Publisher blames console transition for poor mag sales
by Blake Snow 
{ Feb 16th 2007 at 1:45PM }
Future Publishing executive James Ashton blamed the console transition and growth of mainstream video game coverage for poor magazine sales today. Said Ashton in speaking with Games Industry, "[Transitions] always depress the magazine market... Game magazines sell to the most committed members of the gaming community, and with PlayStation in a transition, the numbers are what the numbers are." But overall game mag sales continue to decline, so let's just state the obvious; print doesn't lend itself well to ephemeral news anymore. Focus on "compelling and rich" editorials, and the medium will still hold a seminal place in the industry. But I can't guarantee the discontinuance of a waning audience.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Martin @ Feb 16th 2007 2:01PM
The internet is the cause of waning magazine interest (that and free reading at Barnes and Nobel). I only get videogame magazine subscriptions if they are offered for free. I get all my gaming news online much faster!
Steve @ Feb 16th 2007 2:02PM
What? Hardware transitions are going to increase demand for video game information, not hurt it! Growing up, the most interesting part of Nintendo Power was always the info on the next generation console. Magazines are in a decline because the internet distributes the information faster and cheaper than magazines. It's funny to read announcements in Nintendo Power that were announced online 6 weeks earlier.
John @ Feb 16th 2007 6:06PM
lol i used to buy the playstation magazines, but then i ot an xbox 360. and u can get the 360 demos of xbox live and news of the net. i feel no need for a magazine lol. :)
well that and free reading in easons lmao :)
JJC @ Feb 16th 2007 2:15PM
maybe its because people would rather read joystiq? its free and you can fight and bitch at people in forums! its wonderful entertainment at work... (yawn) so boring here...
Oobgarm @ Feb 16th 2007 2:16PM
Game Informer is the last of the mags that's any good. At least they have some meaty 'exclusives', even if things leak onto the net a bit early.
But even a few exclusive articles sprinkled throughout a year won't keep a mag afloat.
sheppy @ Feb 16th 2007 2:18PM
I prefer Play magazine but that's just because, as an artist, I appreciate the high quality paper, layout, and professional ability to treat their userbase as something other than moronic fanboys.
J.W. @ Feb 16th 2007 2:21PM
When I look at that article, I see that many of the numbers they show are actually in defense of magazine sales. You can easily look at the decline in numbers in the fact that some of the older publications (focusing primarilly on the Xbox and PS2) have been shut down in favor of allocating resources towards the newer PS3 and 360 mags. Also note that multi-platform publications are steady or increasing.
cyberfrog @ Feb 16th 2007 2:36PM
The biggest reason, in my opinion, that game mags do not do as well is exclusive content. There is very little in a game mag that you can't find on the internet and usually sooner as well.
Additionally, game mags have become slimmer over the years, providing less content and the content itself has become fairly bland.
Game mags need to produce things that gamers want to have in their hands, like game maps or simple movelists.
Additionally, i would be more likely to by a gamemag if the content improved (better reviewers who actually had an opinion that seem educated, exlusive interviews, etc).
reppy @ Feb 16th 2007 2:34PM
Hint: get exclusive demos and videos packaged on DVD-ROMs with your magazine.
Unit @ Feb 16th 2007 2:35PM
one word: internet. one thing your starting to see alot is info that has "first dibs" in a magazine always manages to hit the net in some scanned or written form. Someone gets the mag before street date, and then posts or scans it to the net and before you know it, it's all over the forums and spots like joystiq. So that kills the need for most to go out and buy the magazine.
H880 @ Feb 16th 2007 2:40PM
The first comment hit the nail on the head. The internet has changed everything. You can get news online quicker and cheaper than from a magazine. And because of blogging, you can instantly offer feedback or review the comments of others.
Also, advertisers are relying on the internet more. We're seeing a decline in ad pages in magazines, which means smaller magazines (less content), which means they're likely less appealing to buyers.
I think magazines will always be around in some form or another, but I think print magazines especially will experience a consolidation and overall decline, with only the most popular publications thriving.
peshue @ Feb 16th 2007 2:53PM
maybe because for the most part you can get news of the same quality (rather low) much faster and for free online. Maybe if they hired people that could write and had something interesting to asy people would buy them. PC mags are pretty good for that sort of thing still.
Geo @ Feb 16th 2007 3:17PM
I just got a game informer sub for free. It has news in it that I knew weeks ago, thanks to blogs like this one.
J.Goodwin @ Feb 16th 2007 4:25PM
If overall sales are down, that may be because one of the magazines with the highest newsstand sales (OPM) got shut down when Sony declined to extend their official status.
Frankie @ Feb 16th 2007 3:27PM
Game Informer is owned and run by GameStop/EB. At least that's what I keep reading online at other other forums.
grable @ Feb 16th 2007 3:34PM
What? they'r NOT blaming the internet?!?
Rod Oracheski @ Feb 16th 2007 3:56PM
@ sheppy - I agree Play has a great layout, but the game reviews can really be lacking. They're still gushing about Sonic on the 360, for example - and that game is just flat out terrible.
