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Gaming Mag Circulation Numbers May Not Mean That Much 74

Posted by Zonk from the warning-business-terminology-ahead dept.
The regular Game Mag Weasling column at the blog GameSetWatch usually runs down the contents of publications that recently hit the newsstands. This week, blogger Kevin Gifford tackles the thorny subject of falling subscriptions as they apply to game magazines. He references a discussion of falling subscriptions in the magazine publishing industry at large, which notes that a metric just as important as real subscribers is the number of readers-per-copy. Re-reading among friends and the appearance of a magazine in a doctor's office is another important factor to consider in a magazine's success. "Game Informer's [readers-per-copy] audience is 'only' about 68% larger than EGM's, despite having over four times the paid circulation. If you put enough credence to the numbers, it means that GameStop is spending a lot of money printing, mailing, and distributing those two million-odd copies of GI each month, yet not being as efficient in attracting an audience with those printed copies as EGM and GamePro is."
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Gaming Mag Circulation Numbers May Not Mean That Much More

Gaming Mag Circulation Numbers May Not Mean That Much

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  • The fact is its almost pointless to subscribe (Score:5, Insightful)

    by webmaster404 ( 1148909 ) on Monday October 29, 2007 @06:42PM (#21163445)
    The fact is, its almost pointless to subscribe if you have a broadband internet connection. Most of the info each month is outdated by the time it hits your mailbox or the store. It doesn't help that in an effort to decrease cost, most of the time theres no demo games or "free gifts" to gain by subscribing. The internet has replaced the gaming mag, because of its near instant news source, source for cheats and hints and reviews.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by boyter ( 964910 )
      While true that the information in any Mag is out of date, it is still nice to read something thats not on a computer screen. Its also nice to lie on the couch or wander outside or take a crap while reading a mag.
      • I 3 my pda and laugh at your caveman paper.
        • I've never seen a PDA with a screen quality competitive with paper, I really haven't seen one that's comfortably sized for a lot of reading. About a 6" display would be good for reading a book. I think there's something to be said for a good quality passive display, i.e., one that doesn't have to generate its own light to be readable. ePaper is getting pretty good though it's not very common.
      • you need more fiber. maybe you should EAT the magazine.
      • As nice as print media is, it's usually not nice enough to compete with the free game news you can get on the internet.

        I never bought those magazines for the print articles. I got them for the cds full of games (9 out of ten would be worthless, and now I get better from the internet). Of all the print media to be surprised by this, gaming and tech media should be the last. Yeah, my local paper didn't see craigslist coming, but who is going to want a CD of crap?

        And that's why we see all the major tech com
    • Plus, on the internet "free gifts" (even if they aren't supposed to be free) and demos are readily available.
    • "The fact is, its almost pointless to subscribe if you have a broadband internet connection."

      In the internet age, magazines are pointless. I'd rather subscribe to a website and have them email weekly updates to my mailbox, or have a monthly or bi-weekly pdf / html email of what's going around the industry.

      Plus news sites like Digg, slashdot, and gamespot pretty make it all pointless. Because now you are a NEWS CHANNEL, similar to TV which is like CNN 24 round the clock news. This is why magazines should

    • The fact is, its almost pointless to subscribe if you have a broadband internet connection.
      I ride a bus to and from work, which gives me 20 plus 20 minutes of free time. I don't have cellular broadband, nor do I have any friends who do.
      • You don't need cellular broadband if you have something like an RSS reader that downloads the stories. Or wget, if you want to roll your own archive of a website. Anybody on /. ought to be able to cache up 20 minutes of stuff to read.

        (As a public transit user myself, I realize that during some times of day getting a laptop out isn't feasible. But when it is...)

