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Print Gaming Magazines Doomed?
Joystiq has a pair of interesting posts up looking at the future of print gaming publications. Besides positing on the future of the print media, they discuss subscription and reach rates for some of the major U.S. magazines. From that piece: "Game Informer really is several times larger than their nearest competitor. How did they manage that? And why the heck is the Official U.S. Playstation Magazine passed around so much than all the other publications?" I wonder what the differences are between here and abroad? In the UK, for example, there are a large number of publications, all of which seem to have avid readerships. (Though, with magazines like Edge and PC Gamer UK, it's hard not to see why.)
That may be true, but print(and other media) will still stay around as long as the consumption of digial media is tied to inconvenient technology. Reading a book, magazine or newspaper is far more pleasent to many, rather than looking at the same text on a computer, pda, etc. It's nice being able to hold something in your hand and take it anywhere without batteries or cords. Outmoded idea? maybe, but it's the truth.
...go away forever, unlikely.
I'll be the first to say "you cant take it to the bathroom". But, as a subscriber to PC Gamer, I like the magazine. I have a job. I own a house. I do not have time to troll the internet looking at every review site under the sun. Boom, once a month I get a magazine, full of pretty pictures and (to me) well written articles that are both humorous and honest.
I also get Rolling Stone, yet I don't see articles talking about how that is going out of print anytime soon. (and it better not, I shelled out $50 bucks a few years ago to become a subscriber for life!)
I know Nintendo Power is a special case, but I quit my NP subscription when I was younger when they introduced advertisements. I've toyed with the idea of subscribing again, but the thought of buying a book of ads divided up by the odd game review doesn't really grab me, you know? On the internet, at least, I have the power to block ads.
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
If nothing else, news sources are having to compete to keep readers, but just like audio books haven't destroyed the book market, I don't see people clamoring for the newest Robert Jordan novel in electronic form.
I wouldn't blame schools- schools don't teach children to use the computer to read things, they teach them to use them for word processing, etc.- and print copies. Libraries, with limited computers in most schools, encourage students to print material for later reference (and to open up workstations). Computers are excellent for interactive things, but if I'm reading a 200 page treatise on something, I'd rather have a paper copy I can mark up, take with me on the bus, or read in bed without needing a notebook.
I feel like the slashdot writers watch Invader Zim because at least one article a week has to do with something being "doomed... DOOMED.... DOOOOOOMED!!!!!". This is of course followed by another article explaining why the first article was wrong. People should just stop reading and replying to articles with the word "Doom" in the title.
Sample of games rags from www.abc.org.uk
Official Playstation 2 (Future Publishing Ltd) 133,242
Official UK Xbox Magazine (Future Publishing Ltd) 85,072
Games Master (Future Publishing Ltd) 55,388
PC Gamer (Future Publishing Ltd) 48,326
Nintendo Official Magazine (EMAP Active Limited) 37,760
Edge (Future Publishing Ltd) 31,078
Games TM (Highbury-Entertainment Ltd) 20,117
First off, print media will never go away. Certainly, I foresee a reduction in the amount of publications but for the most part, the price, ease and legacy of paper media is far too appealing.
However, for gaming magazines, I have a feeling that most of their content will move to an online medium. Gaming in general implies electronic devices (not including board games). Since the audience is already familiar with technology, moving magazines to an electronic medium makes sense. I forsee that online strategy guides with images and links will be the "soup du jour". Of course all this exists now but will be more prevalent in the future. It's been a while since I have read a gaming magazine and to be honest, the reason I quit was lack of actual depth within the article. Certainly, I don't expect much from a game review or news on the latest hardware but sometimes I want something a little more. The writing in these magazines is severely lacking.
However, just recently, I did find one online magazine that actually had some depth and the writers some talent, The Escapist. Hopefully this is an example of what's to come when the majority of the magazines move online. Something that is not just reviews but actual journalism as well.
Adjust the monitor's brightness and contrast so that it is comfortable to you. Also font size and selection can be an issue. I prefer the room to be dark when looking at the monitor, other's preferences may vary. Also, refresh rate. The current refresh rate of your monitor may be playing havoc with your neural net. Try faster or slower refresh rates.
About schools. They don't seem to publish much in the way of disclosing what they teach children, which is a real pity. Then there's the whole grade system. You can graduate wanting to take a Calculus class, which public schools teach, but you can't because, well you've graduated.
