Magazines Disappearing Left and Right

It's been a rough year for the magazines I read. I suppose it's just a result of the digital age.

But in the last year, I've seen FHM (US version), Dragon, Dungeon, Inquest Gamer, and now Stuff magazine go the way of the dodo.

Granted, FHM and Stuff weren't huge losses, as they were eye-candy and ads very rarely interrupted by an interesting article. But the others will be missed.

Oh - and when my FHM subscription ended with more then a year left, they "generously" converted my subscription to  ESPN the Magazine. That was...useful? I think I've paged through one or two since I've been getting them. Just because I liked images of beautiful women and the occasional funny or interesting article, I must have been a sports guy too.

But back to the other three mags - Dungeon, Dragon and Inquest. Dragon was a general Dungeons and Dragons magazine. There was a bit of everything related to the game in it, and I looked forward to it each month. Dungeon, its sister publication, was targeted at those that ran D&D games. I didn't read this one cover-to-cover often, but was happy getting each in the mail, knowing that there might be something in there I would use in a game someday. Inquest Gamer, published by the folks that deliver Wizard (a mag dedicated to all things comic book) was a nice monthly view at the world of collectible games.

Those were my monthly doses of geek. They will be missed. Yes, both Dungeon and Dragon magazines will go online, but it's just not the same. I LIKE getting content on a printed page. It's easier to read, and frankly, more portable. There are strengths to online, but to me, at least, those do not out-weigh the joy of print.

That's all for now. I guess I have to go chase some darn kids off my lawn.