  • I don't read these magazines (Score:4, Interesting)

    by moderatorrater ( 1095745 ) on Monday October 29, 2007 @06:48PM (#21163547)
    My GF has a subscription to GameInformer, we keep the magazine in the bathroom, and I still don't read it when I'm tackling a particularly long, boring shift on the throne. The writing is amateurish, too much advertising, and too little content. I do appreciate the ratings, but they only reinforce what i already thought about the game. Also, it's hard for a no-name game to get a high rating, even if it's great. I'm sure some people find the magazine helpful, but I sure as hell don't.
    • It used to be better about 5 years ago, when you couldn't buy a good rating from GI. And Reiner made it into every other videogame somehow.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Creepy ( 93888 )
        I seriously doubt you could buy a rating from GI or most other serious gaming magazine. Reiner is one of the editors, so he probably has to at least do a partial review of content and offer his opinion, but he probably doesn't get as in-depth as the reviewer. These guys spend a lot of time playing games, so I can see how independents have a hard time finding reviewer time.

        And no, I'm not saying that just because I know the other editor Andy (McNamara) from his band years. I've never subscribed to GI and
    • Just curious - what does she find interesting about the magazine? (I don't have a subscription to, or read any of the mags, nor do I look at gamer sites -- not skilled enough at any games whatsoever, you see)

      I used to work in advertising and am curious as to what people think is useful.

  • Multiple readers per copy?!?!? (Score:5, Funny)

    by danbert8 ( 1024253 ) on Monday October 29, 2007 @07:02PM (#21163709)
    Someone call the RIAA! They are losing profit! They have to charge a subscription fee for each eye that sees the paper!

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Gandling ( 899826 )
      Multiple readers per copy means little unless it turns into real subscribers at a later date. If people aren't buying then the publisher isn't making money.

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by aichpvee ( 631243 )
        Most of the money from game magazines comes in the form of advertising revenue, not subscription fees. They're women's magazines for teenage boys. I'm sure any serious publisher would much rather convince advertisers that each of their copies is read by four people (and thus worth 4*$ to advertise in) than quadruple their subscriber base, requiring them to push more dead trees and pay postage to mail them out.

  • I'll tell you why (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MBCook ( 132727 ) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Monday October 29, 2007 @07:12PM (#21163857) Homepage

    They're terrible

    I've been subscribing to gaming magazines for a very long time. One of the first 10 issues of Nintendo Power, i think. I've subscribed to NP, GamePro, GameInformer, Sega Magazine, Next Generation, Playstation Magazine, and others. My subscriptions are currently running out on my gaming magazines. In fact I'm letting all my magazines run out (except for MAKE and Forbes). I'll still get Game Informer (free with Game Stop card, which saves me a fair bit of money for the amount I trade in).

    Forbes is very high class, I read quite a bit of the articles in each issue. Same thing with MAKE. The video game magazines have all been "eh". They have been for a very, very long time. But they served a purpose: I could see things about new games. Screenshots, previews, etc. But now (and for years now) I've been able to get reviews online (IGN and Gamestop, just to name two). I can get screenshots and preview movies that way. I find out about things much earlier than the magazines do. That includes reviews and previews. I get more points of view from web sites, and the copy is just as good if not better much of the time (pro sites, not fanboy sites).

    I have TV (specifically X-Play, even if it's not what it once was) for reviews as well.

    I don't have any need for the game mags. Everything they do someone else does better, often faster, and for free now.

    There are a few little exceptions. Next Generation was fantastic. I still wish that magazine hadn't gone down. I remember them having great pieces on the 1st and 2nd generation of 3D systems, differences, how they approach things, etc. They had pieces about how games were developer (this went will, this became a big problem, etc... sort of like some of the stuff on Gamasutra). The Escapist is good, but I'm not interested in reading that much on my screen. If they were print, I'd subscribe.

    But I can get fanboy style "Here comes Mortal Kombat 8... looking good so far" stuff from dozens of sites, I don't need GamePro for that. The magazines generally don't have articles worth anything (just game reviews and preview puff pieces). They don't print criticism of games before they are out (where as some of the sites I read will post the "but we are deeply worried about X" stuff). There are some exceptions (Nintendo Power has had an occasionally interesting series of interviews with some interesting gaming people), but those are often available online anyway.

    Like many newspapers, they need to step it up if they want to survive. They no longer have a monopoly on the game preview channel... and they are finding they have to compete.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by deftcoder ( 1090261 )
      PCGamer (US version) was fucking AWESOME back in the day.

      I remember the issue that reviewed Half Life 1... it was over 400 pages long!

