Electronic Gaming Monthly... Is it DEAD?

[spoonman]

Just wondering if anyone has heard anything.
My contact at EGM hasn't returned an email since July 1st

 

 

We are not officially on hiatus, we are just trying to get our newsstand issues worked out. My boss assured me that he would have some news soon.

 

Thanks again Matthew! Have a great 4^th!

 

So I'm guessing that's it for EGM... again. and my original topic from 2012 might finally have it's answer.
His email isn't bouncing back though.

[ctophil]

Just wondering if anyone has heard anything.

My contact at EGM hasn't returned an email since July 1st

 

So I'm guessing that's it for EGM... again. and my original topic from 2012 might finally have it's answer.

His email isn't bouncing back though.

 

I haven't heard anything either.  I have pretty much given up on EGM since the last issue.  There's no point in finding out if they are sending another issue or not.  If they have an issue, it'll come to our mailboxes eventually.  I used to e-mail customer service all the time even if an issue was a week or two late.  But now it's way beyond late. 

 

RETRO magazine has been acting like EGM lately as well.  They keep delaying the current issue for months already.  On Facebook, they are saying it will hit the printers by the end of November.  But they have been saying that for the past few months. Really, the only print game magazines in the U.S. that are active are Game Informer and NF Magazine.   

[lepkeleh]

All print media is going to die, if they even wanna stand a chance they would need to publish WW in as cheap printings as possible and offer something special but what if anything is worth writing about in games today?! Maybe a retro/culture mag could make it but I doubt anything new will be able to break through. It would probably have to be kickstarted and require constant Patreon.

[E-Day]

Really, the only print game magazines in the U.S. that are active are Game Informer and NF Magazine.   

 

Xbox: The Official Magazine is still going. I saw it on the newsstand yesterday. Issue 195.

[spoonman]

I haven't heard anything either.  I have pretty much given up on EGM since the last issue.  There's no point in finding out if they are sending another issue or not.  If they have an issue, it'll come to our mailboxes eventually.  I used to e-mail customer service all the time even if an issue was a week or two late.  But now it's way beyond late. 

 

RETRO magazine has been acting like EGM lately as well.  They keep delaying the current issue for months already.  On Facebook, they are saying it will hit the printers by the end of November.  But they have been saying that for the past few months. Really, the only print game magazines in the U.S. that are active are Game Informer and NF Magazine.   

Retro has been on shaky ground ever since all of the Retro VGS and Coleco Chameleon BS.

Supposedly he has a new publisher. He posted this:

 

 

RETRO Magazine Hi Mike, we are moving to a larger distributor that will take us into many more stores across the USA, and still in Barnes & Noble. That relationship will start with issue #13 after first of the year. Issue #12 will be available on ShopReadRetro.com when it's available end of November or early December.

 

We'll see though.

The only magazine I get now is also the best IMO... Retro Gamer Magazine and it's still going strong.

http://www.videogameobsession.com/videogame/mags/RetroGamerMagazine

 

[spoonman]

A Spring 2016 issue of EGM... Does this actually exist?

Or anything past the EGM Fall 2015 Issue AKA The 2016 Buyer's Guide AKA Special Issue #5 AKA Issue #266, from September 2015?
The one that shows "Display until 01/15/2016" on the cover.

 

This ^

I had called the subscription help line on the inside of the issue just to ask if EGM has officially been shut down. I told her the last issue I received was the September 2015 issue and she told me it's still going and their last issue was the Spring 2016 issue. According to her it was released in April 2016 and I didn't receive it because my subscription was expired.

That doesn't make any sense because when I subscribed to EGM it was supposed to be monthly, then bi-monthly, then quarterly. I don't think I ever received more than maybe 8 issues tops. Though it gets confusing even more so because some issues I had to call and request them mail it
out again because I never received them. The whole thing is a cluster#*@!

I'm going to just assume their sub help line people have no clue about what's really going on just as Future US had no idea Nintendo Power was about to shut down.
When I had called for a refund they actually tried to get me to renew my subscription. Yeah, so more of that I'm guessing.

 

[kitsunebi]

She was just confused.  Clearly she was talking about Electronic Gaming Yearly.  Electronic Gaming Monthly has been dead for ages.

