This is really great ideas and helpful post.

Thanks for sharing and keep it up!

Work around that issue and print media will be fine, in my opinion.

As you touch on Steven, writers that feel important and relatable to the reader is critical. Columns, discussion and editorial feed back into giving voice the writers.

While it certainly seems like it will inevitably happen, I’m not so sure I agree with the notion that print media is dying. Things like EGM’s closure definitely suggest it will happen, especially in the current economic climate the world is facing, but I’m still not sure. I don’t think anyone — particularly the people who migrated to online sources — dislike reading magazines and I’d almost argue that they in fact still love the idea, the problem is just what you alluded to in the post, it’s easier to get everything online. We’re a world of convenience and if it’s easier to find out about a new game and see a trailer online, of course people are going to go and do that. But even so I do think there’s a place for magazines, the question I suppose is where is that place?

I do agree that magazines, Hyper included, need to change their approach. It seems to me that more and more people are becoming sick of the whole previews/reviews process and while that will always have a place in our industry, the move to more in-depth analysis and features seems to be a focus that everyone wants to see happen and I think magazines could (should?) use this opportunity to lead the way and continue to remain relevant. EDGE have a lot of interesting features as you’ve mentioned already and I am glad I can get that every month now from my local newsagent, but reading it hasn’t changed my enjoyment from reading Hyper, in fact I think they compliment each other nicely. That’s beside the point, however.

Hyper have started to focus more on features and I’d argue that this started to happen at the same time as the transition from Cam Shea as editor to Daniel Wilks; after Shea’s decent job Wilks needed to make it a little more serious and bring it out of a small slump that came about because not everyone enjoyed the things that Cam did with the magazine. Wilks has been successful with this and ever since his inception I feel the magazine has grown and become something worth reading to the average reader. Introducing Dylan’s Gameboffin column, as well as Eleanor’s and Wilk’s own, was a step in the right direction. So is features such as the Deconstructing Mirror’s Edge one contained in the most recent issue. As it stands right now, I think Hyper has made a lot of progress in the right direction and now it’s time to start changing some other things around, such as how they approach their reviews. They already are experimenting with it, having ‘joint’ reviews take place as a conversation between two people (usually Wilks and Wells). I hope they continue to experiment and eventually reach a point where they won’t ever face a possible extinction that seems inevitable. They are nearing issue #200, I want to see them reach that and then another 100 or more issues beyond it.

That said, I enjoy their reviews now anyway and they are (EDGE not withstanding) the only reviews I read these days. I grew bored of the previews/reviews process and stopped reading them early last year, instead favouring the more in-depth content found on the various blogs we read and things like that. Yet I still read Hyper’s reviews and I think the reason behind that is my history with the magazine; I’ve come to know the people behind the magazine and as such know how to apply my own opinion to theirs, to make an informed decision when it comes to buying a game, for example. Kids who grew up with the internet don’t have this history, unfortunately, and that’s why I think the changes are needed so their own histories can be defined, using Hyper as a common-ground in the same way that we used mags like NMS back in our younger days.

Okay that’s enough rambling from me. I love Hyper and I really don’t want to see it ever die. Even if it does however, I’m still not sure that print media as a whole is, or needs to, die. I think it still has its place in the industry and I seriously hope that they end up finding it, because what else am I going to look forward to each month?

I collected a good deal (primarily NMS) magazines through the 90s and then for a few years I got new magazines free every week by means off a local newsagent donating unsold magazines to people in neighbouring businesses in which I knew someone at one of those businesses…shady eh. So I read a lot of CUBE, PSM, EDGE and so forth. NGC was one of my favourites too, although the distribution was painfully low as you say. I believe they also did a small seasonal magazines called Advance which was fantastic. I know what you mean about the humour too, good stuff.

I have to say I’ve been a fan of UK print media for a while too, simply because I grew up as a bit of a Nintendo fanboy and the best Nintendo mags always came from over there. N64 Magazine (which disappeared off the shelves when it changed to NGC, and has now returned as N-Gamer) was a big favourite. Even though the reviews were often way off the mark, it had a great sense of humour and every page was just packed with words. Most importantly though, it had tonnes of personality. I felt personally connected to the writers, because they all had their own specific styles, and were constantly joking about each other. Plus quite a few articles were filled with crazy photos of their office antics. I don’t generally buy them anymore though, because of the price point, although I’m often tempted- I don’t think a $14 splurge on, say, Edge is too much as long as you make sure it’s a good issue you’re grabbing.

In any case, I think there’s going to be a place for print media (and hopefully Hyper) as long as people are still using toilets. Reading off a screen cannot compare to reading on the can.

Actually just scanning through that article again, your point on the influences with smaller businesses resonates a little. You’re from SA, right? Just the other week I noticed that Thunderbox a small trade-in store on Magill road closed down.

I personally find myself almost completely reliant on the web nowadays, simply because it has the editorial/commentary/critique style of writing I’m looking for plus the writers I like. There are magazines which have this in droves, but I hate paying a premium $13.95 for the import privilege.

First up, thanks for the appreciation of Pixel Hunt. We’ve certainly worked hard on it and the response has been very validating.

On the Hyper side of things, though, I have to admit I was a little confused by this remark:
“I’ve enjoyed most of what I read (although the trade-in games feature was intentionally very one sided).”

As the guy who wrote that feature, I’m not entirely sure what argument it was you’re saying I’ve taken a side on. My best guess would be that I say that trade-ins are ultimately not the act of evil some people make them out to be, without offering a counterpoint. If that’s the case, I suppose the opening of my article was more of a response to the widely held and vocalised opinion that trade-ins are damaging the industry, more than an open discussion on the issue. It’s something I couldn’t really ignore if my article was going to focus on how to get the most out of trading in your old games, and one that I feel is generally blown out of proportion. I could go into more detail but again I’m not sure if that’s the bit that you’ve actually taken issue with, so I’ll let you respond.

Also the last I heard Hyper’s sale numbers were actually up… but yes, the thought of the collapse of print media is both disturbing and sad to me. While it is an eventual inevitability, I don’t think Hyper is near that point at the moment, especially since it’s the only real Australian multi-format gaming mag around these days. I’ve generally always gotten more out of print media, though. Unless I’m incredibly interested in a game and want to read up about it as much as possible, I have a habit of reading reviews and previews in mags almost exclusively, and skipping to the scores/last paragraphs on a lot of online pages. Perhaps not having to pay for them makes me less interested in actually taking in all the information provided, because there’s no sense of getting my money’s worth? It’s hard to say for sure. I know a lot of our readers like to print off Pixel Hunt and take it to the bog with them, and a lot of people tell us they’d love to see it printed as a proper magazine. Perhaps the main struggle print gaming media now faces comes from the kids who have had the internet their whole lives, and never experienced the joy of a magazine exclusive review, who are simply used to getting all the content for free and cannot fanthom actually paying to read about games. In any case, as much as I love Pixel Hunt, I’d hate to think of people reading it in lieu of Hyper- I think they’re both great.

I must admit that my reasons for starting up Pixel Hunt had more to do with the fact that I live in WA – where I am largely dislocated from the industry (limited to the odd phone call and email), rather than with any aspirations to be in ‘competition’ with magazines such as Hyper. I felt that there was room for a project that allows freelance writers like myself to make themselves heard. That and… well, I probably have far too much free time.

I’ve been a longtime reader and fan of Hyper, even before I started writing for them, so I really do hope they survive the seeming demise of print media.

Anyway, well done and I might link to this on the PH site if that’s okay.