' is a little ghoulish under the circumstances. A lot of the more interesting personalities got laid off, including the guy funding the Retronauts podcast I was so fond of. So this just kind of sucks 15 different ways. Damn it all.

*Just as an aside, online gaming sites in general are pretty bad in my opinion. Most irritating of all is the complete lack of impartiality on display - console-bashing, blanket statements, and holier-than-thou judgements abound. If anyone wonders why 'gaming journalism' gets a bum rap, the internet is lousy with evidence.

there are a lot of newspapers facing bankruptcy too. just the other day on the news (i think i was in boston), they were saying that the newspaper was trying to ask their state government for a bailout... unfortunately it seems that monkeys flying out of butts is becoming all too common...

I remember the 9th issue of EGM. They were concerned about the fate of Castlevania III, as to whether it would get a U.S. release or not.

I stopped buying game magazines back in the N64 days.
I'll only occasionally flip through one if someone has one lying around, although they seem mostly filled with screenshots and ratings.

But I doubt they died because of content, rather it's the tough publishing market.

Which (if any) game mags would be considered to have good articles and have interviews with producers and such?

I used to do exactly the same thing. When EGM switched to more in-depth features I found myself much preferring the maps and strategies of EGM2/Expert Gamer, at least until the management at XG changed and they started lifting stuff directly from GameFAQs.

I first started reading EGM in the library in 1992 (why the library had gaming magazines, I'll never know) but didn't start subscribing until around '94. I don't really remember when my subscription stopped, but I think it was around 2002 or 2003. By that point I was just skimming through the issues since online sites had the information sooner. Plus, the layouts were just awful to look at.

For anyone interested in behind-the-scenes info/gossip, I stumbled upon this site recently:
http://homepage.mac.com/chris_johnston/ … index.html

I miss Gamefan.

I still have a couple of old EGM mags.  Namely issues 62 and 63, which feature Primal Rage and Donkey Kong Country, respectively.  Reading them takes me back to a time when games were about fun and imagination.

It seems like the 90's were the golden age for everything related to gaming, and gaming mags are no exception.  I threw away most of my old gaming magazines (kind of wish I hadn't), but I started reading them at around 1992, and I had a subscription to GamePlayers magazine for a few years.

It's sad to say, but as much as I enjoyed the 32-bit era, that was about the time that gaming started to become more mainstream and that just about everything related to gaming started to lose its charm.  Some people might accuse me of being old and jaded for saying that, but when I recall the old days, I recall a time when games were going strong in every area, including arcades.  I bet everyone here remembers playing games like Aliens, The Simpsons, Trog, and Splatterhouse in arcades.  I look at gaming now and I see something which is loaded with too much realism for realism's sake.  That's a generalization, but things are different now, and I don't think it's only because age has changed my perspective.

Anyway, it's strange to think that one of the cornerstones of videogames mags is gone, but it had to happen given the advent of the internet.  People prefer to get their content digitally, and so videogame magazines have gone out of style.  It used to be that those magazines were the only source of information on upcoming games and industry news for gamers, but that's not the case anymore, and so everyone moves on.

Yeah, those winter issues were huge! I still have one from November 93. I think Sonic CD was the cover story. I remember reading the import section and hoping that the games would make it here. ::drifts into warm, childhood nostalgia::

Oh, how I remember how awful those days were.  I developed an intense hatred of my local post office as I waited every freaking day to see if I would get my new issue of Nintendo Power (I couldn't afford to subscribe to two magazines until later).  Then, on the bus, I would hope the kid who had the EGM subcription would let me look it at before we got to school.  I remember being super excited when I saw the announcement for Rockman World 3 in the import column (I only had a GB back then, so it was thrilling when major NES games had GB versions announced).  I used to call Nintendo's customer service line and try to wrangle more current info out of their reps.  Some of them would blow me off, but some were really cool and would really try to fill me in.  I must have called them something like five times trying to get a straight release date for the GB version of Mega Man V -- I got jerked around so badly (mostly by EB) trying to get that game that I had to get my mom to special order it from some mail order company that Capcom itself recommended.  But I did get it.  And it was awesome.

I seriously don't know how I did ANYTHING without the internet.  If there's anything to be thankful for, the internet is it.  After trade shows, I used to have to wait 1.5 months for the magazine to come out.  Now I get annoyed if i have to settle for a liveblog instead of a live video stream of the press conference.  Oh, the times they have changed. :-)

Nintendo Power was pretty nostalgic for me.

But walkthroughs inside magazines became extinct when they just started making Player's Guides; after all, it's best to have the entire walkthrough for a game inside one book, as opposed to it running across multiple issues of a magazine.

Then gaming mags became more about editorial content, reviews, etc.

EGM was decent, but I stopped subscribing after about 2004, maybe 2005. I liked Seanbaby's humor, but after awhile, he just offered more of the same. I liked the Hsu & Chan comics, but those were only like, a page or two of the mag. For $7, I got maybe an hour of entertainment per issue.

