No more Comic Heroes

[Neo Yahtzee]

I presume there's a couple of free gifts etc - it's odd though that the only online presence of the mag is the link to buy it. Doesn't bode well for the care the company is putting into getting this out there.

[IndigoPrime]

Sadly, that's Future Publishing all over these days. It nuked most of its websites a couple of years back, unwisely trying to shove all of the content into portals. So you now have TechRadar, CreativeBloq and GamesRadar, and very few brands online. Even Edge didn't make it.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

The Journal gets a mention in the relaunched issue - thanks to small press titan Mike Garley !

[Hawkmumbler]

Wahay! Nice bit of pimping their, CFM.

[COMMANDO FORCES]

Where's my bloody copy, aaaargh!

[Neo Yahtzee]

This hits the shelves tomorrow?

[COMMANDO FORCES]

So there was no point in buying the one issue subscription, if I can get it from the shop before it drops through the letterbox. The few quid saving is nothing as far as I'm concerned, so if this is the way forward, then I'll get it from Smiths from now on.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

That photo is of the writer's comp copy I'd imagine, no need to panic!

[Spaceghost]

All I have to say is this - EIGHT QUID???

Low readership. Niche. High production values. Bespoke content. Even run-of-the-mill games mags are in the seven/eight quid ballpark now. Computer mags are usually six or more, for 100 or so pages, a chunk of which may well be standing copy.

I suppose I'm out of touch with the going rate for magazines. I don't think I've bought a single one since 2011 and that was only to read the article on the Dredd film.

There's more than enough of the stuff I like on the internet for free.

[Spaceghost]

... And I don't just mean hardcore pornography.

[IndigoPrime]

That photo is of the writer's comp copy I'd imagine, no need to panic!

Perhaps, although those are like hen's teeth from Future these days, believe me.

There's more than enough of the stuff I like on the internet for free.

Although who knows for how much longer? Ad revenues are tanking. Money's vanishing. When no-one wants to pay for anything, it'll all come back to bite people sooner or later, and everyone will wonder where the quality and content has gone. (Not a specific dig at you, note, Spaceghost, but I hear this sort of thing a lot, and it makes me a little sad for the future.)

[Fungus]

Agreed, 'free' is a worrying trend and I for one am looking forward to the revived Comic Heroes and the content it has long provided. Long may the prog and meg and Comic Heroes appear in my W H Smith.

[IndigoPrime]

I write about mobile games a lot, and so chance across App Store reviews. One recently was of Threes! Free, which is the free version of mobile puzzler Threes! The review blasted the game for its economic model, which, apparently, ruined everything. Said model: you watch video ads to recharge the number of games you can play. The ads are short and you get three games for every one you watch. Games can be banked, too, so you can set aside your iPhone/Android and run a bunch of ads one after the other, to build up a large number of free games. Or, you know, you can just pay three quid for the best mobile puzzle game since Drop7.

But that's the way of the world now. People will pay 500+ quid for a smartphone, or think nothing about splashing out 40 quid a month on a smartphone contract; they'll pay a fiver for an over-the-top coffee or a crap sandwich. But media is now effectively worthless. I've even seen people grumbling about the likes of Netflix not having all the latest blockbusters on it, for your seven quid per month. Gnh.

[COMMANDO FORCES]

Just back from the town and there is a pile of the buggers in Smiths and they cost $7.99.

So I've paid full price for this mag to be delivered to my house after it's been released in the shops. How on earth does that work!

[James Stacey]

and more importantly, why are they priced in dollars