Will gaming mags go the way of the Dodo?

You know what I enjoy about gaming magazines? The fact that they never need to < strike > major portions of their articles. They never need to do "updates" for the things they missed or decide what spin they're going to put on an article, conciously or subconciously.

Basically, they're the opposite of joystiq when it comes to journalistic ability and integrity.

Damn, I hope not any time soon. I just renewed my EGM subscribtion for 2 years. I don't see it going away anyway, theres people who don't read online gaming sites and don't really pay a whole lot attention to gaming period. Casual gamers who read magazines for their info probably won't go online for a bunch of stuff they could get in a small bundle of paper they carry around with them.

I do think that magazines are becoming a little irrelevant though, I mean you get E3 coverage in the July issue (sometimes August) and reviews of games that weren't in their final form. Plus gaming journalism isn't all that great in those mags and their opinions often seem biased or just messed up. I don't need to read how version 2.6 is out for the PSP when 2.71 is already out. Theres just no way to keep it up-to-date, but as long as people read it they'll keep it.

I'm a "Computer Gaming World" subscriber and have been for a few years. They recently did a major re-thinking, with the idea that their target audience has access to all the just-in-time reviews and previews on the multitude of internet sites and blogs. Their new focus is more editorial in nature, commenting on the industry, and writing their reviews more as essays on a game. It's really weird, seriously. When you read it, it does have this "we see the writing on the wall" vibe to it.

I liked the old format just fine. Even though the info is stale. I like magazines because you don't have to be plugged into anything to read them. Great just before bed. And generally the print folks are better writers than the on-line folks (though some are one and the same). The problem is that CGW and their main rival PC Gamer, tend to attempt humor and fail badly. The bloggers do a much better job at this.

Joystiq: The magazine! ;p

Print mags make huge mistakes by copying what the internet mags do.

Lots of rumors, lots of "scoops" that broke 6 weeks before online, etc.

Then they give you tiny reviews and no editorials. Remember the days of getting 200 page CGWs with 20 or 30 pages of editorials on all manner of gaming? Done. Nothing now. Instead we get 7 page previews that blow constant smoke up the ass of the developer in exchange for first crack at a review. And then we get early reviews that are often afraid to break the hype, like with Doom 3. Early reviews of Doom 3 loved it, as if they thought readers wouldn't accept it being average to bad. Yet later print and internet reviews all hit the game much harder.


Print mags, you want to last? Give us something that part-time web journalists can't. They'll outscoop you, so you need to get more in-depth and more thoughtful opinion.

Gaming Magazines are dying, i stopped from buying them like 5 years ago.

Everything you want to know you have it right away on the Internet, you dont have to wait for about a month to know what new games or consoles are coming out.

As a long time reader of Play, Nintendo Power and EGM, this would be a sad day for me. Even though most of the news I read in their pages is stuff I already know, they tend to go into more detail than the blurb-blog articles I read online. They also tend to go into more emotional and rational conversations on said topics. The Escapist and Gamer's Quarterly are the only two online magazines that do what Play does for print. I love the coverage I get to see daily on sites like Joystiq (I'm a stiqer for life!), but I would hate to lose all the commentary of the printed page. Also, I will always be a fan of full page glossy screenshots and artistic imaginings found in magazines. It's nice to hold it in your hand, and even put it on your wall if it's worthy. I also can't read the internet while I'm down in the subway.

I read sites daily for the morsels of gaming news, I rely on magazines to pull it all together and present a fully realized overview (and in depth view) of what the hell all the blogs told me over that month.

The future is right before us. Before you know it, you will download your OXM from the Market Place and you will have all the media right before you. Screen shots, videos and demos will be right where they should be - on your console.

One good thing about magazines is that most of them have copy editors who look for obvious mistakes in writing, such as the statement that Ziff Davis publishes PSM.

Seriously, why are game weblogs posting "Game magazines are dead, ha ha ha" articles at the rate of, like, once a week now? Why do online writers want print media to die so badly, even though publishers are still turning profits, readership is still there, and game mags aren't even in direct competition with online media anyway?

