Video Game Magazines, in Print, in America, in 2015

[Nz17]

Let's talk names, prices, issues per year, coverage, and quality. Both fan-produced and professionally published are good.

Game Informer
12 issues per year
$15 per year
Mostly new games
High quality
Must choose either a digital subscription or a print subscription - both simultaneously is not an option

Nintendo Force
6 issues per year
$30 for a print-only subscription
New and old games
High quality
Does not include a digital subscription with a print subscription
$40 for a print+digital subscription
$15 for a digital-only subscription

Official Xbox Magazine
13 issues per year
$25 per year
Almost exclusively new games
Medium quality
Does not include a digital subscription with a print subscription
$11 13-issue digital-only subscriptions are also separately available through its Web site
$22 if paid up-front, $26 if paid by issue at $2 per issue, 13-issue digital-only subscriptions available through Google Play Newsstand
$19 if paid up-front, $26 if paid by issue at $2 per issue, 13-issue digital-only subscriptions available through iTunes
$9 per digital back issue

Play Meter Magazine
12 issues per year
$60 per year
Covers arcade and ticket redemption games
High quality
Does not include a digital subscription with a print subscription
$0 digital back issues are available on its Web site - they can be printed and downloaded as well
Some $5 printed back issues are available

PC Gamer
13 issues per year
$20 per year
Almost exclusively new games
Medium quality
Does not includes a digital subscription with a print subscription
$11 13-issue digital-only subscriptions are also separately available through its Web site
$20 if paid up-front, $26 if paid by issue at $2 per issue, 13-issue digital-only subscriptions available through Google Play Newsstand
$19 if paid up-front, $26 if paid by issue at $2 per issue, 13-issue digital-only subscriptions available through iTunes
$20 13-issue digital-only subscriptions available through Amazon Kindle
$9 per digital back issue

Retro Videogame Magazine
6 issues per year
$30 per year
Mostly old games
High quality
Includes a digital subscription with a print subscription
$15 6-issue digital-only subscriptions are also separately available

Wal*Mart Game Center
12(?) issues per year
$0 per issue at Wal*Mart stores, $15 for a mail-delivered subscription
New games only
Average quality, written by former EGM staff
No digital subscription

What others are there? Are there any others?

[Nz17]

I remembered another one.

Nintendo Force
---
6 issues per year
$30 for a print-only subscription
New and old games
High quality
$40 for a print+digital subscription, $15 for a digital-only subscription

[The Adventurer]

Pretty sure RETRO sees print

[The 1 2 P]

Official Xbox Magazine is the last of the first party official magazines in North America and is still going strong with 12 issues a year. I'm not sure if the new EGM is still coming out but it's by the same people who put out Walmart's Game Center mag so I figured Walmart was bankrolling their mag(EGM) as part of a larger deal. Last I heard EGM went to either a bi-monthly or quarterly release schedule a year or two ago.

[WCP]

There is Scroll by Ray Barnholt:

scroll.vg



I'm not sure if he's still doing it or not. I heard about it via the Retronauts podcast.

[BlastProcessing402]

Last I heard EGM went to either a bi-monthly or quarterly release schedule a year or two ago.

If so, then they need to change the name to EGB or EGQ.


I haven't seen a single game magazine on the shelves in about a year. Granted, I'm not looking much, and don't get to B&N much anymore (which is the only place I'd seem something like Retro Gamer or other imports if any are still going), but I don't even remember seeing GI in GS when I've been in there anymore. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention.

It's sad, because I used to get stacks of magazines every month, but totally understandable that they'd die out when people can find out about stuff instantly on the internet rather than wait for weeks (or months) of lead time between when a mag can be written and hit the stands.

[Nebagram]

I haven't seen a single game magazine on the shelves in about a year. Granted, I'm not looking much, and don't get to B&N much anymore (which is the only place I'd seem something like Retro Gamer or other imports if any are still going), but I don't even remember seeing GI in GS when I've been in there anymore. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention.

Bit off-topic I know as you're asking specifically for American mags, but I can assure you RG's still going strong.

