Electronic Gaming Monthly RETURNS!

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EGM is making it's return to print and Online sometime in 2009!!!

The Press Release:

“ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY” FOUNDER
EXECUTES CONTRACT TO ACQUIRE PRINT AND ONLINE
PUBLISHING RIGHTS TO EGM MAGAZINE

BEVERLY HILLS, CA, May 29, 2009 — Steve Harris, founder of “Electronic Gaming Monthly” magazine, announced today that he has entered into an agreement with Ziff Davis Media to re-acquire certain assets, including trademarks and publishing rights, with plans to re-launch EGM in the second half of 2009.

“The re-launch of Electronic Gaming Monthly represents a welcome opportunity to continue delivering quality content to gaming enthusiasts,” said Harris. “I feel honored to once again be associated with this respected magazine. The talented writers and designers who built upon EGM’s original vision have left behind a publication that is uniquely positioned to be successful.”

“Electronic Gaming Monthly is and always has been one of the most respected publications among the gaming enthusiast community,” said Jason Young, CEO, Ziff Davis Media Inc. “We are pleased that EGM is now in the hands of its original creator, Steve Harris, and wish him and the publication the best of success in the future.”

“We have exciting plans for the evolution of what will once again be a leading independent voice for the gaming community,” Harris continued. “The twenty year success of the EGM brand has always been built upon a commitment to its readers who I believe will enthusiastically embrace the changes we are planning to introduce.”

Additional details and future announcements will be made during the upcoming E3 expo and posted on the magazine’s official website at www.EGMNOW.com or via the official EGM Twitter account at www.twitter.com/EGMNOW .

ABOUT ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY:

Electronic Gaming Monthly (aka EGM) was launched in 1988 by Steve Harris to provide independent news, reviews, and other content of interest to video game enthusiasts. The magazine enjoyed rapid success that continued after Harris sold the publication to Ziff Davis in 1996. It has remained an industry leader for more than twenty years and has enjoyed a strong and loyal readership base during that time.

###

Media Contacts Only:

Dan Harary
Asbury Communications
310-859-1831
[email protected]
 
The Internet is going nerdcrazy. This is interesting news, but I hope they get their stuff together and put forth a great effort. It would also be curious to see if any veteran editors are going to be returning (although many have already moved on to bigger things).
 
[quote name='Maklershed']Just saw the twitter from Robert Ashley. :whee:

I wonder if my free subscription will continue? Probably not.[/QUOTE]

I doubt the subscriptions will carry over. Maybe this time they should try to actually sell magazines, instead of mailing them out for free.
 
[quote name='hankmecrankme']Maybe it won't suck so much ass now.

Old EGM was the shit.[/QUOTE]

They should at least start off with some 200-300 page EGMs like those of past years. I would pay for that. If they just continue with 80 page magazines where 50 pages are ads then Ill hope I can get em free still.
 
At what point do video game magazines become irrelevant when the Internet has the most readily available information much sooner than it can appear in print?
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']At what point do video game magazines become irrelevant when the Internet has the most readily available information much sooner than it can appear in print?[/QUOTE]

can't read video game news while taking a shit unless you take a computer with you.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']At what point do video game magazines become irrelevant when the Internet has the most readily available information much sooner than it can appear in print?[/QUOTE]

So true. Print use to be good for toilet reading but, with web browsing cell phones they're not even relevant for shit reading.
 
[quote name='musha666']They should at least start off with some 200-300 page EGMs like those of past years. I would pay for that. If they just continue with 80 page magazines where 50 pages are ads then Ill hope I can get em free still.[/QUOTE]

So true, EGM was the shit around 04-06ish when I had it.
 
[quote name='heartagram311']can't read video game news while taking a shit unless you take a computer with you.[/QUOTE]

Does it really take you that long to go to the bathroom?
 
This is so awesome! I literally got goosebumps when I read the announcement. I'm a game-rag whore, I've ready everything over the last 25 years. EGM, especially old school EGM, was the best. Yes, Gamefan had an excellent run. But EGM was a brand. Can't wait to get the first issue.

Thank you Mr. Harris! Looking forward to seeing your work again!
 
I have to say, my feelings are a cross between unbridled joy and untrusting skepticism. I'm not positive the magazine will actually MAKE it to the stands, and if it does, will it be a return to former glory, or more of the recent mess the magazine ended with, or worse?

Don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but I was burned by Animerica and other publications. I'll definitely pick this up if it makes it to the shelves.
 
Keep in mind, Steve Harris started EGM as a small time newsletter decades ago. Look at all the distribution methods at his fingertips now. I think we'll see it in some form, even if it's completely digital.
 
I'm not that excited... if it comes back, it's not going to have the same staff so who knows what the new stuff will be like. And if it does come back, it'll die again eventually as all print media is destined to.

I didn't really care for EGM in the last few years but it was nice to have magazines for places where internet wasn't available (like the place where I work or on a bus).
 
I was fairly upset over hearing EGM was killed off several months ago. However, since it's gone out of print I honestly can't say I miss it though.