I'd have to agree with Evan. Although gaming journalism as a whole isn't known for its ability or integrity, there's something to be said about the extra miles traditional printed media has to go through to publish an article. Lead times give journalists the time to do independent research and polish their writing, all before it is handed off to someone whose job is to catch mistakes and edit for bias and clarity.

On the other hand, I do hate reading about the latest e3 scoop 30 days after the fact. What we need is an acceptable lead time between 30 days and 30 seconds. I'd wait an extra day for a story that was fact/spell checked and written from an original viewpoint.

Three items of note:

1. I seem to have a subscriptions that are the result of signing up for other things I want, like IGN Insider and the Gamestop Edge card, and as a result I get EGM, Game Informer, and Computer Gaming Monthly (I don't have a PC, so that one's just for kicks).

2. Game Informer seems to get some pretty cool exclusives, like Red Steel and Kane and Lynch, that are interesting (if not a little gushy).

3. Most important, I don't like to bring my laptop into the bathroom, but have no problem perusing mags while taking care of business. So, I for one hope the print media doesn't disappear, but I do agree that they shouldn't bother with the rumors, and stick with interviews, reviews, and previews.

Oh yeah, angry and oft uninformed reader mail is alternatingly hilarious/infuriating, like message boards run by grade-schoolers.

Most magazines now a days can be subscribed to for free if you know where to look. I remember a time when I was receiving about 4 different game magazines none of which I had to pay for.

The days of waiting for the next "Nintendo Power" to see what cool cheat codes and previews were printed is over. Most people who are competent enough to play computer and console games are competent enough to web surf over to their favorite game review sites and get their fix.

Most type of printed media is headed in this direction. Hell I don't even get hard copy of the times anymore. Why bother when you can read it all with the click of a button?

I miss the heyday of video games magazines in the mid-90s, before the Internet came and blew it all up. Gamepro, EGM, Gamefan, Next Generation and Game Players were all competing against one another with personality, layout design, and in-depth reviews. Exclusives meant something back then, and it's sad to see it all go away.

As it is, I get my free EGM each month (thanks joystiq), thumb through it, and enjoy it. It's fun to look over lists, reviews and previews in context and all of the ads as well. The retro features are fun too.

I got a free subscription to egm i think from a link off here from like pro game thing or something. I love getting gamer mags in the mail...then i have something to read while im in the bathroom

A note on my comment, as far as in-depth articles in magazines, I was mainly referring to Play Magazine. The best writer's in the biz as far as I'm concerned. That magazine always has great editorial and analytical writing. Since day one. I'd go as far as to say I could live with Play as the only game mag I read, and Joystiq as the only internet site I read. that would save about 20 hours a week.

Usually, when someone "sells" themselves, another company will take control.... Meaning.. magazines still published.

The internet is full of gaming rumors. Magazines tend to publish confirmed information without connecting it to current economic, global, and political issues.

The point is not if Joystiq will be handed the torch as all magazines "quit". The point is will magazine publishers switch fully to online content? And perhaps faster updated live content? Will Ziff do this?

First E3, now theyre thinking Gaming magazines could go? All the while, numerous companies are going bankrupt every few months. The industry certainly looks like its getting more and more difficult to survive, and its all because of one thing, rising costs of development.

The more it costs to make a game, the more they're going to want it to sell, so the more money and time theyre going to pour into it to make it more worthy of a purchase over the games the competition is releasing. But with such high costs and competition, they cant take any chances and have to stick with the tried and true formulas, releasing the same game with a new name on it over and over again. Thats when the consumers start to not like the games, as well as the prices theyd have to pay to get such low-caliber games. Thats when the industry is in a crash. And I hate to sound like a fanboy or anything, but Nintendo seems to be the only major company working towards keeping the market and industry from going in that direction.

Magazines are dead. Look at what happened to Teen People last week. They killed the print edition and went totally online. Print caise about $300K monthly to support. The youth are online and I can't remember the last time I brought a magazine. The Long Tail is in effect.

Nobody can take away my EGM, its web site 1up is decent but I still prefer my mag.

Plus what am I supose to read on the john?!?

Game mags are dead. Well. They died a long time ago.

Another commentor got it right when he/she said that they did nothing to adapt. They just kept doing the same thing and held a blind eye to the internet.