I referred to gaming mags for recommendations on games, but the only (PS2) games EGM convinced me to buy were Dark Cloud 2 (after how boring the original Dark Cloud was), and Beyond Good & Evil, which I never would've found out about if it weren't for EGM. If anything, I found them talking me out of games more than they convinced me to actually get stuff, but when I stopped listening to them, I found myself getting more games and actually ENJOYING them.

Internet is the future of print, and most other things are going digital as well. At least it's good for the environment, but I'm sure people will remember the advantages of the ways we used to do things when the new way starts showing its disadvantages (can't think of any immediate examples off hand, though).

Kind of makes me wonder how long G4 will last?

You'd think a lot more TV shows would be offered over internet, too.

Here's a handy dandy image of all the EGM covers from beginning to end.

The third ("16-Bit Gaming Explodes") was my first issue and man does that bring back some fond memories.

Wish the Feb. 2009 issue had the opportunity to make it out.  Of course, it WOULD have to have Street Fighter IV featured again as the cover story. :(

1up's made the feature available online.  There's a nice send-off to EGM from Ono on the third page.

Wow, that's pretty cool!

Seeing that made me realise I actually have two (gasp!) of those issues, the one with TMNT3 on the cover, and the one saying FFVII Best RPG Ever.

And I have, let's see, 73 of those. Pretty intermittent at the start, since as a kid I just bought whatever mag there was, but around '99-2000 I had a running subscription thanks to a niece's magazine drive. First I have is the Mafat Conspiracy one. I also remember the 1992 Buyer's Guide insert that came with the one with Ryu and Sonic - 16 pages of games with percentages indicating how close to 'done' they were. Fun times.

P.S. Gamefan was also good back in the day, in part because it was more enthusiastic and optimistic than the rest. Then ECM took over and it was all about how Rampage is awesome and how gamers are sheeple for buying FF8 instead of Stretch Panic and neh-neh neh-neh neh.
But apparently times were tough if you worked with Halverson. There's an infamous story where he blew the money for payroll on a giant Sonic.

That's what they get for not honoring their 'Code of the Month' contest

(http://www.soundtrackcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=2399 )

Ok, I'm not that bitter, but I definitely remembered looking at EGM one day and thinking, Wow, what the hell happened?  It looks like 'Gamefan' now. Horrible direction to take.

Gotta say, Game Informer does an awesome job at what they do. Does anyone remember 'Die Hard Game Fan'?  Did that magazine become Game Informer?  I do not recall the history, but I do recall a store in California called 'Die Hard Game Fan', back in '94 or so, in Reseda, California, which was tied to the publisher.  They did an awesome job from what I remember.

Anyway, they had a small shop, that sold 'import' games. (extremely rare in the States, at the time).  I'll never forget walking in with a Neo Geo system and games for trade, and walking out with a Turbo Duo, and Dracula X import.  I'll never forget that day.  LOL.  Sorry for the tangent.

-Brandon

Diehard Gamefan & Gamefan are one and the same. Halverson quit to start another mag (he's had a few now, I think), and some staff stayed, but most left. Then, as I alluded above, the mag became MUCH more condescending and finicky, eventually turning into GameGO!, a magazine dedicated to covering only the games THEY wanted to cover. It lasted exactly one issue.

Gamers' Republic was headed up by Halverson, wasn't it?  Before it became "Play", I believe.  I thought GR was a pretty good mag before it went belly-up.

We need more independent gaming magazines these days.  I miss gamefan.  That used to be the greatest magazine ever.  Barely any ads, and the corporations hadn't really had their stranglehold on the magazines back in those days.  Damn what I wouldn't do to have a real gaming magazine these days. 

I remember reading issues of EGM when it used to be more thoughtful, then one day I woke up and it was like "Video game magazines have been taken over by corporate assholes who wish to destroy your love and passion"

What the hell went wrong?  Where has the world been these last 12 or so years for me?

Notice all the ARMY recruitment ads in video game magazines within the last 12 or so years?  It was never like that up till like the Playstation era if I remember correctly.  What a great way to sucker people into recruitment. Brainwash them by the video game magazines.

Actually, I have to agree here. Drives me nuts to see that stuff on GameFAQS and Gamestop. It's basically the equivalent of saying "you like SOCOM?" "Do it in real life and get paid for it!"

I wrote to the owners of Gamefaqs a couple of times about that actually. I don't mind them advertising and, technically, I guess there's no reason why the military shouldn't be running recruitment ads but, regardless of being based in the US, Gamefaqs is clearly a site that has international reach and, with stuff going on in the world, I found it distasteful and they didn't just have ads, they had the whole site plastered in military branding.

Man, that sentence has a lot of commas.

And, yes, the targeting of games sites seems off to me. It's like they're thinking "If they play games, these people are clearly gagging to be killers!"

I wonder if it works. Do they get more recruits from game sites than, say, if they ran their ads on a movie site?