Forum - View topicNEWS: Newtype Readers Unhappy with DVD change
|
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
beverins
Posts: 34 |
|
||
|
I think their DVD is the one thing they do right... The Japanese one has other nifty things, that the American one just doesn't have. They have calendars, postcards, and sometimes two posters and a centerfold. Granted, they sell way more issues than the USA version.
If they can't afford to have a DVD, then they really should look into some other promotion inside every issue that makes buyers feel is worth the high asking price. Or, add more pages. If theft of the DVD is a problem, do what other magazines do - put it in a pouch that becomes a hassle of breaking into. Or, put it on the cover like British magazines do - sometimes being out in the open makes it too obvious to steal. I haven't recently seen any British magazines with bold print of "FREE PROGRAM! Worth $400!" being bereft of their coverdisk. Maybe they have something there, instead of a paper sleeve shoved into the middle of the pages like ADV does. |
|||
|
|||
|
cookie
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 2460 Location: Do not contact me for support. |
|
||
|
The poll isn't scientific, and shouldn't be treated as such. After all, there's no guarantee that anyone who voted actually purchased a NewType, ever. There's no guarantee that they'll follow-up on how they voted, either.
However, it _probably_ is accurate enough (with >1000 responses) to gauge some rough trends in anime fandom. The coming 3-6 months will determine how fans ACTUALLY react to the change, and then it'll still probably be another 3-6 months before any business decision is made based on the reaction ("Should the DVD stay removed?" "Should we raise/lower the price to compensate?", etc) |
|||
|
|||
|
sinistertaco
Posts: 96 |
|
||
|
I'm actualy kind of suprised that Newtype USA has lasted as long as it as. From a design standpoint, it was one of the most amateurish and horribly designed mag interiors I've ever laid eyes upon. Text runs into pictures, the formatting is sometimes just downright bizarre, and the overall content is nothing to write home about with way too much fanboy/girl emphasis and not enough actual content. Someone should tell them that not all anime fans are so enamored of anime FANDOM.
It's improved some since the early issues, of course, but it's still not great. |
|||
|
|||
|
MugenKing
Posts: 2 |
|
||
|
The only reason I'm considering leaving Newtype USA is because of its lack of any "real" anime news coverage. I mean come-on, how many articles on Kiddy Grade must I endure. There's a ton of new shows that get only a tiny blurb in the magazine, that I would like to know about. They are clearly more interested in serving their advertisers wishes than actually providing a service to the true anime fan.
I have been a Newtype Japan fan since it started printing and have a library of over 6 years worth of issues of the magazine. Granted, the japanese version has its HEAVY Gundam bias, but it never blantantly flaunted its advertisers demands over its fans, At least not as bad as the american version does. Of course theres the issue of the advertisers being backers for the magazine.(Newtype USA probably wouldn't have gotten off the ground without them) So how about a compromise for the fans? I'll give them my undivided attention for an article on Kiddy Grade every six months, if they give me real "up to date" new show articles the rest of the time. Okay? I didn't think so. |
|||
|
|||
RadicaLElly
 Posts: 194 Location: Coral Springs, FL |
|
||
|
To be fair, I can see why they would want to do this. I can't count the number of times I've walked into a Barnes & Noble or Borders and seen the shrinkwrap torn off various copies of Newtype and the DVDs stolen.
~ Elly |
|||
|
|||
|
kopiikat
Posts: 29 Location: a realm of subtitles and bad dubbing |
|
||
|
I agree about the formatting, but that's probably because it's pretty much based on the Japanese. If you look at Japanese magazine or manga covers, especially for kids, they're ridiculously difficult to read and all the pictures are smashed together.
