So, I was checking various news sites last night and stumbled across this little tidbit at Anime News Network.

Anime Insider Ends Publication After Eight Years

Now, on the substance of it, the news doesn’t really affect me in the slightest. I did pick up the magazine way back when it debuted– a J. Scott Campbell drawing of Gundam adorned the cover and that was enough to pull me in– and I probably picked up the mag for the next year or two, which was easy when it was quarterly and not too burdensome when it switched to monthly. But, the honest truth is, I only picked it up because it was stocked at the supermarket. Unlike, say, Animerica. I can remember the publication driving me nuts because it was so error ridden. Not nitpicky, “OMG! They said Goku’s power level was 502 when it was actually 502.5!!!!” crazed uber-fan stuff, but improper grammar (enough to make me notice, and I’m reasonably forgiving about that sort of thing) combined with sloppy reporting. I’ve unfortunately blocked the most grievous offense from my mind, although I’m sure I could find it if I dug out the first issue. I even contemplated scolding them, then promptly forgot. 😉 Nevertheless, the basic point is that Anime Insider was something I had a history with and it’s ending.

This comes hot on the heels of Electronic Gaming Monthly getting pulled in January, still with an issue already in the can. Now, EGM was a publication I’d had an even longer history with and is one whose ending did bother me, because it was one of the few magazines I still regularly read. Yeah, most of the news contained therein I knew about thanks to game sites, but that was never the point for me. A tangible record of reviews I could reference when I finally got around to the games was a constant purpose it served for me, getting their take on gaming phenomenon was another (right before they got pulled they had a really nice feature on how PC gaming has invaded consoles and influenced everything from BioShock to GTA4 to Fallout 3… the thing was a fascinating read). More importantly, though, these magazines were like monthly time capsules. I still have issues from 1997, right when Star Fox 64 was released and flipping through it is a snapshot of what A) the gaming industry was like back then and B) what my interests were like back then. Yeah, I’m me and I can probably remember that well enough, but growing up brings wisdom and context and suddenly that ad I skipped over twelve years ago takes on a whole new significance. With EGM gone, so are the time capsules. I’ve tried looking for a replacement magazine, but the crux of the matter is that EGM was a comfy fit. I knew the sections, I knew the personalities, I knew what to expect and it was tied to my past. Anything else isn’t.

The only magazines I still actually pick up now are Nintendo Power (don’t leave me, NP!) and Star Wars Insider, but I’m not sure how long either of them are for the world the way everything else is dropping like flies. This economy is hitting printing rather hard.

The real downer is that it’s not just magazines that are shutting down on me. We’ve even got long running sites like wotmania closing down (for any Wheel of Time fans out there). Heck, even Colmes left Hannity to his own devices.

Things changing is a fact of life, it shows the passage of time, but damned if I don’t wish a few more things (at least) could stay the same.