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NEWS: Freelancers Report that PiQ's July Issue Is Its Last


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calimike



Joined: 11 Feb 2008
Posts: 113
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:20 am Reply with quote
I think many industry acquit anime, hentai, and manga license too many. Call for cut license. Save $$$
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vtnwesley



Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 171
Location: Natrona Heights, PA
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:20 am Reply with quote
Anime fans can be a bit finicky. They (usually) know what they want, and I haven't heard of too many anime fans who liked PiQ. I wonder if they focus tested it amongst anime fans and non-anime fans. Did either group care that this thing existed?

The internet also makes it a tough purchase. With animenewsnetwork.com , animeondvd.com , and a handful of other quality sites, I couldn't see myself paying for a magazine like this. Magazine's aren't exactly "the bee's knees" anymore. Personally, I am especially conflicted with magazines that come with DVD or software content. That helps a lot, but I know at this point I am too cheap to pay for magazines. The last mag I bought was a Nintendo Power that came with the first episode of IGPX. Not sure if I'd do it all over if I could go back in time, but it was nice seeing ep one early. Money seems better spent on video games, anime, or the occasional non-toy (God forbid).

No one likes it when this is brought up anymore, but there is one other little issue. How do you sell a hobbiest magazine to a demographic of people who in large numbers refuse to even pay for the hobby itself? Anime mags are not cheap. I am cheap, so I won't buy a lot of these sell-substantial items. Some people just outright don't pay for anything though. Piracy unfortunately is easy these days, and that isn't just a knock at the fansub folks. The internet has changed things. No one "needs" to pay for anything, so some feel it's okay not to. I'd imagine this could make a magazine a tough sell.
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CptNerd



Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 12
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:25 am Reply with quote
I can tell you why NewtypeUSA failed, and it's easy to give an example. Look at a copy of Newtype from Japan, flip through the pages, what things do you see the most? Ads. The variety and number of ads that appear in Newtype Japan is enough to keep that publication going. If you look at any issue of NewtypeUSA, you'll be hard-pressed to find even a third of the number of ads. The US just doesn't have the "otaku infrastructure" (to coin a phrase) to support the kind of magazine NewtypeUSA tried to be, which was a clone of the Japanese version. Even if ADV managed to sell ads for every single mom&pop anime store in North America, it still wouldn't make up for the ads from record companies, model shops, etc. that Newtype in Japan could sell.

So, when ADV decided that they couldn't afford to run an anime-only magazine, instead of folding it, they decided to compete with the other gamer/media magazines out there, that had been established for years. Not a good decision unless they could bring something unique to the table, and unfortunately they couldn't. I have to give them credit for trying, but I have to say I saw this coming, once I saw what the original was like, and after being in Japan for a few weeks and seeing just how big the industry is there. Protoculture Addicts seems to have a sustainable model, so far, and I hope they manage to survive.
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icepick314



Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 486
Location: Back in the Good Ol' US of A
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:29 am Reply with quote
i just got the July issue in the mail today...

man...ADV isn't having a good times with all their problems in publications to DVD releases....

ADV is my favorite anime/manga company and hope they won't share same fate as Geneon...

that would be just too depressing to go on as an anime fan...
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rekishi



Joined: 08 Mar 2007
Posts: 78
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:22 am Reply with quote
DmonHiro wrote:
well...DUUUUUHHHH. This was so obvious from the start. How could they think that expanding the domographic was a good idea. PiQ was crap compared to newType. They actually THOUGH this was better the NewType and it blew up in their face. I am glad, maybe now theyll make a REAL replacement for NewType with ONLY anime/manga


i think you will find, that instead of a replacement... there will be an empty void where both NTusa and PiQ once stood...
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Urufudo



Joined: 01 Oct 2005
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:36 am Reply with quote
I don't see what everyone's problem with PiQ is. I picked up the first issue off the news stand and I really enjoyed it. No, it's not an exact replica of NewType USA. No, it's not a replacement for NewType USA. It wasn't intended to be a replacement for it.

It was the only magazine I've ever found that actually covered everything I like; video games, TV shows, movies, anime, comics, etc. And it did it well; the writing was good and the articles were interesting. I even got a subscription to it.

It's such a shame that it's being cancelled only after 4 issues. It's even more of a shame that everyone is treating it like a piece of trash. All I can say is that for everyone who disses the magazine, I hope you actually read it before making an opinion. Razz If more people were open-minded about it, maybe it would have actually sold better. Sigh.
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Clodus



Joined: 25 Dec 2005
Posts: 497
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 6:14 am Reply with quote
I originally have a subscription to Newtype since august 2007 but it ended prematurely so I managed to get 2 for 1 deal meaning I have every issue of PiQ so far which isn't that much but for what its worth.

