3 posts tagged “opm”

PC Magazine has been a solid source of information since 1985, a good four years before I was even born. I've been a subscription holder for PC "Mag" for about 4 months, and a casual newsstand buyer for about a year before that. I'm noticing a startling trend.

In the February 13th issue, columnist Michael Miller announced that that issue's column would be his last, but he would still hold a 'columnist's blog' on the PC Mag site? The issue I got today, PC Mag's former editor-in-chief, Bill Machrone announced in his column that he also, was stepping now. However, he wasn't going to be given a blog and a link to it from the PC Mag columnist page, instead, all we know is that all his back-columns are going to be archived on PC Mag.com.

In Machrone's final column, he mentions the growing upset between internet tech media and print media. He's not alone. Ziff Davis, PC Mag's parent company, is attempting to sell the Game Group, which consists of two gaming magazines (Electronic Gaming Monthy and Games for Windows) and a "mega" website 1UP.com.

According to another blogger, 1UP.com is the crown jewel of the game group, with several hundred game-junkie teenagers who go there every day, and worship their editors with an almost cult-like following (which is only helped by 1UP's collection of weekly podcast and video podcasts, which, if intentional or not, promote the game journalists has hip, trendy, superstars).

However, the two print magazines, according to the blogger, are what is holding up MTV or a TelCo from grabbing up this lucrative "MySpace-meets-Gamespot" website. With PC Mag cutting down on its time-honored columnists, and ZD's game group being held down by two print magazines, is print media dead?

Don't forget, a few months ago I got all hot and bothered over 1UP's sale of the Official Playstation Magazine. It now appears, that ZD may have canceled that magazine to make the sale more lucrative to a potential buyer.

Is print media dead? Well, I don't think so. I enjoy reading magazines, and I currently get Ziff-Davis' Electronic Gaming Monthy and Future Publishing's PC Gamer, in addition to ZD's PC Mag. However, I appear to be in a majority.

Technology and gaming magazines are in a hard spot, because their target audience, is, quiet frankly, almost all high-end technology power users who spend most of their time on the internet. Why wait a month for a magazine to have old news when blogs, podcasts, and AJAX-powered headline RSS feeds can give you up to the minute information?

A few months back on an "EGM Live" podcast (on the 1UP Radio Network, a lovely name), Electronic Gaming Month's Dan "Shoe" Hsu said that he wanted to make his magazine's content more high-end. Maybe they'll have an exclusive interview with a rare Japanese video game developer, or have a special early review that even beats the internet.

However, Hsu was very honest, and admitted that the general stuff, like gaming news and most reviews, will be beat to consumers by the internet.

Hsu's not the only one that recognizes the advent of the internet age. PC Mag has almost ALL of its material that is in the magazine on its website, PCMag.com, even the highly-ancipated John C. Dvorak columns. And unlike the New York Times, the articles are printed in the whole, without the need to enter a subscription number, or register for their online service.

The only problem with PC Mag's strategy, is that, the information doesn't come up until the issue is published. So, its still a month-hold. The only thing worse than a magazine with old info, is a website with old info. Compared to CNET.com, PCMag.com might has well be from the stone ages.

I, personally, hope, this isn't the end of print media. No 24" LCD monitor or tablet PC can replicate the feel of that paper in your fingers. However, I think the battle is over. I am the only one of my gamer/tech junkie friends who pays for a tech or gaming magazine. The others wait for the info to hit the net.

In the case of exclusive interviews, my friends replied, "I'll just get the .pdf through BitTorrent."

After a lengthy conversation with my friend about the OPM "closing" and me blaming Sony, he brought up an issue I never thought of. Blu-ray.

Has I speculated, OPM probably was doing horribly, and they have those demo disks. Honestly, I don't like demo disks. I've got a few from PC Gamer, OXM and some other magazines, and they aren't that great. They seem so... PS1-era. I don't know, its hard to explain my dislike of demo disks.

Anyway, we all know that Sony's online plan for the PS3 is junk. It supposed to be like Xbox Live... but better... and free. Yeah, right. Anyway, they couldn't finish it before launch, and now, Resistance is shipping with its own game-only online system, a lot like the PS2's online that everybody hated. If the PS3 had a real online system, they could offer download able demos, like XBL, which I would say is better that those damn demo disks.

I'm wayyy off topic. Back ON topic now, my friend thinks the cost of a Blu-ray is too much for a demo disk, and since all the Sony fanboys love their OPM demo disks, Uncle Ziff is worried that they won't buy it. Oh hum.

I'm not positive, but didn't something like this arise when the PS2 and Xbox came out, then the DVD was the format of choice? I mean, I think somebody told me that demo disks for the 7th Generation of Consoles wouldn't happen because DVD's were so darned expensive.

Well, Blu-rays will either fail or become the next big format, and the price will go down. So, despite my hatred of the Blu-ray format, I can't blame that on OPM's demise.

My friends also brought up another point. I have become very anti-Sony in the past few months. I mean, I ripped their throats out on the battery recall, on the PS3's overall design, on the PS3's price, on the rumored price of the PS3 games, on just about everything, including Blu-ray? I thought OPM was the weakest of the 1UP Group's print offerings (yes, even GCW, which I ignored for a rival PC gaming magazine), and when I suspect Sony shutting them down, I suddenly defend them. How did I come such an anti-Sony guy? Who knows. I think its just a reaction, since everybody thinks the PS3 will be teh rock, and I naturally think it'll be the worst of the "big three", so I'm going into defensive mode. Oh well, I think I'll be proven right on PS3, Sony and Blu-ray. I doubt the general public will ever know.

Oddly enough, I didn't like OPM, but I subscribed to their podcast feed so I can hear their thoughts on the closing, but thats the only reason. I don't own a PS2 (my suffered a terrible accident after 2 weeks) and I don't plan on getting a PS3, but I want to hear the staff's comments.

This is what THEY should do. Go the shock jock route and totally bitch out everybody who canceled OPM and name names and give reasons. Well, they probably don't want to burn bridges with Ziff, but honestly, I think that would be going out in a blaze of glory.

Then again, that would be a hell of a bad job reference when they try to go get a job at some other magazine.

Today, Ziff-Davis Media (magazine publisher, former owner of TechTV, well, ZDTV), announced they were closing the doors on OPM, the Official Playstation Magazine. I'm going to assume on why.

Despite popular belief, ZD pays Sony a regular annual fee to use the "Official Playstation" name and logos, and thats where it ends. They might get one or two stories a day or two early, but they are very.. unofficial, less so than people think. If I wanted to start an unofficial Atari 2600 magazine, I could, as long has I just said it was being made without permission of Codemasters or whoever owns Atari now.

I'm going to guess that Sony raised the price of the Official Playstation for the PS3. Why? Because, they're retarded. Sony is honestly, one of the stupidest companies right now. That whole battery crap, their design choices in the PS3, that overpriced and overpowered Cell Processor, and I could go on and on.

Now, I haven't spent my time crawling the Ziff Davis stock reports, but I would bargain that OPM was the lowest magazine on their subscription, but still, it looked good for Ziff and got the Playstation name. ZD's game magazine group in way in the hole, they've spent like over a million their budget, I believe., and Sony raising their price was too much.

If the PS3 looks bad this holiday season, look to rumors of Mitsubishi or some other big Japanese Conglomerate buying Sony. Personally, I hope they do. Sony needs the good press.