GamePro Ends Magazine Run

It's over. After 22 years, one of the first magazines dedicated to reporting on a young and rapidly growing console market has finally decided to call it quits. According to a report by IndustryGamers, November's print issue will be GamePro's last and the website will close on December 5th.

GamePro joins Computer Gaming World as another casualty of a medium under pressure from the digital space. CGW, later known as Games for Windows in 2006, covered the PC gaming industry for over 27 years before shutting down in 2008.

As a kid, GamePro was as good a reason as any to hit up a place like Waldenbooks for the latest gaming gossip. It was different, entertaining, and like many other magazines at the time, trying to find its own voice in an industry where everything was still up for grabs and Vic Tokai had one man on their customer service line.

Its pages reflected the childish excitement of the time - rough, colorful, and illuminated with plenty of art that clearly wasn't on any of the game boxes. It even had its own comic strip and a spandex hero who showed up at CES before there was an E3.

And this was all before the 'net became the monster it is today. GamePro, EGM, Gamer's Republic, and a score of others were only the channels in those heady days through which audiences could tune into whether Zelda was going to have another sequel, see who would stoke the 16-bit fires with more trash talking hardware ads, or share tips and cheat codes.

Unfortunately, changing market conditions in the face of an ever-growing digital world have made it difficult for several print outlets to sustain themselves, especially in recent years.

IndustryGamers reports that GamePro's editorial team will be folded into PC World and that GamePro's website will eventually point visitors to PC World's instead. There is no word yet as to what options will be given to the rest of the staff, or if there will even be positions for them in PC World going forward.

Whatever the case might be, I wish them all the best in landing on their feet along with a sad farewell to another gaming legend. Thanks for many years of thumb blistering memories and excitement.