New Xbox Title Targets Older Gaming Demographic

The first dedicated Xbox 360 magazine hits newsstands this week, despite the games console it covers still being months away from sale in Britain.

360 magazine is published by Bournemouth-based Imagine Publishing and aimed at serious gamers in the 24-35 age bracket. Imagine claims its target audience are a discerning bunch, who “appreciate the Xbox 360’s digital hub and multimedia status,” although the title will also appeal to the early adopters.

The publisher states that the demographic for gaming titles is shifting, with readers growing older, and richer, but retaining their enthusiasm for computing.

“The average age of a gamer in the UK is 25 and that number is increasing by one year every year,” Imagine explains. “Men who were into games in the late Eighties and early Nineties have grown up, but their passion remains. Now they’re older, richer, and more discerning.”

Imagine states that 360 represents a “high quality, authoritative and entertaining games magazine for men,” not ‘just another videogames magazine.’

The magazine’s launch team is headed by editor in chief Simon Phillips, who previously worked on the award-winning gamesTM. Phillips is joined by deputy editor Mike Richardson, previously of XBM magazine, features editor Dan Curley, previously of Loaded, and Felicity Mead, advertising manager for the magazine.

Announcing the launch, Imagine’s managing director, Damian Butt, said: “I am incredibly excited by the launch of 360, because it’s the sort of games magazine I’ve always wanted to read. The luxury feel, intelligent writing and mature focus means we can write about games in an entirely new way and for an audience which is almost completely neglected. 360‘s readers are affluent, know what they want, and are the biggest source of future growth for the games industry. One day all videogames magazine will be like this.”

The title, which carries a cover price of £4, has an initial print run of 85,000.

The launch of new titles to cover emerging games platforms could breathe new life into the computing sector, which saw something of a slump in the latest round of ABC results, released last week. The new statistics showed the majority of titles in decline in the six months to June, with only a handful of titles making an increase in sales (see ABC Results Jan-Jun 2005:Edge Magazine Bucks Gaming Slump ABC Results Jan-Jun 2005:Edge Magazine Bucks Gaming Slump ).

Imagine Publishing: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk