This post has not been edited by the GamesBeat staff. Opinions by GamesBeat community writers do not necessarily reflect those of the staff.
As many of you are probably already aware, EGM recently experienced a reboot in which an entirely new staff unrelated to the mag's former Ziff Davis crew has assumed the reigns. The newly assembled group aims to rely less on advertisement and circulation numbers for revenue, and instead, on higher prices and higher subscription rates. And in doing so, their updated business model seems to have learned a thing or two from Edge, one of the most successful video game magazines hailing from the UK.
One of the reasons magazines like Edge are still around is because of their dedicated fanbase, and the higher price they're willing to pay for a higher quality, more substantial issue each month.
While EGM will employ similar tactics, they also plan to incent potential subscribers with a code found in the center of each issue that allows access to EGMi. (How they know whether user A simply ripped out the card at the newsstand is another topic for another day.) EGMi is the online version of EGM that incorporates a few key articles that the mag featured, along with some stellar video content courtesy of the guys formerly of the video game podcast, Co-op.
To "enhance" reader experience with the magazine, EGMi throws in animations and music to accompany the otherwise stale articles originally slated for print. The online magazine is released weekly, and makes evident how aware the new editorial staff are as to what made reading EGM so special.
EGM's fresh, new approach to making magazines and unusual online integration are welcome innovations in this age of increasingly disappointing magazine "features" dedicated to Xbox 360 avatar clothing options, and progressively lamer and lamer anecdotes, which make for some of the most boring reading material. For which readers likely question the credibility, freedom, and professionalism [almost too] generously allotted to these "writers" of a magazine that will go unnamed. (Cough… Cough… OXM… Cough… Man, I can't stop… this coughing… Cough… But that's once again, another story for another day.)
I cannot understate enough how much I hope EGM, with their new aggressive business model, succeed in this age dominated by internet-bound knee-jerk reactions, and "breaking" news stories that in the end, are so inconsequential, no one truly cares to use a keyboard and mouse to aimlessly browse for this month's content, where they could instead have it all in the palm of their hands in one neat, high-quality package, called EGM.
So I say, Godspeed, EGM!