[te72]

She was just confused.  Clearly she was talking about Electronic Gaming Yearly.  Electronic Gaming Monthly has been dead for ages.

Perhaps they're waiting on their Pontiac postal vehicles. Or was that Saab? Wait, no, it was Fisker... no, no, I'm sorry, Oldsmobile, definitely Oldsmobile.

[daven000]

At this point it would be easier to just forego the subscription and manually buy copies yourself from a bookstore that still sells a decent variety of magazines. Sad to see one of the greats go out like this, pissing on their most loyal fans. I'd rather the owners mercy-killed it like Nintendo Power or any other 90s mag that has since vanished.

[kitsunebi]

I'd rather the owners mercy-killed it like Nintendo Power or any other 90s mag that has since vanished.

 

Like any other 90s mag that disappeared?  Don't you mean like every other 90s mag that disappeared?  Correct me if I'm wrong, but there isn't a single American mag from the 90s left standing except for PC Gamer.  Well, and Game Informer, but that's a retailer-run mag of dubious journalistic integrity, so I tend to dismiss it.

[spoonman]

At this point it would be easier to just forego the subscription and manually buy copies yourself from a bookstore that still sells a decent variety of magazines. Sad to see one of the greats go out like this, pissing on their most loyal fans. I'd rather the owners mercy-killed it like Nintendo Power or any other 90s mag that has since vanished.

When was the last time you saw an issue of EGM at a bookstore?

[daven000]

When was the last time you saw an issue of EGM at a bookstore?

I was under the impression they still sold print editions since the magazine reboot? Unless my mind is playing tricks on me I know I've seen it in newsstands at some point within the last 2-3 years. I remember because I thought to myself how sad it looked and when I flipped through the magazine it was only 1/2 or 1/3 of its former size in pages. Maybe I'm confusing it with something else but I could've sworn it was EGM.

[KiwiArcader]

The only mag I possess of later issues is the June 2014 #263 which I have scanned and have archived in PDF format.

 

[ctophil]

A Spring 2016 issue of EGM... Does this actually exist?

Or anything past the EGM Fall 2015 Issue AKA The 2016 Buyer's Guide AKA Special Issue #5 AKA Issue #266, from September 2015?

The one that shows "Display until 01/15/2016" on the cover.

 

This ^

I had called the subscription help line on the inside of the issue just to ask if EGM has officially been shut down. I told her the last issue I received was the September 2015 issue and she told me it's still going and their last issue was the Spring 2016 issue. According to her it was released in April 2016 and I didn't receive it because my subscription was expired.

That doesn't make any sense because when I subscribed to EGM it was supposed to be monthly, then bi-monthly, then quarterly. I don't think I ever received more than maybe 8 issues tops. Though it gets confusing even more so because some issues I had to call and request them mail it

out again because I never received them. The whole thing is a cluster#*@!

I'm going to just assume their sub help line people have no clue about what's really going on just as Future US had no idea Nintendo Power was about to shut down.

When I had called for a refund they actually tried to get me to renew my subscription. Yeah, so more of that I'm guessing.

 

 

No, the Spring 2016 issue of EGM does not exist.  The last issue that I know of is the one you're showing (Fall 2015 Buyer's Guide) with the Assassin's Creed cover.  It's different from your cover but the same, nevertheless.  Customer service has never been very helpful.  They always apologize and then say the issue has been sold out.  Guys, it's not "sold out."  The issue was not made yet.  They are just feeding us lines to buy some time for the next issue.  But that's in the past.  These days I believe the physical magazine itself is shut down.  It doesn't matter anyways, since by the time EGM releases an issue, it's already like a year outdated.  These issues are now for collectible purposes and perhaps an article here or there that has historic value. 

[te72]

Like any other 90s mag that disappeared?  Don't you mean like every other 90s mag that disappeared?  Correct me if I'm wrong, but there isn't a single American mag from the 90s left standing except for PC Gamer.  Well, and Game Informer, but that's a retailer-run mag of dubious journalistic integrity, so I tend to dismiss it.

Surely we're talking about gaming magazines only, right? Surely, since I could probably name off a dozen magazines that have been around longer than my gray haired face has been haha.

