Catalyst RED - Buy PDFs at gaming stores

[MerricB]

Hmm...

Catalyst Labs (the current publishers of BattleTech and Shadowrun) are about to set up an interesting "buy PDF of books at game stores" system.

Catalyst RED – Retail Electronic Delivery - BattleTech: 25 Years of Heavy Metal Mayhem.

It seems that, historically, the only place to buy a PDF was from the manufacturer (or a select few online websites). If you wanted both a print and physical book, you were limited to what was available from the manufacturer. Retail stores that serve the player with play space, selection, and knowledge just could not offer a player a PDF and a book. We at Catalyst Game Labs have been working hard to change that.

Therefore we’re proud to announce the creation of Catalyst RED, our new Retailer Electronic Delivery system. With RED, retailers will be able to sell you copies of the core book PDFs along with your hard copies right at the store simply by providing your email address. And should you for some reason lose your PDF, you can easily request another download of the file, just like a online customer. We feel that Catalyst RED will finally allow that next step in customer satisfaction that you and the owners of your friendly local game store have been asking for.

Currently the system is in Alpha testing at select game stores across the country, and we plan to have the system available at more retailers later this year.

So... any thoughts?

Cheers!

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

Hmm...

Catalyst Labs (the current publishers of BattleTech and Shadowrun) are about to set up an interesting "buy PDF of books at game stores" system.

Catalyst RED – Retail Electronic Delivery - BattleTech: 25 Years of Heavy Metal Mayhem.



So... any thoughts?

Cheers!

I dunno, I still don't see many game stores adopting this (IMHO.) I talk to a lot of shop owners and most blame pdfs for declining sales, and few seem interested in changing their business models to take advantage of pdfs in stores. I missed GTS this year, but I think I read somewhere that Gareth Skarka even had a presentation on how stores could integrate PDFs into their sales, and thus make them a source of revenue, and only a few owners were interested enough to show up. I truly hope this works for Catalyst, and I would love to see the concept grow beyond them, but for now I'm gonna be "Mr. Glass Half Full".

 

[thalmin]

I for one am interested.

 

[Asmor]

Could provide an interesting way of supporting FLGSs over online and big-box stores.

Suppose every order of X books comes with X PDF licenses as well, but the licenses are kept separate from the books and given to the people when they buy them.

For a store like Barnes and Noble, I don't think it would make sense for them to keep track of and train staff for something like that which is a teeny, tiny niche item. For a gaming store, particularly if it became a widespread practice, it could make a lot of sense.

I definitely think the only way it makes sense is if it's tied to dead-tree books, though. Why the hell would I want to go to a store to buy a PDF?

 

[Perram]

I dunno, I still don't see many game stores adopting this (IMHO.) I talk to a lot of shop owners and most blame pdfs for declining sales, and few seem interested in changing their business models to take advantage of pdfs in stores. I missed GTS this year, but I think I read somewhere that Gareth Skarka even had a presentation on how stores could integrate PDFs into their sales, and thus make them a source of revenue, and only a few owners were interested enough to show up. I truly hope this works for Catalyst, and I would love to see the concept grow beyond them, but for now I'm gonna be "Mr. Glass Half Full".

I still don't understand why Game Store Owners think this way, the numbers just don't line up, from everything I've read. PDFs have such an insignifigant effect on retail sales.

The decline in sales, from what I know, is simply because the whole industry is in decline, and has been since the release of 3.5.

 

[Nifft]

Very interesting!

It certainly solves one complaint about convenience -- that it's impossible to browse a PDF before buying it.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Thanee]

Sounds like a good idea, so why not.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Krensky]

I still don't understand why Game Store Owners think this way, the numbers just don't line up, from everything I've read. PDFs have such an insignifigant effect on retail sales.

The decline in sales, from what I know, is simply because the whole industry is in decline, and has been since the release of 3.5.

Because they need a scapegoat and PDFs are an easier target then Amazon, and a more palatable target then their own professionalism (or, rather, the lack there of) and business models.

Online sales have been hurting brick and mortar game stores. It's not OBS or IPR or whoever else selling PDFs, though. It's Amazon. It's the same thing hurting book stores. Game stores are more transparently effected though, because they don't work on consignment like a 'real' bookstore does. Mainly because no game publisher could afford to eat half of a print run and it's an idiotic way to sell books in the first place.

Foam and Froth and Mighty (Upside-down) Pyramids, by Eric Flint | Columns | Jim Baen's Universe

You'll need to skim past some stuff relating to 'normal' book publishing and ebooks and DRM, but about halfway down Mr. Flint gets to the consignment system and how it effects the book industry. In the case of game stores, most have all of the same problems, but don't have the noce consignment system to hide their stupidity. They do, however, have a slightly different market where they have a halfway decent, but still not necessarily good, chance to sell old stock to collectors, completists, or late movers.

As a side note, I'd recomend Flint's articles on the publishing industry and eBooks to anyone interested in the subject.

All that said, it's a cool idea and i hope it works for them and their partners.

 

[thalmin]

I dunno, I still don't see many game stores adopting this (IMHO.) I talk to a lot of shop owners and most blame pdfs for declining sales, and few seem interested in changing their business models to take advantage of pdfs in stores. I missed GTS this year, but I think I read somewhere that Gareth Skarka even had a presentation on how stores could integrate PDFs into their sales, and thus make them a source of revenue, and only a few owners were interested enough to show up. I truly hope this works for Catalyst, and I would love to see the concept grow beyond them, but for now I'm gonna be "Mr. Glass Half Full".

I still don't understand why Game Store Owners think this way, the numbers just don't line up, from everything I've read. PDFs have such an insignifigant effect on retail sales.

The decline in sales, from what I know, is simply because the whole industry is in decline, and has been since the release of 3.5.

Why Game Store Owners think what way? I didn't attend the presentation. Reason?

1. I was at another presentation instead. (It is not possible to attend everything at GTS)
2. I didn't see it listed (I just checked the registration book and still didn't see it on the schedule.)
3. If I saw it, I might not have realized what it was about. (I planned my schedule ahead of time, adjusting with the on-site addendum. If it was a late entry, I could have easily missed the description, or it might not have "grabbed" me.)

I would have been interested if I had known what it was about and was not in another session that I thought was more important. Not attending doesn't necessarily mean lack of interest. It might just mean lack of time, lack of awareness, or other priorities.
On the other hand, it could mean thinking "that way."

edit: I just found the podcast of that session. For the benefit of other retailers who missed it, it is entitled "GTS09 11: Game Publishing and Retail for the New Media" and has this description

Speakers: Gareth-Michael Skarka, Adamant Entertainment; Sean Patrick Fannon, OneBookShelf.com
PDF delivery, Kindle, Print on Demand -- the future of publishing is evolving, and game publishing will evolve with it. A discussion of new media options for publishing games, and how those options can benefit publishers and retailers alike.

 

[mevers]

This sounds like a great idea, as long as I get a discount on the pdf if I buy the dead tree version.

If I could go into my FLGS and pick up a copy of the book I was after (say DMG2 @ 50 bucks downunder), and then hand over an extra 5 - 10 bucks for a pdf, I would definitely do that instead of ordering off Amazon (for about the same price when you include currency conversion and shipping).

Plus, I might actually pick up something else while I am there (eg. both times I have gone in to pick up the latest issue of Level Up, I have bought other sale items).

But I'm not interested in going into my FLGS just to get a pdf.