GameQ: the official magazine of GameFly launches on iPad

GameFly Media, parent company of Shacknews, has launched a brand new digital magazine. Called GameQ, it is the "official magazine of GameFly"--and best of all, it's free.

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GameFly Media, parent company of Shacknews, has launched a brand new digital magazine. Called GameQ, it is the "official magazine of GameFly"--and best of all, it's free. Available now on the iPad, the interactive digital magazine combines exclusive articles with screenshots and videos, all in a sleek, easy-to-understand interface. Issue one covers Halo 4, Max Payne 3, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and much more. Initial reviews have been positive from iTunes users, with Philly RPG calling it "literally the best digital magazine I have ever seen!" However, some users point out the lack of Retina support for the new iPad, and the large issue file size (around 400MB). While iPad owners are getting a first jump at the magazine, Android users need not feel left out. A version for Android tablets is also on the way.

GameQ

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    May 7, 2012 9:30 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, GameQ: the official magazine of GameFly launches on iPad.

    GameFly Media, parent company of Shacknews, has launched a brand new digital magazine. Called Game Q, it is the "official magazine of GameFly"--and best of all, it's free.

    • reply
      May 7, 2012 10:00 AM

      that first issue is huge. 400MB

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      May 7, 2012 10:25 AM

      The issue is stunning, in terms of design. I especially love the font choices. My only questions are:

      1. A PDF download of some sort for those of us poor souls who don't have an iPad;
      2. How and will I ever be able to apply to work on it? I would give my organs to work for GameFly Media and Garnett, specifically. As a page designer and copy editor who also loves games, this is a gal's dream job.

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        May 7, 2012 10:36 AM

        Thanks for the compliment!

        Probably not on a pure .pdf format. We do have an Android version that should be up *very* soon.

        Beyond that we have thoughts and plans but nothing I can share quite yet.

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          May 7, 2012 12:21 PM

          Chapeau. I'm loving it!

          It's fantastic to have something that effectively uses the capabilities of the iPad for reading interactive content. Navigating gaming websites still feels so clunky, even mobile versions. This is a fun reading experience, combined with great editorial content and you definitely got me hooked!

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          May 7, 2012 12:55 PM

          I can roll with the Android version on my phone, so it's something for me. Color me excited for whatever comes out of this.

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        May 7, 2012 11:13 AM

        [deleted]

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          May 7, 2012 12:22 PM

          [deleted]

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          May 7, 2012 12:47 PM

          Man, I am all about some Garnett! I've been following him since the days of EGM. I'm probably an even bigger fan of John Davison, and that goes back to 1997/98 during his early days at EGM.

          Garnett affects the way I make my money: My day job work is not started until my weekend is confirmed, LOL.

      • ECO legacy 10 years
        reply
        May 7, 2012 1:22 PM

        No PDF version, but we are going to have something soon that will be viewable inside the GF digital client for those who don't have tablets. Obviously, it won't have all the virtues of native tablet apps, but the content will be there and accessible for desktop/alptop users. Stay tuned.

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      May 7, 2012 10:31 AM

      Any chance we'll ever see an iPhone version?

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      May 7, 2012 10:38 AM

      These companies who think they can take jpegs and pack them up into an application are crazy. Why are media companies still doing this?

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        May 7, 2012 11:02 AM

        It beats trying to publish a print magazine, which has been proven to be a hopeless money pit that only results in publications with information that's 3 weeks late. I expected to see something like this, considering that Garnett came out of 1UP under Ziff-Davis, and probably wanted to explore some of the better parts of print magazine game journalism without suffering the idiocracy of the politics of publishing on paper.

        Then again, look what happened to EGMi. I had to Google search to see if it still existed, and apparently it does.

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          May 7, 2012 12:36 PM

          Agreed. Though I work in the print side of publishing, I couldn't, for the sake of my cost-effective sanity, publish my even my tiny publication on paper. For instance, the price I was quoted for a 36-page run in color on a newspaper's press was well above $2,000. We're not even talking about anything fancy like a magazine; just a small zine. And even though I worked for this particular newspaper at the time, there was no such thing as an employee discount. Now imagine what's that like for a magazine on the scale of an EGM back in the day or a Game Informer. I immediately went the route of PDF publishing, which is why I asked about it earlier. That way, anyone can download it at their leisure, and if they want to print it, they can. The mobile delivery model works wonders these days, and I wish I could afford to throw down on an iPad or tablet of some type. Alas, I'm on a journalist's salary, and it is nigh impossible to make that work anytime soon.

          Also, 1up is now doing a digital magazine, though they eventually publish their stories on the site later. The problem with it is, while it's nicely done and a great read, it's not free. They were, and may be still, charging $11.95 for it. That's a no. I miss their cover stories (a nod to Garnett, also :) ) from back in the day. The design was outright delicious to look at and the stories were excellent. I'm inspired by those to this day.

          In terms of time, with my own product, I had to decide early on to structure it so that it wasn't time sensitive. The thing about "three weeks late" was the main factor. So, we publish every quarter but stories are reviews of older games and features on classic games and the stuff around it. Probably the only time sensitive stuff we even try to get at is E3. It's too big to miss even if it is a few weeks after the fact. In this day and age of instant news cycle, you have to decide how quickly you want to publish or risk being behind. I have a default Game Informer sub but really it's to look at the design and writing style (to see how the current professionals do it). I have to stay current in that regard.

          Sorry for the novel. I'm a writer, can't you tell?

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        May 7, 2012 12:28 PM

        they should jsut use vector graphics so it scales properly everywhere

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      May 7, 2012 12:32 PM

      [deleted]

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      May 7, 2012 12:42 PM

      Cool, when the Android version hits I'll check it out

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      May 7, 2012 1:06 PM

      Hey just an idea here, have a guest column where people from the front page/chatty can write small (250 or some such size) word essays or reviews and be featured in the magazine. It would build community involvement, and be a fun way to encourage people to download the app to see their (or online friends') stories.

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      May 7, 2012 2:03 PM

      Cute magazine - love the art design - but I wasn't enthralled by most of the articles. The stuff on lesser-known indie games was great, but the self-congratulatory articles on ME3 and Halo 4 etc just weren't interesting to read. If you guys are going with the magazine format you need to give some interesting insights and talk about things other than from a controlled PR perspective, or else you're going to be beaten by the 24-hour news blogs by default.

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        May 7, 2012 8:12 PM

        After reading the first two articles about ME3 and MP3 I agree. It's way too obvious that Gamefly wants you to rent the games with them in a best case scenario...

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      May 7, 2012 2:11 PM

      400MB, non-Retina? I'm gonna need a new iPad for this!

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      May 7, 2012 7:36 PM

      It's free? Very surprising.

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      May 8, 2012 5:47 AM

      Downloading now. I really like the idea behind this! 400MB is kind of hefty, though, and that's not even Retina Display quality! I won't pretend to know the first thing about how any of this works, but multisync's idea of vectorizing/optimizing the art sounds like something you might want to consider.

      Will have more feedback when the download's complete!

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      May 8, 2012 8:46 AM

      I like it. I can forgive a lot in a free magazine. Subscribe button pressed.

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      May 10, 2012 5:39 AM

      This is absolutely gorgeous. Brilliant layout, innovative design; I can't believe it's free. The instant-playback of videos I think justifies the hefty download size. For the first time since I've owned an iPod, I will post feedback on the App Store about this fantastic publication.

      Great work!

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