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Well, once again, it is not an iTunes only PDF. It's not a PDF at all. It's not a matter of Apple DRM really, it is a matter of being written in a format that relies on iOS to make it interactive and usable.

To use the digital media is one thing I welcome , to imagine the possibility of everything with a price tag not so much.
What happens to the codices on the shelf if they are available as i-book? Left behind?

kenshin620 wrote:Scrolls of binding....

I am suddenly reminded of those small DLC weapon packs for video games

Bloodwin wrote: I wonder how people would react if the eversion contained an extra IC or two from the Black Library novels. For example would people pay £4.99 for the stat blocks for Talos and his company from the Nightlords books?

Nooo

Please no DLC nonsense.

FAQ's and datasheets for free isn't perfect to keep the physical copies up to date , still preferrable against the choice of digital copies plus DLC just to be able to field something on the tabletop. As additional luxury product those i-books are worth it.

The first codex with the IoS treatment may be not in line for a 6th ed release, maybe?
Because there aren't rumors of codex SM at all, so this move to a new format could keep the codex updated without a new release for some time.

Who knows, this could also give GW a month to iron out the kinks and maybe release a 6th Ed digital rulebook.

Wow, it's a cold day in hell.

Much props to GWS for not only doing it, but doing it right. I have no quibble about it going IOS only (even though I have not a single apple device) because you know perfectly well it won't stay that way and it's super common for apps to start on IOS and then be ported to Android.

No book using iBooks2 features has yet been ported to Android, and they started coming out in january.

My thoughts:

- I think it's a great step forward, and opens up a lot of potential. I'm actually pleasantly impressed and surprised by GW for a change.

- I really hope they move to other formats as many (myself included) will not be trading in our nook/kindle/etc for an ipad anytime soon.

- It would be nice if they offered a cheaper version that didn't have all the fancy indexing and features. I use PDFs for all of the books that aren't for an army I own, hard copies for the stuff I do own and I'd be quite happy to pay hardcopy equivilent prices for an indexed codex/armybook/BRB with rule pop ups, etc.$10-15 for clean scans and a basic index for the stuff I don't.

EDIT:

- Also, I'm cool with the idea of DLC content, as long as it's available to those without access to the digital version (through White Dwarf for an example).

Cryonicleech wrote:Boo! Storm of Magic! Give us WHFB books!

Either way, fantastic move. I'm in love. Knew this would happen.

And to all the miserly detractors: Relax. Pardon GW for not releasing every single book onto every single platform known to man, jerks.

A first step, and a great one at that.

Oh. So people who is not impressed by these release are miserly and jerks. But you, calling people names, are doing the things right. Especially when I justified my answer, and you didn't, you just said it's cool. Yeah, tell me more ^^

AHAHAHAHA! £25 for the codex in digital format? Looks like GW are trying to mug people off again.

MetalOxide wrote:AHAHAHAHA! £25 for the codex in digital format? Looks like GW are trying to mug people off again.

To be fair, the app is more than just the codex. Not much more, but something more.

Erasoketa wrote:

MetalOxide wrote:AHAHAHAHA! £25 for the codex in digital format? Looks like GW are trying to mug people off again.

To be fair, the app is more than just the codex. Not much more, but something more.

Is there some sort of army builder functionality incorporated? If not, I'm afraid the price is still too high.

It's £25 for the same codex but with some 360 interactive photos of models after looking at the video of it. Rip off either way, it should cost £10 maximum as there are no huge printing or shipping costs involved.

Breotan wrote:Is there some sort of army builder functionality incorporated? If not, I'm afraid the price is still too high.

AFAIK no, there isn't. But I haven't downloaded it and I'm not going to. Probably by the same reason than you. It's 25 pounds for an editing work in material that we already have in the rulebook, in the codex, and in the website.

In some respects, it is quite a bold move for GW (and very unlike them in that respect as they don't often take risks as a corporate entity) because the move into digital formats is not the no-brainer that people make it out to be. Your average novels are cheap enough that people will have no qualms about buying both a physical copy and a digital copy to read on the plane or what have you. A 40K codex is a different beast entirely; GW have to be certain that both the time and money that they invest into both the infrastructure and resources required to produce these digital copies is paid off by people buying them. The key question to be asked is will having a digital codex available drive more sales? I'm not so sure; at the price it is listed at, I can see people choosing either a hard copy or a digital copy but very few will buy both. So are GW going to be increasing their sales or are they going to be simply shifting a portion of their sales from hard copy to digital? Time will tell I guess. Personally speaking, I wouldn't buy a digital copy but that's because I much prefer hard copies. I certainly wouldn't buy both either but again, that's my preference - other people might see it as a worthwhile investment.

