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GamePro Shutting Down After 22 Years
redletterdave writes "Popular gaming magazine GamePro has shut down its U.S. operations after 22 years of publications by its parent company IDG. GamePro's website, which has been online for about 13 years, will be converted to a gaming channel and incorporated into PCWorld on Dec. 5. Sources within the magazine say GamePro's employees, including its executives, received phone calls this morning with the news. The news comes as a relative surprise, as GamePro experienced its highest traffic ever last week. The company also released its first quarterly magazine earlier this month after deciding monthly print issues were too costly to maintain."
That is the sad news. They didn't gain enough visitors. If you look at their traffics and compare to other sites:
Gamepro: Alexa rank 6489
and competitors
IGN: Alexa rank 306
Gamespot: 412
They just didn't have a change. Personally, I've never heard about them either. If I had and they gave good content, I probably would.. but I never got there via any means. For the other internet age publications, I found Kotaku and RockPaperShotgun and they serve me gaming news just fine. As for TF2, Reddit does great job.
So, was there anything special Gamespy offered that the others didn't?
Hello! Don't shut down the site, just shut down the print and go to iOS NewsStand! Was this even considered? This was the first gaming magazine I ever read. I have issue #1 in my attic some place, and yeah, I thought it was grand. Now, the market has changed, and they give up? What the hell, is it that American companies just LACK agility in any shape or form these days? I can think of maybe 5 off the top of my head that will come against a big change and go "ok we can handle this" instead of doing like GamePro and caving. Ok I'm done ranting, but seriously, what is with the print industry? Sure, print is done, but DON'T kill the horse. Start a games site. See Destructoid or some other successful indie gaming news outlet. They started indie and made it big. GamePro would have had the advantage of starting big and STAYING BIG.
Help me, help you. - Jerry McGuire
Who? I'm baffled by this as...who is this?
No really.
22 years you say?
I should KNOW them.
Ah well.
I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
And I am going to use Die Hard magazine for kindling this cold winter
Even if you have decent traffic, ad revenue only pays a small portion of the bills (unless you have ungodly amounts of traffic, like google and a handful of others).
You have to run a site on a skeleton crew and use all avenues for revenue (subscriptions, sell product, etc) in order to pay folks...
On the print side I dunno, I guess the free online content in the game market makes it a hard sell...
That's usually a pretty bad sign, right there. While magazines seem to be dying everywhere, I'm completely at a loss for the hige number of magazines in a local bookseller, which appear to cater to select readership. There must be something they do right.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Let's hope the others follow very soon.
Games mags are supposed to represent the gamer and provide valuable information. All these rags to now is troll for clicks and spout grossly overzealous "reviews" to ensure the publishers advertise with them. When titles turn out to be bugfests like PS3's Skyrim, they turn into pathetic cowards and either ignore the issue, or put up a meaningless poll and ignore the results. They should at least investigate for themselves, and if major issues are found, they should revise their review and class titles as the unplayable shit they are.
But they don't, and then wonder why their only customers are games publishers.
Fuck all of them!
I'd just belatedly started listening to Kat Bailey's "new" Roleplayers' Realm podcast on GamePro, after she moved there from 1UP's "ATB" podcast. I guess there's still RPGFan's podcast to try and fill that niche, but i hope that she and everyone else at GamePro manage to land on their feet =/
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
Haven't dealt with GamePro in ~14 years. I actually wasn't even aware they were still in business, which I guess was part of the problem. I still remember all the GamePro and Nintendo Power magazines I had in the late 80s/early 90s. I probably still have them somewhere...
That is the sad news. They didn't gain enough visitors.
they were really Gamenoob
I used to purchase their magazine many years ago, back when I was a kid. I probably still have some of their magazines lying around someplace. Over the years the Internet eventually made them irrelevant and I'm no longer into games so much anymore anyways. I only really play an online open source game now, given the sad state of IP I try to avoid funding the IP cartels unless I have a really good reason to.
... since the internet became popular roughly 12 years ago. It's a miracle they survived so long. Most people hit gamespot, gamefaqs or metacritic these days or the developers/game companies forums themselves.
Wow, I remember seeing the first issue of this magazine on the shelf and thinking to myself "HOLY CRAP A MAGAZINE ABOUT VIDEOGAMES?!?!" I still have the issue. Found a pic here: http://gamesnet.vo.llnwd.net/o1/gnet/117181_6.jpg
At the time there wasn't anything else, at least where I lived. There was no internet. Basically you got a game and guessed the best that you could. All those awesome Easter eggs that gave you unlimited lives and such? No one knew really... and if you got stuck in one spot in a game? You were truely screwed. Nothing you could do but give up. Then along game Gamepro and a couple of other magazines like it and BAM! Full maps! Tips! Strategy! Hell, I'd read guides to games I didn't even have and then decide to beg my parents for some money.