If old-school EGM comes back (tons of pages and true cover stories) instead of the joke it had become (60 pages and two paragraph cover stories) I'm all for it. If it's going to start back up right where it left off, well, it may be better off dead.
 
Yeah, if they have an actual previews section as opposed to a random mess that they had for the last few years then it'll be off to a good start.
 
[quote name='hankmecrankme']So true. Shit wasn't even good enough to wipe with.[/QUOTE]

That's not true, I wiped with it all the time. Had to do SOMETHING with the issues that kept arriving at my door two weeks late at a time.
 
Internet this, internet that.

EGM's thing wasn't about bringing news to people once the internet became a big thing; it was all about the editorials. All the interviews and articles that EGM came up with were excellent reading material. They were the only ones who didn't care if advertisers didn't like their reviews or comments. They said it like it was. Similar to how Peter Moore was put on the spot during an interview about the 360's early games not looking very different from titles on the Xbox.

Meanwhile, you have magazines like GameInformer giving away high ratings to games and raising the average bar to a 7 out of 10 instead of 5 out of 10.
 
Good news. I enjoyed my subscription. I don't game much, and it was how I kept up on what was coming out since I don't really bother with gaming sites very often these days--CAG aside and that's recent for me.
 
Its interestng that there is so much speculation on this about being good or not. The fact of the matter is that EGM's heyday was the first 60 issues or so until sold by Steve Harris. I think the personnel afterwards was always good, but EGM was an independent magazine beforehand and took the kind of risks Ziff-Davis (a big publisher) couldn't. I think Steve can make this a great magazine, as his name carries a lot of weight with gamers and that he'll bring back some staffers. I heard a podcast after EGM died where Trickman Terry and Ken (Sushi-X) Williams talked about how great it would be if Steve got the rights back. House money says that at least one of them will be back and Mielke heavily insinuates Shoe will be back. Also, if you read the old stories about Steve, he takes a lot of hiring risks, usually hired gamers first, writers second, caring more about the passion of gaming above all else.

Last thought, maybe CheapyD should try to do a finding Cheapass games tips contribution to the magazine.
 
Yes! Finally. Sure blogs and whatnot have more "news," and stuff but nothing beats a magazine. But it is a shame they won't find enough readers to stay really afloat. Wired only has about 700,000.
 
[quote name='Tsukento']Internet this, internet that.

EGM's thing wasn't about bringing news to people once the internet became a big thing; it was all about the editorials. All the interviews and articles that EGM came up with were excellent reading material. They were the only ones who didn't care if advertisers didn't like their reviews or comments. They said it like it was. Similar to how Peter Moore was put on the spot during an interview about the 360's early games not looking very different from titles on the Xbox.

Meanwhile, you have magazines like GameInformer giving away high ratings to games and raising the average bar to a 7 out of 10 instead of 5 out of 10.[/QUOTE]

You're actually thinking of two different articles: the Xbox/360 graphics comparison was one article, the putting of Peter Moore on the spot was another, and that article was about why some good Xbox games weren't backwards-compatible with 360 when others like Sneakers and Barbie Horse Adventure were.

Either way, it's weird that you would exalt EGM for tripe articles like these [when they often had much better] and for being unprofessional. Of course early next-gen titles will look comparable to the (then) late current-gen titles. The "not caring about advertisers" you refer to is probably the incident with Ubisoft, where Shoe lambasted the company for not providing review material anymore and telling readers that if they wanted coverage on Ubisoft games, to complain to Ubisoft and not EGM. It's similar to when Sony "blackballed" Kotaku: the latter can say, "Hey, this company doesn't want to work with us anymore; readers, get em" since we're not privy to the details and we all have a natural wariness to big corporations.

You can say a lot of things about Game Informer, but I think their review scores have been pretty on the level. Your average game today probably gets more right than wrong, so why shouldn't average be a 7? According to their scale, it is, and a 5 would be just passable, which I take to mean that if given the choice of playing the game or poking a sharp stick in your eye, the game would ultimately prevail, but not without some deliberation. The only publication I know of that used 5 as average is Computer Gaming World, and they revamped their review system countless times. You can also remember that a review is just one person's opinion, so if it doesn't happen to coincide with yours, it doesn't mean that they're receiving moneyhats.
 
[quote name='Liquid 2']It already failed once. I wonder what this guy's gonna do to add value back into the name.[/QUOTE]

Not giving away so many free subscriptions would probably be a good start.

Some are good to get circulation up to get more advertising dollars, but they went way over board before it seemed, given how often there were various free sub offers out there.

Make it a nicer mag--better paper, better writing etc., charge a bit more at the newstand and for subs, give less away for free and see what happens.

When color e-readers are out, offer e-subscriptions.
 
I think they're going to have to cut the cost of advertising by a fairly big margin to actually make it work this time. Bring back the huge issues even if they are filled with ads. I know a ton of people that base what magazine they purchase at the airport by how thick it is and EGM had gotten to the point where it felt like you could read through it in 45 minutes.

If this actually does happen I really hope they offer something different.
 
[quote name='mooshie78']Not giving away so many free subscriptions would probably be a good start.

Some are good to get circulation up to get more advertising dollars, but they went way over board before it seemed, given how often there were various free sub offers out there.

