Covermount
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Covermount (sometimes written cover mount) is the name given to storage media (originally floppy disks or audio cassettes, usually compact discs, and increasingly DVDs) packaged as part of a magazine. The usual method of packaging is to place the media in a plastic sleeve and mount it on the cover of the magazine with adhesive tape or glue, hence the name. Covermounts are most commonly found in computer magazines, typically filled with full, demo and shareware versions of games and applications, Linux distros, computer drivers (such as DirectX or display drivers such as nVIDIA's ForceWare), video trailers, wallpapers and other (usually free) content also found on the internet.
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[edit] Other covermounts
Some film- and music-oriented publications also include covermounts in the form of sampler and promotional CDs and DVDs. The DVDs usually contain trailers, but occasionally complete films are covermounted. In the United Kingdom, many television-related "partware" magazines (magazines aimed at collectors which build up to a complete set over months or years) have been launched in recent years, with covermounts containing episodes of the subject show (such as Dad's Army, Stargate SG-1 or The Prisoner).
Covermounts now a days stretch across the breath of magazines from children's titles like Bob the builder to adult titles such as Good Housekeeping and Cross stitcher. It is no longer limited to CDs and DVD but can be a variety of items like a toy, game, stationery set, make up, radio, cross stitch kit what ever the publisher believe will help the sales of there magazine.
[edit] Price of covermount discs
Although tagged as "free", covermount discs sometimes increase the price of a magazine. Magazines that carry discs can cost as much as double the price of other magazines without them, even if these magazines have more pages. The "free" label serves as a dissuading factor in retailers stripping discs and selling them separately. To prevent theft of the discs from the magazine covers, retailers sometimes remove the discs anyway, keeping them behind the counter to be given to a customer upon purchase of the magazine.
[edit] Viruses
A fast spreading media, computer magazines can output over 10'000 discs in a matter of days. While nowadays internet viruses can spread that much in a matter of minutes, before the internet reached mass market, a virus in a covermount disc was one of the fastest ways of spreading it. Although discs are thoroughly scanned and carefully assembled, there have been cases of discs being distributed with viruses, damaging the credibility and reputation of the magazine.
[edit] Demo covermount discs
The initial purpose of covermount discs was to distribute demo versions of video games. Initial magazines, like Amiga Format or ST Format had one or more floppy disks with demos of upcoming games, but the fragility of the media and the increasing size of demos made publishers turn to compact discs, which were cheaper to produce, more resistant to damage, and had over 300 times more capacity. CDs remain the most common storage media, but in the past several years, demos have grown from mere 50MB files to 500MB or larger. This discourages magazines from distributing most of the larger demos, unless the magazine has an exclusive distribution agreement or the title is highly anticipated. While in 1997 a CD could carry over 15 demos, in 2005 the typical CD has 5 or fewer. This has led some magazines to insert a second CD, or to use DVD media instead.
Covermounts came late to the world of video game console publications. Since nearly all 8-bit and 16-bit consoles were cartridge-based (with the exceptions of Sega's Mega CD and NEC's PC Engine CD), covermount demos only began appearing in 1996, with the official Sega and PlayStation magazines. Nowadays, all consoles have official magazines with covermount discs.
[edit] Full product covermount discs
Since May 1987 when Your Sinclair put Ocean's Road Race[1] on the cover a new trend of offering full versions of commercial software, usually games, appeared. These games, provided by distributors from a list of games with lesser commercial value, are also often found in budget range labels, and can range from older but highly regarded titles to unknown titles with little shelf space. As access to internet gaming websites such as GameSpot or IGN grew, so did the importance of having a strong covermount. Others, like PC Format used to distribute full versions of unknown commercial software, with a beginners' guide in the printed version.
More notably, Sensible Software made several games for distribution with Amiga Power, like Sensible Massacre (uses Sensible Soccer graphics, where the player throws grenades at Dutch players, following the loss of England against the Dutch in the USA'94 qualifiers) or Sensible Train Spotting (related to the hobby), the last game developed by the company for the Commodore Amiga.
Games redistributed by covermount occasionally have problems if the originals were fitted with copy prevention measures. If a buyer tries to apply a patch or update, there is a high chance of the game not recognizing a covermount CD, as they are often reprints and lack the copy prevention sectors.
Software publishers, both then and now, are often against the overuse of putting software on the covers of magazines as they see it is deflating the value of software.
[edit] Regional history
Software covermounts appear to have originated in Britain in the era of home computers, when computer hobbyist magazines began distributing floppy disks with their publications, and the practice remained most popular there until American magazines such as picked up the practice using CDs. In other places, such as Finland, covermounts never caught on. Instead, popular Finnish magazines such as MikroBitti offered subscribers access to an exclusive BBS via modem, and later via the World Wide Web.
[edit] Linux distributions
Most magazines backed up by large publishers like Linux Format have a covermount CD or DVD with a distro and other Open Source applications. The distribution of discs with source programs was also common in programming magazines: while the printed version had the code explained, the disk had the code ready to be compiled without forcing the reader to type the whole listing into the computer by hand.
See also: disk magazine (a magazine contained entirely on disk rather than a disk attached to a paper magazine)
