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twobells
Banned
Posts: 2878
Location: England
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 Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 15:24 Post subject: Retailers Losing faith with PC market? |
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Retailers have "lost faith" in PC games sector:
Retailers have "lost faith entirely" with the PC games sector, with the shrinking market affecting sales of related games magazines, according to Imagine Publishing.
The company has told GamesIndustry.biz that it is currently considering the future of its PC gaming magazine Total PC Gaming, although managing director Damian Butt labelled recent internet gossip of a full closure of the title as "mischief" by a former employee.
"I'm looking at Total PC Gaming at the moment, because although it's a profitable magazine for Imagine, it's future potential is limited because retailers and magazine stockists have lost faith with the PC games sector entirely," admitted Butt.
"We have had fantastic support from our advertisers on Total PC Gaming, and outperformed our expectations, but I would much rather have a talented team working on a magazine where there is a greater future upside, such as our new launch How it Works, because it takes as much effort to make a magazine that generates a good profit as one that makes very little."
Imagine isn't the only media outlet publishing magazines for a shrinking market – ABC results from Future Publishing last week showed that monthly sales for PC Gamer and PC Zone were down dramatically during 2009.
Magazine numbers:
 Spoiler: | Future suffers circulation slump
ABC figures released today show that Future Publishing's games portfolio continued to see circulations drop in 2009, despite the increase in the console installed-base.
Yesterday the company said revenues were down across the business, with the games section in particular hit by slowing sales and ad spend.
Flagship title Edge saw a negligible rise in yearly sales from 28,898 copies to 29,007, while Future's other multiformat magazine, Games Master, dropped significantly from 40,949 to 34,313.
PlayStation Official dropped from 53,644 to 47,033, while unofficial magazine PSM 3 dropped from 26,202 to 21,224.
PC gaming magazines also slumped, with PC Zone dropping from 19,023 in 2008 to 11,357, and PC Gamer at 26,487, down from 32,619.
Future's Official Xbox 360 Magazine fell from 63,908 to 60,832, and Xbox World 360 dropped to 25,874 last year, compared to 31,030 in 2008. The Official Nintendo Magazine also saw circulation fall from 53,644 to 51,271.
Last year the company said it would no longer publish six-month circulation figures due to cost cutting, and it also closed unofficial PlayStation magazine PSW.
The full ABC figures follow:
Edge: 29,007
Games Master: 34,313
Official Xbox 360 Magazine: 60,834
Xbox World 360: 25,874
PlayStation Official: 47,033
PSM 3: 21,224
PC Zone: 11,357
PC Gamer: 26,487
Official Nintendo Magazine: 51,271 |
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LeoNatan
☢ NFOHump Despot ☢
Posts: 73196
Location: Ramat Gan, Israel 🇮🇱
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 15:27 Post subject: |
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Not much to post about stupid console ports, and unique and really good games are so far in between, that I could see this actually happen. :\
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Neon
VIP Member
Posts: 18934
Location: Poland
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 15:31 Post subject: |
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PC GAMING MAGAZINES? HUH? I used to buy gaming magz, before the internet.
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twobells
Banned
Posts: 2878
Location: England
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 15:32 Post subject: |
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I think we all need to sit down and start making decisions about our purchasing preferences if we want the PC market to not only survive but publishers release quality non ported games.
Personally I was recently shocked by the awful console ports and I made my mind up to start investing more in pc games.
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LeoNatan
☢ NFOHump Despot ☢
Posts: 73196
Location: Ramat Gan, Israel 🇮🇱
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 15:36 Post subject: |
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Invest in what, console ports? We already do. If it is good, I couldn't care less if it is a multiplaform game. But damn, when you see shit like Modern Warfail 2, Anal Weak and John "Pussy" Carmack's Rape dumbed down for consoles, what is there to invest in? Good games are getting more and more far in between and more and more mainstreamed accessible shit comes out for console retards with 5 second attention spans.
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proekaan
VIP Member
Posts: 3650
Location: Finland
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Pixies
Posts: 382
Location: Deep in the Caribbean
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 15:50 Post subject: |
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Agree, buying a PC game is one thing, but who buys gaming magazines nowadays? All concievable info about a game is available online anyway, the only exception being pre-release exclusives.. but they tend to get scanned pretty quickly.
In short, like many other paper magazines, they're just not needed anymore.
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Epsilon
Dr. Strangelove
Posts: 9240
Location: War Room
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 15:54 Post subject: |
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Theres no innovation in "Retail" game releases, they're always ports of the console version. The next game I'll be buying will probably be Distant Worlds from matrixgames which will be distributed online only.
When I do buy a legit version of a game in a box, I always order it through an online store.
There's just not much incentive for me to go to a retail store when all I see is Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 plastered all over the place with a bunch of plastic guitar mockup kiosk setups that is attended 24/7 by the local kindergarten.
And some achne ridden teenager standing behind the counter who doesn't know what the "The Witcher" is, and no they don't have that in their catalogue - is it a board game?!
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 16:10 Post subject: |
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I think that the PC gaming industry has brought this on itself due to lack of competition. People are used to electronics getting cheaper while the GPU-manufaturers nVidia and ATI seem to have agreed to make GPU more expensive each generation. Now we have reached a point when paying 500€ for a new GPU is considered normal.
The console market is ruled by competition: Nintendo won over Sega only to be challenged by Sony, who then took a big share of the market and now has to fight against Microsoft and Nintendo who rises again. The PC sector is dominated by nVidia and ATI who don't care to fight and just agreed to retail their GPUs at high prices so both companies can increase profits without stealing each others market share. How did you expect this to end?
