Topic: UGO boughtout the 1UP network, EGM closes it's doors

[GoldenPhoenix]

Am I the ONLY one who's never heard of UGO before this debacle?  What the hell kind of name is UGO anyway, is sounds like a lame trading card game.

That is what I thought!

[D_Average]

 

Am I the ONLY one who's never heard of UGO before this debacle?  What the hell kind of name is UGO anyway, is sounds like a lame trading card game.

That is what I thought!

Alas, we're on the same page!     

[Stogi]

So is EGM the one that was taking bribes or the one that's illiterate?

[NWR_insanolord]

A little from column A, a little from column B.

[Kairon]

I can't speak for EGM now, but I certainly didn't think they were a trashy magazine when I read them back in the late 64/early GC era. I thought they were actually pretty competent, for what they were.... at the time, I thought they were a commendable "mainstream" (i.e. Playstation era gamer) magazine.

[vudu]

So is EGM the one that was taking bribes or the one that's illiterate?

They were the one that got blacklisted from Ubisoft for not writing flattering previews about Assassin's Creed.

They certainly were biased against certain games, but they weren't shady (AFAIK).

[Luigi Dude]

I can't speak for EGM now, but I certainly didn't think they were a trashy magazine when I read them back in the late 64/early GC era. I thought they were actually pretty competent, for what they were.... at the time, I thought they were a commendable "mainstream" (i.e. Playstation era gamer) magazine.

Well back then most videogame publications were still pretty good and reported on videogames in a nice way that wasn't bias as hell.  It wasn't until 2002 that things started to change for the worse and most websites and publications became more like fanboy blogs.

[Djunknown]

Mr.Kennedy sounds off.

[NWR_Lindy]

I never understood why there wasn't an EGM website.  I never got the whole 1Up thing.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Mr.Kennedy sounds off.

If the gaming industry let EGM die then why does Future Publishing flourish, Future publishing said they started earning more money once they got the publishing rights of Nintendo Power, Official Playstation Magazine ,Official Xbox Magazine. And hey Future made Nintendo Power awesome again so I started subscribing again.

[KDR_11k]

Am I the ONLY one who's never heard of UGO before this debacle?  What the hell kind of name is UGO anyway, is sounds like a lame trading card game.

That is what I thought!

Alas, we're on the same page!    

I never knew they had anything to do with games, at least. To me UGO seemed like another retard association like AOL.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

UGO tried to promote a gaming press network in the early years of the previous gen.

Now they mostly control web ads that are prevalent on many gaming press outlets.

[Deguello]

I'm kinda sick of people making a big deal about this being EGM's 20th year or that they are an "institution" or whatever.  Management changes.  Places change. 

I never really read it that much but when I saw their Endless Ocean stunt I sorta knew they might end up paying for it somehow.

For those unfamiliar they basically refused to review Endless Ocean calling it a "non-game" and wrote a little paragraph trying to capitalize on this whole "Nintendo abandoning hardcore" meme that was running.  What they didn't tell you was that Endless Ocean is the next game in a series known as Everblue on the PS2, and all those games were reviewed in EGM as "games."  Some of the readers complained, and they spent a second issue "not-reviewing" this "non-game."  That's when I sorta felt the magazine started pushing more people away and that was a pretty bad business model for a magazine.

So while nobody is celebrating the people out of jobs, they do sort of feel a justice was served.  But what is probably a worse feeling is indifference, as the people they pushed away and labeled as non-gamers, grannies, casuals, whatever, probably never saw their magazine or were probably told not to read it by friendly core gamers after all that abuse they were given.  So their demise probably registers as a non-event.

[NWR_pap64]

Long story short: Karma. Do crap, you get crap.

[Kairon]

For those unfamiliar they basically refused to review Endless Ocean calling it a "non-game" and wrote a little paragraph trying to capitalize on this whole "Nintendo abandoning hardcore" meme that was running.  What they didn't tell you was that Endless Ocean is the next game in a series known as Everblue on the PS2, and all those games were reviewed in EGM as "games."

Yeah... you know what? That's unpardonable. That's just... disgusting. Thanks for reminding me why I as a Nintendo gamer have never been sucked into whatever vision of gaming these types of magazines have been selling.

