When I was a little boy gamer I would spend a bit of my allowance on Electronic Gaming Monthly a great little gaming magazine. Unfortunately, young gamers will never understand what the industry was like twenty years ago. In a time before the Internet, the only place to get gaming news for a young kid was a glossy magazine. Today, EGM closes its doors and we’re losing a historic piece of gaming history.
Granted, there were other glossy magazines prized by young boys too, but we were old enough to purchase Electronic Gaming Monthly, now known as EGM by the hip and cool. Although EGM was founded in 1989, many adults between the age of 29 and 35 probably spent their youth flipping through the pages reading the reviews and editorials.
The days of the magazine are drawing to an end for many industries, with video game websites covering everything from truly hardcore to highly niche, we all demand our information as soon as possible. If a company like Ziff Davis is selling its properties, we want to know the minute it is announced, when 1UP is purchased by UGO we want to know the minute the ink dries. Why? Because we can.
January 2009 marks the last issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly. After Hearst Corporation (owner of UGO) purchased 1UP from Ziff Davis it was announced that EGM would be seeing its last issue. Sure, there was a chance this would occur without the acquisition as well but the sadness wouldn’t be any different. We’re sure the staff will find a great home writing for another publication or in the online world, but it is sad just the same.
Along with the sad news of EGM closing, we’ve heard a number of folks at 1UP have also been effected by Hearst Corporations purchase of 1UP which has many people out of a job during tough economic times. There has been rumor the 1UP podcasts being ditched as well, but we have heard nothing official yet (please comment with official stories if you hear).
Of course, 1UP is “officially” rejoicing at the news but we know this is part of the “smoke and mirrors” that is an acquisition. A few, now former, 1UP folks have been using twitter and game forums to voice their own “opinions” of the purchase.
This is a rough economic time for many people, printed magazines, online publications and others. The only shining light is knowing many of these individuals will find new places to call home or start brand new online publications to compete against their old company. Talent will not go restricted, they will no doubt group together to form new aged publications to show off why the big boys are flailing in the dark.
We wish them all well in their efforts to find success.
@Sony drops 3D support, saying customers rejected it
😀 really? How about their pricing, can we reject that as well? The main issue with 3D TV for for now is the lack of 3D content (ah, where’s the porn industry when you need it …). Add to that a pricey TV and you start asking yourself if it’s worth it.
My issue with 3D gaming is that in order to properly display it in 3D, you need to render the scene twice. Basically you need hardware that can do 120fps in plain 2D mode in order to have 60fps in 3D. Don’t know how many can afford buying such gear.
@Oddworld creator to EA: “F— you very much”
😀 I love this guy! As long as he has a good game, there will be somebody willing to distribute it.
@Wii U launch developer complains of lackluster CPU:
Oh my … this is definitely not good. They just aimed for a different ergonomics/usage type and forgot about the computing power …
This reminds me of a particular phone, where the manufacturer focused mostly on user experience, completely forgetting that the device is still a phone that uses radio waves to communicate 😛 *ahem* iPhone 4 *ahem*
@Mists of Pandaria sales below expectations according to analyst firm
Well, there’s that many times you can sell the same game again and again 😛
Kidding aside, Jonah does provide a very good explanation.
@Nintendo Power: it’s bound to happen, due to Internet alone; the more specialized magazine (more niche type of market) the faster the printed version will dead.
I’m with Jordan on this one. Jonah, I send links to my friends …
@favourite game of the 90’s:
Jonah, good point with Unreal Tournament, that game was (if you ask me) the bets of the series. Everything from music to weapons felt better than any of the sequels.
Now, the reason why I went for Quake 3 is (believe it or not) the bots. Play on nightmare any of the maps that has just one bot, and if the hair on the back of your neck stands up due to fear of being fragged, then you might understand. UT was fun, but could not do THAT.