Well, but GW is not a newcomer to the digital world, actually. Black Library has been selling e-books and mp3 downloads for - two years, maybe? And the pricing of that material is lower than this app.

I would start investing in these solely from now on.... if it were on android. Imagine if everything was updated with erratas and faqs. any faq that pertained to that rule was built in? Or everything that is going to change with 6th all built in to your tablet? hell yea

I'm still surprised that people are surprised about the price. Its not like people have been complaining about ebook prices for what, years now?

Charax wrote:No book using iBooks2 features has yet been ported to Android, and they started coming out in january.

Excellent point on this being on ibooks so far. Ebooks are a bit more complicated when it comes to these type of books compared to just blocks of text

Sadly,I cant see the iBookstore page.
May be region based restriction?

Good move.

iOS is an easy start. Now get to real work.

25 gbp for a codex? Why not buy the original: pay less and avoid DRM.

A good idea, but poor in the execution.

<insert Finecast joke here>

biccat wrote:25 gbp for a codex? Why not buy the original: pay less and avoid DRM.

Forgive my ignorance since I'm not an iphone type of guy, but is DRM ever an issue for ipad stuff?

kenshin620 wrote:

biccat wrote:25 gbp for a codex? Why not buy the original: pay less and avoid DRM.

Forgive my ignorance since I'm not an iphone type of guy, but is DRM ever an issue for ipad stuff?

Only if you don't want to use it on an iPad.

I just checked the iTunes store.....it's $50 for me in Canada.

Sorry but it would be hysterically stupid for me to buy an ebook for that much.

Can anyone post the price for the Codex: Space Marines from the US iTunes Store. I don't currently have access to iTunes and my iPhone is claiming it can't read books. Sigh.

Also, not to be an apologist, but add the price of the physcial codex to the price of the Stormtalon rules White Dwarf and it's not like most of us haven't already paid "more" for the physical codex anyways.

If I had a PDF copy of a codex I owned I think I would rather just add my own indexes and stick it on my kindle...

People comparing it simply to a PDF really should watch the video.

If all you want is a PDf to flick through, you'll obviously balk at the price tag. But a lot of effort went into this. Watching him open the colour section of the fluff, go to the Ultramarine page, then flick through just different shoulder pads and helmet artwork, then go to the full colour model area, and bring up a 360 view of the Storm Talon, was pretty awesome. There's a huge amount of interactivity in these.

I'm not happy about them being iPad only. I'm likely getting a Galaxy tab. But if they did these on android, I'd take one over a physical book any day. And this is from someone who prefers books due to massive headaches from reading on a screen. It was a really impressive demonstration.

Kriswall wrote:Can anyone post the price for the Codex: Space Marines from the US iTunes Store. I don't currently have access to iTunes and my iPhone is claiming it can't read books. Sigh.

Also, not to be an apologist, but add the price of the physcial codex to the price of the Stormtalon rules White Dwarf and it's not like most of us haven't already paid "more" for the physical codex anyways.

$41.99

Lies! GW would never do anything as practical as this!

Talk about mixed emotions... My initial thought was like many of you, "holy crap, hell froze over!" I was giving GW kudos for turning a page and finding themselves in the 21st century. The product looks awesome, it has updates included. I can get behind this...

Then I saw the price, $41.99 USD. Wait, didn't I pay like $22 for my copy at discount from an online supplier? So this is almost twice the practical price, no discount available (Apple takes 30% off the top if the Appstore model applies to iBooks also). Factoring in everything, this is a lot cheaper to produce (even factoring in the additional work to migrate the content to the apple publishing tool).

So, will I pay $42 for this book? Not unless I get a guarantee that the product will get free updates for a period of at least the next 6-8 years.

A good idea from GW, why I never?!

Though it's a mix bag, as while Nerds are A.) Tech-savy, they also seem to be B.) Anti-apple

Does this mean their's expected to be a decent amount of life in Codex: Space Marines after 6th hits?