[Nz17]

Bit off-topic I know as you're asking specifically for American mags, but I can assure you RG's still going strong.

Yeah, if you are looking to the UK, Europe, the Middle East, or India, there are still a ton of quality, printed videogame periodicals left.

WCP: Ray Barnholt announced that the January 2015 issue of Scroll was the last one there was ever going to be. So sorry to say, but Scroll is out-of-print.

The 1 2 P: EGM and EGMi appear to be no longer be publishing new issues. There haven't been any printed issues of EGM since 2012, and EGMi seems to be rerunning old issues as "new" issues. It was both funny and sad at the same time to see an issue from earlier this year, 2015, where the cover touted it as being the "2014 preview issue." Poor, poor EGM.

And as far as OXM (US) is concerned... well, it is probably a bad sign when it doesn't have its own Web site anymore, and the publisher (the ironically named Future) is shedding employees and publications left and right. Well, at least Future is doing well in the UK, right?

BlastProcessing402: Game Informer is the best-selling videogame magazine in America. I see it almost every time I'm in a GameStop. They keep the Game Informer issues on the counter so that they can give the current issue to anyone that signs up for a GameStop PowerUp Rewards Pro membership which includes the mag, as the stores and the magazine are both owned by the same corporation.

Here are some more currently active American mags:

Retro Videogame Magazine
---
6 issues per year
$30 per year
Mostly old games
High quality
Includes a digital subscription with a print subscription
$15 6-issue digital-only subscriptions are also separately available

Play Meter Magazine
---
12 issues per year
$60 per year
Covers arcade and ticket redemption games
High quality
Does not include a digital subscription with a print subscription
$0 digital back issues are available on its Web site - they can be printed and downloaded as well
Some $5 printed back issues are available

Official Xbox Magazine
---
13 issues per year
$25 per year
Almost exclusively new games
Medium quality
Does not include a digital subscription with a print subscription
$11 13-issue digital-only subscriptions are also separately available through its Web site
$22 if paid up-front, $26 if paid by issue at $2 per issue, 13-issue digital-only subscriptions available through Google Play Newsstand
$19 if paid up-front, $26 if paid by issue at $2 per issue, 13-issue digital-only subscriptions available through iTunes
$9 per digital back issue

PC Gamer
---
13 issues per year
$20 per year
Almost exclusively new games
Medium quality
Does not includes a digital subscription with a print subscription
$11 13-issue digital-only subscriptions are also separately available through its Web site
$20 if paid up-front, $26 if paid by issue at $2 per issue, 13-issue digital-only subscriptions available through Google Play Newsstand
$19 if paid up-front, $26 if paid by issue at $2 per issue, 13-issue digital-only subscriptions available through iTunes
$20 13-issue digital-only subscriptions available through Amazon Kindle
$9 per digital back issue

[Greg2600]

Pretty sure RETRO sees print

Only mag I buy, and in print.

[WCP]

what happened to the reboot of Die Hard GameFan ?

Did that die already ?

[Nz17]

what happened to the reboot of Die Hard GameFan ? Did that die already ?

It's on extremely rocky grounds and publishes quite irregularly. It has gone through a lot of staff changes and people quitting. Frankly, I don't think it has a real future ahead of it. I know I won't be pursuing it. You can read more about its bad state of affairs on Wikipedia's article about it.

[The 1 2 P]

The 1 2 P: EGM and EGMi appear to be no longer be publishing new issues. There haven't been any printed issues of EGM since 2012, and EGMi seems to be rerunning old issues as "new" issues. It was both funny and sad at the same time to see an issue from earlier this year, 2015, where the cover touted it as being the "2014 preview issue." Poor, poor EGM.

Actually they sent me a random issue in the mail earlier this year in January. I say random because my subscription to their magazine ended years ago. It was the EGM Presents 2015 Video Game Buyers Guide(not sure if that's what you were talking about because the cover says 2015 and not 2014), one of the $9.99 issues and it's cover stated to display until 3/3/15. This is why I wasn't sure if they were still around. But I remember Tips & Tricks magazine doing something similar when they disbanded the monthly issues and kept releasing quarterly specials for another year or so.