Make it a nicer mag--better paper, better writing etc., charge a bit more at the newstand and for subs, give less away for free and see what happens.

When color e-readers are out, offer e-subscriptions.[/QUOTE]

Those are possibilities. Not for sures. That guy could do all of that, or none of it. And, more importantly, none of those really add value except for "better writing." Better paper is a plus, yeah, but it's not enough of a draw.

Regardless, print is a dying medium. They really need value; incentive for people to want to read their content. If what they have can be found online, it's over for them.

I don't see this lasting for very long, honestly. I'm surprised there are even gaming mags out there, considering that gamers are a more tech-savvy crowd and realize that magazines are slow and outdated compared to the internet.
 
I'm really surprised they are going to try and bring it back, it's a pretty bleak outlook for print media, and it remains to be seen if e-readers will catch on. I just don't see gamers paying a lot for a subscription (the Edge model) to offset their advertising needs. I think most of what gamers want, a review score and the latest news with snarky commentary can all be found online quicker and for free. I'm skeptical that there is a big enough gamer audience clamoring for the in depth articles that are better suited for print.

[quote name='captainfrizo']I was fairly upset over hearing EGM was killed off several months ago. However, since it's gone out of print I honestly can't say I miss it though.

If old-school EGM comes back (tons of pages and true cover stories) instead of the joke it had become (60 pages and two paragraph cover stories) I'm all for it. If it's going to start back up right where it left off, well, it may be better off dead.[/QUOTE]

There is a reason that the magazines were smaller and articles shorter. The number of pages is proportional to the amount of advertising, and the advertising just wasn't there anymore.
 
[quote name='Afrodiziak']I think they're going to have to cut the cost of advertising by a fairly big margin to actually make it work this time. Bring back the huge issues even if they are filled with ads. I know a ton of people that base what magazine they purchase at the airport by how thick it is and EGM had gotten to the point where it felt like you could read through it in 45 minutes.

If this actually does happen I really hope they offer something different.[/QUOTE]

I can get the gist of most video game magazines in one dump.
 
[quote name='Poor2More']Maybe it wont use that cheap sleezy ass paper[/QUOTE]

You guys are spoiled!

Seriously, come here and buy a manga. Read the thing more than once and the paper actually starts to disintegrate.
 
I just read James Mielke and Sam Kennedy's blogs at 1up. They hint at ex-EGMer's potential return, with a notable name of Shoe being involved. Sam also mentioned that it would be a magazine + something model. With that something potentially being a DVD.
 
[quote name='Liquid 2']
Regardless, print is a dying medium. They really need value; incentive for people to want to read their content. If what they have can be found online, it's over for them.
[/QUOTE]

Sad but true. I hate reading stuff online as it's rough on the eyes after already staring at a PC screen for way too long everyday between work and goofing on forums etc.

So I still get some print magazines even though all the stories are online for free.

Maybe when color e-ink screens, or something similarly easy on the eyes comes out. I have a Kindle and love it for novels, but the small screen and lack of color sucks for magazines.
 
[quote name='dv8mad']You guys are spoiled!

Seriously, come here and buy a manga. Read the thing more than once and the paper actually starts to disintegrate.[/QUOTE]

I agree. We really are spoiled, our comics are printed on magazine paper, and even our version of Shonen Jump is printed on the good newspaper.

Besides I wouldn't mind a magazine with rougher paper stock.
 
[quote name='mooshie78']Sad but true.[/QUOTE]It's not sad at all. They're obsolete; there's no inherent value in magazines. They're just another outdated medium, and the sooner they're gone, the better.

(Not to say all will be eliminated; some can make it through.)
 
[quote name='Liquid 2']It's not sad at all. They're obsolete; there's no inherent value in magazines. They're just another outdated medium, and the sooner they're gone, the better.

(Not to say all will be eliminated; some can make it through.)[/QUOTE]

Why the sooner they're gone the better? I could see saying they seem obsolete to you personally and have no value, but actively rooting against a medium? Really? Why?
 
I actually pay more attention to print game ads than online game ads. At least in the sense of looking at them and then following up on finding more info if something about it piques my interest.
 
What's the point? They failed last year, why bother bringing it back now? They should just make it an online site and that's it.
 
[quote name='Liquid 2']It's not sad at all. They're obsolete; there's no inherent value in magazines. They're just another outdated medium, and the sooner they're gone, the better.

(Not to say all will be eliminated; some can make it through.)[/QUOTE]


I just meant sad for me, as I greatly prefer reading a magazine to a website.

Again, at least until there are color e-readers that are easy on the eyes (like e-ink for b/w text) and have big enough screens to display magazines properly etc.

I hate reading on a computer after working on one all day. But I can go electronic on something like that (like I do my Kindle for novels) as it's easy on the eyes and I still can read easily in bed, on the crapper, etc. etc.

But print media is becoming obsolete from a business standpoint. It's all you damn young, whippersnappers fault. Younger generations read less, and are fine reading online compared to us old fogies. :p
 
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I for one am happy EGM is back. I might even buy a subscription rather than the free one I signed up for til I died.
 
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