Nowadays, with the influx of news and information readily available at the click of a mouse or swipe of a finger, GamePro magazine might be hammering another nail into the coffin of video game print media. Starting on November 8, 2011, the 20-plus year monthly magazine will relaunch as a quarterly publication. This also includes a shift to a more “coffee style” format with the goal to provide readers with more enriching content that can't be found online. GamePro revealed to IndustryGamers that the magazine will have a higher production value that's, “a visually stunning, tactile experience and rich, engaging editorial.” It'll also include more than 50 pages of editorials and increase the actual size of the magazine by 15 percent. The company also plans on positioning itself as gamer's “ultimate buyer's guide”, due to its availability during peak video game retail months of March, June, September and November.
GamePro has become one of the video game industry's longest standing and respected publications in the industry despite beginning its life in a Redwood City, CA garage in 1989. Over the years, it witnessed the rise of Mario, the fall of the Sega Dreamcast and the transition of cartridge games to disc. Regardless of the ever changing world of technology and video games, one could always look forward to sneaking off to the newsstand or awaiting their next monthly subscription to arrive in the mail to take in the magazine in all its glossy glory.
“We all know the print landscape has changed over the last several years and gamers in particular are reading print in a very different way,” said Marci Yamaguchi Hughes, President of GamePro Magazine. “We’re proud of the passionate community and loyal audience we’ve built on GamePro.com who seek the latest news and information. With our move to a quarterly publication, enthusiasts will have a go-to resource for the best games to purchase during the heaviest buying periods of the year.”
Eletronic Gaming Monthly magazine also went through a business change not too dissimilar to GamePro when it ceased publication in January 2009 after UGO purchased 1UP from Ziff Davis. To all intents and purposes, many believed that this was a sign of print media's death, but then got a second chance when its ownership changed, supported by an online component, EGMi.
GamePro's new magazine will sell at $9.99 a pop. Time will tell if whether or not this new change will preserve its print publication or if it's simply the beginning of the end.
