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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.)
...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.
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.
The technology is coming soon. E-ink is a perfect solution once production costs drop. It uses no backlight, looks like it's on paper and only uses electricity when it needs to change the text. As long as the text is static, no power is consumed. I believe Sony actually presented something at CES just recently. Here it is, the Sony Reader. Unfortunately, it's still a little bulky, about the size of a small paperback.