1989-2009 - EGM is Dead - RIP

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:23 pm

^^ Agreed. The recent Kane and Lynch snafu is proof of that.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:24 pm

Didn't care much for the mag but it's always sad when I hear people getting laid off. Terrible experience.

stuminator · Post by **stuminator** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:43 pm

I had a subscription up until a year ago, it was the only gaming mag I read for a long time. RIP.

FRO · Post by **FRO** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:07 pm

Pixel_Outlaw wrote:Magazines ruled back in the early 90's but now they just showcase big business games and neglect their former classy commentary.

QFT! This is going to date me, but the last great retail gaming mag was Video Games & Computer Entertainment, which went down the toilet when original editor Andy Eddy jumped ship in the mid-90's. Then it went the way of Gamepro & EGM (style over substance) w/in 3-6 months. After that, I stopped caring about gaming mags, unless they were 'zines. The corporate world dictates that all gaming mags must hype their second-rate product, Wayne's World-style. I still have a bunch of my back-issues that I pull out occasionally & re-read; they still bring a smile to my face

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 3:00 am

Video game magazines are redundant now that you can get all their content on the internet for free. Reviews, previews, cheat codes, etc. etc. all easily available.

I'd rather smell a stinky fart than read one anyway, all the writers like lame RPG movie-games like final fantasy and metal gear solid, who cares what those dorks have to say

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:22 am

http://www.1up.com/do/my1Up?publicUserId=4549175

Looks like there's to be a bittersweet finalé for the magazine. "Milkman" stated in his blog that the finished February issue is going to be released digitally in the near future. Seems the crew worked on it to completion, despite knowing the fate that awaited them and the magazine.

No specific date's been given, but it's coming soon(ish).

Battlesmurf · Post by **Battlesmurf** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 5:29 pm

Neon wrote:Video game magazines are redundant now that you can get all their content on the internet for free. Reviews, previews, cheat codes, etc. etc. all easily available.

I'd rather smell a stinky fart than read one anyway, all the writers like lame RPG movie-games like final fantasy and metal gear solid, who cares what those dorks have to say

I thought that once upon a time.

But- there is no replacement to a stack of cool stuff I can read while I poop, or toss in a back pack to have in case of emergency when a professor is boring. Laptops aren't small enough/quiet enough/flexible enough to hide this easily yet (and any ones that might be are probably more expensive than the $3-5 I lose compared to a magazine if I have to ditch it, let it get water damaged, etc).

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:21 pm

gigadrive32 wrote:http://www.magweasel.com/wiki/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly

They have the covers of most issues. Other magazines also.

Thanks a bunch, interesting link!

Etrian · Post by **Etrian** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:50 pm

I expected this..

Physical gaming mags are going to be extinct soon. Thanks, Internet!

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:14 pm

Neon wrote:Video game magazines are redundant now that you can get all their content on the internet for free. Reviews, previews, cheat codes, etc. etc. all easily available.

I'd rather smell a stinky fart than read one anyway, all the writers like lame RPG movie-games like final fantasy and metal gear solid, who cares what those dorks have to say

But would you still pay for a magazine which contained insightful and enlightening reviews on both retro and the current Japanese gaming/arcade scene, including previews, features on shmups and other hardcore games past and present, and interviews.
Like retrogamer but with a nicer, neater design, and more focussed on the hardcore gaming purists?

Ah, whatta pipe dream...

CStarFlare · Post by **CStarFlare** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:01 am

Skykid wrote:But would you still pay for a magazine which contained insightful and enlightening reviews on both retro and the current Japanese gaming/arcade scene, including previews, features on shmups and other hardcore games past and present, and interviews.
Like retrogamer but with a nicer, neater design, and more focussed on the hardcore gaming purists?

Ah, whatta pipe dream...

HGM filled that description fairly well. Import reviews and previews (near the end imports were really all they reviewed), neat features (event write-ups, looks back at various games and phenomena), etc. It displayed its roots in the scene perhaps a bit too much sometimes (use of internet/gaming handles for credit reviews, use of l33t speak on the covers oh fucking god), but as a whole it was the most exciting gaming mag I've found in recent years.

The website was (is?) a lot of fun, too.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:49 pm

What does the honorable Mr. David Siller (co-founder of EGM) have to say on his magazine retiring? ^_~

Yes, the cool and very informative Video Games & Computer Entertainment magazing back in the late 1980's-early 1990's was the one to get. Those days are long gone. Enjoy the issues that you do have in your stash as they contain lots of info from before the early days of the internet. The July 1990 issue of VG&CE has the spread about the PC Engine portable (later known as the NEC GT handheld in Japan) and tech specs on it. Impressive stuff indeed.

I was able to try out a protype version of the NEC Turbo Express back in October of 1990 at a Turbografx-16 Halloween promotional event, that I was sold on how well and solidly built it was constructed -- played a game of Devil's Crush on it. Asked the NEC factory representative about how much it was to retail at...answer was it would be out during the Christmas 1990 shopping season at a MSRP of $249.99 USD. It wasn't released until January of 1991 at a whopping $299.99 USD! Eventually, I ended up snagging a TE brand new for a mere $99.99 USD from G&G Captron mail-order business dealing in video game hardware and software -- went out of business in the mid-1990's. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:18 pm

Of all the gaming magazines I bought over the years EGM was third favorite next to Gamefan and Gamers Republic. I have almost every issue of EGM (back to 89') along with others stored in boxes in my attic.