I picked up Gamepro from the very first issue it ever printed and have been a subscriber ever since. Nowadays it is simply more out of habit and my family wanting to continue the tradition my grandmother started than my strong desire to read it. The problem with that magazine in particular was that the very strong minds in the writing and editorial staff were promoted or poached away to places that offered higher salaries/position. I can understand the lure of more money and escaping more of the "hectic deadline" kind of life, but it really hurt the magazine. The combination of newer people and an increased level of "make money with adds" rather than "provide substance to readers" culture brought the quality of the magazine down. They seemed much more interested in competing with other rags that wanted to play off the pop culture fads of the day,(I really REALLY don't care what games the tards in Linkin Park or from some sports team play), than providing me with a source of new info on the games/developments I was interested in. It is so bad today that any source of real news, like a new GTA or the Revolution controller, get full layouts as if it was written by that company's marketing dept, and maybe it is. Much of the genuine critiquing has gone by the wayside. Something has to be a HUGE pile of shit to get negative press.
I want to note one exception very quickly. The Buyers Beware section was an enourmously wonderful addition and incredibly inciteful into gaming bugs. it even does follow up for patches/fixes!
I am not saying that the kind of magazine I used to read does not exist. I am only stating that the general trend towards serving the industry instead of the consumer has plagued many of the major ones.
I am and always will be a stereotype, because who in their right mind prefers mono?
Not at all suprised that the UK gaming magazines still have a large and avid readership. When I was a kid, I would pass over US-pressed pap like Vidiot and Electronic Games magazine and get the local WH Smith to import the UK magazines Zzap!64, C+VG and such, the quality and editorial content is about 100% better, funnier and more diverse. The same exists today, in mags like Edge. If the US paper gaming mag industry wants to live, they need more smart writing and lower price tags, and less bulging DVDs of demos no one cares about or they would have downloaded them already.
Devil bunnies! I snort the nose! Lucifer! Banana! Banana!
I may be one of the select few left in the world, but I prefer reading a good magazine over a good online article. Printed mediums are much lighter on the eyes, and the pages are not attacking the reader. Sure there are many ads in magazines, but rarely do printed ads flash incessantly or jump from corner to corner or scroll down until you hit the x in the corner.
However, I have completely stopped reading gaming magazines. It's not that they've stopped being useful. Oh wait, that's exactly it. Gaming magazines completely suck now, not because a physical form is more annoying than a flock of bits. I rather enjoy having a physical copy. No, it's the fact that nobody can write good articles, nobody can format pages well, and nobody can give me my $30 worth per year.
Take PCGamer. At one point (back in 1999), each issue was 200+ pages long (sometimes up to 300). The main articles generally featured some new information. Many of the writers shared a similar viewpoint for games, on which rule and which suck. Each issue had about 15 reviews, each receiving at least a page describing many areas of the game in great depth. Though usually serious, some excruciatingly bad games (Extreme Paintbrawl for example) had incredibly humorous reviews. And though the columns were relatively stale, the rest of the magazine provided much information and entertainment. I thoroughly looked forward to every issue.
After two years, the writing got pretty stale. Part of the reason was that the original team left and a former competitor "PC Accelerator" merged in, bringing some of the most audacious people. Many new policies were enacted, such as reviewing expansion packs (understandable), shrinking some reviews to half page (getting annoying), and reducing pages by every issue (what the hell?). Though the lack of money is the biggest reason why I did not renew again, I am rather glad now that I look back.
Lately, I've tried picking up another copy of PCGamer. Some poor (metaphorically... he's quite rich) friend actually thinks it's rather good so I flipped through. Complete crap. Well, it has some good stuff. 30 reviews! Oh wait, about 20 of them are on 5 pages. There's only about 50 pages of ads... in the 100 page magazine.
It's not just PCGamer though. I've had Computer Gaming World temporarily, and it was a crock of shit. Game Informer... well, let's just say that my friend and I made fun of every issue for about two hours at this other guy's house.
There was a time I trusted magazines. Now, I find myself detesting every one. Now I'm not saying that I find online columns fun to read (most of them are just stupid... take a look at the Sin and Punishment award, but do I really have to spend $30 a year just to have an incessant swearing spree per month?