We have all already paid our respects to the late EGM, destroyed before it's 20th anniversary. There's a lot of people we can blame; the jerks who bought the magazine just to shut it down, the fools who sold it to begin with, the public for not buying enough copies, whatever you cry about as you hold your back issues of Electronic Gaming Monthly.

Don't take offense to that last statement, I'm crying too, if for nothing else than nostalgia reasons. But I'm not blaming any of those (well, maybe ugo a bit). I think everyone knows the real reason why EGM is going away.

The Internet.

Yes, that's right, this handy thing you're using now that doesn't cost money to print. With the ads that you don't have to skip over to get to articles. Hell, with the articles that are online without needing to wait for the next issue. The wonderful technology that gives you both professional write-ups as well as total amateurs.

Yes, the interwebs is a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the sense of being much cheaper for us and giving lots more people a chance to share their opinions. Not to mention reading review sites that give you a user-average is usually more helpful than a max of four paid reviewers. Unfortunately, the curse is the horrible truth that caused EGM to be a victim. Just too many people have this handy thing called the internet.

EGM isn't the only magazine that's dying this year. There's lots of them, just we don't care about them as much. Fashion magazines, hunting, car, I recall just recently reading an article that listed at least two dozen magazines that are being shut down due to lack of interest and profits. And our generation is to blame. Not that it's completely a horrible thing, as technology evolves so does the media with it. But if things keep progressing like this, I have to wonder, how long until print (at least in the form of magazines) dies completely?

Books are safe, electronic reading won't catch on in a huge way anytime soon. Comic books are already being downloaded the same day they come out, but sales seem to still do pretty strongly thanks to collectors, bathroom readers, and loyal comic fans that want to support what they like. But magazines? Why SHOULD they stay around? Like it's already been said, by the time you get your issue in the mail it's all old news. Sure the editorials are neat, but in the world of blogs, they're not unique. What is going to have to happen to get people to still like paper-news?

So the question is who's next? Will GameInformer's higher ups finally realize how useless it is? Will GamePro become online only? Will OPM update itself via PSOnline? I'm worried for nostalgia reasons, plus I personally like print. There's something special about getting your issue in the mail as opposed to just clicking a link. What do you guys think?