The Word: Some Thoughts on EGM
Electronic Gaming Monthly is the latest casualty in an industry that is learning how to reposition itself to be more valuable in an environment where ad revenues are shifting online (television is facing a similar challenge in that arena) and the rate of information is exchanged at faster than light speeds. The days of wide eyed gamers getting their information on the latest events like the Tokyo Game Show and E3 from print magazines have been killed by sites like Kotaku, Joystiq, and yes — even Crispy Gamer and 1up.com.
While these challenges seem impossible to overcome, print magazines can and will survive. Better management, a more refined focus on content that cannot be found on the internet, interesting personalities and credibility are all important keys to future success. So yeah, it’s a real downer to see EGM go away, just like it was when TheGlobe.com put the knife in the back of Computer Games Magazine and Ziff Davis killed the excellent Computer Gaming World.
I could lament about this to infinity, but a better way to celebrate the magazine and to analyze the state of the print magazine business would be to ask some people that have actually written for print magazines. For such sage advice we turn to former EGM veteran Dan Hsu, freelancer Troy S. Goodfellow (a regular in the pages of Computer Games Magazine), Dave Long (also a CGM contributor) and Crispy Gamer’s Scott Jones (a contributor to countless magazines and newspapers prior to joining CG).
