View Full Version : Another Magazine Bites The Dust
slapdash
01-05-2013, 11:44 PM
Nintendo Power's death is still fresh in our minds, and now I get an issue of PC Gamer instead of Official Playstation Magazine -- it's dead too! I'm wondering if Official XBox magazine will be right behind it, or if it has a big enough readership to hang in there...
Reminds me... Gamefan has gone REALLY quiet... Did anyone find #8 (and if so, want to sell it?)? I'm thinking it might be dead too.
I did get issues of Game Developer, Game Informer, EGM and @Gamer recently, so they at least made it to the end of 2012; will they survive into the new year?
What other (US) mags are still out there -- have I forgotten any?
Ed Oscuro
01-05-2013, 11:53 PM
Agh, that's just bad.
To be sure, the last copy of OPSM I bought was probably in New Zealand, and it didn't impress me at all (but that's the Australian staff at the time, no obvious reflection on the US one). For a while it was something of a phenomenon...and now this?
The 1 2 P
01-06-2013, 12:16 AM
They announced this about a month ago. When I got my issue of PC Gamer I immediately called and canceled since I don't game on my PC. The only US mags left that I know of are:
OXM
@Gamer
Game Informer
Electronic Gaming Monthly
I'm pretty sure that EGM will be the next to go. After them probably OXM since they are already doing stuff directly on the 360 thru their own channel. Gamestop can keep Game Informer around as long as they like and @Gamer will continue as long as Best Buy stays interested in video games.
BlastProcessing402
01-06-2013, 02:28 PM
I can't remember the last time I saw EGM on the stands, I thought maybe they folded again already.
With that, UKs PSM3 magazine closed Dec 2012, taking XBOX World with it. Nintendo Gamer stopped Sept 2012. That's three down in UK .
Gamevet
01-06-2013, 07:06 PM
I can't remember the last time I saw EGM on the stands, I thought maybe they folded again already.
I've seen them at Fry's. The only magazine I buy anymore is Retro Gamer.
TheRedEye
01-07-2013, 01:40 AM
I did get issues of Game Developer, Game Informer, EGM and @Gamer recently, so they at least made it to the end of 2012; will they survive into the new year?
Ha, I wouldn't expect anyone here to subscribe to Game Developer! I work for the same company and occasionally have an article in there, we're doing a-OK.
YoshiM
01-07-2013, 12:20 PM
With that, UKs PSM3 magazine closed Dec 2012, taking XBOX World with it. Nintendo Gamer stopped Sept 2012. That's three down in UK .
Nintendo Gamer closed up? Didn't they recently change their name (NGamer or something like that)?
That explains why my local book/magazine store hasn't gotten new issues in.
Is Edge still alive?
MachineGex
01-07-2013, 02:59 PM
I can't remember the last time I saw EGM on the stands, I thought maybe they folded again already.
I thought the same thing. I remember back in the early 90's when this mag was as big as a phone book. I was so excited to read it every month.
Hawksmoor
01-07-2013, 05:05 PM
Print media will be completely dead within our lifetimes, at least in technology-rich industrialized countries like the U.S. Newspapers and magazines are not long for this world. There's too much free, constantly updated content online; the masses see no need to pay for similar content that they have to wait to get in the mail or go to a store and buy.
I, for one, am dreading the day when almost all reading will be done on some permutation of a tablet, but it seems an inevitability.
Ed Oscuro
01-07-2013, 05:21 PM
Ha, I wouldn't expect anyone here to subscribe to Game Developer! I work for the same company and occasionally have an article in there, we're doing a-OK.
I oughta check that out. I love that kind of stuff. At this stage in my life, I don't really need a magazine for previews, rumors, and "hot exclusives," but the background and technical information is really interesting.
The oldest computer magazine still going though:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computing_(magazine)
Yeah, a lot of US consumer-focused game rags are doing very poorly, but I'm undecided regarding the total annihilation of print. It'll continue to retract, but if there's still money to be made or prestige to be had by issuing a print mag or book people will find a way to do it. My work/contributions have only been in print a couple times and I think I cherish them the most. Anyone can vomit their ideas on the 'net, but print is more exclusive.
