• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

GMR and XBN magazines are no more

vireland

Member
But then they always tell the editors last......

Shame about that, too. GMR was one of the better gaming mags and seemed to be getting better as they went on. What is EB *thinking* these days? It's a PROMOTIONAL TOOL, and a really good one. If it's not working the way it's supposed to, don't unbundle it and kill it, reconfig and make it work!
 

fennec fox

ferrets ferrets ferrets ferrets FERRETS!!!
Rhindle said:
It's hard to understand how the UK could support two such publications, and the US not even one. XBN comes pretty close, but it's constrained by the single-platform format.
Well, I don't think either Edge nor Gamestm make very much money for their respective publishers -- in fact, I know Gamestm can't be profiting with their piddling circulation. They're both "vanity" projects of sorts, and it's easier to make such mags in the UK because distribution costs are much lower and game websites, the place all the hardcores went to, still aren't as big in Europe as in the US.
 
Confidential to Foobar: FUCK OFF AND DIE

To everyone at GMR: man, that sucks. and finding out about it secondhand from EB/GAF has got to be the absolute worstest way to go. Your covers fuckin' rocked and never let anyone tell you otherwise! And the content wasn't half-bad either. And Fable was an EIGHT!

Here's hoping you can be reshuffled to other magazines...
 

mosaic

go eat paint
Considering the history of the magazines that led to GMR, I'm not totally surprised.

EGM 2 --> Expert Gamer --> GameNOW --> GMR

Ziff just can't seem to keep a companion to EGM going for very long, whether it's strat focused, kiddie focused, or tied to a retail chain. I doubt it's a question of content, honestly. Their execs have a quick hook, which is ironic when you factor in the financial problems the company has had and all of the bloat that sits atop the executive chain. Take a look in the front of a Ziff mag and look at all of the people credited who didn't do a lick of a work for the magazine you're holding. Maybe if they cut away some of the rich bitches at the top, they wouldn't have to cancel a somewhat profitable magazine just because it wasn't making as much revenue as they need to sustain the bloat.

Editors end up hired, fired, and moved around like cheap meat... and San Francisco sure isn't an area you want to live in if your job is tenuous. It irks me that every time Ziff makes a move like this, it's always editors who bear the brunt of the change. How you guys cope with it, I'll never know.

On the bright side, at least that's one less question the clerks at EB will be asking now.
 

SantaC

Member
wait didn't someone say recently that GMR would have a world exclusive review of RE4 in Februrary issue of GMR?
 
SantaCruZer said:
wait didn't someone say recently that GMR would have a world exclusive review of RE4 in Februrary issue of GMR?

Yeah, Mark MacDonald told us all that. The RE4 review issue must be the last issue of the magazine.
 
Shit damn, it's a Monday.

I remember I was so excited when GMR began. They had the first review of DOA:XBV! Anyway, I couldn't afford to coninue subscriptions to magasines at the time of renewal, so I didn't keep up with the times. Time to go find my lost editions on Ebay...
 

DCX

DCX
Hmmm...that sucks, i mean how many more mags have to die really? Is the internet really destroying mags like this? Why is it the PC mags survive?

DCX
 

jedimike

Member
I used to pimp GMR back in the day, but their distribution was shit. The last time I renewed I never received one mag... not one. I used to have to go into EB and tell them I didn't get it and they would give me one of the shelf.
 

john tv

Member
Who decided to cut the mag? EB or ZD?

If it was EB, is there any chance ZD would try to back it alone? It's a good mag, it'd be a shame to see it go when there's toilet paper like OXM and that PS mag that rates everything 90+ still out there... :/
 

Matlock

Banned
john tv said:
Who decided to cut the mag? EB or ZD?

If it was EB, is there any chance ZD would try to back it alone? It's a good mag, it'd be a shame to see it go when there's toilet paper like OXM and that PS mag that rates everything 90+ still out there... :/

According to Kaede's post was back there on the first page--seems EB dropped the get-card-get-magazine support after a year, and nobody wanted it.
 
Wow, this seriously sucks. At least I was lucky enough to be a part of the mag, if only for just a tiny bit and am pretty proud of the association.

I guess it's appropriate, at least for myself, to find out that the mag was cancelled on the GAF cuz this is where I got noticed and given a writing gig. Anyway, as a reader and a contributor, thanks for the best American gaming mag out there.
 

Dave Long

Banned
:(

I may have made a fuss about the Ninja Gaiden review, but the magazine's editors earned my respect, my interest and my dollars by running a second review of the finished game. Overall, I think this was the best console game magazine on the stands and the PC game coverage was good too. I'm really sorry EB separated it from their program.

If this doesn't clearly indicate how Game Informer survives solely on the revenue from the Gamestop frequent buyer cards then I'm not sure what else could possibly point that out.

GMR was a great publication. Thanks for the good work, guys.
 

AbeFroman

Member
ferricide said:
sure, if they'll have me.

note: this was found out because of EB sending out an email. we didn't hear about it directly yet.

oh, what adventures tomorrow may bring!

