Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

One of the longest running video game magazines has been shut down. Electronic Gaming Monthly, which started in summer 1989, has been axed by it's parent company after the sale of the company's online gaming media sites.

With this transaction happening, we have also made the decision to discontinue publication of EGM. The January 2009 issue will be the final issue of the publication. With demand for print continuing to decline amongst both advertisers and readers and the content being produced by 1UP no longer available for use in the publication, it simply did not make sense for us to move forward with this business any longer.

1UP Sold To Hearst Corporation, EGM To Close

This makes me very sad... I remember when I used to eagerly look for a new issue on the stands to see if it had any good game previews, particularly of Phantasy Star titles. I imagine that the magazine is now nothing like it was then, but it's sad to see this piece of gaming history come to a close.

I remember eagerly awaiting new issues of EGM, GamePro, and Diehard Gamefan up until.. let's go with 1996 when gaming sites started popping up like crazy. It's been a solid decade since a last opened a (new) video game magazine or hint book.

It is sad to see a gaming icon go away but understandable. Other than kids abandoned at Gamestop by their parents, I don't know who was reading EGM.

A couple of EGM magazines used to get imported to Australia because I remember seeing a few. I never bought any though. I usually buy Hyper its the most popular video game magazine in Australia it started its first publication in 1991 according to their sources.

It seems there may be a February issue after all, but it's only going to be published digitally. It features Street Fighter IV, which is very fitting for the final issue. EGM used to have stuff about Street Fighter II in every single issue back when that game was first becoming popular.

OMG why did I never ever buy this magazine I love Street Fighter.

This hits a bit close to home, as I've been doing freelance work for Ziff for the past six years and a lot of my friends just lost their jobs. I'm a bit concerned for some of the people shafted in question; some of them have been with the company for over a decade.

As a final kick in the teeth, I realized that I forgot to invoice for that Phantasy Star 20th Anniversary feature I wrote for them last year. That's $400 I'll never see. Kinda my fault, I suppose, but that's life.

Yeah a lot of people at 1up got laid off too, right? I feel for everyone that lost a job in this and I hope they're able to make it past that. There aren't many print magazines left, but maybe some of them can find work with other media.

Yeah, 1UP was more or less gutted. A bunch of my close friends have been kept on, but the majority have been axed. What kills me is that 1UP's true strengths - its shows and podcasts - have been scrapped, leaving it just another a neutered game site. I've been a guest on the Retronauts podcast a few times, and it kills me that the thing is gone forever. It's really the only thing about the site that I enjoyed on a regular basis. My Thursday morning routine for the past few months has been waking up, getting ready for work, and putting the new Retronauts on my iPod before boarding the train. Try to download the episodes currently available if you can, before UGO deletes them.

The truth is that while this is a huge deal for the loss of a great mag and the watering down of a great site, the real tragedy comes from the fact that Ziff writers are just a generally close-knit group of people and don't deserve this in any way, shape, or form. As I mentioned, I got my start writing for them six years ago, and before that many of us were making fansites together. A bunch of us hooked up in Tokyo during TGS last year for an Akihabara pilgrimage, and it was some of the most fun I've ever had socializing with other gamers. I won't split hairs; I hate spending time with other gamers in general. They're by and large socially stillborn manbabies with no social tact. But Ziff writers are different. Mature enough to hold a conversation without resorting to injokes and nerd gags. (It's difficult to explain. I really have a low tolerance for other gamers here in Japan. None of my friends in this city are gamers, and I really want to keep it that way.)

I'm still in touch with a lot of these people (fortunately, my closest friends have been kept on by UGO) and I really hope they pull through. But what UGO has wantonly tossed aside, other publications are sure to pick up with little hesitance. I hope to see these people penning columns for their former competitors in the future.

I read somewhere that the Retronauts podcast may be spared - did you hear otherwise from one of them?

I've listened to every episode except a couple that were about games I didn't care for. Which ones were you on?

I agree, without the podcasts there's not a lot I can see myself going to 1up.com for now.

I just listened to the last Retronauts podcast...and they said at the end that next week's episode was supposed to be about Earthbound and Mother 3! I hope at least that is spared...