 

 

As for EGM... anyone think they could do justice to a retro-themed quarterly? I've been reading through Retro, and while I appreciate the content, the release schedule is abysmal. EGM was great in the 90's, why not do a mix of what they had then and reprint excerpts of articles, with a little bit about why that matters now in retrospective, that sort of thing?

[kitsunebi]

Surely we're talking about gaming magazines only, right? Surely, since I could probably name off a dozen magazines that have been around longer than my gray haired face has been haha.

 

 

As for EGM... anyone think they could do justice to a retro-themed quarterly? I've been reading through Retro, and while I appreciate the content, the release schedule is abysmal. EGM was great in the 90's, why not do a mix of what they had then and reprint excerpts of articles, with a little bit about why that matters now in retrospective, that sort of thing?

 

Yeah, gaming mags only.  Sorry, thought that was obvious.

 

EGM is dead.  EGM is gone.  If people with past associations with EGM want to put out a new retro mag, I'm all for it, but doing a reprint mag with commentary would be lazy and pointless in my opinion.  And calling anything that isn't monthly EGM would be ridiculous.

 

I think it's best if we all just remember the good times we had together with EGM and move on with our lives.  EGM would want it that way.

[EGMFan]

Just noticed that the magazine website (www.egmmag.com) now redirects to news site (www.egmnow.com). They screwed me out of a couple issues on my subscription. If it would have been more that that I would try to get a refund.

[spoonman]

What's kind of shady IMO is that their Wal-Mart mag,Game Center, continues to be produced while they seemingly quietly killed off EGM. At the VERY LEAST they should send extra copies of this to those who still have an active paid subscription and are owed issues. Though it's a free mag, and basically advertising for Wal-Mart, its at least something.

I guess they figure their aren't enough subscribers left to make any legal trouble for them so they decided to just blow them off.

[ctophil]

What's kind of shady IMO is that their Wal-Mart mag,Game Center, continues to be produced while they seemingly quietly killed off EGM. At the VERY LEAST they should send extra copies of this to those who still have an active paid subscription and are owed issues. Though it's a free mag, and basically advertising for Wal-Mart, its at least something.

I guess they figure their aren't enough subscribers left to make any legal trouble for them so they decided to just blow them off.

 

Yeah well, I assume Wal-Mart is paying EGM a lot of money to put out that magazine.  So Game Center is well supported financially.  While the regular EGM relies on in-mag advertisements and subscriptions, both are not anywhere close to supporting the magazine to stay afloat.  Similar to most businesses, why would they transfer money to a dead division?  If they were smart, EGM should of just create a smaller, free version of Electronic Gaming Monthly for Wal-Mart while subscribers and bookstores get the larger, paid version.  That way, EGM will get the exposure of Wal-Mart to enhance its name so that it will increase subscriptions and popularity.  Most people will recognize the name when they visit a local grocery or book store because they saw it at Wal-Mart.  But they will enjoy the in-depth coverage and may even subscribe to the paid version.  So you can look at the Wal-Mart edition as a demo of the real thing, similar to the gaming industry. 

[te72]

I think you have a good idea there with the Wal-Mart thing there, similar to how Game Informer is tied in with Gamestop. A question though... would you be willing to pay $5-6 per issue of a gaming mag? As in newsstand price? Part of the appeal of subscribing was the reduced rate of the magazine... Personally, I would, but I also have a bit more disposable income than I did when I was younger.

 

So we're down to PC Gamer being the only gaming mag from the 90's that is still publishing. Anyone think that they will ever stop putting issues out?

[KiwiArcader]

Hopefully they won't as the PC gaming environment in the UK appears to differ to that in the USA however, technically, the magazines are very similar in monthly content which certainly makes it a target for discontinuation at some point.

 

You only have to look at Future's shuttering of PlayStation (USA) a while ago so see that if insufficient sales occur they have no hesitation in discontinuing magazines. Their recent purchase of imagine Publishing in the UK compounds the problem over there too in all fairness. I personally think we will see the likes of Games tm, Play tm go the way of the Dodo as well sometime this year. Which mag gets the chop first will be interesting to see. I think Play tm will be the first to go as they went digital only a few months ago and it's competing directly with the official PlayStation title.

 

PC Gamer (USA) being discontinued is a major loss anyway. I think it lost its identity with the sale of Imagine Media in the USA way back around issue 100 or so. The format, size and format of the magazine in the early days is much, much nicer than when it was taken over by Future. 