I don't know how relevant they are now... or any print material for that matter. But they were revolutionary in 1989, RIP Gamepro.
Although I have not as much as glanced at GamePro in years, I have many fond memories of their magazine. They were the go-to source for game reviews, tips, and moves during the snes/sega era. I still remember sitting in class, reading over the moves lists for the original Mortal Kombat.
This is one of those many things in life that slowly chips away at any semblance of childhood moments. I have to say, getting this mag as a kid was one of my bestest things to look forward to. So long GamePro.
This year is all about stupid decisions in corporate america with everyone stumbling over each other to get the idiot trophy. I doubt they will beat out netflix but i rate them higher then hp.
I loved Game Pro. It was the little guy that could never cut it against EGM and Die Hard Game Fan for scoops, but it had well written reviews, nice artwork and layouts, and was really good about reprinting tips and codes.
Sadly, the gaming magazine landscaped changed in the late 90s and early 2000s, when editors started ripping off FAQs and strategy guides that gamers had put online. I don't know to what extent Game Pro did this, but other groups such as the EGM publishers, Sony Playstation Magazine, and Ziff Davis plagiarized frequently. This kind of abuse of the generosity of others soured people and affected the publisher's reputations, and bolstered the support for gamer-driven content. (look how GameFAQs has exploded in size!) Now that magazines could no longer supply strategy, all they could do is report on news, something which EDGE did particularly well.
That's a very narrow scope, however and the Internet is an ideal tool for delivering news. Online game news took the last thing magazines had away from them. To catch up, every major publisher has struggled to maintain an online presence and they've mostly all failed. I guess it was inevitable.
Here's to GamePro. You guys made gaming a lot of fun back then.
Oh please. I accept your challenge. Compare the comments on these sections:
http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience and http://www.reddit.com/r/science
http://science.slashdot.org (Be alert; it's worse than Facebook.)
Or the submissions here:
http://www.reddit.com/r/games and http://www.reddit.com/r/gamernews
http://games.slashdot.org (Um, where are the big news articles?)
Or here:
http://www.reddit.com/r/programming
http://developers.slashdot.org (What happened? 10 years ago, programming topics were the main attraction of Slashdot.)
Or the comments here:
http://www.reddit.com/r/politics
http://politics.slashdot.org
Slashdot today is a bad joke. I often find better content and discussions on Twitter.
I hate to say it, especially thinking of all the people that will be losing their jobs in this hard economy, but GamePro's demise is long overdue, and no great loss. I haven't been into video games much for the last 10 years, but as a high-schooler in the 90's, I was quite a devoted reader of the video game press. Compared to Electronic Gaming Monthly, perhaps its major competitor for most of that time, GamePro was essentially a purveyor of hype and marketing buzz, rather than a serious commentator on the state of the field (assuming that a magazine about games can ever be serious). Nearly every (well-marketed/buzzworthy) game had an almost perfect rating on the scale that they used -- one could never rely on GamePro to give any sort of critical view. Many games had absolutely perfect scores.
By contrast, EGM had a scale of 1-10, through for the first year or so I thought it was a 1-9 scale because I never saw any 10's (I want to say it was Final Fantasy III that got the first 10 that I saw, but I'm not sure). I remember that EGM prided themselves for many years on never having rated a game 10 by all four reviewers. Moreover, unlike EGM (or earlier-90's Nintendo Power), GamePro had a saccarine, plastic, slick, manufactured feel (I apologize for my lack of a better term), and lacked any real sense of personality or character. Kind of like cheap candy -- yeah, it has an overwhelming sweetness, but has so little else that it ends up feeling as if it tasted bland. I've kept all the Nintendo Power issues from when it started in 1988, until I stopped subscribing around 2000. Most of the EGMs from that time period as well. GamePro, if I ever somehow ended up with an issue, went straight to the trash.
games only came up a week or two ago. the main games subreddit, /r/gaming, is awful.
Slashdot today is a bad joke. I often find better content and discussions on Twitter.
IMHO, part of the problem is that most Slashdot comments are literally bad jokes. Too many of the comments are feeble attempts at humor by some attention starved idiot who believes he/she is far more clever than they actually are.
That's too bad. I had a GamePro subscription back in the day. I loved it.
It's quite bad. And the Reddit front page is shameful. But that's the beauty of Reddit. If you don't like what you see, create a new subreddit! Slashdotters are force-fed what the idiot editors show us. http://slashdot.org/recent is a graveyard of more worthy submissions.
