CGM / Massive Magazine Closure

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Videos, interviews and commentary with the people who make the industry great; our coverage of the GDC 2007 conference continues to grow.

TenTonHammer.com's GDC 2007 Coverage Portal

Your tried and true main site editor, Cody “Micajah” Bye, is typing this beast up again. Jeff “Ethec” Woleslagle is handling all the lovely code…because he’s better at it than I am. Boomjack is off being a true, right, and good Canadian, coaching the local kiddies in a hockey tournament.

Yesterday, Gamasutra and The Escapist both reported on the demise of Computer Games Magazine and Massive Magazine, which were both owned by TheGlobe.com. In short, it’s believed that these publications met their demise because of general drop in computer game related print magazines and a lawsuit that was filed against TheGlobe.com by MySpace. The suit in question was filed against TheGlobe by MySpace because of thousands of apparent spam messages that TheGlobe sent to MySpace users. With CGM and Massive both struggling to pull their weight, TheGlobe.com pulled the plug and left numerous writers and editors without jobs.

Anytime a game journalist loses their job because of an injustice, there should be an outcry, but in this case I find that the closure of these particular magazines cuts close to heart. With the lawsuit, the developers at TheGlobe.com decided to cut their losses and drop two of their most intriguing titles. It wasn’t even the faults of those journalists that were fired! They were the folks that received the punishment deserved for executives that made the poor decisions at their parent company.

But this brings up another point: Why weren’t the magazines selling in the first place? Is PC gaming actually on the decline?

The answer is a resolute: No. PC gaming, according to PC Gamer, is on the rise for the first time in a few years. Two and a half million copies of World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade were sold in a month. PC gaming in general is actually on the rise with titles like The Sims 2 and World of Warcraft leading the PC gaming surge.

On top of that, TheGlobe.com didn’t even give the magazines a chance to thrive under Microsoft’s new “Games for Windows” campaign. I expect with more publicity and play time being given to computer games, more and more people will be attracted to computer gaming rather than simple console titles. Microsoft is eager to integrate their 360 with PCs and provide an experience for both console and PC gamers.

However, this also raises warning calls in my brain. My mind thinks: Am I part of a dying industry? Are computer games on the decline, along with MMOs? Should I continue to write about player vs. player battles, online conspiracies, and the deification of certain illustrious developers?
But then, my mind snaps out of this funk and listens to reason. Among computer games, MMOs (and RTSes) have continued to remain a steadfast part of every computer gamers horde of games. Companies like Valve, Sony Online Entertainment, id Software, and others will continue to produce games that require intellectually stimulating discussion and critiques. This is my place, and I should enjoy it while I’m here.

If not for the idiocy of their parent company, I expect Computer Games Magazine and Massive Magazine would have continued down their path, examining the minutiae of computer games and MMOs alike. Instead, their careers got cut short because of a stupid viral spam campaign.

Rest in peace, CGM and Massive. You’ll be missed.

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Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com

- Cody "Micajah" Bye

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