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Hardcore Gamer For Sale


triverse

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Damn we are only like $5000 short in the Retromags fund.....can anyone help out so we can purchase this? :P

wait wait wait..you are telling me we are only $5,000.00 short from running our own magazine. I know I am somewhat new and all but I totally call a review position.

Any quick fundraiser ideas out there?

Of course other then the obvious CAR WASH!

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wait wait wait..you are telling me we are only $5,000.00 short from running our own magazine. I know I am somewhat new and all but I totally call a review position.

Any quick fundraiser ideas out there?

Of course other then the obvious CAR WASH!

Are you serious Phillyman? This could get serious quick. :rolleyes:

Is it something that would go over well here?

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I am with Triverse on this one. I think we could make it work. We all pretty much have enough of a background to know what people actually WANT to know and read.

Well, coming out of the meeting to purchase Gamefan and it being just out of reach (more emotionally than financially) at $625,000.00, I think a current mag with an already installed userbase is pretty much worth less than $50K. The main problem is a concern about what kind of financial baggage is coming in this deal, money owed to distributors, printers, payroll, stuff like that. Could be walking into a minefield of headaches.

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  • Retromags Curator

I dunno. HGM seems to be at the bottom of the video game magazine pile. They seem to have no distribution in Canada, and from what I hear, limited distribution in the US, only publish quarterly, and put out issues that are skinnier than most monthly game magazines. Buying it and turning it into a retro mag might be an idea, but doing so would probably turn away most of the established reader base. I see their days as numbered ever since they went quarterly. A quarterly game magazine in this day and age makes no sense at all.

I am with triverse and his desire to acquire and preserve magazines that don't exist anymore and making them available again in print form, or even making deals with current magazines to start making their back issues available in print again. I mean, that is what this site is all about; it would be much cooler to be doing it with real magazines the real way.

Hardcore Gamer is nice to look at, and has some fantastic special features, but the rest of the magazine isn't that interesting or relevant. I am, in all honesty, more interested in what EGM, Game Players, and GamePro wrote about games 15 years ago than I am about what HGM writes about now.

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I wonder what will happen if no one bids. Think they will lower the price and go again?

According to the listing, if no one bids the guy that owns it will continue to run the magazine and website, since he 'likes doing it' already. If that is true, then why would he be wanting to sell it off? Something doesn't add up in my opinion.

According to this site below, the website is worth just under $8500.00. I am sure that is not taking into account the magazine being published though.

http://www.websiteoutlook.com/www.hardcoregamer.com

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According to this site below, the website is worth just under $8500.00. I am sure that is not taking into account the magazine being published though.

http://www.websiteoutlook.com/www.hardcoregamer.com

ROTFL

According to Web Site Outlook, my website is worth $6200. Their daily visitation numbers are not accurate. Retromags is worth $4000. How does that site come up with their figures?

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  • Retromags Curator
According to the listing, if no one bids the guy that owns it will continue to run the magazine and website, since he 'likes doing it' already. If that is true, then why would he be wanting to sell it off? Something doesn't add up in my opinion.

According to this site below, the website is worth just under $8500.00. I am sure that is not taking into account the magazine being published though.

http://www.websiteoutlook.com/www.hardcoregamer.com

According to the owner's (djpubba) post on the HGM site forum, if it doesn't sell, he'll just keep it. And as he said in his auction, he has too much else going on in his personal life to run the magazine. On the HGM forum, he said that if it sold, he was hoping he'd be able to stay on in some capacity. So working for the magazine is something he could do, but it sounds like all the responsibilities of running is something he doesn't seem to have time for.

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According to the owner's (djpubba) post on the HGM site forum, if it doesn't sell, he'll just keep it. And as he said in his auction, he has too much else going on in his personal life to run the magazine. On the HGM forum, he said that if it sold, he was hoping he'd be able to stay on in some capacity. So working for the magazine is something he could do, but it sounds like all the responsibilities of running is something he doesn't seem to have time for.

This is the biggest problem with HGM, it's not really a pro magazine. Even though they do a good job, none of them make a living at it. All the writers are freelance and they get paid so little some of them don't even bother to cash the checks.

