PIQ Magazine

[larch]

So a friend of mine brought over the new magazine owned by ADV called “PIQ” formerly known as Newtype USA. I read through all the articles and pages through the magazine to get a general feel for the layout of the magazine.

I must say that ADV did a brilliant job of turning a brilliant magazine into pretty much a standard mediocre media entertainment magazine, there are already half a dozen other publications out there that does what PiQ does but only better. This looks like another magazine trying to cover too much in one publication.

PiQ covers too many differing genres in one publication. The magazine will surely fail if it doesn’t change into one of the four main venues for a entertainment magazine namely: Anime, Manga, Comics or Movies.

I was a Newtype USA reader and I enjoyed the magazine from cover to cover each month and the manga, centerfold poster and DVD with previews and episodes were always a welcome bonus that I enjoyed.

PiQ’s coverage of Anime is minimal compared to say a magazine like Anime-Insider but at 88 pages Anime-Insider is exclusively geared towards Anime while PiQ has 111 pages with only 38 pages dedicated towards Anime. So PiQ is simply not worth my money if you are looking for a magazine to replace Newtype USA with.

So to be blunt PiQ is not what the advertisements promised: “A new publication that will surely be everything you’ve enjoyed from NewTypeUSA…and much more!” There are also reports about a lot of people who are unhappy about the way ADV is handling the refunding of those people who paid for a years subscription with Newtype.

Thank you ADV for talking another good concept getting it wrong and screwing it up completely.




http://larcho.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/piq-magazine/

[Ahzure]

AnimeNewsNetwork
Magazine that succeeded Newtype USA confirms its end

Freelance writers are reporting that PiQ magazine editor Kevin Gifford notified them that the magazine's current July issue is the last one. Freelancers will still be compensated for any work they had done for the unpublished August issue. According to the reports, PiQ's editorial staffers have already vacated their office. PIQ has not made a formal, public announcement about its status yet, and PiQ staffers were unavailable for comment.
PiQ began publishing in March after A.D. Vision ceased publication of its Newtype USA magazine. PiQ inherited much of Newtype USA's editorial staff, stable of freelance writers, and list of subscribers. However, PiQ differentiated itself by expanding its focus beyond Newtype USA's anime/manga coverage to popular culture in general. It also offered Newtype USA subscribers two issues for every remaining issue of Newtype USA still owed on their subscriptions. The July issue is PiQ's fourth issue

Only four issues, that’s was quite a short run for a magazine.
I think the OtakuMag has lasted longer than that.

[larch]

Actually made a post about that: http://larcho.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/ ... -its-last/