GamePro Shutting Down After 22 Years [Slashdot]

[DP ServBot]

redletterdave writes "Popular gaming magazine GamePro has shut down its U.S. operations after 22 years of publications by its parent company IDG. GamePro's website, which has been online for about 13 years, will be converted to a gaming channel and incorporated into PCWorld on Dec. 5. Sources within the magazine say GamePro's employees, including its executives, received phone calls this morning with the news. The news comes as a relative surprise, as GamePro experienced its highest traffic ever last week. The company also released its first quarterly magazine earlier this month after deciding monthly print issues were too costly to maintain."

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[The 1 2 P]

RIP Gamepro.

[Edmond Dantes]

It's kind of sad that an era is ending, but on the other hand I haven't read a Gamepro magazine since the mid-1990s.

I wish I had the money and space to collect back issues though. Re-reading all the ones from the early to mid 90s would be one hell of a nostalgia trip and maybe even inform me of games I had missed.

[badinsults]

I was a subscriber from 1996-2000. It was a good magazine, better than EGM at that time.

[megasdkirby]

I subscribed from '92 - '95. Won't miss it much...at one point it turned to one of those UK magazines that all they did was insult the reader whenever he/she had a complaint, which was a complete turnoff.

Good riddance, I say.

[G-Boobie]

The disreputable past of GamePro colored the perception of the magazine from the last couple of years, where it was an exceptionally well done magazine. It's a real bummer that it's been canceled. RIP GamePro, and good luck to the staff going forward.

[JSoup]

I only ever read one issue of GamePro, around the time Donkey Kong Country was released. It had great pictures, but I didn't feel like the magazine was trying to tell me anything, more like a picture book full of adults calling everyone poopyheads.

I'm in the 'won't be missed' camp.

[Oobgarm]

I was never much of a fan. I had a few of them, back when they'd print moves for games like Mortal Kombat and such.

It all seemed especially juvenile, and the need to name every person associated with the mag with some silly penname rubbed me the wrong way for some reason.

"ProTip" and their review scale with the dude's face are fond memories of it, but that's it.

[Ludwig]

Still existing in germany.
http://www.gamepro.de/

Yes that's actually from IDG.

[Sunnyvale]

I read one of my kid brother's issues in the 90's. Forgot about it all together till 4 years ago. Got a box of Nintendo Power Magazines, a couple old Scrye's, and a handful of Gamepros.

It seemed ok. Easy to discount the tips and whatnot nowadays, with google and all, but it had a pretty good breakdown of Primal Rage and KI.

I think they were good for their time, which is 15 years gone. RIP.

[RPG_Fanatic]

I'm surprised they lasted this long. Egm will be next and then finally Nintendo Power will leave us.

[thegamezmaster]

Too bad. Will miss them. Fond memories. I remember when I won two free games from them, The Three Stooges for the NES and Miracle Warrior for the SMS. Still remember them calling me and asking what games I wanted. I was in shock, never won anything before or since. Still have the letter, mag my name was in and the games. Great times! RIP GamePro!

[Robocop2]

It's all beacuse they quit publishing "The adventures of Game Pro"

[Flashback2012]

I subscribed from '92 - '95. Won't miss it much...at one point it turned to one of those UK magazines that all they did was insult the reader whenever he/she had a complaint, which was a complete turnoff.

Good riddance, I say.

In the pecking order of video game magazines, GamePro always managed to come in at the bottom, if I even decided to consider it in the first place. I never did care for the magazine even when video game publications were at their apex, it always struck me as cheap and unprofessional compared to the competition. Diehard Gamefan was more of a fan production than GamePro was and it felt more professional than GamePro did most of the time.

I'm trying to think of any redeeming values the magazine and unfortunately I cannot. The layouts were awful, the paper quality felt flimsy, and the artwork...my God...never have I wanted to break a person's hands before (more on this in a second). So yeah...chalk me up in the "Good Riddance" column.

It's all because they quit publishing "The adventures of Game Pro"

That's the comic strip about the character who bounces from game to game, meeting Michael Jackson in Moonwalker and such, right? It was done by the same guy who would occasionally do the covers for the magazine. Gag. That's guy's "art" was terrible. TERRIBLE. His "best" stuff made the worst stuff by hacks like Rob Liefeld look like a Rembrandt or Da Vinci. And before anyone goes there I'll save you the trouble; Yes I CAN draw better than him.

[Aussie2B]

the need to name every person associated with the mag with some silly penname rubbed me the wrong way for some reason.

That always bugs me too. It's a real knock to the professionalism. If you're a real professional and take pride in your writing (and want to ensure that you can use it in a portfolio later on), you want your real name on it. It's one thing if your participation in something could be viewed as shameful (which is why Japanese game developers in the 80s used fake names), but there's no reason why a games magazine writer should not want to associate him/herself with the magazine. And if they do have a problem with that, it probably doesn't reflect well on the magazine. But in the end, I think it's nothing but a bunch of adults acting like kids, treating the magazine more like a message board than legitimate journalism.

[portnoyd]

PROTIP: At least I still have the PROTIP gag to use in their memory.

[Nikademus1969]

I was never much of a fan. I had a few of them, back when they'd print moves for games like Mortal Kombat and such.

It all seemed especially juvenile, and the need to name every person associated with the mag with some silly penname rubbed me the wrong way for some reason.

"ProTip" and their review scale with the dude's face are fond memories of it, but that's it.

This. I tried to like the magazine back in the day, I really did, but it just never did it for me. With all the pseudo-names and such it seemed more like something you'd buy from those Scholastic flyers they handed out at school (think Dynomite magazine) than a real magazine.

[c0ldb33r]

when's the last issue? I might buy that just to keep.

[treismac]

I won't shed too many tears. GamePro always seemed geared towards the youngest kids in their writing and presentation, and they handed out way too many of these

for me to have any faith in their opinion. If memory serves me correctly, a game had to be absolutely abysmal to receive a negative rating. When a magazine or website's main objective is to act as a shill for products to ensure a heavy flow of advertising revenue, I will take my business elsewhere.

[Dobie]

I subscribed to GamePro for 3 years, starting around 2004. The subscription was a free one year subscription I obtained online somewhere, that they just kept giving me free extensions to. I think it would have continued had I not canceled it. I didn't think the magazine was horrible... just not great. When John Davison took over again a couple years ago, I considered reupping and actually paying this time, just never did. Now I'm sorry I didn't.