I thought it a pretty decent magazine. They had some good articles like "Is anime dead" and "lost in translation" was an insightful read. The writing was much better compared to Newtype. Newtype consists of mainly pictures but there attention grabber at least for me was the extras like the preview dvd's and centerfold poster. The biggest turnoff for PiQ was the different sections like movies and games. I wanted an anime based magazine which was what I originally picked up Newtype for, not a variety of current events. Its a shame that its ending but its just like passing a homeless person on the street.
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shattercone



Joined: 11 May 2004
Posts: 44
Location: Tempe, Arizona
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 7:39 am Reply with quote
Urufudo wrote:
I don't see what everyone's problem with PiQ is. I picked up the first issue off the news stand and I really enjoyed it. No, it's not an exact replica of NewType USA. No, it's not a replacement for NewType USA. It wasn't intended to be a replacement for it.

It was the only magazine I've ever found that actually covered everything I like; video games, TV shows, movies, anime, comics, etc. And it did it well; the writing was good and the articles were interesting. I even got a subscription to it.

It's such a shame that it's being cancelled only after 4 issues. It's even more of a shame that everyone is treating it like a piece of trash. All I can say is that for everyone who disses the magazine, I hope you actually read it before making an opinion. Razz If more people were open-minded about it, maybe it would have actually sold better. Sigh.

I agree, it seems people are put off by the fact it dared to cover things beyond the NewType staples. Confused

If this rumor pans out, I will be sad, I was enjoying the issues up till now! I wonder how they'll handle those of us who had NTUSA subscriptions that carried over?
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Maryohki



Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 526
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 7:49 am Reply with quote
PiQ was a stupid idea in the first place. Many people described it as Maxim and other young men's magazines without the hot girl pictures, and that's pretty much dead on. Now, if they'd tried to make a magazine aimed at more nerdy GIRLS, then maybe it would've gotten somewhere. I mean, really, all of the magazines aimed at girls and women save Shojo Beat are almost entirely about relationships, clothes, makeup, and the like, and any entertainment mentioned is crappy chick lit and such. The magazines that DO cover anime, movies, books, video games, etc are all quite blatantly aimed at men, and it feels alienating to read them. (Except Otaku USA. They win at life).
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DuelLadyS



Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 1705
Location: WA state
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:27 am Reply with quote
I honestly don't care much that I won't get PiQ anymore... I was trying to cancel the thing anyway (well now I know why they weren't 'allowing cancellations/refunds', don't I?)

All I'm concerned about is what's going to happen to the rest of my subscription money (I had a full year left when they made the Newtype/PiQ switch.) I'm going to be very angry if I don't get something for the $60/70 they've yet to deliver a product for.
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Kurishojo



Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 14
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:36 am Reply with quote
daedelus wrote:
Ok now. ADV has nothing to do with PiQ.



As it's ADV's magazine, I'd say it has quite a bit to do with ADV actually.

I'm not surprised PiQ is flopping, poor sales have probably cost ADV far more than they were making from it and it certainly didn't recieve a very positive reception in the online community. Have to say, I'm surprised it happened so soon though.
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Hon'ya-chan



Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Posts: 973
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:40 am Reply with quote
Maryohki wrote:
PiQ was a stupid idea in the first place. Many people described it as Maxim and other young men's magazines without the hot girl pictures, and that's pretty much dead on.


Exactly, it was trying to get into an already crowded magazine rack. It didn't bring anything new to the table other than being disgusting insulting to anime fans by being the "replacement" for Newtype USA and trying to be 14 separate magazines all at once.

Of course, look at the latest issue. WALL-E?? WALL-E?!?!? Excuse me, but what self loathing college frat boy is going to latch onto a Pixar film about some robot that goes on a stereotypical journey format for some nirvana?
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Aromatic Grass



Joined: 31 Dec 2003
Posts: 2424
Location: Raleigh, NC
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:54 am Reply with quote
Kurishojo wrote:
daedelus wrote:
Ok now. ADV has nothing to do with PiQ.


As it's ADV's magazine, I'd say it has quite a bit to do with ADV actually.

Umm, no. I swear, I've been repeating it a ton of times... when ADV dropped NTUSA, that was it. They have nothing to do with PiQ. Read the copyright info in the front of the mag, for Pete's sake.

Stop repeating "Doom to ADV" in this thread -- it's irrelevant.

I'm sad that it's come to this because I wanted to see the mag grow some more (love the WALL-E feature), but I guess it's a tough job.
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minakichan





PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:55 am Reply with quote
Fail, fail! What was the weaksauce PiQ trash? Even if Newtype wasn't profitable, there's no way it would sell fewer copies than PiQ, considering that Newtype readers would be less likely to pick it up and the target demographic already has X000 magazines out there.

I'd like to say something along the lines of "Look, this is what happens when you deprive us of the only decent anime magazine out there," but that's probably unfair. Still, I call karma.
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Wyvern



Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 1544
PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:03 am Reply with quote
I don't get this backlash against PiQ. If it's a problem of low quality that's one thing, but the "HOW DARE THEY COVER SOMETHING BEYOND MY NARROW RANGE OF INTEREST" complaints are just childish. Newtype was in dire straits, their only hope was to diversify their readership by reaching out to people who weren't interested in just anime. It didn't work, but the fact that it died so quickly probably means it was a last-ditch move and nothing less than a huge upturn in readership would have saved it.

I never saw an issue of PiQ on the stands. The store I went to to buy Newtype never carried it. That may have had something to do with PiQ's demise too, if they weren't able to retain all their retailers.
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