Finding out about potential job loss on a forum is fucking retarded.

Shame on EB and Uncle Ziff.
 
Damn, that's ass. GMR was my favorite mag, and it had the best graphic design in our little industry. As for Mielke, skip, Christian, Colin and the gang -- my sympathies. You guys put out a great mag. :(
 
Seems like we lose one every year to every other year now.

At least OXM, Game Informer, and PC Gamer are going strong. That's the ones I read.
 
Pour out a lil liquor for GMR

B00000DHSH.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
 

SuperPac

Member
This is sad news indeed. I always looked forward to receiving the new GMR in the mail. :'( It was the only reason I had that silly Edge card to begin with. I hope Uncle Ziff can make room for GMR's fine editors on other books.
 
<Cartman> Ha ha haha ha ha
Haha ha ha haha
Ha ha ha ha
That's what you get for making DOAX your debut issue cover story!
</Cartman>

I'm not being totally facetious either. It's nice to see another one bite the dust.

Seriously though, if you're a talented writer who's misfortune is covering video games, perhaps now is the time to seek employment with the growing number if ill informed non-gaming publication that cover games. Skin mags like Playboy and American Curves come to mind immediately. If I'm not mistaken American Curves gave McFarlame's Prophecy a perfect score. Clearly they're in need of journalistic help. :p

TToB: 1
GMR: 0

OH YEAHHHHHH! I love it when I win.
 

Blame!

Member
what i never understood was how GMR could be so editorially independent given their association with EB and the chainstore's desire to sell games. i still remember their scathing review of the N-Gage which hit the newstand the week the units shipped to EB. :lol obviously,what GMR needed to do was to pull a gameinformer and go easy on the big retail movers. gameinformer is the true retail store catalog model and it's obviously worked for them.

again ,. itw as a miracle that GMR was able to do some of the japanese coverage we got for such a long time. RIP
 

Seth C

Member
Wario64 said:
Gamenow and GMR, that makes 2 Ziff Davis magazines down


Good. They had far too many general videogames magazines. Bring everything that was good under the wings of EGM and restore it to its glory of the mid 1990s. EGM2, in whatever form, was always a bad idea. I want my 400+ pages of EGM to come back.
 
The Take Out Bandit said:
I'm not being totally facetious either. It's nice to see another one bite the dust.

You are a fucking goddamn asshole. You DO realize that most of GMR's editors read and contribute to these boards? And that many of the rest of us are their good friends? Laughing at someone who probably just lost their job is about the most assholeish thing imaginable. I hope some mod gives you a few days to think about what a dickhead you are.
 

SuperPac

Member
Seth C said:
Good. They had far too many general videogames magazines. Bring everything that was good under the wings of EGM and restore it to its glory of the mid 1990s. EGM2, in whatever form, was always a bad idea. I want my 400+ pages of EGM to come back.

The days of 400+ page video game magazines are long, long gone. Keep dreamin'.
 

chespace

It's not actually trolling if you don't admit it
Seth, is that you? The guy I saw at Ricciardi's party in Tokyo (and just about every where else since)?
 

Seth C

Member
chespace said:
Seth, is that you? The guy I saw at Ricciardi's party in Tokyo (and just about every where else since)?


I'm afraid not, but if you're at E3 we can get together and play Opa's Saturn games if you want. I'm always up for some Decathlete, Saturn Bomberman, or Death Tank.
 

SuperPac

Member
SantaCruZer said:
nowadays it's like 80 pages and 50% ads.

Yes...that's how magazines work. Printing a magazine is not free or cheap. Unless you'd like to pay $15 for your magazines, you'll accept ads--just like you accept them in between the programming on TV.
 

Foobar

Member
sweet, we made it to 55 posts on GAF before someone was an ass.

After seeing numerous games that never had a fair shake in GMR's reviews, its hard to have sympathy for what happened to them. You call it unfortunate, I call it karma. GMR's one-paragraph witticisms that they passed off as reviews did little to properly inform their readers. EGM already had plenty of that, GMR didn't need to do it and it was a strain on EB and consumers alike as a forced sale.

As for the editors, I'm pretty sure there's enough room to get reshuffled into 1up.com, OPM, EGM and other Ziff Davis publications. Here's hoping what few good ones they had find their way to a better, quality publication, like Play.
 

Seth C

Member
Foobar said:
Here's hoping what few good ones they had find their way to a better, quality publication, like Play.


But that's a Dave Halverson publication. It's got maybe 3 more months before he stops paying people.
 

chespace

It's not actually trolling if you don't admit it
Seth C said:
I'm afraid not, but if you're at E3 we can get together and play Opa's Saturn games if you want. I'm always up for some Decathlete, Saturn Bomberman, or Death Tank.

I'll kick your ass at Princess Crown.
 
Foobar said:
Here's hoping what few good ones they had find their way to a better, quality publication, like Play.

Play?

Hey, GMR staff, start brushing up on your Hermie Hopperhead! You've gotta make a good impression during your interview.
 
Top Bottom