PC Gamer Digital - the new level of diskmags?
category: general [glöplog]
Recently I noticed that Steam started selling something called PC Gamer Digital. Since it was cheap and looked interesting, I checked it out solely out of curiousity and was surprised of the quality of the whole thing.
First, it has an episode browser where you can buy/install/uninstall episodes (ridiculously convenient).
Second, while the actual articles are mostly video, or picture + voiceover (text articles seem to be completely gone), the layout is really compelling (though I admit I should try this in a lower resolution to see how well it scales), and there are neat little featurettes like this "compare image before and after" mode:
(The commenting feature on the top right is also a nice idea, although admittedly I wasn't that interested in it.)
Now while I admit that ~1GB for a mag might be just wrong (again, most of it is video which isn't that interesting from the scene-perspective), there's certainly a strong element of coolness in this, the same way that Portal 2 postmortem thingy was really entertaining. It seems to me that despite the "web browsers should be enough for everyone"-phenomenon, digital magazines seem to be going through some sort of reinvention, so perhaps diskmags will / can / should follow suit?
First, it has an episode browser where you can buy/install/uninstall episodes (ridiculously convenient).
Second, while the actual articles are mostly video, or picture + voiceover (text articles seem to be completely gone), the layout is really compelling (though I admit I should try this in a lower resolution to see how well it scales), and there are neat little featurettes like this "compare image before and after" mode:
(The commenting feature on the top right is also a nice idea, although admittedly I wasn't that interested in it.)
Now while I admit that ~1GB for a mag might be just wrong (again, most of it is video which isn't that interesting from the scene-perspective), there's certainly a strong element of coolness in this, the same way that Portal 2 postmortem thingy was really entertaining. It seems to me that despite the "web browsers should be enough for everyone"-phenomenon, digital magazines seem to be going through some sort of reinvention, so perhaps diskmags will / can / should follow suit?
I agree, more text less videos would have been nice. An option to stream or at least download the videos at a later time would be even better then.
Also i think there needs to be more free content to make it a success, maybe with above mentioned text articles (like, the ones published at pcgamer.com for free anyway?).
Interesting approach nontheless, i doubt its impact on the diskmag-scene as long its so heavily dependant on video-content, tho.
Also i think there needs to be more free content to make it a success, maybe with above mentioned text articles (like, the ones published at pcgamer.com for free anyway?).
Interesting approach nontheless, i doubt its impact on the diskmag-scene as long its so heavily dependant on video-content, tho.
More text less videos, yes, but embedding a HD youtube capture in an article about a demo should definitely happen. Embedding the demos themselves, too (webgl should make this possible at least).
yay, the episodic diskmag. *remembers an idea of pantaloon in 2004* :P
Zine Radio showed how diskmags should have gone, now we need Zine TV. (still with Okkie and Axel)
yes. im all for a tvshow!!! dailyshow style :D
psonice: That's just technicality though.
I suppose my point is - content seems to be streamlined down to more visual / audio aspects with less text. Even that Portal 2 thing is basically just ONE big article with lots of pictures. So assuming there is a demand for "journalism" in the scene, what's the way to go?
I suppose my point is - content seems to be streamlined down to more visual / audio aspects with less text. Even that Portal 2 thing is basically just ONE big article with lots of pictures. So assuming there is a demand for "journalism" in the scene, what's the way to go?
One well-thought paragraph of text is worth a thousand pictures.
Preacher: when it comes to time invested, yes, exactly :D