When I was a kid, the main reason to get the mag was for information on new games and PICS, PICS, PICS. I would scrutinize every screenshot and fantasize how the game might play. It was wonderful. Now I got that, and like 12 seconds after it hits the first site.

Game mags never changed, never tried to offer anything different. Not that it matters because, like it or not, the main readership of vid game mags are kids looking for PICS, PICS, PICS.

R.I.P. Vid Game Mags. I shall remember you fondly.

All I can say is that PC Gamer must survive! They were there in the beginning, and they're still the best today.

I stopped reading printed game mags when GameFAQs went online :D

I just started buying Edge (http://www.edge-online.co.uk/) regularly, after stopping buying both Games Master (target audience is too young) and Xbox 360 Gamer (too pricey and empty really).

I enjoy reading edge mainly for the long articles which you just don't find on the Internet, for example, this month there's a 6 page long article on 'The Outsider', a game I'd never heard of; now it's near the top of my to-buy-list.

It's also nicely designed, and has the occasional article about how a certain game was made (last month was Grand Theft Auto), which is just something I don't see that often online.

Plus, I just noticed the most recent news post on their site references Joystiq :)

It depends. I enjoy the format of some gaming mags more than some blogs. *cough*Joystiq*cough*

Gaming mags aren't _usually_ biased, while blogs usually are. *cough*Joystiq*cough*

Gaming mags have to get something right the first time, so they search all details _carefully_ and be sure to include them all, unlike blogs. *cough*Joystiq*cough*

Plus, mags are more easily portable.

Even though I like bing able to go online and get up to date information regarding the latest and greatest videogame news, I still do enjoy browsing through magazines reading letters and getting the demo discs. The #1 reason I still like them though is becuase they give me something to read while I'm doing my business in the bathroom. C'mon now, I know i'm not the only one that feels like this.

Why read a magazine when I could go to Joystiq and get the story sooner, along with the flames of dozens of fanboys who think that any good news about X/bad news about Y means that the site is anti-Y?

In all seriousness, I have a PSM subscription and no idea where it came from (other than I'm not paying for it), and every month, I spend less and less time looking at it. I think the last one went from mailbox to trash in 5 minutes. Gaming magazines reallt have nothing to offer me, and haven't since I got the Zelda Collection for GCN free with a Nintendo Power.

I can't read Joystiq on the toilet. Even if I had wireless internet access in my apartment, I probably wouldn't. Thus, I need actual gaming magazines.

I like the mags, but I don't usually get one unless it comes with a disc - and those are definitely a dying breed. CGW dropped theirs (which is why I stopped getting it), OXM only has 360 stuff and they won't be around much longer with demos being able to be downloaded from XBL. I figure it will only be a matter of time before PC Gamer drops it, and that pretty much only leaves OPM - but if Sony does what Microsoft did, they will have downloadable demos too.

lol... i'm laughing at the first poster. Yeah, magazines may get the story right the first time... but their first time happens a month after the websites have gotten it wrong and subsequently corrected it.

The reality is, the only thing magazines are good for are demo disks. XBOX Live, and the upcoming PS3 and Nintendo services give us our demos for free. The only things the mags do is score exclusive rights to said demos, keeping the demos off XBOX Live and available to only the people that buy their magazine for a month or two. Also known as NOT A GOOD THING. Down with magazines I say!

There are still gaming magazines? Interesting...

It just takes way too long for things to go to print. I think the whole industry will be better off if they don't have to advance things to magazines 3 months ahead of time to get them published/reviewed.

Maybe if they can EGM, Seanbaby will start posting on his own site again. Perhaps even some more fatchicksinpartyhats updates! Ah, glory days...

I do like magazines for their editorial features. The cover story in this month's CGW (Sam & Max) was awesome and isn't the sort of thing you get on gaming websites.

Gaming mags won't go away completely, but I could see a drop-off happening if they don't change their formula. At this point in my life, I'd only buy a gaming magazine if it were full of in-depth articles on the state of game developers, game players and the gaming industry.

No paltry reviews. No fluffy previews. Just make it about the industry and the people who support it. And please, let's stop with the "Top XXX lists" and the annual "Who Will Win the Next-Gen War?" articles. That's just pathetic filler.

