Official Xbox Magazine has announced plans to launch a digital version of the magazine on the Xbox Live service, called OXM Digital.
OXM Digital is described as “a digital digest of our mag, but with lots of exclusive interactive content, including gamer pics, themes, videos, galleries… stuff we can’t do in print.” Also included in the digital version, according to the Letter From the Editor in the September issue of the magazine, will be “exclusive demos,” a statement which has become a point of contention among Xbox gamers who fear being forced to pay for demos of popular games in the future.
In a post on the official Xbox forums, however, Official Xbox Magazine Senior Editor Dan Amrich claimed this would not be the case. “If you’re a disc person, you get your disc as you always have, and the demo in question will be on there,” he wrote. “If you are a Marketplace person, you get your download. It’s whichever version works better for you, but you don’t have to miss out when we get exclusive demos like Katamari Damacy or Eternal Sonata or whatever.”
He added, “There will be some crossover of other content too, but the Game Disc and Digital are being designed as different beasts. But like the magazine, there are things beyond just the demo. For instance, I’m not allowed to discuss it, but one of the things that will appear in the first OXM Digital is also being delivered on the disc, in a different form. On the other hand, things like OXM Universe will not be on OXM Digital.”
OXM Digital is scheduled to be unveiled late in July. The digital magazine will cost 200 Microsoft Points, which translates to $2.50.