[te72]

Kiwi, PC Gamer (US) is still going as far as I am aware. I guess it kinda makes sense that Future shut down PTOM, most of the games coming out in the current generation would be coming out on PC as well, so... why have two magazines covering the same content?

 

I didn't know Future bought Imagine... that's unfortunate in a way. Competition drives quality, and if we're down to only one publisher who puts out gaming magazines for current systems, I could see mags in general going downhill.

[KiwiArcader]

Yeah ... it was meant to say "PC Gamer (USA) being discontinued isn't a major loss anyway"    

 

They purchased Imagine back in Oct/Nov last year which now leaves them pretty much as sole publisher of gaming and PC content. They shut down PC Format after acquiring Maximum PC, knocked off their Nintendo Official Magazine along with the US PlayStation magazine all in pretty short order before their acquisition of Imagine so I'd put money on Play tm getting discontinued in favor if their official UK PlayStation magazine fairly quickly. Rationalisation is inevitable when you have multiple products covering the same market. The way I see it panning out for current Future products is:

 

• Edge ..... flagship product .... safe
• GamesMaster .... been going for decades .... safe
• Games tm ..... ex-Imagine competitor to the two previous products .... will be discontinued
• Maximum PC .... safe
• Official PlayStation Magazine (UK) ..... safe
• PC Gamer (UK) ... safe
• PC Gamer (USA) ..... safe ONLY if sales remain at acceptable levels 
• Play tm .... ex-Imagine product changed to digital only due to low sales .... will be discontinued
• Retro Gamer ... ex-Imagine product. Caters to market not covered that well by other products .... safe
• Official X-Box Magazine (UK) ..... safe
• Official X-Box Magazine (USA) ..... safe ONLY if sales remain at acceptable levels

[ctophil]

I think you have a good idea there with the Wal-Mart thing there, similar to how Game Informer is tied in with Gamestop. A question though... would you be willing to pay $5-6 per issue of a gaming mag? As in newsstand price? Part of the appeal of subscribing was the reduced rate of the magazine... Personally, I would, but I also have a bit more disposable income than I did when I was younger.

 

So we're down to PC Gamer being the only gaming mag from the 90's that is still publishing. Anyone think that they will ever stop putting issues out?

 

Yeah, I would pay up to $10.00 for a newsstand magazine if it's high quality like Retro Gamer and the old-school EGM back in the day.  I was a kid when EGM was thick like the Sears catalog.  It had so many reviews and previews in those issues that covered not just American releases but overseas as well.  It was so cool to read about the Japanese games to anticipate what games will make it to the west.  Remember when EGM covered the Super Famicom before images of the American Super NES were even released?  I would pay more than $10 per issue if EGM was even close to the way it was.  But my Wal-Mart idea also includes subscriptions like Game Informer.  So if you think the newsstand mags are expensive, you can always subscribe with the in-mag vouchers. 

Edited January 1, 2017 by ctophil

[te72]

Kiwi, is Future a UK based publisher? I've noticed that the UK Playstation is still going strong, but part of what I always liked about PSM and later PTOM was its writers and editors, it always had a sense of humor.

 

Phil, I dunno if we'd ever see a magazine as thick as 90's EGM ever again, simply because half of that magazine was advertising. Honestly though, I enjoyed the ads a good deal. Sometimes a game didn't get the coverage unless the developer paid for the advertising. Not that the magazine wouldn't cover a game UNLESS they took out ad space, but rather they didn't know about it otherwise... Plus some of those ads were darn clever. Think a magazine would be so content filled with the backing of a giant like Wal-Mart? I'd have trouble looking past any bias, myself, same issue with Game Informer, but I like that idea better than just letting it all disappear.

 

I've been reading through Retro lately. Initially I just liked the idea of supporting a magazine with a focus on older systems, so I subscribed. It was supposed to be bi-monthly, but in what seems to be a bit of a trend, that goal was, optimistic. I wasn't gonna resubscribe, but now they're doing a Patreon style funding, so you don't get charged until they're ready to ship an issue. I like that idea better, so nobody ends up with lots of issues left on a sub that will never be filled. Plus, the magazine itself is well written and on nice thick paper, so I'm content.