We take a look at Sony's subscription-based digital magazine and find out how it stacks up after your first $24.99 has been exhausted. Is it still worth the price of admission?
An online magazine touting interactivity and exclusive news, interviews, previews and access to all sorts of gaming goodies ranging from betas and demos to DLC, Qore launched in our living rooms just a year and a month ago. With thirteen months of hard-earned perspective behind us, were our digital dreams fulfilled? Or, perhaps more importantly, was the $24.99 for an annual subscription worth the purchase?
With a handful of sections in every episode each is typically comprised of a video feature and an image gallery. While not ever episode of Qore had me clamoring to watch the HD videos time and again, every one of them ended up worth the viewing regardless of the game in the spotlight. Interviews and behind the scenes peeks were interesting, Belmont an likable and engaging host, no matter that the game featured or developer questioned didn't top my "If you were stuck on an island and could choose one game..." list. Each section covered content that was, at its core (pun totally intended), appealing to me as a gamer. The bite-sized brevity of the video features is suited to my attention span, and to the medium, and they always left me wanting just a little bit more.
By far, the biggest payoff on the Qore subscription has been the free games and advance content. With access to things like PlayStation Home, Resistance 2 and the Uncharted Multi-player Beta (to name a few), Qore rewards its faithful with early peeks at many an "it" game. The annual subscription launched with Calling All Cars and has since doled out the likes of High Velocity Bowling, Spyro the Dragon, Syphon Filter and Linger in Shadows. These freebies go a long way to offsetting the cost of an annual subscription even if, like me, you bought a few of them before they were gifts.
Continuing to include ads in the paid service has come under some fire. Since launch, however, these ads have dwindled in number with no more than a few per current episode. I could make the argument that you pay for magazines and don't object to their ad inclusions, but really, if under "turn-offs" you jot down "sponsorships" go ahead and count ads as a Qore negative.
I cited interactivity as the perceived crux of the Qore experience, and that is still, in my opinion, the unrealized potential. Qore is targeting gamers that want to be in the know, often before everyone else. We might still hunger for more, but if the prospect of exclusive HD content appeals to you and the doling out of free games and beta access matches that of the last twelve months, then the return is guaranteed. If, however, the exclusive HD content and access to demos, betas and free games doesn't appeal, just move along now and give it a pass.
