Forum - View topicNewtype Is Shrinking!
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freshkazuki
 Posts: 235 Location: Texas |
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Has anyone noticed the reduction in pages of Newtype Magazine? This time last year it was averaging around 200 pages at $9.95 an issue, then this year it went down to around 192, and the August and September 2005 issues were 160 pages! So why are we paying 3$ more for a magazine that is getting increasingly smaller? And what was the whole DVD scam about? I mean, they discontinued putting the DVD in there for a while and then when they put it back in, they used that as an excuse to raise the price from 10$ to 13$! Ok, rip-off accepted, but don't give less pages for more money. Not to mention the fact that they have more reviews of videogames now than manga. It looks like Newtype might become the Blender of the anime world. All pictures and no intelligence. But its ADV, the company that bungled an entire manga line and put an entire fanbase into limbo about their favorite manga series. What's next, they'll make Newtype black and white for a few months and then put the color back in and charge 16$?
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Seanb
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 73 Location: RI, but Colorado is still home |
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I don't think it should come as a surprise. A large-format magazine, printed backwards, full-color with full-page graphics all over the place. Newtype has/had really high advertising rates, and really, a limited advertiser pool. That's not a cheap magazine to print. A lot of cash is needed to even break even, and that money comes from...
Modern magazines survive through advertisers. The people who buy the magazine are just there to get numbers to attract more advertisers. More subscribers or people buying the magazine generally doesn't translate to the magazine making money. Never mind that I don't think a lot of people actually READ Newtype. I always assume that most are there for the pretty pictures, and most of those can be had online, or you can just get Japanese Newtype issues, where you get the pictures sooner and still don't care about the text. |
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Iemander
 Posts: 443 |
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Euhm, I don't think you're right about that. Saying a magazine presses the costs with advertising is one thing, but saying all magazines use this as a main source of profits seems a little far fetched.
There are actually alot of magazines that promote the fact that they have very little advertising. In fact, the most popular computer magazine here in Belgium uses very minimal and a barely noticable amount of advertisement. |
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biliano
Posts: 956 Location: Cleveland, OH |
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Well, I'm one of the few that actually read Newtype USA - I use it as secondary resource material for anime research (along with Anime Insider and Protoculture Addicts). However, I am a bit concern with several of the major changes that were made in the magazine:
1. The Newtype Express section, which originally was located after the featured articles, is now located at the front of the magazine - between the table of contents and the featured articles. I feel that this move should have been done a long time ago since this section is mainly a news section. It displays current events and upcoming releases and projects in the anime/manga industry. 2. The manga insert, which originally was located after the Newtype Express section, is now located at the center of the magazine (surronding the centerfold poster). Not a move of real concern, but noteworthy otherwise. 3. Perhaps the main reason why the magazine has shrunk from 192 pages to 160 - and a move that I strongly opposed to - is the elimination of the Anime Land section. In case you've forgotten, the Anime Land section contained episode guides to anime currently airing in Japan, along with listings of upcoming releases in anime, manga, and games both in the US and Japan. The section also had a listing of the top 10-monthly selling DVDS and books in the US, and also listed upcoming anime conventions and events. While NTUSA kept the upcoming DVD and manga releases, top-10 monthly sales, and upcoming conventions (they are now listed in the Newtype Forum section), I am greatly upset that the Anime Land section was eliminated. This section gave good synopsis of the programming that aired in Japan, and I used it as a guide to scout these programs should they eventually make their way into the Western fanbase. I renewed my subscription to NTUSA a couple of months ago, and I'm still going to be loyal to the magazine. While I am upset that they eliminated Anime Land, I still find the articles very informative and helpful as I continue to learn more about this fascinating medium called anime. 
