RIP, EGM.

guyjin · 01/06/2009, 09:39 PM

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21759

Regardless of what you think/thought of their journalistic integrity, this is a sad day. The magazine that introduced many of us to 16 bit gaming is gone.

Now the oldest surviving gaming magazine is Gamepro. Yech!

Ceti Alpha · 01/06/2009, 10:09 PM

Wow. That's crazy.

oldskool · 01/06/2009, 10:49 PM

Has Gamepro been around longer than Nintendo Power?

TR0N · 01/06/2009, 11:54 PM

The magazine hasn't been good since the early 90's.Still i will miss seanbaby and crew and episodes of broken pixel.

Keranu · 01/07/2009, 12:44 AM

EGM was kind of anti-Turbo if I recall.

Joe Redifer · 01/07/2009, 12:57 AM

Can you name a magazine that wasn't?

termis · 01/07/2009, 03:44 AM

That's too bad. Lots of good times with those magazines, at least until mid 90s or so. I threw away the biggest pile of EGMs as I sorta got out of video games towards the latter years of high school (but then got back into them later on...)

And I wish there were retro video game magazines in print. Reading online mags just aren't the same. I recall this British one that was good, but I think it was killed after a few issues (I can imagine that it'd be a bit difficult to get decent ad revenue for such a format of a magazine).

guyjin · 01/07/2009, 05:48 AM

Quote from: oldskool on 01/06/2009, 10:49 PMHas Gamepro been around longer than Nintendo Power?

no. I meant to say 'independent' gaming magazine.

DJLobo · 01/07/2009, 11:40 AM

It's sad to see it go, but not unexpected. There's so many internet sites to get gaming news from, so by the time it hits print, the news is old. I've got about a year's worth of EGMs from around 1995-1996 or so at home. I should have kept the ones I had from 92-94 though.

Guyjin: Gamepro is the last one left? Ouch....

oldskool: EGM started out in 1989, if I remember right. Nintendo Power started up from the Nintendo Fun Club newsletters a year earlier.

Ceti Alpha · 01/07/2009, 12:02 PM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 01/07/2009, 12:57 AMCan you name a magazine that wasn't?

I can name two: Turboplay and Turbo Force.

td741 · 01/07/2009, 12:34 PM

Quote from: Keranu on 01/07/2009, 12:44 AMEGM was kind of anti-Turbo if I recall.

It wasn't all bad... There was some positive information in EGM, mostly for the PC Engine though. Lots of positive information in SF II': C.E., Parodius (billed as worlds first 8meg HuCard) and Dracula X. LoT and GoT did get positive reviews too... Then there's the whole Supergrafx Strider hype.

guyjin · 01/07/2009, 12:39 PM

yeah, it had me so excited for the Supergrafx! I thought it would blow my SNES away! reality was a bit different, though...

Ninja Spirit · 01/07/2009, 12:47 PM

Damn....EGM kept me busy throughout 1993-1996. Here's some memorable Turbo/PCE related scans I made a long time ago...

*That's not a map EGM, he's reading someone's letter.

guyjin · 01/07/2009, 12:55 PM

Quote from: Ninja Spirit on 01/07/2009, 12:47 PM*That's not a map EGM, he's reading someone's letter.

yeah, they had a tendency to pull crap out of their ass like that. Remember the 'channel select switch' on the supergrafx?

Ninja Spirit · 01/07/2009, 12:59 PM

Quote from: termis on 01/07/2009, 03:44 AMAnd I wish there were retro video game magazines in print. Reading online mags just aren't the same. I recall this British one that was good, but I think it was killed after a few issues (I can imagine that it'd be a bit difficult to get decent ad revenue for such a format of a magazine).

Player One?

Joe Redifer · 01/07/2009, 01:02 PM

Old Sendai-era (and maybe a little bit beyond) EGM was great fun, even though they definitely had flaws. What a great era. Gamefan was also out and it was also fun to read. Nobody gives a rip about game mags any more.

Ninja Spirit · 01/07/2009, 01:07 PM

Who's ever tried envelope art and actually made their way into that section? I must've tried 10 times for nothing....

Oh yeah who remembers this?

