HomeStation Magazine Issue #2!
Aloha, HSM audience!
Today is the three-month anniversary of HomeStation Magazine’s website being released to the public.
Three months ago, no one had heard of HSM; no one knew who we were or what we were about. Fast-forward just one fiscal quarter, and we now have one of the most heavily-visited Home fansites on the planet (short of the really big juggernauts like Cubes’ AlphaZone4). HSM has been able to produce a new story on the website every single day — and, recently, has had to release multiple stories per day just to keep up with the production pace.
Or, putting it more bluntly: we’ve published over 100 stories in the last 90 days.
And what’s particularly notable is that these stories are all unique. We decided, with HomeStation, that while we would cover gaming news and events, the core of HSM would be social issues. We treat Home not as a “game” at all, but rather as a living, breathing society.
We believed — correctly — that there was an audience for a journalistic endeavor devoted to Home and Sony gaming which catered to a more literate and mature audience. Now, keep in mind, “literate and mature” does not necessarily equal “old and affluent” — it’s more of a mindset than a socioeconomic status. I’ve met teenagers in Home who are more well-read and mature than some adults I work with in real life.
There’s frankly no shortage of “OMG dood MW2 roxxors!!!” blogs out there. And there’s an audience for that. But there’s also this perception that they are the largest and most important demographic of gamers out there that absolutely HAS to be catered to, and that’s frankly just not true.
There are a lot of Home users, and gamers in general, who are looking for something meatier than that. Something which speaks to them.
In the last three months, HomeStation has gained a reputation as the go-to site for insightful and evocative perspectives on Home that you just can’t find anywhere else. In a seeming race to pander to the lowest common denominator, HSM stands out like Montaigne’s Essays. Even the spirited debates which arise in response to various articles typically bear more of a resemblance to Vidal and Buckley than Beavis and Butthead.
In short: HomeStation Magazine believes that you are a smart and reasonable person of some culture, and wants to converse with you at that level.
And through it all, we have had our magazine.
If our website is our core product, then our magazine is our signature product. And our first issue was a solid triumph. But there’s always that unspoken question: sure, you managed to get one issue out, but are you just a flash in the pan?
I think that, with the release of our sophomore effort, we’ve laid that question to rest.
Of particular note, take a look at whom we have on the cover. Outso.
OUTSO.
(Yeah, those guys to the right.)
This is the equivalent of writing a student paper on the history of Formula One and being told that not only do you get to talk with Jenson Button, but he’d like to take you out for a spin at Silverstone.
Of particular note, I want to salute the HSM art team — especially our Art Director, MJG74 — for laboring to put our second issue together. An ungodly amount of work goes into producing these magazine issues (well, if we’re honest, an ungodly amount of work goes into the magazine, the website, the podcast and now our videography department), and I’m humbled by the level of talent HomeStation attracts.
A sincere thank-you must also be given to the groups and individuals who have supported HSM along the way: AlphaZone4, PlayStation Home Today, the Homeling Collective, Club HOMEinformer, Team RHO, Bit-Journal, the PlayStation Home Gazette, Outso, nDreams, SCEA, and more.
From all of us at HSM:
HomeStation Magazine is proud to announce the release of its second magazine issue, and we hope you enjoy it. Thank you for joining us on this journey.
Click to read Issue 2
Written from the HomeStation,
NorseGamer
Editor-in-Chief, HomeStation Magazine
February 22nd, 2011 by NorseGamer | 3 comments
NorseGamer is the product manager for LOOT Entertainment at Sony Pictures, as well as the founder and publisher of HomeStation Magazine. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, he holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and presently lives in Los Angeles. All opinions expressed in HSM are solely his and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sony DADC.
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Ya had me worried! I clicked on magazine image link and got the FLASH PS3 PDF versions. But now I am here http://www.hsmagazine.net/2011/02/homestation-magazine-issue-2/ and hopefully where I wanna be for the articles to follow. I don’t like FLASH.
Good luck in future stories.
Great work on Issue2, Welldone HSM team.