Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Roger Federer’s chances at the Australian Open, the wonderful mic skills of The Miz (he’s awesome), or a possible mag-lev train from Florida to California, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
While most consumers are focused on the hardware aspects of the Apple iPad tablet, a lot of analysts are amped for what it can do for the book and magazine industries. Assuming the screen is readable for a long period of time, I can see the device killing in the book market. Considering Apple’s longtime outreach in the education market and a rumored deal with a major textbook company, I can see the iPad killing at universities. I’m fairly certain the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook will get stomped.
What I’m not certain of is if the iPad can “save” newspapers and magazines. I’m sure the hardware and format will let designers use the best elements of print and online, but I don’t know that it matters. The Internet has changed the way people look for and absorb information. Consumers are no longer tied to once voice like they were with one magazine or one newspaper. The Internet allows readers to cheaply jump from voice to voice, picking the content they like best.
That said, I miss the days when EGM, GamePro, and (especially) Next-Gen were the top sources of gaming information. I hope devices like the iPad kick-start a print Renaissance. What do you guys and gals think? Will the iPad help bring gaming magazines back? Would you even be interested in subscribing to an iPad magazine? Or has the Internet changed your reading habits forever?
I'd be willing to buy a rPad magazine :)
I know all of the pics are purely speculative but I can't imagine typing on the iPad like that. the Phone is pretty easy but I can do it one handed. two handed typing on a screen like that just seems impossible, especially if you want to be able to read what you're writing, at any rate I'll be keeping up on live blogs when the show starts in a little bit.
I do miss the magazine days. when I was a kid I lived and breathed by whatever Nintendo Power had to say. of course back then you had to search pretty hard to learn anything about games. The internet has made everything so accessible which is nice.
Once I was regularly getting on the internet I quickly found IGN. I still use it from time to time for articles. say what you will about their review process but they are spot on. I only started watching X play a couple of years ago but haven't watched G4 in a while. I don't like wading through crap to get the good stuff. it's why I don't watch the news.
Off Topic – I hated the Spartacus premier. I waited over a month to watch that garbage. It's like someone watched 300 and thought, he we could do this, except, let's make it way over the top and do a horrible job with the dialogue and CGI
@Sandrock323 Ha! Thanks!
@Everyone I caught the Dante's Inferno animated movie last night and will be posting thoughts on it later. It's quite interesting.
It's only 30 mins away! I don't think it will change my reading habits. I haven't picked up a newspaper on the daily since 2003. Since then it's been internet on pc or my phone. It will be good to see my local newpaper, i do miss holding it and looking at it. It's not the same viewing it online but i have to. I can't see paying .75 cents for the same articles you can view online for free! I think maybe comics but i'd still rather have a hard copy. If technology has their way, hard print comics will be out and maybe my new collection will be worth a lot more to collector's??? I have to see what else it can do besides giving me newspapers and mags online.
@shockwave
Thanks for the heads up. i added the first episode on my Netflix instant queue, with hopes of watching it tonite. I may avoid it now.
@tokz – I'd watch it man, it may be your thing but I loved 300. this just seemed like a shoddy rip-off to me, way too much fake blood, way too much slo-motion matrix stuff. A lot of the story was just set up but even that just felt like a rip off of gladiator. Instead I've decided to finish watching Rome, which kicked ass
@shockwave
i loved 300, Rome and Gladiator. It seems like you did as well. So, we may come up with the same opinion. I'll give it a shot but i'm pretty sure i'll agree with you.
@Tokz – I may have been harsh considering it was the pilot, but let me know what you think when you watch it
The e-zine thing won't go very far if at all. Companies that have tried have failed with the pay-wall. WSJ and NYT are exceptions, not the rule.
The problem with print media is that it's all old news by the time you get it. I get Game Informer and I tend to already know 3/4 of the stuff in every issue because I follow the internet.
On topic, I'd rather go to their website than read their magazine. Maybe if it was connected to their site, with links and videos since this isn't limited to paper after all, I would buy into that. Actually, why haven't they done that already? They been losing consumers to websites for years. Switching to a digitally distributed medium would have saved them lots of money and helped keep their costumers. Think of it like a pron website with a members only section. That section has their exclusive content that their magazines already have. In GI's case, it would mean their content doesn't constantly get leaked and they can edit the numerous mistakes they have.