Consumers can either get a new PC with a 500€ GPU that will last two years max, or pay 500€ for the whole console and enjoy it for 6 years.
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LeoNatan
☢ NFOHump Despot ☢
Posts: 73196
Location: Ramat Gan, Israel 🇮🇱
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 16:12 Post subject: |
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| Epsilon wrote: | | And some achne ridden teenager standing behind the counter who doesn't know what the "The Witcher" is, and no they don't have that in their catalogue - is it a board game?! |
Oh dear  |
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 17:46 Post subject: |
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um topic is misleading? this is about some silly magazines.. 10 years ago maybe.. now? why would i need one..
bundled demos i can download.. reviews i can see 2 weeks before on Internet.. news? those happen twice in a year to be exclusive to magazine..
newspaper is dying too.. press is dying.. you make it sound like its something new
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 17:53 Post subject: |
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To be honest, it's the "big" developers and publishers.
Piracy aside (which isn't the real reason), coding for a console is simply more worthwhile:
1. Standard system, less variables (hardware and API)
2. this is the important one: target audience is more forgiving, accepts shorter games, likes clones, is generally less hardcore. Younger, trendier.
If you want to sell something, and make no mistake, publishers and bigger developers might care for a good game, but they care about money more. It's simply easier to make games (technically), it's easier to get away with less originality (younger, trendier audience), it doesn't (usually) need to be hard, because the target audience likes to win .. easily.
Now, you might say, I am stereotyping, which I am. You know what a preconception is? here's one: I expect hot water coming to pour, when I turn the valve marked with red. Most of the time, I am right, and save time, money ... etc. Sure, sometimes I am wrong, but overall it's more efficient.
Well, that's what developers do. Take a look at the audience, and give the least, but enough to make them happy. And it works out.
Thing is, I might be an elitist prick, but the gaming scene was a lot better, when the average IQ of players was around 110.
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LeoNatan
☢ NFOHump Despot ☢
Posts: 73196
Location: Ramat Gan, Israel 🇮🇱
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 17:55 Post subject: |
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 17:59 Post subject: |
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| Smikis. wrote: | um topic is misleading? this is about some silly magazines.. 10 years ago maybe.. now? why would i need one..
bundled demos i can download.. reviews i can see 2 weeks before on Internet.. news? those happen twice in a year to be exclusive to magazine..
newspaper is dying too.. press is dying.. you make it sound like its something new |
ooh, but mister iPad will fix all that. Or so many hope many tablet PCs will, by downloading from an online source, but needing a subscription.
I see they are trying, but it will be hard for them, especially gaming magazines. I mean everyone can write an analysis as good as IGN can. Their score is generally the same as a game's hype. No big release got a bad score for years now. Sure, they have Jessica Chobot, who tween virgins have wet dreams about.
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 18:00 Post subject: |
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Licensing fee. That's why Sony and M$ want as many exclusives as possible.. It's not about piracy.
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 18:01 Post subject: |
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Since it looks like console gamers still buy mags, the title of this article piece should be:
"Console players don't have access to internet, or don't know how to use internet"
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twobells
Banned
Posts: 2878
Location: England
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 18:04 Post subject: |
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| Smikis. wrote: | um topic is misleading? this is about some silly magazines.. 10 years ago maybe.. now? why would i need one..
bundled demos i can download.. reviews i can see 2 weeks before on Internet.. news? those happen twice in a year to be exclusive to magazine..
newspaper is dying too.. press is dying.. you make it sound like its something new |
No, its not misleading, please re-read the piece.
It states that the retail market has lost faith in the shrinking pc sector and subsequently it is affecting magazine sales. |
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 18:08 Post subject: |
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| twobells wrote: | | Smikis. wrote: | um topic is misleading? this is about some silly magazines.. 10 years ago maybe.. now? why would i need one..
bundled demos i can download.. reviews i can see 2 weeks before on Internet.. news? those happen twice in a year to be exclusive to magazine..
newspaper is dying too.. press is dying.. you make it sound like its something new |
No, its not misleading, please re-read the piece.
It states that the retail market has lost faith in the shrinking pc sector and subsequently it is affecting magazine sales. |
If playboy mag sales have dropped, does it mean less men are spankin the monkey? NO. it means they are spankin it to inet pr0n.
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 18:59 Post subject: |
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i read them in the shop hahahaha
Intel Core i7 6700
Gigabyte Z170 Gaming
16 GB DDR4
Asus Strix GTX1080Ti OC
Windows 10 pro 64bit
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Frant
King's Bounty
Posts: 24625
Location: Your Mom
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 19:10 Post subject: |
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I'M losing faith in the PC market. :/
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
"The sky was the color of a TV tuned to a dead station" - Neuromancer
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| Posted: Tue, 16th Feb 2010 19:37 Post subject: |
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The PC market is as strong as it's ever been, the only change is that sales have moved from retail to digital distribution, as a consequence the market is far broader, more complex and varied.
The average games player is 35 or over, this means a greater tendancy towards PC gaming, through digital distribution. Broadband has also encouraged distribution of web based, and casual, games, which don't require high end hardware. The MMO market has also seen a steady climb, over the last five years.
There are winners and losers of course.
Losers are disc manufacturers, stores, hauliers and distributers. Winners are developers, and of course publishers and customers, who tend to pay less against retail, although Steam has yet to catch up with this sentiment.
Certainly the whole gaming market is massive, having grown to nearly 30 Billion in 2009. But the PC market has grown with this proportionately, but not through traditional retail, which the magazine press tend to look towards, since their clearly part of the traditional sales sector.
You don't need to go to your store any more, just download, which of course your less inclined to do on console.
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Retail market for PC games is dead IMO.
