Mag

[spacemonkey]

Do you reckon a magazine (paper version) dedicated to mods/indie games would be a good idea?

[Coyote]

Paper-based magazines dealing with far more mainstream hobbies are struggling right now, because too many people are going to the web instead of subscribing. Since mods and indie games are distributed almost exclusively over the web, a paper-based magazine - even if you could keep the print and postage costs way down - seems... anachronistic.

[Lerc]

Paper-based magazines dealing with far more mainstream hobbies are struggling right now, because too many people are going to the web instead of subscribing. Do you have a source for that, because the last thing I saw on the issue was a documentary about 3 months ago saying that there has been a resurgence amongst magazines. Almost eveyone likes to have the opportunity to sit down and flick though a mag rather than stare at a screen all of the time.

Since mods and indie games are distributed almost exclusively over the web, a paper-based magazine - even if you could keep the print and postage costs way down - seems... anachronistic.On the other hand there are paper magazinges solely about internet things that seem to be doing reasonably well.

My own view is you could make a Paper indie mag and it could flop or it could succeed. It all comes down to identifying what the magazine buyers want and how you market the mag.

"This month - we remember Princess Diana's favorite computer games." - a sure winner :D.

The thing that would be the main sticking point is that many if not most magazines are heavily subsidized by advertizing. Can the indie world turn up enough people prepared to pay the significant sums that Magazine advertizing entails?

From the point of view of establishing a strong niche. If you repeatedly pushed the message that the magazine was about giving people a variety of games that simply cannot be found in traditional gaming mags then I think you would find an audience.

In a nutshell. I think It is certainly a good idea. I'm not positive if it's a profitable one however.

[Coyote]

Here's an article discussing the shakiness of the U.S. Print game magazine industry.

If you are outside of the US, it may be another story.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=4686