      I canceled my subscription once the page count dropped below 100 pages. It was a "read in half hour" thing instead of something you could come back to over and over during the next week.

      PCGamer was also the first place I saw CliffyB in a rabbit suit...
      • PCGamer (US version) was fucking AWESOME back in the day.

        Back in the day it was John Romero threatening to make you his bitch. These days... who cares?
    • I share the same sentiment of magazines in general. Most PC or computer magazines every month share a basic level of understanding. I'm not looking for a magazine from which to program (IANAP), but I would like something to broaden my knowledge. The problem is, many magazines have lost the idea of being informative and entertaining. Many simply present an opinion, reviews which are supported by its advertisers like MacWorld and PCWorld, or show you how to 20 ways to use Word effectively: 1) Copy and Paste f

    • Re:I'll tell you why (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Khuffie ( 818093 ) on Monday October 29, 2007 @11:28PM (#21166323) Homepage
      Try Edge Magazine. It is by far one of the best magazines I've read out there. There previews (which they put in a section called 'Hype', which I find appropriate) have the guts to be critical. They have at least 3 articles per issue on general gaming issues with good writing and analysis, a cool 'Time Extend' feature which re-reviews an older game, along with stuff like interviews and the like.

      • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Edge used to be really good. They gave Halo 3 10 out of 10 - that is not critical. In the same issue they gave Metroid Prime 3 7 out of 10, which is fair enough - but sorry Halo 3 aint a 10 out of 10 if MP3 is 7.

    • I loved PSM when they first came out because they had such a unique personality. They gave away tons of free stuff (I wish I still had my smiley-studded PSX) and with art style, writing, etc. they really tried to create something unique. That didn't last very long. By the time the PS2 came out, they only had one or two original writers, completely different layout and style, lost the extras, mostly lost the hand-drawn covers (I felt like crying when the first CGI Madden cover came out). It really coinci

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Deliveranc3 ( 629997 )
      I agree, what the hell is happening to the escapist? I would have bought a print subscription to the old look in a heartbeat... now it looks like every other crap filled site out there.

      Have great articles from the most passionate and respected game journalists, throw in a couple reviews... you don't need perfect polish you need emotion and perspective and the escapist had those! Now it's just another over-edited crapshoot. I miss the themed editions, if they'd managed to tie that into game releases instea

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by TheLink ( 130905 )
      Forbes high class? I don't get that impression from their website and web content though.

      A few of the magazines I bother reading: The Economist (ok they have a strong free market bias but their science section is often interesting), New Scientist is pretty decent.

      But I figure game magazines might only be useful for some exclusive bundled freebies. I've scanned through some and seems most reviews are written more for the game maker's benefit than the game buyer's benefit. OK some reviews are for the writer t

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by MBCook ( 132727 )

        I'm not going to claim Forbes is genius, but their writing is good. I tend to agree with Forbes himself, and even when I don't his little editorials are well though out. The articles are well written and don't assume you're a 3rd grader. I get news and such from Forbes that I don't get from other sources (not much business news, especially not so in depth, at most sources). I've looked at the Economist. it has been recommended to me before. While they are good, I don't like their editorial bent, so I don't

  • PC Gamer (Score:2, Interesting)

    by gQuigs ( 913879 )
    I still receive PC Gamer even though for the last 6+ months they have been saying that this is the last issue I'm going to get. In fact, last month I received two copies.

    I personally got fed up with how into Vista they are. No less than 4 months had an article on helping people Install Vista. They also kept saying nothing but positive things about it. How you needed to go to Vista to play the latest games, etc.

    I run Ubuntu. I'm going to be buying a new computer to play 2 games Enemy Territory Qu