[Urkel]

It seemed so arbitrary to not review THAT "non-game", yet they reviewed other "non-games" like Nintendogs and Wii Fit without making a big stink. And considering that the amount of content in the magazine was getting smaller and smaller due to publishers not giving them stories, you'd think they'd want to fill the magazine with something. I think it was just a stunt to win them some Hardcore cred. Too bad that didn't sell magazines.

The funny thing is 1up actually reviewed Endless Ocean and gave it a good score.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I forgot all about the Endless Ocean review. Yes I remember being quite disgusted.

[D_Average]

I never understood why there wasn't an EGM website.  I never got the whole 1Up thing.

A very stupid move indeed.  Diluting your brand is never a good idea.   

[Peachylala]

I forgot all about the Endless Ocean review. Yes I remember being quite disgusted.

Meh, EGM must've done worse. Not reviewing a game because it's "teh casual": stupid and insulting. They did do worse, right?

Right?

[NWR_Lindy]

If the gaming industry let EGM die then why does Future Publishing flourish, Future publishing said they started earning more money once they got the publishing rights of Nintendo Power, Official Playstation Magazine ,Official Xbox Magazine. And hey Future made Nintendo Power awesome again so I started subscribing again.

Well, I think the reason why these print magazines still exist is because they're targeted marketing.  If you want to directly reach Nintendo fans and get the most bang for your advertising buck, you'd certainly choose Nintendo Power over a multi-platform magazine like EGM.  I can see how EGM might feel the pinch there.

EGM probably should have shifted their focus a bit and became more of a gamer lifestyle magazine, think outside the box a bit, and court advertisers that aren't strictly game companies.

[Mikintosh]

Yeah, as someone who's been a Nintendo fan much longer than any other gaming company, I was always annoyed by EGM's blatant anti-Nintendo bias over the years, with next-to-no coverage of Gamecube & Game Boy/DS games and not even all that much Wii coverage, considering how popular the system's been. I don't think they were getting kickbacks from all the Playstation and Xbox games that they pimped on their cover every damn month for years (from GTA3 to Bioshock)...but they did run magazines for those systems, and they didn't for Nintendo. Made me a little cynical about their practices. However, they did have some good articles and they always had entertaining reviews (including Seanbaby, whom I've liked ever since his website back in the early '00s), but even then one of the main things that stick in my mind about EGM (and I don't remember if this was brought up here or elsewhere) is the douchebag comments that constantly were made in their letter column responses. Just disrespectful, sophomoric crap. During the brief period between Nintendo Power's revamp in 2005 and its sale to Future US last year, they aimed for a similarly sarcastic tone and it worked a lot better because they didn't have such contempt for their average reader. I thought that was telling of the competing attitudes of the two companies.

Overall, it's sad they're gone but they were losing their touch by the end of decade anyway.

[vudu]

EGM probably should have shifted their focus a bit and became more of a gamer lifestyle magazine, think outside the box a bit, and court advertisers that aren't strictly game companies.

That strategy didn't work out so well for HardCore Gamer magazine.

Print media is just a dying format.  Especially when 90% of your readers are males age 14 to 30.  This demographic eats, sleeps and breathes the Internet and we'll always choose something for free over something we pay for.  Couple that with the fact that you get a free Game Informer subscription by joining GameStop's frequent buyer's program and EGM has been doomed to fail for quite some time.  (Who needs two magazines that are pretty close substitutes?)

[Kairon]

I will be a Nintendo Power subscriber for life.

... hmmm... I wonder if that says more about me, or Nintendo Power.

[NWR_Lindy]

Well, apparently being a strictly multi-platform game magazine wasn't working for EGM either, so whatever.  Hardcore Gamer didn't exactly sound like it was trying to reach out to a broad audience, either.  No wonder it went under.

Print media isn't dead, but it's definitely a dying market for all but the most mainstream media outlets.  Ten years down the line it'll probably be newspapers and tabloids, and that's about it.

[Kairon]

Well, apparently being a strictly multi-platform game magazine wasn't working for EGM either, so whatever.  Hardcore Gamer didn't exactly sound like it was trying to reach out to a broad audience, either.  No wonder it went under.

Print media isn't dead, but it's definitely a dying market for all but the most mainstream media outlets.  Ten years down the line it'll probably be newspapers and tabloids, and that's about it.

I don't know, I can't imagine a future without dedicated periodicals like Time, Discover Magazine, or National Geographic. I think print media will just need to focus on what it can do best, which isn't to aggregate news, but find a way to convince us that it's meaningful and valuable.