@Nightshade386 That will be far less of a problem with digitally delivered magazines. News would be the last thing added.
I think the ipad can help game magazines about as much as my iPod touch. I have Internet access to get to anything, and the apps are the same. So all that looks like it really changes is size, as far as availability of online magazines or sites or apps. To me that is not enough of an advantage. I can't stand reading anything online from gameinformer.com.
I would read an rpad gamer magazine though.
@Everyone Sadly (on several levels) I have to go to DMV. I have no idea how long that will take, but I'm expecting the worst. I'll try to keep up with the comments on my BlackBerry though.
There's Newcastle Brown in the fridge. Help yourself and try not to burn the place down!
Now we just got get some one to come down here and get me so that I can bring the Krystal's.
Pay sites for news do not work. Who actually is an espn insider? No thanks, I will find the info for free. After all, the Internet is the free flow of information.
Good example of why this doesn't work:
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/How-Many-Peopl…
in a nutshell a news company was bought for 650million and only generated revenue of 9k by 35 subscribers. The model sucks.
@Smartguy I indirectly subscribe to ESPN Insider and enjoy it. Iv paid 2.99 a year for a magazine sub and Insider is part of the deal.
@Smartguy
Exclusive previews and screen shoots are still exclusive. Since that is what game magazines are based on, it should work through the internet as well. News would still have to presented for free, but they could get it out quicker and get revenues off of ads for it. Going print only is only going to hurt them more than having only a few subscribers.
that's true, I do pay to be an IGN insider, but that's mostly to avoid ads. I do like some of the exclusive content though
Sandrock
do you pay for IGN?
@Smartguy
No, but I haven't been active on any video game sites lately. I'm probably not a good example. I do however get GI and buy other magazines when they have a review or preview I want to read. I'm more of a cash up front person than a subscription person.
I'm willing to bet you are the minority.
Insider for ESPN is a waste
I don't know smartguy, some of the exclusive interviews are pretty cool. that's information you can't get anywhere else. not saying I'd pay for it but most of these subscriptions are pretty cheap too. so it makes sense if you're a huge sports nut or something else. I also pay yearly to be a member of Jeepforum. but more than that I like to support companies/websites I enjoy
$4 dollar subs add up. You can always find the same info somewhere else with power of the blogosphere.
Not too mention most of the NFL insider articles are rumor mill articles. I don't care to pay for that.
@sandrock
IGN was a bad example because their numbers are inflated by Fileplanet subs
@Ray
yeah packages make some things advantageous. I find pay walls for news to be annoying. Especially the ESPN ones. I don't find Kiper or Schefter worth my money.
@Smartguy It's worth it for me between the mag and dan rafael's blog. I enjoy several of the baseball blogs too.
@Smartguy
Anyway, I was more leaning towards my first idea with the structure built around it to support it. You still have your monthly magazine, but the news is given for free and quickly on the website, while the interviews, previews, reviews, and other original content is saved for the digital magazine. Since it is digital, they can even add more content such as videos and helpful links to it in order to make up for the lose of news. Exclusive videos would be the biggest draw point as most people are going to want to see the video now and not later. Buying individual issues should also stay as it would still be a good way to push sells.
@ #30
"aren't going to wait"
@sandrock
This is the google and youtube generation…they (we) are not going to pay for video snippits. Exclusive or not. Really in the end the model doesn't work because competition is so fierce in the gaming business that you do not want to pigeonhole yourself with content on one site that is only seen by a fraction of the visits.
my brother is an ESPN insider, he likes it. I get mad when I click on an article and can’t read it. the information can be found elsewhere though
dragon age is PISSING ME OFF
i just finished my quests in orzammar, but i cant figure out how to get the fuck out of the city, back to the surface
ive looked in every possible place, cant find a way out of this god damn dwarven city
@thundercracker
The exit is in front of the giant bridge leading to where you fought in the arena area. Go through that big door into the next zone and walk strait across to the next door. Once you leave that door and are out side, you can go directly to the camp.
@sandrock
thank you dude, that shit was making me insane, and i dont think i would have figured it out either…."hall of heroes"
shouldnt they just say "EXIT"?
Orzammar is weird in that, some times you go to camp from inside and sometimes you can't. Forcing to walk all the way it lame in order to camp is lame.
"all the way out"