Japanese as a language simply works better in random formats, I think, since it can be read in multiple directions and can be split up pretty randomly, and lots of random English titles are more like decoration than content. Honestly, Newtype shouldn't really appeal to English readers, but since enough people think pretty anime pictures are interesting enough to spend $10 on, they continue buying it. I used to enjoy Newtype more, but now it's hard to care about it since it's all pictures of Gundam Seed with a different (yet similar) plot summary each issue. Pictures are just pictures. I'm not sure what content should be added, however. The random new content they add sometimes doesn't seem to cut it. (Example: Card Captor Sakura pictures that aren't exactly magazine quality with random captions about what's going on in them. Well, I guess it's new to someone.) Most things that might really improve Newtype would probably require substantial reworking to make them worth it, and they probably don't have that kind of manpower right now. I'm sure ADV gets plenty of "ideas" in angry letters, but it would be interesting to see what new things you guys would suggest. Anyone? |
|||
|
|||
Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
|
||
|
I really don't like Newtype. Boring articles and poor design. I think the only reason its been successful is because of the DVD.
|
|||
|
|||
littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
|
||
My Barnes and Noble actually removed the shrinkwrap one month to all their Newtypes and were selling it like that. I have no idea why they did it, but I find it hard to believe someone opened all their issues to get the dvds. |
|||
|
|||
|
Case
Posts: 1016 |
|
||
|
I don't know about anybody else, but it seems to me that Newtype USA has slowly been decreasing its page count since Issue 1. That made me less and less excited to buy the magazine every month. The exclusion of the DVD is just "the straw that breaks the camel's back". If they dropped the DVD, but kept the 200-page format that they had in the beginning, I would probably continue to buy.
Also, the subscription process seems to be highly flawed, and I don't know how ADV can possibly come out on top after this huge change. I filled out a subscription form (online) two to three weeks ago, and they said they would bill me by mail, but I have never received any followup. Anyone else had the same experience? Is this a sign that Newtype USA is going the way of Raijin Comics? |
|||
|
|||
XenoCrisis0153
 Posts: 30 Location: Boston, Mass |
|
||
|
I have a suggestion for retailers: keep the DVDs behind the front desk and hand them out to customers after they purchase the newsstand issues.
|
|||
|
|||
Poppycock
 Posts: 119 Location: IL |
|
||
thats what i was thinking. You can show them you got the magazine and they hand over the DVD or somthing. |
|||
|
|||
|
deathbringer
Posts: 276 |
|
||
That's not why they're doing it, that's why they say they're doing it. They had a poll a few months ago about taking stuff out of the magazine, originally they were going to raise the price to $13 but everyone said they would stop buying it. So I guess as a compromise they took the DVD out of the magazine and left it at $10, which wasn't really a good idea, as now most people won't buy it anyways. I'm surprised that only 45% aren't buying it. I mean the magazine is a month behind what's actually happening in Japan, so by the time I read it I know everything in there anyways. Anime Insider is only $5 and a much better magazine. Buy that instead. And I'm saying this having purchased every Newtype USA up until they took the DVD out except for two. |
|||
|
|||
|
RadicaLElly
Posts: 194 Location: Coral Springs, FL |
|
||
|
I never said EVERY issue of Newtype was opened and stolen from. There would be a few lying around that would be in shrinkwrap and some that wouldn't be. All of the ones that wouldn't be would have the DVD inserts missing and sometimes the poster and/or centerfold.
Gawd, sorry to offend all you anti-Newtype people. As long as we're talking about polls, In a November 11, 2003 ANN poll, 67.8% said the anime mag they're most likely to read regularly was Newtype USA. Suddenly everyone here is bashing Newtype. What happned within one year besides the loss of the DVD insert in retail copies could have changed all those opinions? |
|||
|
|||
|
deathbringer
Posts: 276 |
|
||
Well, I wasn't here then, but do you remember the other choices? I wouldn't have voted for Newtype USA. I bolded the answer to your last question. |
|||
|
|||
qollocust
 Posts: 182 Location: Philadelphia |
|
||
|
I haven't bought Newtype in ages. I bought it a few times after it came out, but it really wasn't worth shelling out $10 for it. It's expensive enough keeping up with my anime and manga series. I really didn't get much out of reading them and most of the time the posters and stuff weren't of series I knew/liked.
I've found it a lot easier to keep up with anime news by surfing the internet. |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group