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Not a single topic on GamePro dying? Really?
TheSonicRetard
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
In case anybody missed the news, GamePro is dead. The november issue is the last one ever. Despite what you think of the quality of the magazine, it can't be denied that this is definitely the end of an era. GamePro has been such a staple here in the US for decades, it's kinda a shock that it's gone. As a testament to its popularity and influence, the term "protip" has entered the common lexicon even amongst those who don't play video games. Protip: the "pro" in "protip" stems from gamePRO.
It seems that, today, GamePro is mostly known for "terrible" reviews which no one cares about. I put terrible in quotes because, myself, I haven't really read a gamepro in years so I don't know if they're actually terrible or not, that's just what I've heard. But during GamePro's golden years, it was so much more than simply a consumer guide magazine. When I was younger, I didn't read gamepro for reviews - they were useless and full of fluff. The reason I read gamepro was three fold - first: Strategy guides for games which never, ever saw official, full strategy guides released. Back in those days, only the biggest of games got full guides, but luckily gamepro would pump out incredible guides, usually filled with great maps. Their guides really were unrivaled by their peers; EGM and gamefan rarely did guides, and gameplayers didn't really do them either.
Second, SWATpro. Beyond Gamepro's excellent guides, SWATpro (That's SECRET WEAPONS AND TACTICS, yo) was a fucking gift from god. Filled with codes, cheats, and game genie sections, the section proved to be so great that it spawned an entire spin-off magazine (called SWATpro, of course) and a professional imitation: Tricks and Tips (which, admittedly, bested SWATpro and gamepro in just about every way).
Finally, the third reason to read gamepro was for sneaks at upcoming games. Most people say that gamepro was during the time before the internet... not true. I had internet since '88. However, the internet was massively different back then, and while you could get some good info and discussion on games on a BBS, you didn't get the pictures of hype you got from gamepro. I loved winter time because it meant gamepro would do a couple of issues dedicated to CES coverage, and the back 1/4 of their magazine was usually deadicated to quick PR blurbs about upcoming games. It was easily the best way to keep up with what was going to be big soon.
The peak of Gamepro was winter of 1994. That is when the magazine was at it's absolute best, highlighted by 3 particular issues - November 94, December 94, and January 95. For whatever reason, the magazine's size tripled for those three months, as all three issues ditched their usual stapled-style and instead game in thick bound style. Each of those issues averaged at about 300 pages each, when the usual gamepro issue tended to be 100 pages. Also, given the games released during that time, those 3 issues were completely PACKED with content.
I haven't bought an issue of gamepro in... well, over a decade at this point. I stopped buying them basically once they ditched swatpro and the strategy guide section, and once the internet started providing better coverage of upcoming games. At that point, the magazine relied solely on it's weakest element - it's reviews, and it lost my interest. But I'm still definitely sad to see Gamepro go. I had subscriptions to EGM, and EGM2, and Diehard gamefan, and gameplayers, and tips and tricks. But Gamepro was MY magazine, the very first video game magazine I ever picked up, back from the days when they covered NES, SMS, Turbo Grafx, and Sega Genesis. I have tons, and tons of back issues of gamepro still stored away in my closet - I had subscriptions to both Gamepro and, while it ran, Swatpro throughout the 90's. When I'd go to a magazine rack, I'd always, like clock work, pick up the latest GamePro and Mad Magazine.
Though the magazine lost its soul over 10 years ago, it will still always hold a special place to me.
So... does no one really care that one of the oldest gaming mags in the US is dead?
It seems that, today, GamePro is mostly known for "terrible" reviews which no one cares about. I put terrible in quotes because, myself, I haven't really read a gamepro in years so I don't know if they're actually terrible or not, that's just what I've heard. But during GamePro's golden years, it was so much more than simply a consumer guide magazine. When I was younger, I didn't read gamepro for reviews - they were useless and full of fluff. The reason I read gamepro was three fold - first: Strategy guides for games which never, ever saw official, full strategy guides released. Back in those days, only the biggest of games got full guides, but luckily gamepro would pump out incredible guides, usually filled with great maps. Their guides really were unrivaled by their peers; EGM and gamefan rarely did guides, and gameplayers didn't really do them either.
Second, SWATpro. Beyond Gamepro's excellent guides, SWATpro (That's SECRET WEAPONS AND TACTICS, yo) was a fucking gift from god. Filled with codes, cheats, and game genie sections, the section proved to be so great that it spawned an entire spin-off magazine (called SWATpro, of course) and a professional imitation: Tricks and Tips (which, admittedly, bested SWATpro and gamepro in just about every way).