What I want is a "real" magazine, something with a lot of substance, editorial, and interesting writing. I haven’t found it yet.

But thank God for the blogs. And I mean it. They have lampooned everyone with a refreshing, self-deprecating smirk. And I think people like me, who are in their twenties or thirties, are deterred by hype and pomp but grab onto blogs with something to say – a slant even. It's perhaps a product of maturity, but more likely an effect of long-standing community experience. I’ve grown up with gaming and have run in gaming circles for twenty years now, so the status quo of mag muck gets stale.

Sure it can be a bit disappointing when you see current stories from Next-Gen like “The Top 100 Games of the 21st Century”. I mean, gaming mags are now just adverts in and of themselves, tainted by the companies that provide them with ad revenue. And E3 became the same kind of whore. But I have hope that things can turn around, given the recent E3 news.

Change can come about if we advocate it with our dollars and voices – or simply implement it ourselves.

Substance. Opinion. Common Sense. I sure miss you in the gaming mag circles.

"Game mags never changed, never tried to offer anything different"

Not true. They absolutely changed. Pick up a CGW from 10 years ago and pick one up today.

But they changed by trying to be more like the enemy, rather than distinguishing. They dropped out things like editorials and scaled back on reviews. Instead they tried to go more in depth with previews. Why? The internet is full of previews, most of which come out before the print zine, most of which just echo the same info over and over. Sometimes the print mags get them first, or get more hands on, but everything is sanitized.

The content has been drying up to cut costs. The magazines are thinner. And personality/commentary is gone, all that's left is PR and haphazard typesetting.

It'll get worse with E3 dead, too. They milked E3 because it sold magazines.

Print gaming magazine is dying for sure, but when you look at sites like this as the replacement you cant help but shudder. You will never find the amount of bullshit and non worthy news such as 'whose games company logo looks better' on gaming magazines.

When gaming magazines was where people got the news from the term fanboy did not exsist. Because you know that even though people bought nintendo power or psm magazine, they still gave credit where it was due, and never spun the news of the competior to make them look bad for a company they support. They never would say there company was teh best because they didnt have a poor e3 showing.

Back then (pre the year 2000/2001) even sega fans, sony fans of the ps1 era, and nintendo fans could all look at things kinda objectively. You wouldnt find the dumb ideas/beliefs that are posted on this site daily. Sites like these conjure up fanboyism, infact created these people who wouldnt look beyond thier favourite video company because of some type of devotion to them. Sites like this is killing common sense in gamers, and when they become the future god knows how people will continue.

Some sites like gamespot were they take completly unobjective stances are trying to bring the qaulity of gaming news up, and ign and eurogamer they try aswell. But sites like this just show how ingnorant people in journalism are, and journalists opinion's are not needed in news topics.

Whats funny is a multi gaming magazines they could never be accused of taking sides, no one would say they are pro some company, yet this site a supposed multi gaming blog site, are accused daily. Shows you how much journalism standards have dropped.

Maybe they figure now that we can play games on the toilet we don't want to read about them.

I actually prefer reading game a magazine in the bathroom to playing a game in there. The magazine does a better job at fanning the smell away.

Hmmm, and I've gotten my free EGM subscription until 2012... It prolly won't go that far, but oh well. I get better, more current information from the internet. It's only the little overlooked tidbits I get from magazines. But what'll be dearly missed are the previews with their beautiful artwork and stuff... Oh wait... they're better in Japanese maga anyway.

I haven't bought any gaming mags since the '90s.

News? I can get instant news online. Print mags take two months for it to show up. Reviews? Online you get reviews of RETAIL copies of the games, mere days before the release, complete with videos.

News and reviews were the meat and potatoes of gaming mags.


The only kind of gaming magazine I would even consider buying nowadays is if there were one like Next Generation in its heyday, with actual in-depth articles on subjects. Take-out all the news, pare-down the reviews to a few pages, and dedicate it to actual writing with research, with historical features and stuff. (As long as it's not primarily business-oriented.)

Actually Next-Gen's top 100 is a decided departure from video game lists.

It is not qualitative. As far as I can tell it is one of the first to list the top 100 selling games of the last generation.

That is actually useful.