Last edited by biliano on Sun Aug 28, 2005 1:04 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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freshkazuki
Posts: 235 Location: Texas |
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Wow, hearing you recite all the cuts makes it worse  . I hadn't really went back to see exactly which sections they had cut. To me, it seems like none of the anime magazines seem to offer a total package. Newtype is too pacifistic in terms of their reviews, I mean, they never criticize ANYTHING. It's like they are the lapdog of the industry. They probably do not want to hurt anime or manga sales by giving any negative reviews. If there was an anime about Inuyasha's left toe, they wouldn't have any complaints. Anime Insider seems geared towards the casual fan and never goes into anything in depth, and their review section is awful. I don't know, to me, there is so much anime and manga out there, I like to read reviews so you can get a good idea of what to spend your money on. While it is entertaining to read an article about who would win in a fictional battle between the mecha from Evangelion and Rahxephon.....Actually, that isn't entertaining  , nevermind. Protoculture Addicts is lacking in the presentation and low issue rate. To me, the best magazine going right now is NEO, an English import of what Newtype wishes it could be. The only problem with it is that English releases of anime and manga are months or even years behind the American. But it's still a really great magazine. So I guess if someone could make a mag that blends Newtype, Protoculture, and NEO, that would be the perfect magazine. And it needs to be independent from a company that publishes manga or makes anime.
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biliano
Posts: 956 Location: Cleveland, OH |
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My friend, don't even get me started on how pathetically lame NTUSA's reviews are, but I think this stems from what happened when NTUSA first came out. One of their past reviewers wrote very critical reviews of the two Evangelion movies, Death and Rebirth and End of Evangelion. Many people thought that these reviews were written in a way for ADV to basically "get even" with Manga Entertainment for licensing the two Eva movies, since ADV of course has the license to the TV series. Needless to say Manga Entertainment's CEO Marvin Gleicher was extremely irate with the reviews that he wrote a letter to the editor of NTUSAcriticizing them for their "biased and disrespectful review" of the Eva movies. I didn't know about this until a few months ago, but even though I still complain to this day that NTUSA should improve on the quality of their reviews and be more crtitcal, they felt that it isn't worth writing a negative review in fear of having more Marvin Gleichers invading their turf and accusing them and their readers of being "suckas".
I do agree with you that Anime Insider is more designed for the casual fan, but it does have good columns. The Last Man Standing column you are referring to is one of my favorite columns in the magazine (as long as they don't do any more Tetsuo vs. Hamtaro-type matches  ). I do find it a highly entertaining read because not only does it create good hypothetical matchups (like Kira Yamato vs. Shinji Ikari), but they are written in a way that doesn't show a lot of favortism towards either of the combatents. (Plus, I wanted to read a Kira/Shinji matchup ever since Gundam SEED first came to America. )
I expect that to change in the near future. Chris mentioned at Otakon that they plan to create a new logo design for the magazine, so maybe that will attract new readers. He also mentioned that the number of subscriptions for Protoculture has increased since they partnered with ANN, but unfortunately circulation in the direct market is shrinking. Also remember that Protoculture is the cheapest anime magazine among the three ($4.95 US compared to $5.99 US for Anime Insider and NTUSA's astronomical price tag).
I'll take you word for it. Do they have a website so we can take a look at what this magazine has to offer? Form what you said, it sounds pretty interesting. 
I might have one for you - Animefringe. 
Last edited by biliano on Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:48 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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Emerje
 Posts: 7407 Location: Maine |
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Flipping through it at B&N it just seemed like a more colorful Animerica to me or a very compact Newtype, but even more behind the times since it's based in Europe. Here's the official website: http://www.neomag.co.uk/ I'll just stick with Protoculture, it's the best mag going for my money though I do pick up Anime Insider for something different. Newtype flip-flops too much, you don't get your moneys worth any more. Emerje |
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Aromatic Grass
 Posts: 2424 Location: Raleigh, NC |
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Me too!
I was going to make a thread for all of this. At first, I thought the change was confusing because I opened it straight to the Express, and not the Features. Although I do like the redesign, there are a few parts I liked that they cut out. It also may take awhile to get used to opening to the Express. |
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Aromatic Grass
Posts: 2424 Location: Raleigh, NC |
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That explains some things. I think their DVD, Book, Game, etc. of the Month could improve, too. A few really bad video games have been named "Game of the Month." |
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freshkazuki
Posts: 235 Location: Texas |
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If all it took was one letter to silence a review staff, that would be kinda spineless. I wonder if the reviewers are given "directives" on what they can do? I have noticed lately that Newtype has tried to offer some token negativity but by the end of the review its back to the flower power and how great and wonderful even this mediocre show is! They would give the videogame "Sesame Street VS. Capcom" Game of the month!
