A Brief Note About the Demise of Game Hihyou Magazine and Ads

Look, I can understand not wanting to run ads for video games for reasons of avoiding a conflict of interest. I can also understand not wanting to run ads because you have limited control over the content in the ad, and thus have to deal with ads that are quite possibly NSFW. Several times such ads got run on EGM, and the illusion of a conflict of interest between Eidos and GameSpot lead to the storm of rumors that became the Gerstmann-Gate controversy (not going into detail about what . So, I can totally see why a magazine would be reluctant about running ads for video games in a video game magazine. However, you have to get revenue somewhere. Subscriptions are a good way to get that revenue, but it's not the only way - ads, however, are a good alternative method of getting that revenue. Hell, even Whiskey Media has adopted as, after they found a way of putting ads on the site that wasn't too obnoxious, and won't jeopardize editorial content.
  However, if you don't want to feel like you're compromising your editorial integrity by bowing to sponsors who advertise in the field you cover - then don't approach companies in that field for sponsors. Take Wired Magazine. While technology companies do advertise in Wired, a lot of their advertisers are in alternate fields - alcohol and spirits, expensive watches, cars, etc. If you're magazine is meant for a group with disposable income, such as gamers (or geeks in general, to be frank), then approach some of those sponsors as well. Get ads for books, movies, music, whatever - stuff unrelated to video games, but still appealing to your target market, before you approach game publishers.  
 
Or, you know, you could not jeopardize your journalistic integrity in the first place and if game publishers get annoyed because you gave their game a 75 instead of an 80, you can tell them what to go do with themselves. That's what EGM did, and I'd say it worked out pretty well for them. I realize that the writer of the Hardcore Gaming 101 article was speaking for British Video Game magazines. Well, to be frank, maybe they need to grow a spine, keep the British End Up, display a stiff upper lip, among other cliches they should practice, and give Publishers with abusive PR people what for. If enough magazines did that, then the conduct of PR representatives for video game companies in Europe could actually change. 
You won't know until you try.