Also, there is an on-line mag that is situated like a paper mag, called The Escapist. It is intelligent and has some thought provoking articles. It doesn't concern itself with new releases and screen shots. They have it right.

34. "When gaming magazines was where people got the news from the term fanboy did not exsist."

You're kidding me. How old ARE you?

When I was in Grade 8, way back in '91, I (a Nintendo fanboy at the time) got in a fistfight with a Sega fanboy. All I did was say that the Gensis' sound capabilities were crap compared to the SNES, and he punched me in the gut.

Considering that a copy of EGM costs 11 euro's here in Holland it wouldn't be too bad. A year without EGM should earn me enough savings to get myself a nice tablet PC for the toilet :-D ..

I havent bought a video game magazine since i was in the 8th grade that was around 1998. 1998 is when I got more first computer and first time I went on the internet and discovered ign and gamespot. Thanks to websites like IGN and gamespot i dont have to buy a megazines anymore. As us hardcore gamers of course we go online most of the time to find out the latest news and gossip in gaming, but for casual gamers or other words the mainstream American gamer they still probably buy psm opm egm gamepro etc on a monthly basis. I dont see gaming megazine dying but they are begining to loose hardcore gamers subscribers, if anything at least casual gamers make up the majority of the gaming public in America that can keep gaming megazine publishers alive for quite sometime until the next gaming crash which is probably soon.

Why do people take the time to bash Joystiq on their own site?

It seems rather Troll-ish. A well placed, specific criticism? All right.

Blasting an opinion-oriented blog for not being the last bastion of journalism? Senseless.

If you don't like it, just go elsewhere. There are plenty of other places just as eager to get your bandwidth.

I don't think game magazine alone are an endagered species, I think all magazines period, if you look long term, are slowly dying. The lead time on a print magazine is what-- 3 months? In the same time frame, you can achieve more up-to-date information online. What's more convenient an RSS feed and podcasting or waiting months for the same information?

The Internet changed everything. We're becomming digital whether we like it or not.

Looks at magazines 10-15 years ago and you'll find tons of ads and content. Today they're still alive today, but a little slimmer. Years ago the only way to receive the information was via print or media. Today, we're not in the same situation.

I think in relation to game magazines, those that provided demo discs offered a little something extra, something you might not be able to obtain otherwise. But now with avenues such as Xbox 360 marketplace, the demos seem less relevant.

I would miss game magazines,first off I like to read them sitting on the couch or before I sleep..I can't lug my PC over there..also when Power goes out I read them to take up time and last I LOVE reading Old previews/Reviews of games..online it's not as easy as turning a page..have to go through all the BS searching and many times the info is no longer there after a few months while in a mag can be there for years.

It is hard to bring my Lap-Top to the bathroom, it heats up and burns my lap!!! I don't want to lose the magazines!!

I'd like to see gaming print magazines focus more on deep stories about games in development, personalities in the gaming community, and the gamer culture itself.

Quickie news briefs and codes and stuff are fine for the web as well as links to such-and-such site or videos (which is what makes Joystiq great, no matter what that ungrateful first poster says.) But for the stuff that naturally needs to be longer I would rather read it in print as that's easier on my eyes and lets me relax on the couch. I can't do that with a desktop computer or even a laptop.

Win/Win here - if EGM dies, good riddance. They haven't been worthwhile in a long time. It's pathetic to see people suck their EIC's ass just because he asked Peter Moore a few mildly tough questions (but then didn't follow up when Moore gave him a weasel-out answer). EGM is more concerned about trying to be funny in their letter columns and reviews than they are trying to be a decent piece of gaming journalism.

And if EGM is simply sold off, hopefully it would come with a noteable amount of restaffing.

"You know what I enjoy about gaming magazines? The fact that they never need to < strike > major portions of their articles. They never need to do "updates" for the things they missed or decide what spin they're going to put on an article, conciously or subconciously."

You really think mags like EGM don't "spin" things or push their own views as fact? How blind are you?

You're right - EGM doesn't strike stuff from their stories...because they can't. When EGM makes a mistake, they can't correct it for 30 days.

Print isn't dead, but it's dying.

Am I seriously the ONLY person on Joystiq that reads Play Magazine?