With the latest announcement that EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly) is being unceremoniously discontinued, many questions have been left unanswered as to the future of gaming publications.  As a big fan of gaming mags (I myself subscribe to two of them), I find their witty banters of biased reviews, smart-ass comments to readers, and layout of content to be ultimately fulfilling and highly entertaining to read.  But in a generation where technology is reigning supreme and the need for newspapers and magazines becoming irrelevant, the departure of EGM is probably the best move yet for the future of the gaming industry.

Perhaps the reason for the decline in gaming publications could stem from the recycled facet of the news.  Because magazines struggle to stay in sync with the times, they tend to release next month’s issue today, meaning if today is January, and the latest issue of the magazine would read February ’09.   While publications I have talked to insist the reasoning for this is so that they can continually sell the magazine until the latest issue is finished printing, I believe it is their subtle way of trying to compete with the internet and the ever-growing fanbase the various sites endure day after day.

Let’s face it, not many of us read magazines anymore, and if you do it is probably only when you are taking a trip as a means to pass the time or letting your mind wander when nature calls.   I myself subscribe to three magazines, two of which are gaming related, and every month when the newest issue of any of these magazines arrives at my door, I think to myself, “Why do I constantly waste money on reading the same material over and over again?”  Is it perhaps the universe’s way of telling me that there is no end in sight for these publications, that I’m trapped in some sort of non-sequitur type of monthly anxiety?  No, that can’t be the reason, for if it is than I only hope that these other magazines follow suit with EGM.

The internet has become every gamer’s dream in the past few years.  Gamers can check various sites for the latest reviews, previews, ground-breaking news, and even stream live videos of events as they are happening.  To make it even more involving for users, some of the bigger sites have included deals with various online retailers, so users can get discounts when they buy games and accessories.  With features and deals like this, how have gaming publications been in print for so many years?  Part of EGM’s success has probably stemmed from the fact that they have been around before the internet, so their fanbase has been with them for quite some time, but how exactly have GamePro, PLAY, Game Informer, and others managed to still afford to release monthly prints on store shelves, especially in the current economic crisis?

Game Informer, which to me is nothing but a giant wad of ads stuck between nonsensical dribble, seems to be able to stay afloat for the fact that they are owned and issued at GameStop stores across the country, and with GameStop’s latest holiday earnings, I don’t think they are suffering in terms of cash flow.  GamePro manages to draw in readers with its tongue-in-cheek satire while PLAY mixes together anime with gaming, a horrible, horrible combination if you ask me.  But while each magazine has strived to remain different and independent from the others, all have remained the same when they have joined the internet fracas and now offer the same stuff in their magazines online…for free.

Half of the stuff you read or find in the magazines, chances are you have already read somewhere else, weeks, and sometimes months in advance.  Sure some magazines have that rare “WORLD EXCLUSIVE REVIEW” or the “FIRST-EVER HANDS ON OMGWTFBBQ FEATURE” of a game that no one even cares about, but none of it actually enhances the need to remain in publication.  Many of the latest issues of the magazines I have found actually tell you to go online to finish reading an interview or to check out more of a certain game.  We are paying for this type of publication because…?

The loss of EGM to the gaming mass might seem like a shock at first, but I feel it is only for the better.  Just how people were learning to cope with the loss of VHS over DVD, gaming magazines will surely end up stacked on a dusty bookcase for many years to never be looked at again.  I truly feel that one of the magazines mentioned above will go completely online by year’s end, and with the nature of the current economy and consumers spending less, I will continue my argument by saying that at least one of those publications will not be around for 2010 either.  The internet is the ultimate enhancement for all gamers, and it’s time for all of us to stop living in the past and let go of everything paper.

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About This Author: Josh Schwartzman

Been into gaming for as long as I can remember and have enjoyed every minute of it. I enjoy playing with everyone and anyone online and I am an avid PS3 and Xbox 360 player.

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