[Nz17]

It was the EGM Presents 2015 Video Game Buyers Guide(not sure if that's what you were talking about because the cover says 2015 and not 2014), one of the $9.99 issues and it's cover stated to display until 3/3/15. This is why I wasn't sure if they were still around.

When I found the 2014 preview issue reportedly printed in 2015, I was digging around in the mess that is http://www.egmnow.com/egmimag/, but while looking through there a second time, I found the issue that you mentioned. As I wrote, it is a real mess trying to look through their archive. It appears that regardless of the date for which the issue was printed, EGM's online issue browser shows the date of the magazine issues as the current date according to your computer's clock. But if anyone wants to buy up some recent 99¢ digital back issues of EGM, there you go.

[Niku-Sama]

don't forget this:

http://www.imaginesubs.co.uk/subscribe-to-retro-gamer

it may be European however there was a print version for the US, I usually see a leaflet for it when you check it out and barns and noble

[otaku]

I subscribe to game informer and thats it. Pretty good in my opinion worth the money. I also like reading Retro gamer from the UK but can't afford it. The mags keep dying off only a few years ago we still had quite a few. Perhaps I should support some of these but with so many being mediocre...

[Gamevet]

My sub to Game Informer expired last month. The magazine is okay, but I only read them for about 30 minutes.

I like to pick up Retro Gamer when they are covering old games and hardware that I like.

[The 1 2 P]

Well Electronic Gaming Monthly is still going. When I got home there was a Spring 2015 Special Issue #4 waiting for me. So I'm guessing I was right that they are following a similar path to what Tips & Tricks and Gamepro did once their magazines stopped releasing monthly issues. They went on to produce bi-monthly and quarterly issues. The main problem I had with that is that they didn't send those extra issues to their subscribers even though some of us still had lots of issues left on our subscription. That's also why I'd never buy another magazine from that jackass Dave Halverson who's currently ripping off people with GameFan. It would also appear that Walmart is continuing to bank roll EGM because of the fact that they produce the Game Center magazine. Even though Electronic Gaming Monthly is still producing issues they really should change their name to something more accurate like Electronic Gaming Sporadically or Electronic Gaming We're Put Out New Issues When We Feel Like It.....Ly.

[Nz17]

Even though Electronic Gaming Monthly is still producing issues they really should change their name to something more accurate like Electronic Gaming Sporadically or Electronic Gaming We're Put Out New Issues When We Feel Like It.....Ly.

Well said!

[segagamer]

Well Electronic Gaming Monthly is still going. When I got home there was a Spring 2015 Special Issue #4 waiting for me. So I'm guessing I was right that they are following a similar path to what Tips & Tricks and Gamepro did once their magazines stopped releasing monthly issues. They went on to produce bi-monthly and quarterly issues. The main problem I had with that is that they didn't send those extra issues to their subscribers even though some of us still had lots of issues left on our subscription. That's also why I'd never buy another magazine from that jackass Dave Halverson who's currently ripping off people with GameFan. It would also appear that Walmart is continuing to bank roll EGM because of the fact that they produce the Game Center magazine. Even though Electronic Gaming Monthly is still producing issues they really should change their name to something more accurate like Electronic Gaming Sporadically or Electronic Gaming We're Put Out New Issues When We Feel Like It.....Ly.

Can you show a pic of the issue's front cover? My last issue was the Winter 2015 Buyer's Guide. I thought I still have a little left in my subscription.

[segagamer]

When I found the 2014 preview issue reportedly printed in 2015, I was digging around in the mess that is http://www.egmnow.com/egmimag/, but while looking through there a second time, I found the issue that you mentioned. As I wrote, it is a real mess trying to look through their archive. It appears that regardless of the date for which the issue was printed, EGM's online issue browser shows the date of the magazine issues as the current date according to your computer's clock. But if anyone wants to buy up some recent 99¢ digital back issues of EGM, there you go.

I bought one of their 99 cent digital issues, but nothing happened after I entered my info, including my credit card. Was there supposed to be a pop up window or something so I can download it?