Next Generation Folds

It was announced today that Next Generation Magazine will be folded. The upcoming January issue will be the last.

Next Gen was my personal favorite among videogame magazines, ever since the very beginning. It was, and remains, the only games source that wasn't aimed at 8-14-year-olds. The writers and editors were always the most informed and intelligent people in the business, the writing was always sharp, and the reviews were the smartest and most elegant game reviews found anywhere.

Next Generation treated videogames as something more than kids' toys, and something greater than the latest shiny fad. They treated their subject for what it is: an important element of our popular culture; sometimes silly and goofy, sometimes approaching art, always entertaining.

Now if you want to read about videogames, you're stuck with...groan...GamePro, EGM, Game Informer...glorified toy catalogues.

 

Hmm. That does suck. NG was one of very few game magazines that I *liked* to read (PC Gamer being another one). The rest were crap. Especially PCXL, which I hated with a passion.

 

Oh God yes. While I thoroughly enjoyed the mag its first 2 or 3 years of existence, in the last few years it's been full of the biased mainstream attitudes that pervade the industry today. Every time I flip through it at the store I end up putting it down in disgust. Good riddance. IMO.

 

damn...just....damn...

 

Internet killed the magazine star, Internet killed the magazine star...

LOL, OK, it doesn't sound quite as catchy, but you know what I mean.

 

same view held here

 

Thr problem is that the Internet has been hit just as hard over the past year. Other than Gamespot, there really aren't any quality gaming sites anymore. The remaining ones are either moving to a subscription service, or no longer updating regularily. Websites like GamersWeb and CoreMagazine are really just fan sites, anyway. Here's hoping things improve.

On the print side, we're now once again stuck with the stupid prozines: juvinile rags either aimed at eight-year-olds or the advertisers themselves. And don't forget the ones (like Game Informer) that are owned by retail chains. There always used to be at least one magazine aimed at an older audience, like VG&CE or Electronic Games. Now there's going to be a void again.

And, oh yes, forget about Virtua Fighter being seriously mentioned in the prozines again; to say nothing about making a cover.

 

<laughs> gamespot quality site <smirk smirk laugh>