BlastProcessing402
01-09-2013, 03:01 PM
Print media will be completely dead within our lifetimes, at least in technology-rich industrialized countries like the U.S. Newspapers and magazines are not long for this world. There's too much free, constantly updated content online; the masses see no need to pay for similar content that they have to wait to get in the mail or go to a store and buy.
It won't be completely dead ever (gotta line the birdcage with something) but definitely the days are coming when it will mostly be the free papers that just show up at your door every week (or in the vestibules at various retail stores) rather than anything someone seeks to buy.
That's print in general, not video game print, which is pretty much lying in the coffin just waiting to be lowered into the ground.
Nintendo Gamer closed up? Didn't they recently change their name (NGamer or something like that)?
That explains why my local book/magazine store hasn't gotten new issues in.
Is Edge still alive?
Yes, NGamer became Nintendo Gamer and Edge is still going for some reason (nothing worthwhile reading in there). Games Master is still going too, who'd have thought.
Bojay1997
01-10-2013, 02:31 PM
Yes, NGamer became Nintendo Gamer and Edge is still going for some reason (nothing worthwhile reading in there). Games Master is still going too, who'd have thought.
I strongly disagree. Edge is one of the few magazines that actually provides any kind of professional journalism in a magazine form outside of Retro Gamer IMHO. Edge has great in-depth articles about developers and games as opposed to worthless reviews and other fluff content that can be had for free on various websites.
slapdash
01-26-2013, 11:20 PM
Gamestop can keep Game Informer around as long as they like and @Gamer will continue as long as Best Buy stays interested in video games.
Well, or as long as Best Buy stays in business. There have been rumblings for a few years now that BB might be in trouble and may follow Circuit City into the dirt.
Reminds me; BB used to have a little freebie mag... Anyone got past issues they don't want anymore? :-)
With that, UKs PSM3 magazine closed Dec 2012, taking XBOX World with it. Nintendo Gamer stopped Sept 2012. That's three down in UK .
Wow, consider that there's still a pretty good selection of UK mags in Barnes & Noble, I've kind of been thinking the UK gaming print world as unassailable. Guess they have their own problems! Makes me wish I'd been buying all the Brit mags all along, but it was just too much money!
So, what's surviving in the UK? I know of:
Edge
GamesTM
RetroGamer
...and I know there are a smattering of PS and XBox mags, though not by exact name; anyone want to add to the list?
Oh, and the last time I was in Germany, May of 2012, there seemed to still be a pretty fair amount of titles available there, but have a bunch died out there as well? Anyone have a list for Germany?
Ha, I wouldn't expect anyone here to subscribe to Game Developer! I work for the same company and occasionally have an article in there, we're doing a-OK.
As a collector, it seemed like the sort of obscurity a lot of collectors wouldn't know or care about, so of course I was interested. However, I managed to miss many early issues -- dated between Jun 1995 and Jan 1996 (2-3 to 2-6 I think), as well as Apr/May 1996 (3-2) -- and a few more recent ones -- Aug 2009 (16-7), Oct 2009 (16-9), Jul/Jul 2010 (17-6) and Aug 2010 (17-7).
Print media will be completely dead within our lifetimes, at least in technology-rich industrialized countries like the U.S. Newspapers and magazines are not long for this world.
I'm not convinced it'll die out entirely, though I'm not betting money either way... Print on demand may end up taking over the publication model. Yes, many/most people will still just want to download content for their tablet/phone/computer, but I think there'll still be enough "luddites" out there who would rather hold a book/mag in our hands to justify print kiosks. I agree that the print industry will certainly look a lot different than it does now, at least!
I, for one, am dreading the day when almost all reading will be done on some permutation of a tablet, but it seems an inevitability.
You're forgetting one possibility, which may still be a ways off, but possibly not as far as we think, and that's electronic paper -- so you could still have a book/magazine/paper to read, but also download new content onto it. Very sci-fi, but very cool if you ask me. Hell, for an extra few coins, that toilet-paper in the pay-stalls could keep you up on the news! :-)
Oh, and the last time I was in Germany, May of 2012, there seemed to still be a pretty fair amount of titles available there, but have a bunch died out there as well? Anyone have a list for Germany?
