With game magazine's dying left, write and center (pun intended), it's good to see a video 
game magazine diversifying. I've been a long time reader of the Offical Xbox Magazine (along with a plethora of other gaming rags) and to my surprise in the letter from the editor this month big boss Francesca Reyes announced that OXM will be starting a new project, Official Xbox Magazine Digital. The project would commence in late July (um, only a few days left guys) releasing a monthly downloadable version of the magazine on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Each digital issue will feature exclusive content that they "couldn't do with print", this includes gamerpics, videos, galleries, and exclusive demos for a mere 200 Microsoft Points.
For those who have already subscribed to the print magazine, nothing really changes the content on the disc will be roughly the same of that online. This project is not about double dipping it's user base. This is about extending the readership of the magazine as a whole by bringing it to the largest gaming network known to man. It's interesting though, that the main problem that plagues print these days will likely plague OXMD.
Time sensitivity is a big deal when you're in the news world. It's important to be on top of the hot topics as they break. It used to be acceptible for a monthly magazine to break the news to the public, but thanks to a small invention called the internet this is no longer the case. More gamers are avid net users than ever before thanks to the web's unlimited supply of gaming sites and blogs. While most are just ctrl+c / ctrl+v of eachother it is still the fastest way to spread the word of the most mundane things in the gaming industry. magazines can't offer the same up to the minute details that a website can and they are hurting for it.
OXMD also follows a monthly timeline in correspondance with the magazine and will seem dated when it arrives. Nevermind Microsoft's notorious disability when it comes to posting content on time due to quality control. It's been interesting watching OXM evolve as the times change, their weekly podcast is an interesting one amongst the rabble I listen to and has allowed them to reach readers in between issues. I guess OXMD is their chance to reach users in different ways.
Unmentioned in the article are a few things. Will the digital magazine have the dated demos and arcade games available on the disc? Will it feature the OXMU minigame subscribers have been playing for months now? What about the premium DLC you sometimes find in the mag? Most importantly, will it have advertisements? There is still a lot of mystery around this experimental medium, but it will all unravel in a few days time.
Whether it sinks or swims it's at least worth a shot, development costs can't be that high and it really is the last chance print has. I think it will be worth checking out, just to see how they play with it, maybe it could be the start of a trend on the XBLM.
game magazine diversifying. I've been a long time reader of the Offical Xbox Magazine (along with a plethora of other gaming rags) and to my surprise in the letter from the editor this month big boss Francesca Reyes announced that OXM will be starting a new project, Official Xbox Magazine Digital. The project would commence in late July (um, only a few days left guys) releasing a monthly downloadable version of the magazine on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Each digital issue will feature exclusive content that they "couldn't do with print", this includes gamerpics, videos, galleries, and exclusive demos for a mere 200 Microsoft Points.For those who have already subscribed to the print magazine, nothing really changes the content on the disc will be roughly the same of that online. This project is not about double dipping it's user base. This is about extending the readership of the magazine as a whole by bringing it to the largest gaming network known to man. It's interesting though, that the main problem that plagues print these days will likely plague OXMD.
Time sensitivity is a big deal when you're in the news world. It's important to be on top of the hot topics as they break. It used to be acceptible for a monthly magazine to break the news to the public, but thanks to a small invention called the internet this is no longer the case. More gamers are avid net users than ever before thanks to the web's unlimited supply of gaming sites and blogs. While most are just ctrl+c / ctrl+v of eachother it is still the fastest way to spread the word of the most mundane things in the gaming industry. magazines can't offer the same up to the minute details that a website can and they are hurting for it.
OXMD also follows a monthly timeline in correspondance with the magazine and will seem dated when it arrives. Nevermind Microsoft's notorious disability when it comes to posting content on time due to quality control. It's been interesting watching OXM evolve as the times change, their weekly podcast is an interesting one amongst the rabble I listen to and has allowed them to reach readers in between issues. I guess OXMD is their chance to reach users in different ways.
Unmentioned in the article are a few things. Will the digital magazine have the dated demos and arcade games available on the disc? Will it feature the OXMU minigame subscribers have been playing for months now? What about the premium DLC you sometimes find in the mag? Most importantly, will it have advertisements? There is still a lot of mystery around this experimental medium, but it will all unravel in a few days time.
Whether it sinks or swims it's at least worth a shot, development costs can't be that high and it really is the last chance print has. I think it will be worth checking out, just to see how they play with it, maybe it could be the start of a trend on the XBLM.
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