Still it'd be nifty to pick up and try to turn around. I've had some insight into what went wrong there (I know a number of people who wrote for the site, and one who still does), and a good idea of how to make it work, plus enough friends and professional game journalism experience that I might could make it work.

I know you weren't serious, but if you guys had a fundraiser to try to buy it, I'd totally chip in big time.

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This is the biggest problem with HGM, it's not really a pro magazine. Even though they do a good job, none of them make a living at it. All the writers are freelance and they get paid so little some of them don't even bother to cash the checks.

Still it'd be nifty to pick up and try to turn around. I've had some insight into what went wrong there (I know a number of people who wrote for the site, and one who still does), and a good idea of how to make it work, plus enough friends and professional game journalism experience that I might could make it work.

I know you weren't serious, but if you guys had a fundraiser to try to buy it, I'd totally chip in big time.

What are your ideas as to how you would fix such a publication and could you go in to a little more detail about what is, and did go, wrong with it like it is?

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What are your ideas as to how you would fix such a publication and could you go in to a little more detail about what is, and did go, wrong with it like it is?

I am telling you...a game achievment section would catch on and be big. You just have to find a way to prove someone did that achievement without cheating. Remember back in the day Nintendo Power had something like that. People love competition.

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I am telling you...a game achievment section would catch on and be big. You just have to find a way to prove someone did that achievement without cheating. Remember back in the day Nintendo Power had something like that. People love competition.

Like the old High Score table in Gamepro? The problem with that is, and really only for those without it, Xbox life and the other online presences like it, have taken care of that and are capable of being updated at a moments notice. A mag would have at least a 3 to 4 week lead time (that is really really really short too). Although it could be something that people without online capability could partake in, just require pics or videos or something for proof.

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  • 2 weeks later...
What are your ideas as to how you would fix such a publication and could you go in to a little more detail about what is, and did go, wrong with it like it is?

They originally wanted to be a GameFan revival of sorts, and they had a lot of really talented people willing to support them, some of whom actually did for a time, but they wouldn't allow people an appropriate amount of creative freedom and they let good editors walk off, and thus it turned into a kind of amateurish sort of effort. They tried too hard to walk the middle path and ended up losing their personality. I really don't think they managed their staff well. Everyone I know who has written for them has been really frustrated by management.

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They originally wanted to be a GameFan revival of sorts, and they had a lot of really talented people willing to support them, some of whom actually did for a time, but they wouldn't allow people an appropriate amount of creative freedom and they let good editors walk off, and thus it turned into a kind of amateurish sort of effort. They tried too hard to walk the middle path and ended up losing their personality. I really don't think they managed their staff well. Everyone I know who has written for them has been really frustrated by management.

So, other than the freedom of writing, it was pretty much Gamefan all over (except I am sure HCG was able to get paychecks out with enough money to cover them since I haven't heard anything about that part yet).

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  • 3 weeks later...
So I heard it actually sold... Anyone heard what will happen with them going forward? I'd really like it if it went back to a monthly.

The guy that owned Gamecock sold his video game interests and apparently made an offer 'higher than the initial one' for Hardcore Gamer. I have heard nothing else about it. Interesting to find out though.

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  • 3 weeks later...
So, other than the freedom of writing, it was pretty much Gamefan all over (except I am sure HCG was able to get paychecks out with enough money to cover them since I haven't heard anything about that part yet).

Hardcore Gamer does pay its staff, but from what I've heard, the checks are so small many of the writers don't even bother to cash them. Basically paying writers enough to treat themselves to a six pack or a couple McDonald's value meals.

The other issue is that they had a staff that was just entirely too large. Rather than focusing on a core group of quality writers, they had some good people and a bunch of hacks and amateurs writing stuff that just wasn't that engaging (in my opinion and in the opinion of some of the contributors). They didn't play to their strengths well.

I hope the new ownership does something for them. I really would like to see them do well. If they can get to the point where they can offer a real paycheck, I might even submit some articles.

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