WHAT? You didn't visit me? Now I'm really pissed of with you.....OK not really, but next time......
slapdash
01-28-2013, 11:00 PM
WHAT? You didn't visit me? Now I'm really pissed of with you.....OK not really, but next time......
Ah, whoops, didn't even think of anything like that... It was mostly about beer. :-) Plus, it was someone else's trip I was tagging along on, so I wasn't in control. Where are you located these days?
Yeah...beer I understand.
I am located near Koblenz at the moment, and since I have a steady job I might remain here for some time.
Which area did you guys roam in?
slapdash
02-09-2013, 09:54 PM
Oh man, am I embarrassed... Well, we flew into Frankfurt, spent a couple of days in Bamberg, went to Heidelberg, drove up to SANKT GOAR (we were that damn close!), back to Heidelberg, to der Chiemsee, across Bavaria to Fuessen, back to Heidelberg, and finally, back to Frankfurt.
Don't be, last year I went back to UK for a while, I didn't manage to visit any friends, just the way it goes...
Is Koblenz worth visiting, does it have any good beer? We get a lot of US visitors in our museum, last week I had some people from California, had a little chat, talked about Arnold Schwarzenegger (ok so he's Austrian, but Austria was German once....hehe)
Anyway, sounds like you have an awesome trip visiting, Heidelberg is nice, and I like Frankfurt, but I'm really a northern kinda guy, Hamburg, Bremen, that's my stomping ground.
I started ordering Connections from Al, so hopefully soon I'll complete the 2600 Collection (about time)
Take care
Polygon
02-10-2013, 04:58 PM
Print media will be completely dead within our lifetimes, at least in technology-rich industrialized countries like the U.S. Newspapers and magazines are not long for this world. There's too much free, constantly updated content online; the masses see no need to pay for similar content that they have to wait to get in the mail or go to a store and buy.
I, for one, am dreading the day when almost all reading will be done on some permutation of a tablet, but it seems an inevitability.
I believe you're correct and I share your sentiment.
GhostDog
02-10-2013, 10:06 PM
Magazines just don't have the charm they did before and early on in the internet age. I used to love flipping through old Nintendo Powers as a youngster and seeing all the NES and SNES games even when it was the age of the PS2. In recent times I loved Retro Gamer which is based in the U.K. There's nothing like flipping through a magazine that's jam-packed with classics from the past.
slapdash
02-11-2013, 12:20 AM
@Tom: No idea if Koblenz has any good beer, but most of Germany at least has something fairly local, with occasional surprises (atypical or less-common styles).
I spent some time earlier tonight logging some old game magazines, a few of which I'd forgotten I had, many of them foreign... And I sure wish I had more of them! Does anyone know any French magazines older than Joypad and Mega Force?
Lady Jaye
02-11-2013, 08:21 AM
Russ, there's the French video game magazine archive site: http://www.abandonware-magazines.org/index.php
According to Wikipedia, Tilt is the oldest French magazine dedicated to video games, from 1982, published until 1994. You can find scans at the above site.
Kid Fenris
02-22-2013, 11:08 PM
To answer Slapdash's question, I think Gamefan's gone digital-only. The new issue's available only by download, and the print version of Issue 8 still has COMING SOON plastered on it after all these months.
http://www.shopgamefan.com/category_s/1814.htm
slapdash
03-10-2013, 11:56 PM
@LadyJaye: Neat link! Which title are you referring to though?
@KidFenris: I got an email about #9 being available for digital download; but they've been totally inactive on Facebook. #8 still "Coming Soon" in print is not likely to change, I figure. I'm not sure I'd want to buy it direct anyway, since last time I bought via their site, shipping was $9.99, effectively doubling the price of the issue I wanted! And I heard from somehow who's worked there, and he claims to remember Dave Halverson laughing about someone complaining about that. Sad if true.