OXM Digitalizes Onto Xbox Live Marketplace
- Scribbled on July 26th, 2007 by Devin Grimes
- Filed in Industry News, Microsoft Xbox 360
In the September 2007 issue of the Official Xbox Magazine, Editor-in-Chief Francesca Reyes revealed plans to extend the magazine’s coverage beyond the newsstands and onto the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Reyes announced that everything that was previously included in the retail version of the magazine will still be included in what is being called “OXM Digital,” with “lots of exclusive interactive content, including gamer pics, themes, videos, galleries… stuff we can’t do in print.”
Each “issue” will cost gamers a cheap 200 MS Points (USD $2.50) and will unlock all the exclusive content, including demos — which may spark debate as to whether we’ll have to pay for our once free samplers in the future.
OXM currently has no plans to rid the consumers of options though, Senior Editor Dan Amrich stated that the magazine will still be available in its current form:
If you’re a disc person, you get your disc as you always have, and the demo in question will be on there. If you are a Marketplace person, you get your download. It’s whichever version works better for you, but you don’t have to miss out when we get exclusive demos like Katamari Damacy or Eternal Sonata or whatever.
It’s a very interesting turn of events, and could very well lead to the way we perceive our news being handed to us — but does this really matter? Exclusive demos are a great idea, but suddenly we’re paying for something we got for free. And the process of digitalizing our news means it will be available much faster, but still not as fast as game web sites and blogs. Who knows, though…it could be a smashing success, but reading long bouts of content on a computer monitor can get stirring enough, and reading from your television seems even worse.
(Via GameSetWatch)
July 26th, 2007 at 11:56 am
I’ve been waiting for something like this since the rumored Nintendo Power Channel on the Wii. I think it’s a great idea but I have to wonder whether even $2.50 is too much.
How much is an actual subscription to OXM? I can’t imagine how much they are saving by digital distribution (40-70% is my guess, does anybody know how much publication generally costs?).
Also, pricing it substantially less than the print version would drive more people to the digital version, which I’m sure is what they want so they can eventually do away with print.
July 26th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
I subscribed for 50 Canadian in February - I got raped with an additional “global charge” but believe a subscription is under 30 bucks for 13 issues?
July 26th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
“I think it’s a great idea but I have to wonder whether even $2.50 is too much.”
The magazine is $8, cheapskate.
July 26th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
It’s $8 per issue? Wow. Aren’t most magazines $3-4 for the newsstand price (subscription is even lower)?
Regardless, if the print version is $8 then obviously $2.50 seems about right for the digital. I was assuming the print version was $3-4.
July 28th, 2007 at 12:22 am
Don’t forget about the disc
OPM was the same way.