Norm @ Feb 16th 2007 5:11PM
EB/gamestop/rhino made me hate game informer magazine.
"Did you know it was rated as the best game magazine in the country?"
"By whom?"
"Experts"
"I see."
"so just give me a second to sign you up. is this your correct address?"
NO, ALREADY HAVE SUBSCRIPTION, THANKYOUVERYMUCH.
Eric @ Feb 16th 2007 5:24PM
Or it could just be that they all suck? Game Informer has become an ad for whatever Gamestop wants to sell. EGM is horrible. Nintendo Power is masturbation. OXM is probably the best of the lot, and it is not very good. At all. Not to mention the demo disc has been rendered pointless. Bring back Next Gen (the first one), and put the lot of current mags where they belong: in the trash.
Dansk @ Feb 16th 2007 6:41PM
Well, its obviously because of the inter---wait!! Did anyone say this already?
Jeff @ Feb 16th 2007 5:44PM
The problem is most game magazines are little more than buyers' guides. The internet can do that a lot better, because that's all about the speed of the marketplace.
What magazines need to do if they want to stay relevant is honestly what mags like EGM, Gamer's Republic and Next Generation *used* to do, which is in-depth articles and editorials. The internet is *terrible* at that; magazines excel at it, but video game magazines haven't figured this out yet. When their revenue started declining, this was the first area that they cut - not realizing that it was the one area that they truly could claim superiority in over any web site.
Look at all the most successful magazines in the world, including news mags. Nobody reads Time Magazine because it brings them the news quickly and succinctly - they read it because it gives them insight and context that a TV channel or web site can't. The benefit of having a week or a month to research and develop a story *should* be a benefit to a magazine, not a detriment.
It's tricky to get people to subscribe to a video game mag on the basis of in-depth articles - they've been conditioned to lower their expectations of video game journalism (which doesn't really even exist anymore - writing a capsule review or recounting a news blurb is not journalism). But that's the only way I can see any game magazine staying alive in the long term. They need to focus on what their media is best at doing.
WedgeTalon @ Feb 16th 2007 6:37PM
Bring back PC Accellerator and I will snatch it up in an instance. PCXL was awesome.
Cutty @ Feb 16th 2007 6:55PM
Only a fool would say that magazines are a better source of gaming news than the Internet, but I still prefer reading something that is physically in my hands rather than off a screen. I read GamesTM every month and find it to be of the highest quality, especially where features and reviews are concerned. You can't features like these on the Internet.
tryton @ Feb 16th 2007 7:32PM
Don't forget, its not to comfy to use your laptop when your taking a shit :)
GUIGUI @ Feb 16th 2007 7:44PM
I would like to had my stone, here. Some may say I am exaggerating, but the cause may be Future himself. several year ago, almost all the French publication in gaming magazine were bought by Future. When only one publisher hold 85% share in an information branch, this is never good. Before the buying, everything wasn't perfect in the French publication, but somehow, they were still holding good.
But after Future passed, the quality of the magazines had a catastrophic fall. Internet may have its part of responsibility in the video game magazine crisis, but I can assure you that Future is the main responsible.
A simple example wold be about the French magazine "Joystick" (no, not that site, notice the letters differences). There was one site on internet where the authors and the chief redactor could interact with the readers. It helped allot, it was really convivial, questions where answered, and despite some word fight, it was always good to be able to give his direct opinion. Well, Future didn't allowed that. It required that the authors stop talking about their job an shutted down the part dedicated to the magazine.
It's just one example, but it's one of the stupid decision that's making the video game press less and less appealing (that and the terrible prize increase they applied to all the magazine, way to go).
Poisoned Al @ Feb 16th 2007 8:29PM
There are some pros and cons of print. Independent mags from the like of Future have far less tainted news then that of internet rumour mills and in store advertisement rags. Also the cover disc bypasses the need to download tones of crap and lets you play demos you wouldn't normally take the time to get off the net and read reviews of games you never heard of. Internet sites seem to bypass smaller titles. Also the writing is a lot better too in general. But yeah, it's PAINFULLY old news and you have to pay for it, but it's a lot harder to read the internet while on the loo!
Dtrub @ Feb 17th 2007 12:03AM
Magazines was good for a couple of things.... 1) They brought information about the latest and upcoming games. With Joystiq, that's obsolete. 2) Game Demo's... thanks to Xbox Marketplace, we no longer need to go that route either.
JBDragon @ Feb 17th 2007 12:40AM
I still have to get some Magazines. I need something to read while I'm taking a sh*t. Dragging my PC into the bathroom isn't practical. I wouldn't want to use a bulky laptop either. Read a couple articles, every time you use the bathroom and the Mag lasts for a few days. Books on the other hand just don't work well for me in there. No good place to just stop. It's just to long. Not good Restroom Material. Of course Game Mags aren't the only good thing to read/see while your waiting there.
GhaleonQ @ Feb 17th 2007 12:21PM
Ugh. Get magazines, people.