Ceti Alpha · 01/07/2009, 01:10 PM

Quote from: Ninja Spirit on 01/07/2009, 12:59 PM
Quote from: termis on 01/07/2009, 03:44 AMAnd I wish there were retro video game magazines in print. Reading online mags just aren't the same. I recall this British one that was good, but I think it was killed after a few issues (I can imagine that it'd be a bit difficult to get decent ad revenue for such a format of a magazine).
Player One?

Retro Gamer is a great magazine for old arcade games and consoles.

And yeah, EGM wasn't completely anti-Turbo. Lords of Thunder and Ys I and II I remember getting solid reviews. It's just that GamePro and EGM rode the "Turbografx 16 is only an 8-bit system" bandwagon, instead of actually basing their reviews of the games on the game itself.

NecroPhile · 01/07/2009, 01:12 PM

It's sad to see an old friend bite the dust, even though they've been irrelevant for years.

Joe Redifer · 01/07/2009, 01:51 PM

Both my friend and I have had letters published in EGM. I believe this entitles me to something grand, like money from each of you.

TR0N · 01/07/2009, 11:33 PM

Quote from: td741 on 01/07/2009, 12:34 PM
Quote from: Keranu on 01/07/2009, 12:44 AMEGM was kind of anti-Turbo if I recall.
It wasn't all bad... There was some positive information in EGM, mostly for the PC Engine though. Lots of positive information in SF II': C.E., Parodius (billed as worlds first 8meg HuCard) and Dracula X. LoT and GoT did get positive reviews too... Then there's the whole Supergrafx Strider hype.

Yeah in those days they did cover imports for it going from all 3.Dunno what ever happen by the,time the late 90's hit.They just gave up covering import games all together wtf

JoshTurboTrollX · 01/08/2009, 06:33 PM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 01/07/2009, 12:57 AMCan you name a magazine that wasn't?

VG&CE was pretty much pro Turbo in 1989-1990. The clash of the titans issue with genesis vs. TG mostly favored NEC's beast.

Thats a mag I dearly miss... Tips and Tricks is okay....but....

Keranu · 01/10/2009, 03:12 AM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 01/07/2009, 12:57 AMCan you name a magazine that wasn't?

VG&CE of course.

EDIT: Aahhh, JoshTurboTrollX-16 beat me to it!

geise · 01/10/2009, 09:03 AM

EGM went down the shitter when Steve and Ed sold it and left. I believe they sold it. Martin also left around that time. Sushi-X hung around for a while. After that I was pretty much done, which was fine. By that time I was already reading DieHard Gamefan. Not that they had great journalism or anything, but damn they covered a lot of great games. Sometimes there was just as much import coverage as there was domestic games. Some members that were with Gamefan back in the day started a new decent mag called HGM (Hardcore Gamer Mag). I'm just mad that Gamepro is the one that's still around. Must tell you something about the market.

Joe Redifer · 01/10/2009, 11:42 AM

One thing about GameFan is that, despite their eye-bleeding layout and other flaws, they really were "game fans". You can't say the same for mags like GamePro.

guyjin · 01/10/2009, 11:50 AM

Yeah, GameFan was awesome, but why did every page have to be so... BUSY?

I think it might have been a tactic to make you look at the ads, which were much simpler and (usually) more tasteful.

Alt-PyschoNintega · 01/10/2009, 01:16 PM

I won't miss that mag. I always perfered Gamefan and Gamers Republic back in the day. EGM has always been biased toward the most successful console.

geise · 01/10/2009, 05:03 PM

They became biased to me when Steve and Ed left. A lot I used to like about that mag left with them in the 90's. Dave Halverson was not the nicest guy in the world but him and the editors at Gamefan had a real passion for what they were doing. I also always loved Wolfs artwork for the covers. To me EGM was dead way before this started happening. Still surprised me though that they are closing and Gamepro is still around. I'll never wrap my head around that one.

guyjin · 01/10/2009, 05:42 PM

Quote from: geise on 01/10/2009, 05:03 PMStill surprised me though that they are closing and Gamepro is still around. I'll never wrap my head around that one.

it's easier and cheaper to make crap than anything good.