Yeah, I bought my first issue of Protoculture last month and I agree it is the best value. Neo, the magazine I referred to, has a cover price of 6.99. Another poster wrote that he looked at it and it seemed like a more compact version of Newtype. I agree with that in some respects. The big difference is the price. Also, Neo seems more focused on including more aspects of Asian culture, including manga, anime, live-action films, games, music, and pop culture which I find fascinating. Also, they widely differ in terms of reviews. Neo is insightful and not afraid to torpedo a bad show or manga. I think that Newtype in its present form can not continue. If they keep the price at 13$ and continue dropping pages and columns, who is going to pay that price? I won't. Fans shouldn't have to bail them out of their bad business ventures! Don't get me wrong, I don't want every review of anime to be negative, but reviews need to have balance, what you liked and didn't like about a show or a manga. Because if you can't see both sides, the review is just a rubber stamp you can place any piece of junk. |
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kusanagi-sama
 Posts: 1723 Location: Wichita Falls, TX |
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And I do as well. I also keep the magazines and DVDs (my subscription ran out in January and I haven't had the money to renew my subscription). My subscription was from Nov 03 to Jan 05 |
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freshkazuki
Posts: 235 Location: Texas |
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I actually TRIED to subscribe and it was two months before they billed me, and then they said the first issue was on the way. A month later, and no magazine. So I just told them I wasnt interested anymore. It's easier just to pick it up in the store. Since they cut out so many pages now, I'm beginning to think that instead of spending money on Newtype, I could just spend that money on a an actual anime DVD! They need to shrink it to normal magazine size and cut the price. |
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dirkdirk
Posts: 2 |
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Magazines like the Official Xbox magazine or the PS2 magazine that come with a disc, they're $10 and are usually barely 100 (usually LAME) pages. Newtype's larger format, on nicer paper, etc. and it's $3 more, but honestly...there's no other anime magazine like it in the US and I like having access to some of the material they print in English. For me, it is well worth the cost, even with the things they've recently dropped.
The way I look at Newtype USA is this... after reading one of their reviews and looking at the images on the page, I can usually tell if *I* am going to like a particular title. The reviews give me enough information to where I can tell if it fits my tastes. Anyone know if the Japanese Newtype is negative much at all? I've heard from native-speaking friends that it isn't, so, I don't see the problem if the "USA" version is the same way. Besides, if they ripped on something you like/love you'd be just as pissed/dismissive of them. So which would you rather have?
So many pages? 20-30 that I bet most people never even looked at? It's still more than you get with the other anime magazines, on better paper, with better image quality and (IMO) more interesting, in-depth articles. If you use the review section as I do you get more out of it, then there's Official Art, voice actor profiles, the manga and the DVD sampler that's had *3* episodes on it for the last two months. I like Newtype's format and would be *very* disappointed if it shrunk just to appease someone who can't afford $13 (equiv. to about 4 gallons of gas in the states!). I'm just happy that someone's done something like Newtype -- taken a Japanese magazine and localized it for the US. My guess is that as other magazines (video games, entertainment mags, etc.) shrink and turn to crappier paper quality that it is a very difficult job to keep something like Newtype going, and I'm happy for every issue I get. |
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Abarenbo Shogun
 Posts: 1573 |
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Official XBox Magazine is $9.99, OPM is $8.99. FYI. |
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biliano
Posts: 956 Location: Cleveland, OH |
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I second this comment. Although I love reading Anime Insider, Protoculture Addicts, and Animefringe, the Newtype articles just feel more in tune to the Japanese culture than the articles contained in the other three. As I mentioned in my earlier posts, I use these magazines as a secondary source for research (ANN is #1, of course ), and NTUSA is my preferred magazine of choice. Although I'm still ticked off that they eliminated Anime Land, the other columns that were eliminated were probably just filler material that just made the magazine look better. What AD Vision is doing to NTUSA is simply implying the suggestions their readers submit every month when they turn in those contest entries that you find in the magazine. I know I sent in my fair share of suggestions over the last 2+ years that I've been reading NTUSA (however, it doesn't help my chances of winning any of their prizes - I haven't won anything from them yet.  ).
Last edited by biliano on Sun Sep 04, 2005 4:38 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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