Finally, the third reason to read gamepro was for sneaks at upcoming games. Most people say that gamepro was during the time before the internet... not true. I had internet since '88. However, the internet was massively different back then, and while you could get some good info and discussion on games on a BBS, you didn't get the pictures of hype you got from gamepro. I loved winter time because it meant gamepro would do a couple of issues dedicated to CES coverage, and the back 1/4 of their magazine was usually deadicated to quick PR blurbs about upcoming games. It was easily the best way to keep up with what was going to be big soon.
The peak of Gamepro was winter of 1994. That is when the magazine was at it's absolute best, highlighted by 3 particular issues - November 94, December 94, and January 95. For whatever reason, the magazine's size tripled for those three months, as all three issues ditched their usual stapled-style and instead game in thick bound style. Each of those issues averaged at about 300 pages each, when the usual gamepro issue tended to be 100 pages. Also, given the games released during that time, those 3 issues were completely PACKED with content.
I haven't bought an issue of gamepro in... well, over a decade at this point. I stopped buying them basically once they ditched swatpro and the strategy guide section, and once the internet started providing better coverage of upcoming games. At that point, the magazine relied solely on it's weakest element - it's reviews, and it lost my interest. But I'm still definitely sad to see Gamepro go. I had subscriptions to EGM, and EGM2, and Diehard gamefan, and gameplayers, and tips and tricks. But Gamepro was MY magazine, the very first video game magazine I ever picked up, back from the days when they covered NES, SMS, Turbo Grafx, and Sega Genesis. I have tons, and tons of back issues of gamepro still stored away in my closet - I had subscriptions to both Gamepro and, while it ran, Swatpro throughout the 90's. When I'd go to a magazine rack, I'd always, like clock work, pick up the latest GamePro and Mad Magazine.
Though the magazine lost its soul over 10 years ago, it will still always hold a special place to me.
So... does no one really care that one of the oldest gaming mags in the US is dead?
TheSonicRetard on
0
Posts
I don't see why anyone would, what with the Internet and all.
Cold and emotionless, not a hint of nostalgia?
But other than that
I could not give less of a shit
I was a Nintendo Power man
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Though the thing is, GamePro I actually kinda do give a shit about (and thanks to this thread for bringing it to my attention). When EGM died, I knew the impact, but I was never a reader. GamePro is different. I hadn't read it since the 90's but when I was a kid it was where I got pretty much all my video game news, with a look here and there at other sources. I still have a couple of guides hanging around that were printed in issues of GamePro for games, like Breath of Fire 2 and Super Metroid.
And SWATPro was the shit.
We'll be seeing much more of this in the future as print media slowly fades away.
Xbox Live Gamertag: Suplex86
My deepest condolences
Hey that magazine used to mean something, man
They gave me a CD filled with symphonic renditions of classic game themes! Back when those weren't a dime a dozen!
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
From what I've heard, the shift in tone and style came from Scary Larry, who was pretty much the heart and soul of gamepro, leaving, and taking a bunch of the older guys with him. Once those guys left, the avatars went away, the strategy guides stopped, SWATpro vanished, etc.
I still have every episode of GamePro TV on VHS somewhere, recorded from early in the morning. I also have both volumes of SWATpro on VHS as well.
I have very fond memories of sitting down with GamePro at the beginning of the month, with my new selection of 50 games from Sega Channel, trying out whatever game GamePro was doing a guide on that month and making my way through it, magazine in hand. Crazy nostalgia.
There's just no logic whatsoever in having something like GamePro these days. The only reason I got magazines like that was for news about new games maybe help with current ones; nowadays I can get a ton more information and help for free. And I'd be nostalgic about it, except that I get nostalgic about the games rather than news about said games. I mean, the first I saw of Metal Gear Solid was in one of those gaming magazines, but what do you think I'd rather do: read the old magazine about it or go dig up the game itself?
I read retro gamer magazine fucking religiously.
I remember the LamePro where they made fun of the virtual boy. Pretty much the funniest lamepro ever.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Should've used pen and paper!
EDIT: Guess not... fuck
I'm not gonna type all this shit out again. Blah blah blah console wars blah blah reader input blah blah ask the pros.
Good god I spend too much time in the bathroom now. I've also had friends stay in there for a while.
I regret nothing.
I guess I shouldn't be shocked that the magazine is dead, as there's just no way a magazine can compete with the internet. But it's one of those things I just expected to hang around against all logic.
It's fun to flip through an old game magazine today and read about games which eventually got canceled, or hear about features dropped or see screenshots that are radically different. That's the best reason to open an old magazine today.
Especially during CES time, or, later on when it actually existed, E3 time. Those convention coverages are usually filled to the brim with proto screenshots and info.