EddyMRA · Post by **EddyMRA** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:57 am

EGM's original Review Crew (Ed Semrad, Martin Alessi, Steve Harris, and Sushi-X) were, for the most part, very objective with their game reviews. They once rated the original Street Fighter II for the SNES with 9's and 10's. When SF2 Turbo came out, they rated it lower (7's and 6's I think). Why? Because they saw the game for what it is: a minor update to an already existing game that Capcom is charging gamers $60 for.

One of their later editorials later discussed that Capcom was so unhappy with the EGM review of SF2 Turbo that they pulled their advertising from EGM. Still, EGM did not budge, because they believed in their integrity as objective game reviewers. Those days are long gone now, where many game "reviews" turn out to be advertisements to big-name games these days.

The times that the original Review Crew had their lapses into stupidity:
*Ed Semrad singing praises about Silpheed for the Sega CD, while bashing SNES StarFox, only to be the only person to give it an inflated rating of 9, while everyone else gave the game a 7. Semrad later apologized for his blind fanboyism in a later editorial.
*Sushi-X is notoriously known for his extreme bias against the original monochrome Game Boy. Many of his reviews of Game Boy games are downrated because he hates the system, regardless of how good the Game Boy games actually are.

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:10 am

PC Engine Fan X! wrote:What does the honorable Mr. David Siller (co-founder of EGM) have to say on his magazine retiring? ^_~

Not sure, he's a member of this forum though, and a top seller too! Where are ya David?

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 1:02 am

The 'net reviewer is the new Old EGM.

It's nice to have the pretty pictures companies give the game magazines in print, but beyond that, there's been appallingly little useful data and even less commentary in print rags for as long as I can recall. INQ, Kotaku, and some other sites seem to have the beat covered on possibly-exciting news gossip.

The most hilarious thing out of all this is Sam Kennedy (who I think is an alright guy based on what I've seen him say about games, but eh) asking people to donate to 1up. Ain't it a business? I feel that I can get games commentary on that level or above in some random (well, not entirely random) games Forum; they aren't adding a lot of value to my life. I'm not one to try to bash some folks trying to work their dream job, but I don't feel they've added much to my life.

tl;dr the internet makes you stupid

Sandlegs · Post by **Sandlegs** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:14 am

D wrote:EGM, I remember those really big issues in 92, 93? half of the pages adverts, but still they put some work in.

THIS is the reason i loved EGM when i was younger. Some of those issues in 92 and 93 were like 500 pages! Back in those times they also had the questionable import companies trying to sell consoles and games in the back of the magazine. One of my favorite sections of old EGM.

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:39 pm

Alluro wrote: The times that the original Review Crew had their lapses into stupidity:
*Ed Semrad singing praises about Silpheed for the Sega CD, while bashing SNES StarFox, only to be the only person to give it an inflated rating of 9, while everyone else gave the game a 7. Semrad later apologized for his blind fanboyism in a later editorial.
*Sushi-X is notoriously known for his extreme bias against the original monochrome Game Boy. Many of his reviews of Game Boy games are downrated because he hates the system, regardless of how good the Game Boy games actually are.

I agree with Ed's original sentiment. Silpheed is still very playable today... Starfox, barely...

Also, Sushi-X still stands by his hatred of the Gameboy. He was interviewed in the recent episode of Drunken Gamer Radio and they brought that up.

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 9:19 pm

I loved that magazine in the early 90s. They were monstrously huge, had the best previews, a good review system, and they covered everything from arcades, mainstream console games, imports, underground stuff. EGM was all you needed.

Alas, that time is gone. These days, the internet can do everything a magazine can do without the cost and paper waste. Plus you get the info faster.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 9:57 pm

1989-2009 is a twenty years old publication. Does that make it the longest living videogame magazine at least in the west?

drboom · Post by **drboom** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:53 pm

Yeah, sad to see this go, but it was certainly inevitable, unfortunately. At least they have 1up.com...

MadScientist · Post by **MadScientist** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:43 pm

Phew. The 1up Retronauts podcast seems to have survived the cull.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 5:25 pm

I missed this thread. I called the subscription phone # this morning and found out the news. Really sad. Not my favorite gaming magazine ever, but it was my favorite among the ones still around.

Domino · Post by **Domino** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 5:28 pm

I used to work for the company that handles the phone calls of EGM, it's pretty annoying hearing kids screaming in your ears asking where's the magazine!!??

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 5:32 pm

Domino wrote:I used to work for the company that handles the phone calls of EGM, it's pretty annoying hearing kids screaming in your ears asking where's the magazine!!??

I did whine just a bit on the phone. I wasn't complaining, just sad.

Domino · Post by **Domino** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 5:36 pm

professor ganson wrote:
Domino wrote:I used to work for the company that handles the phone calls of EGM, it's pretty annoying hearing kids screaming in your ears asking where's the magazine!!??
I did whine just a bit on the phone. I wasn't complaining, just sad.

It's mostly older ladies who don't know jack shit about video games answering the phones. I had to "educate" them once about what the hell the magazine was all about.