The New (Old) Face of EGM

Many gamers were saddened earlier this year when their issues of Electronic Gaming Monthly stopped coming in the mail. After all EGM is a magazine that covers an industry which has managed to surpass the music and movie industry, so even though print journalism is having difficult times the world over, it remained a shocker that EGM went belly-up. However, the video game magazine gods have smiled upon us all and Steve Harris (the man responsible for the magazine’s inception over 20 years ago) is bringing his baby back later this year, and while EGM will still be that same ole’ plethora of gaming information it always has been, it will come packaged with a brand-new, digital coat.

Talking to Publishing Executive, Harris tried to lay out what exactly he had in mind for the magazine’s resurrection, and how it will cater to the digital age. Harris harped heavily on the emphasis the magazine will have in producing digital content saying, “First and foremost, we’re planning to incorporate digital content within the magazine. This includes professionally-produced video, audio and other types of content. We’re also going to make this content fully transportable.” He would go on to say that some of the content would be accessible to readers straight from the page itself, or from a digital device included with the magazine. Looks like those holographic articles will finally come to fruition… that was a joke, guys. I hope you didn’t think I was serious. [Continue Reading]

Support Dan Hsu’s Latest Web Venture – BITMOB!

Hey, dudes and duders. How goes it? I have a short bit of information today on a very important topic that you all are probably a bit interested in, videogame journalism. Dan “Shoe” Hsu is coming out with a new website called BITMOB, and it should be up in a couple of weeks. For those of you who don’t know who I’m talking about, Shoe was the previous editor-in-chief for EGM, and really helped propel the magazine to the forefront of videogame journalism. Sadly, EGM no longer remains, but that hasn’t stopped Shoe from bringing videogame news to the masses.

In a recent blog post, Shoe states, “Assuming tech, design, God, and karma all cooperate with us, our scaled-down prototype alpha site should be live in less than two weeks.”

So when it finally goes live, please check it out and support the site. You can sign up for an email feed at BITMOB.com. But, as always, after your done supporting that site, come back to TGH, because we are totally awesome, and you need us in your life to survive.

Anyways, take care everyone. And if your reading this, Shoe, please hire me. I need a job and you are a game journalism god. I will work for peanuts just so that I may be under your tutelege… sorry guys, I’ll stop now.

The End of an Era: Lamenting the Loss of EGM

Hello everybody, my post today is some very sad news and comes with a heavy heart. By now many of you, my fellow gamers, have heard that EGM, one of the finest gaming publications around, is closing its’ doors after 20 years. This is a truly sad period for the gaming industry, and for game journalism as a whole.

EGM, in my opinion, was the quintessential video game magazine. Every month I couldn’t wait for the new issue of EGM to hit store shelves, and I loved seeing what new bits of industry news I could pick up in the latest issue. EGM was especially important to me as a young lad in my pre-internet days. The magazine was my only link to the gaming industry, and it was a huge source of inspiration for me wanting to become a games journalist. I can remember sitting on my couch playing games and having my dad come in screaming at the top of his lungs because I neglected my chores for that day. “What are you going to do when you grow up?” He’d yell. Then, sarcastically, he’d say, “Maybe you can get a job playing video games someday, you lazy …” The rest is all curse words and inaudible mumbling, but as he was yelling I remember looking at the magazine next to me and thinking, “You know what Dad, &$!# you. I will get a job writing about games.” And the rest is history. [Continue Reading]