“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.
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I really liked the old-school EGM more than the newer EGM.
I wasn't a fan of the LETTER RATINGS system. Just didn't work for me.
I love the writers though. My heart broke when I heard that EGM would be no more.
Will the resurrection be a success? Or will it be a dark, evil abomination, a la Pet Cemetary EGM. Evil rarr.
Then the was Milkman who went to Unofficial Xbox Mag. He is pretty cool.
Dan "Shoe" Hsu deserves to be leader of his men.
And Shane Bettenhausen is just a weird guy that I can't help but savor all the text he puts into the magazines. Even if sometimes I think I can derrive more facts by listening to a guy tripping on acid talk about the meaning of the Universe.
I also need an answer for this.
I would pay attention to Ryan O'Donnell's twitter to see if he has anything to say about this (meaning if he or anyone else is going back). Although, E3 is just about here so he probably doesn't care about this at the moment.
So, my question is do you all think they will hire brand new writers or will they try to get some/most/all previous writers back?
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I'm one of those bitter people that remember EGM going from a happy, funny mag in 89 or so to the 600+ page behemoths in the early to mid 90s (85% of which were ads) to the more modern iterations that had 6 pages of ads before you got to the front cover of the magazine. The first page with actual content on it (the table of contents) was on page 26.
Seriously, when it gets to that point, I think it may be best to just let that old dog finally lay down and die. There's really no market for the traditional American style of video game magazines in an age where people interested in your content can get better coverage and content immediately from their cell phone.
This is probably one of those times. Pretty terrible time for any sort of journalism, especially if it is as bad as EGM's was in it's decline.
My interest depends entirely on who's on board.
Seriously though. If its the 400 page monster I used to love so much i'll get it in a heartbeat. If its the 80 page mag of recent years i'll pass.
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I'm glad EGM is back, for that very reason.
I hope your nickname isn't butterfingers.
That's what the DSi is for,
Fix'd for you there. Print media, especially where internet/tech subculture is concerned is going the way of the dino. The number one issue with it is cost. It doesn't make sense to keep making a printed magazine when the demand is not there for it.
I see how Scientific American / Popular Mechanics keeps going because there is a readership and access there that's not so easily available. Some different view points or tech I may not of been exposed to.
The clear fact that the hype machine essentially negates gaming magazines is the main point here. We have the internet to take the place of a big chunk of printed materials now.
They can try and restart it and throw wads of cash away but I believe they are foolish for trying and I wish them luck.
It's going to take some smart business tactics, that's for sure.
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I mean, it doesn't help when you go out to the mailbox and see that "oh, the latest Guitar Hero setlist is all in this issue. That'd be great if I hadn't heard that ten+ days ago and heard leaked setlist rumors months ago."
I'd say video game magazines are going the way of the strategy guide.
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I'd happily pay for a few strategy guides if they cost about half the price. They are so much easier to look at than some massive text file FAQ on a monitor. Harris would do well to recognize this if EGM returns to print form.
The news thing is a killer. We're getting E3 news live, and as it happens, on most of these blogging sites. I get far more news online that I ever did in any magazine. They really should focus on areas that not everyone has access to, and delve into new territory that not everyone has thought of. I'm thinking (here comes a list)...
-Interviews with the people that make the games happen, not just the producers/directors. Let's see what goes into creating the game, like creating graphics, music, and all that.
-Keep going with the profiles on various jobs in the business. I really liked seeing all the different people and positions that help make games happen.
-Maybe throw in a monthly XNA Community Games developer segment. Let's see what the micro-sized gaming groups are making, and how they do it.
-Game related stuff, like stuff you can buy. Toys, apparel, razors, all that kind of stuff.
-Give a reviewer spot to one of the readers. With 1up.com having a direct link to the mag, there are infinite possibilities for people to review games, and get the reader's reaction.
Really, just overall geek it up. You can get game news anywhere, but in depth stuff is a little harder to come by. I want to know what makes the industry live and breathe, not just what's coming out next month, and pretty pre-rendered screenshots of it.
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People will pay for unique content if they can't access it online.
I'll see your Ultra Game Players, and raise you to just plain Game Players-- before they decided to "grow up" and wound up falling down.
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Only if they can sell 200 pages of ads. In this climate, I seriously doubt that'd be possible. I really wonder how many people get that the number of pages in a mag is directly related to the number of ads they can sell.
I can find out everything I need to know about gaming on the internet for free. Why would I pay for a magazine laden with ads and other chaff? I guess it might make a good toilet read, but oh wait, I have the internet on my phone for that.
Don't get me wrong, I used to buy gaming magazines as a kid, every month devotedly... but now that I get gaming news updates daily, I have no desire to buy them anymore. I really don't see how they're going to make a successful comeback, but good luck to them.