A sad day for gaming fans

I knew it was bound to happen, but one is never really prepared when a favourite magazine has been discontinued:

INQUEST GAMER MAGAZINE DISCONTINUED
InQuest Gamer publication discontinued as of September 2007

Posted August 23, 2007 2:10 PM

From Wizard Entertainment:

After many years of producing InQuest Gamer magazine, we have decided to discontinue its publication effective September, 2007. We will continue to support gaming in our industry leading magazines, online and at our conventions. We thank our dedicated staff for all their hard work, as well as our partners and readership for their loyal support. - Fred Pierce President, COO Wizard Entertainment

I've loved Inquest magazine ever since I purchased my first copy all those years ago in Singapore. I actually love all the publications that Wizard Entertainment puts out and there used to be a time where I'd regularly purchase monthly copies of Wizard, Inquest, Toyfare and Anime Insider.

The only magazines I purchase from the Wizard Entertainment line regularly nowadays are Wizard and other Wizard-related magazines like Wizard's Hollywood Mega Movie Special, Twisted Foyfare Theatre and the like. Anime Insider just didn't do it for me anymore after a while (since it was dedicated to the anime and manga that was showing and popular in America...which could have been OLD properties that I'd watched many years ago!) and apart from the Twisted Toyfare Theatre and Big Shots sections in Toyfare, there really was no reason for me to purchase that magazine either.

Inquest was the other magazine I'd look forward to getting the most each month. Even though, over the last couple of years, starting with the Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! revolution, Inquest had started to branch out into coverage of other CCGs (collectible card games) and focused less on Magic: The Gathering, I still purchased my monthly copy.

It was only after I came to Australia then was I unable to purchase Inquest monthly. For some reason, the comic shops here don't stock Inquest. And even the gaming and hobby shops didn't have a regular supply of Inquest...they had Scrye and other price guides/magazines, but no Inquest! Copies were so scarce that I actually asked Card Mania in the Geelong CBD to order Inquest magazines for me. And so I got that for about five months in a row...and then all of a sudden, for no reason whatsoever, someone decided to stop my standing order without telling me.

Month after month I'd go back and ask for the new issue of Inquest but there was nothing there for me. So I started looking elsewhere, notably Mind Games in Melbourne. But even Inquest was scarce there...when I was able to pick it up, I was LUCKY that they had them on the racks because they didn't order too many copies in. I asked about a standing order for Inquest but decided not to get it after all, since there was no telling how often I'd travel to Melbourne.

And now, Inquest is about to close up shop. While the Magic articles haven't been crash hot over the last couple of years, I've ALWAYS enjoyed reading the magazine anyway, because of that irreverant brand of Wizard Entertaniment humour.

R.I.P Inquest. You will be sadly and forever missed.