The Death of EGM

[tay120n64]

I imagine if any of you are familiar with Electronic Gaming Monthly, then you have probably already heard the news, but for those who haven't...

The 1up network has been sold to UGO, and EGM has been dropped by Ziff Davis, making January 2009 the FINAL ISSUE OF EGM. In addition, roughly 30 employees of the 1up network, most of them being key editors for not only EGM, but the 1up site as well, have been "laid off".

Although 1up.com will continue to deliver the same level of quality content, the amount of diversity and most of the videos and podcasts have officially seen their end.

Unlike most publications and video game news sites, 1up and EGM have always delivered reliable and passionate information. Other sites like IGN, G4, etc. garner only to the mainstream (i.e. Halo/Guitar Hero drunken, horny male ages 15-29). I personally, loved the wholehearted honesty of the EGM staff, often going too far even (their low review score for Assassin's Creed, although honest, lost their credibility with Ubisoft, meaning that they would no longer receive their games prior to release). And its not only the reader's respect that has been earned, but higher ups in the industry as well. As an example, the former editor-in-chief of EGM recently became engaged. To properly propose, he asked Yoshitaka Amano to design the wedding ring and Nobuo Uematsu to compose the song that would play when he presented the ring to his fiance. A favor which the two legendary artists accepted.

The boards at UGO and 1up.com have been flaring up too. No one seems happy about this, and rightfully so.

It is indeed a sad, sad week for gamers.

[Miss Prime Blue]

That's sad. I have a bunch of EGM issues, but I never liked it as much as nintendo power.

At least there are back issues.

[Manibrandr System]

While I do find their intentions noble, I think their problem is that nobody wants to subscribe to a magazine that does not dump praises all over their beloved franchises.

The only success stories I have heard regarding tearing down popular games or game franchises are AVGN and Zero Punctuation Reviews and that's because they did it in a very entertaining manner.

[SoulBlazerFan]

I imagine if any of you are familiar with Electronic Gaming Monthly, then you have probably already heard the news, but for those who haven't...

Although 1up.com will continue to deliver the same level of quality content...

I haven't purchased an issue since 2003 or so. I found gaming magazines to be too expensive to purchase, as I could get free reviews over the internet. They did, as I recall, have one of the better publications.

As for the last comment, don't bet entirely on that. They always say that when they lay people off, but ask anyone that's laid off workers about how well their quality maintained. (Matrix Online, anyone?)

Either way, the ole' lass shall be missed. ::Bows head::

[tay120n64]

I used to be a huge fan of Nintendo Power. I have about 170 of the first 200 issues, but it was that 200th issue that made me hate them. At the time, I was subscribed to both EGM and Nintendo Power, and they both celebrated their 200th issue the same month by having a Top 200 Games Ever feature. Naturally, NP's was only Nintendo games, whereas EGM was all games.

NP proved that anyone who cared about content no longer worked there by giving the top three spots to Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil 4, and Wind Waker, respectfully. Ocarina of Time, sure, but RE4? WW? The 2nd and 3rd spots? What about the original Mario? Super Metroid? Tetris? Chrono Trigger? Final Fantasy VI? Mario 64? Why are there only new games in the top spots?

Why?

Because NP is a 70 page advertisement for Nintendo.

EGMs top ten? Much more respectable:
1) Super Mario Bros
2) Pac-Man
3) Street Fighter 2
4) Tetris
5) The Legend of Zelda
6) Super Mario 64
7) Space Invaders
TLoZ: Ocarina of Time
9) Grand Theft Auto 3
10) Pong