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Mex ( 191941 )
      PC Gamer was already in the dumps, but Greg Vederman just sent it straight into shit-town. That magazine was awesome a decade ago, today it's barely a shadow of what was.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Rayonic ( 462789 )
      Oddly enough, the official Games for Windows magazine (Computer Gaming World bought out by MS) has been pretty anti-Vista. At least when I had my free subscription. Their articles were harsh but fair, and in their freeware section they'd warn you if a certain game ran into problems with Vista (they had a little warning/rating system).
  • The quality of writing in these magazines has definitely falling as of late, as well as many of the hype ridden games recieving reviews that sound like sales pitches. I believe this has to do with the $$$ coming more from publishers now and less from subscribers, which is sad. One magazine that stands outside this phenomenom is Edge magazine, I try to pick this up everytime I get the chance, not only for the articles but also for the excellent graphic design present in each issue. Unfortunately it is printe
  • I'm shocked. I mean, who'd think that people who computer games use the internet?
  • seriously though GI can be an enjoyable read once you get past all the obvious gamestop hype machine marketing they cram in there; but is there anyone who actually subscribes to this mag as opposed to getting it included with a gamestop discount card?
  • I get OXM most months as I have a 360. I find that games mags like that are rather similar to pron. That is lots of pretty pictures and very little writing. You wait a month for it to come out and most of the news you got from IGN weeks ago. You read a couple of articles, the reviews that interest you and that's it. About a good afternoons reading if you are lucky.

    I could start reading Edge instead but that goes too far in the opposite direction. Lots of in depth articles about games/platforms that I
  • Usually the print mags will have an exclusive article or two that isn't anywhere online, though if it is significant news it will be on every gaming website within seconds of arriving.
  • having worked quite extensively in publications, i can tell you that these passalong numbers are all fabricated. magazines are audited, so they can't lie about how many copies the print and sell, but they can and do lie about the rest. for example, if i print 100,000 copies, i'm going to say that 4 people read every issue, making my effective circulation 400,000- and charge ad rates based on that figure, not the 100,000 i actually print. basically, everybody in publishing lies like crazy about circulation
  • I used to be a very loyal reader to PC Gamer and Maximum PC for years but I have let my subscriptions expire. I just can't justify the magazines now because the Internet just does it better. I'm surprised there hasn't been a much wider bleeding in the market because of it. I'm honestly surprised magazines are still around at all. I guess they'll always have a place in the waiting room's of doctors and such and that is what is keeping them alive.
  • Gaming magazines consist EXCLUSIVELY of two parts: Advertisements, and articles they are paid for (i.e. hidden ads).
    While the internet isnt any better, at least there are usually the user comments/reviews that give hints if something is fishy (like the 9.8 game having 5.5 user average...).

    I have been reading computer mags, and game mags, for 20 years now.
    The quality was never really good, but with the competition against the internet things became a lot more ugly.

    The mags NEED exclusives to compete, and the
  • The last GI I received had stuff that already happened (a few weeks prior even) when I received it in the mail.

    The October issue (that came late-mid September)had a Heavenly Sword review that was in the future tense, along with some blurbs about cool stuff coming being things that had passed. The fact that it was the only god review of Heavenly Sword I read. The review was like "better than sex" and considering it is only fairly good (if that), and shorter the credibility of the magazine is bad by game re
  • The magazines must have DRM! Anyone caught reading a magazine purchased by another must be criminally prosecuted. Don't worry, we have sensors in place to track down multiple readers within 1000 miles of said offense--that includes reading the headlines on the cover!
  • Gaming magazines in the past often simply provided information. Information about what certain games are like, previews of games in development, general advancements and goings-on in the game industry/world. The internet however is a far greater medium for communicating information, I can look a screenshot or download a game the same day it released, instead of waiting a month for someone to write an article, print it in a magazine and for it to arrive at my door.

    Gaming magazines need to adapt so they provi
  • I used to subscribe to several magazines in 90's where they would actually include pages and pages of code, some of them describing how certain functions worked. Most of the times, they would include 10 pages long code using Basic or C to create a very simple game.

    The fact that you could get a magazine and actually make a game really hooked me in, although all I did was just cut&pasting the code already given. It didn't matter whether I understood what I was typing or not. Those parts came later.

    There w
  • Last videogames magazine subscription I had was to Electronic Games back in the 80s. I buy a newsstand VG mag once in a while but they just never match up to the granddaddy.

  • People pay money for those things? I'd always assumed they were advertising throwaways, and that if you bought games, you started getting game mags.

  • "Gaming Mag Circulation Numbers May Not Mean That Much"

    Was anyone under the impression they did?
  • I stopped reading PSM because I don't like the new editor in chief

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