The Video Game Critic

Posted: **August 23rd, 2011, 7:15 pm**

In the latest issue of GamePro I read that the magazine is switching to a quarterly, newsstand only format come November. Apparently it's going to be a lot thicker (more on par with the issues of the 90's).

I have mixed feelings about this. A quarterly magazine is hardly going to keep me up to date with the latest and greatest stuff. Then again, maybe they're start writing reviews again, which is the number one reason people buy these magazines anyway.

Gamepro jumped the shark last year when they tried to be a "serious journal". That was a mistake; even gamers who read the Wall Street Journal by day are looking for something light and fun to read when it comes to video games. I suspect this move is part of their effort to recover from that debacle.

I will give the new Gamepro Quarterly a try, but I hope they make an effort to keep things light. If they want some guidance, they should look at one of their back issues from the 1990's. Those magazines were goofy, shallow, and incredibly fun. I'd rather read a comic insert than some pseudo-intellectual editorial.

Posted: **August 23rd, 2011, 7:36 pm**

[QUOTE=The Video Game Critic]A quarterly magazine is hardly going to keep me up to date with the latest and greatest stuff.[/QUOTE]

Do many fans rely on them these days for that purpose, in this day and age? Even with a monthly format, with publication deadlines, printing, and mailing, that top news story could be approaching 40 days since it was spread across the internet when it finally arrives in your mailbox.

Posted: **August 24th, 2011, 5:38 pm**

I think magazines are dying. You can get everything from a magazine online nowadays, and you don't even have to pay for it.

Posted: **December 1st, 2011, 3:58 am**

UPDATE:

Gamepro magazine is now officially finished. The November issue will unfortunately be the last one ever!

Link - http://www.industrygamers.com/news/gamepro-is-dead/

Posted: **December 1st, 2011, 4:52 pm**

I remember the old days getting those Gamepros, EGM, and Gamefan magazines. Still have most of them, going back to '89. It's funny to go back and read them now. I preferred EGMs (mostly) unbiased opinions. Those magazines set records with their use of exclamation points.

I do miss actually opening a magazine and reading it. It's not the same staring at a screen. We use our computers and mobile devices for every damn thing now. We are lost unless we have some type of screen in our face. Whether it's a tv, computer, or cell phone screen.

Posted: **December 1st, 2011, 9:22 pm**

Silver Fox -

I also have a collection of old Gamepro/EGM magazines, and they are worth their weight in gold! They had a childlike enthusiasm and were easy to read with a lot of big pictures and illustrations. Hold on to them!

Somewhere along the line these magazines "grew up" and became a lot less fun. I really don't miss Gamepro, because the issues of the last few years might have well have appeared in the Wall St. Journal.

Posted: **December 2nd, 2011, 12:12 am**

I have some Nintendo Power mags from the late 80's, and they are a heck of a lot more fun to read than what's out there today. Yes, they are pretty much targeted at 8-13 year olds but who cares. There is an enthusiasm about gaming there that is hard to find anymore. Jadedness pervades most gaming publications and websites today. I think one thing that attracted me to this site was that reading all the reviews made me enthusiastic about gaming. I like that.

Posted: **December 2nd, 2011, 1:58 am**

[QUOTE=The Video Game Critic]Somewhere along the line these magazines "grew up" and became a lot less fun. [/QUOTE]The whole video game industry has kinda done that, if you think about it.

Posted: **December 2nd, 2011, 4:32 pm**

I picked up the final edition of GamePro, which has Chun Li on the cover. It was the first (and last) issue of their "newsstand only" experiment.

This is actually a pretty good issue. It has a lot of fun little articles and a lot of screenshots and artwork. There's a preview of next's years games and a preview of the Vita.

It was too little too late apparently. If all their magazines had been like this over the past few years, they might still be in business.

One thing that never really worked was ditching the reviews for a "now playing" section. It was a cop-out. The reviews were always the main reasons I read these magazines.

Posted: **December 3rd, 2011, 12:30 am**

[QUOTE=The Video Game Critic]I picked up the final edition of GamePro, which has Chun Li on the cover. It was the first (and last) issue of their "newsstand only" experiment.
[/QUOTE]

Sorry, but I thought the issue was pretty lame. There weren't any reviews & nothing memorable about the issue. I was hoping they'd at least have an awesome final issue tribute or something. The "ranking of the best fighters ever" was pretty pointless. Obviously whoever wrote that article liked cute anime girls.