I also dislike that they frequently redesign the interface to not work on anything but the newest browsers. Remember when Slashdot had a simple select box for filtering and it loaded all the comments at once? Now it has some stupid slider that doesn't even show up in IE, simple rendering of text is a basket case older Firefox/Safari versions, and you have hit a "more" button at the bottom of the page a dozen times on average (and before reading anything too because it doesn't add to the end but insert them all over). I used to read Slashdot every day but now I might make it here once a month at best.
Such a shame.
a new study came out that showed game enthusiasts read their iPad/Smart phone while visiting the throne room instead of a magazine or newspaper. This trend of ditching the traditional throne reading median has been gradual but appears to be all inclusive now.
used to subscribe to gamepro as a kid in the late 90's. never thought it's reviews were that great and the layout wasn't grand either. i'd much rather go to IGN for free today than pay for the same info weeks later on my doorstep.
Well this sucks, I just got into using their site more as it was actually nice to use. :(
Slashdot today is a bad joke. I often find better content and discussions on Twitter.
IMHO, part of the problem is that most Slashdot comments are literally bad jokes. Too many of the comments are feeble attempts at humor by some attention starved idiot who believes he/she is far more clever than they actually are.
IMHO, part of the problem is that most Slashdot comments are about what comments should/should not be. Too many of the comments are feeble attempts at trying to tell people what they should or should not post.
lucm, indeed.
Though I haven't even read the magazine once in the past two decades, I have a beach/bath towel with the GamePro logo on it, which I received as a giveaway at the June 1989 Consumer Electronics Show, which would make it right when the mag started. I was doing graphic design/advertising at my first job then, and there might be an ad I worked on in the very first issue.
The towel is still in excellent condition - not a tear and little wear. I'll be sure to use it after this evening's shower.
People who play video games, have always used friends or word of mouth towards which games to play depending on his or hers preference. So a gaming magazine that maybe (keyword- maybe) bias towards one game over another may have been in good faith but the gaming world is so wide open it was going to fail at some point. They had some good tips for cheating, instructions, insight on how to think outside the box to break through a game, but once the internet came along they fell behind. Example of this, web sites completely dedicated to games like the GTA (Grand Theft Auto) series, I could use hundreds of other examples but you get the point..
This magazine was bound to fail... In the gaming world friends and word of mouth is what he or she relies on depending on, in his or hers genre of game . Having a gaming magazine that maybe (MAYBE) prone towards one game over another was not going to last, they had crappy cheats, good instructions (limited), or insight on how to think outside the box to beat a game. However with the internet storming along there were sites dedicated to games such as GTA (Grand Theft Auto for example out of hundreds) and GamePro fell behind, even there web site was a failure before it could get any where.
Just look at Japan. The stores are either gone or half the size. Building games just sucks as a business, and like a failing movie industry, each studio loses life every time a game flops until they are either acquired or go kaputz. Bigger budgets. Fewer titles. Less players. Lack of interest. The end.
I often find better content and discussions on Twitter.
Twitter bothers me sometimes. It's rather difficult to have an intellectually satisfying conversation when you're limited to only 140 charac
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
It forces you to get to the point and not jabber endlessly. Learning to write in a way that is simple, short and well understood is important skill too. I can't stand people post walls of text, even if it would be interesting or intellect text. Whenever Slashdot shows that "Read the rest of this comment..." in bottom of a comment I
Some nostalgia for ya. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOZ7W94XeeE
In theory I am an agnostic, but pending the appearance of radical evidence I must be classed as an Atheist.
The games will never stop, /Apologies. It was necessary.
The games will never stop.
The games will never stop,
The games will never stop.
The gam--oh, wait.
Would you like a slice of toast?
But I'm still hurting inside since Diehard Gamefan disappeared.
Is this the same GamePro that used to have a TV show back around 20 years ago?
You mean like you just did?
I wonder if you have an extremely sophisticated sense of humor, or none at all
lucm, indeed.
When I was 10 years old reading EGM and GamePro every month was a high point.
having been through it myself, I feel bad hearing about another group of people losing their jobs; however, I never got into GamePro and when I did read it regularly, I always felt the other magazines did it better and it also felt they were giving out 5 star (happy faces or whatever) ratings to a lot of bad games.
it was interesting to read about them going to a quarterly magazine release. at least they tried to manage their poor situation. i give respect for that.
was what I bought when I wanted a game mag but already had that month's EGM.
Why do I need to know someone else's opinion about a game when I can play a demo myself or read a one-man-blog who reviews it? Or watch a preview video on Youtube?