Official PlayStation Magazine Discontinued 51
Citing the advent of downloadable game demos and an inability for the magazine to 'fit into our integrated media network or afford us digital media opportunities', Ziff Davis' Official PlayStation Magazine will be closed out in January of next year. From the Gamasutra article: "According to the firm, Sony Computer Entertainment America will remain a key content and marketing partner for Ziff Davis Game Group, which will cover SCEA's PlayStation 3 and first-party games extensively across all of its media outlets, including EGM, 1UP.com, and GameVideos.com. The Game Group editorial team will also 'work closely with SCEA in the development of digital content for the PlayStation Network, accessible only through the PS3.' Due to the long-term decline in the magazine advertising market, Ziff Davis has been gradually transitioning away from print for some time, aggressively building up 1UP.com as its central website portal." 1up is carrying a story with the official announcement and some low-key commentary. If you're interested in how much this had to do with subscription numbers, GameSetWatch has a run-down on subscribers for many of the large gaming rags.
Makes Sense (Score:2, Interesting)
Every single PS3 is going to have a webbrowser and access to a complete Sony network infrastructure for news, demos, online purchase of games, movie and music downloads.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
His posting history is highly pro-PS3, as you would expect, since he has a major vested interest in the success of PS3.
Re:Makes Sense (Score:4, Funny)
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PS3 is far from all there is, especially with the shortages.
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Must be that irresistable must-have online game... oh wait.....
Well duh? (Score:2)
I really don't think this is something they're trying to hide.
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I quit reading because the writing was so damn lousy. It had been going downhill for a long time, but the final straw was when the Katamari Damacy game review consisted of nothing but a list of
Paper vs plastic (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The price you can get for advertisements depends wholly on the number of people that can be expected to see the ad. If fewer people buy the magazine, fewer advertisers will put their money on it. Combine this with the fact that it's probably quite a bit cheaper per magazine to print a million than print 100 thousand. (I'm guessing at those numbers.)
It's not just
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"But Dang it Maw - writin' is hard! Can't I just say "I peed my pants" again in this thar review? How do you spell XTREEME again?"
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Also of note was that Game Informer and EGM were up MORE than the others were down. Game Informer was actually up more than the total subscription of some of those magazines.
I think the answer is indeed 'content.' Someone used to leave EGM here at work and I'd read it when otherwise occupied. They gene
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I don't subscribe to gaming magazines anymore, because I don't have that much time for games. But when I did, I was continually annoyed by OPM's descent into insulting their readership and trying to seem "edgy." I had been wondering when Sony was going to realize that that was bad for business.
Demos (Score:2)
I only ever bought official mags for the demos (Score:2)
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The age of game magazines is over (Score:3, Insightful)
No, the only reason for publishing a monthly game magazine now is to talk about news that says new: that is to talk about games as a medium, instead of hyping big upcoming game X. As gamers get more mature, there are more people who want to read New Yorker-style intelligent breakdowns of what gaming conventions mean and what the role of games is in society. Things like the Escapist and Gamers Quarter may seem too on the fringe right now to make much money, but the fact is that in the future, that kind of content is the only thing gamers will be willing to actually spend money on. Everything else we can just get for free*.
*With ads, of course. But at least no cover or subscription price.
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They're both magazines, but the USE of the magazine differs substantially. It's like saying 'Pickup trucks can do so much MORE than cars, why does anyone buy a car anymore?'
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Cuz we can't all have that wireless internets in our big rigs, city boy.
The market maturing (Score:2)
Probably the biggest complaint about gaming journalism is a lack of objectivity. Lots of it read like glorified adverti
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I subbed to GD mag for a year and didnt bother resubscribing, it's flimsy and not worth the money - their gamasutra website is far better than the print publication.
Editor In Chief's Response (Score:4, Funny)
Online Media vs Print Media (Score:1)
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I want to agree with this, but everytime I pick up a game magazine, I find something in there that I was not aware of before. Maybe it hits the web, but the developer isn't sending truckloads of cash to the web's gaming sites?? And I think XBox has demo disks more for the Original XBox owners than for 360 owners. Plus they can put video content on there so XBox owners can see what t
Price might have had a lot to do with it (Score:1)
Also a lot of gamers now own multiple systems, and would want reviews and news for all the new games.
I don't know about you all... (Score:1)
Actually... No (Score:1)
My source= 21101 [gamesindustry.biz]
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid
Meh (Score:2)
Re:I know what you mean... sort of (Score:3, Insightful)
Whereas every other video game magazine at the time tried to treat gamers as if they were pre-pubescent boys, NG spoke to readers as if they were intelligent adults, at least most of the time.
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You mean when Nintendo Power went color in 1987? (Score:2)
OPS magazine editor harshed on the playstation 3 (Score:2)
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=7344653&public UserId=5380375 [1up.com]
(This editorial lapse in judgement prob
Payback for editors not getting a PS3? (Score:2)
Dead tree mags are inferior anyway (Score:2)
At least with Diehard Gamefan you knew what was their bias -- they were also an import store, of course they'd praise some Japan-only stuff... too bad they were usually right, I still wonder who's the idiot at Sega who thought a masterpiece like Monster World IV w
Hmmm (Score:1)
Official Xbox Magazine is Next (Score:1)
Bandwith (Score:1)
All hails Blue-Ray! All hails online downloads! All hails my 8$ a gig extra! All hails that 240$ demo! hum.. yeah...
Not all gaming magazines are dead... (Score:1)