Once they got away from those ugly covers, what they'd usually do is actually commission the best artists who would send in reader art to do covers. A girl I know got her career start that way, doing covers for gamepro and EGM.
I think you answered why no body cares all that much right here. GamePro was already dead to many of its former readers. The corpse just hadn't shambled over to its grave yet.
That was a good time to be a game magazine subscriber. I had that and Next Generation and my dad would get Computer Gaming World and PC Accelerator (imagine PC Gamer fused with Maxim).
PC Accelerator also gave Half-Life an 11 (they used a 1-10 rating system)
I mean, it's no question WHY it died. I don't think anyone is confused about that.
But for a magazine like that to die without a peep being mentioned is a bit surprising. Regardless of its most recent state, it is still a major part of 90's gaming in the US.
Xbox Live Gamertag: Suplex86
That is where it was at. And no one even remembers those poor, lost things anymore!
But before and after I read those, I was more EGM. I think I just came on the scene of buying magazines and whatnot for games a little too late. I did pick up an issue here and there, though, for guides and previews (before I was an internet regular).
Protips will be missed.
From like 93 till about 96, my dad and I were subscribed to so many magazines at the same time, it was pretty awesome. At one point, we had a GamePro subscription, a SWATPro subscription, an EGM subscription, an EGM2 subscription, a GamePlayers subscription, a Diehard GameFan subscription, a Tips and Tricks subscription, a PC Gamer Subscription, and I wanna say a PC World subscription, all at the same time.
Remember - I also had the internet at that time, and I was a very regular poster on Compuserve's go Sega. That was a pretty cool time, I was very deep into the pulse of video games during an era when that wasn't too common.
It's all a huge nostalgia trip for me. I used to read these magazines and be absolutely pumped. Nowadays, I don't read anything nearly as enthusiastically, but I still get a little pitter-patter in my chest when I see those magazines starting the hype train for what were then upcoming games and consoles.
Super Mario World! Sonic 2! Everything so colorful and bright and awesome. Shit, even 3D0 and games featuring Kirk Cameron were something to be excited about.
I basically have my Rosebud moment every time I take a shit now.
I liked the accessories review section, actually. Unlike the game reviews, the accessories reviews actually were useful. I avoided so many bullshit Sega Genesis controllers and I still have a bunch of awesome gamepads from that time based off of Gamepro's recommendations.
I never ordered any of their premium accessories that got reviewed, though. They were always too rich for my blood... but that didn't stop me from reading every single arcade stick review. I remember thinking, "just how good could this stick be to warrant that $175 price tag?"
Actually, kinda a funny story - the other day, I ordered a Multi-system arcade stick from innovation that works with the Neo Geo, SNES, Genesis, and Turbo Duo based off of a review I read in gamepro like 16 years ago. I arrived the other day, and, indeed, it blows the shit out of my official Sega 6-button arcade stick. If only I had heeded Gamepro's words back in the day...
I think we moved and I forgot to mail in the address change form.
I stopped reading pretty much when the Dreamcast hit. One of the very last issues I bought was the dreamcast premier issue. I'm almost certain I picked up a few after that, but it couldn't be more than a handful
The entire pop culture of that time period didn't gel with me. I was never a wrestling fan, for example, and wrestling was huge at that time, and it felt like Gamepro shifted towards the tone that WWF and WCW had at the time. I think that, almost more than the death of game guides and swatpro, turned me off.
I remember being fucking pissed when SWATPro died, because I had JUST renewed my subscription. They switched my subscription over to some other non-gaming related magazine... the exact magazine escapes me, but I wasn't interested at all. If it would have been something like Sports Illustrated, I might have not been as pissed, but it wasn't anything like that. It was basically some magazine that wasn't even close the realm of my interests.
Yeah, I'm still upset haha
I do remember watching GamePro on TV a few times, when I could remember it was on. It was both entertaining and frustrating to see and get tips on games that I didn't own because they were on "that other console" (very big on the Nintendo vs. Sega war, back then).
For nostalgic reasons, I'll just link to an episode of the show now, and marvel at how terribly 90s everything was. Jean jackets over hoodies, frizzle-haired rocker dude saying "bro" and "fyeah" a lot...
Steam: TheArcadeBear
I do know some of the podcasters I listen to actually work(ed) for Gamepro, so I feel bad for them. It all kind of makes me worried for certain internet gaming sites too. 1up.com is a shell of what it once was. I rarely actually visit the site, but still listen to two of the podcasts. Games, Damnit!'s format was recently changed where they discuss a specific topic each week, which is cool, and Retronauts is still awesome.
Er, got kind of off track there. I hope the people who are losing their jobs find more employment, but I think that's getting increasingly difficult for people in the games press.