Magazine publishers are experimenting with a number of new formats, from World Wide Web sites to online service areas to CD-ROM-based magazines. CDs already co-exist with paper mags on the newsstand; multimedia magazines which contain integrated text, video, sound and interactive elements are becoming more common.

Trouble & Attitude: The Multimedia Magazine for Men and DigiZINE are both available by subscription, on some newsstands and in computer or record stores in a magazine-like cardboard package, containing the CD in either a jewel box or a slot in the package. Neither cater to the general public; they are clearly aimed at young, male, Internet-savvy readers.

Both are compatible with Mac OS and Windows, and the system requirements are a bit stiff; 8MB RAM minimum, an ‘040 Mac or 486 PC with a sound card, and a double-speed CD-ROM drive.

However, a quad-speed drive would definitely be preferable for both mags; loading from the double-speed drive on the test computer (a Mac Performa 575 with System 7.1 P5) dragged a bit.

Trouble & Attitude is the more conservative of the two, although it won’t find its way into Bob Dole’s computer anytime soon. On only its second issue, it is formatted like a traditional magazine, with departments and feature articles.

The departments focus on topics from music to fashion to dating protocol to weird cinema, which contained a piece on 1950s’ girl-gangster movies. There is also a music sampler, which allows the reader to sample every track from 20 music CDs.

The cover story is “The Women of 007,” a good series of articles and video which actually looks at more than just Bond’s various, uh, acquaintances. There is an extensive text section and it also includes the trailer for GoldenEye in full widescreen-format glory, older Bond film clips plus photos of the actors who have played Bond and the actresses who played the eponymous Bond women.

Features on stripping, cigars and military elite forces stand out among other male-oriented topics. The video tour of the Weekly World News is a big laugh.

Trouble & Attitude has a well-designed and simple interface, which gives the user considerable control. Control icons in the corners of the screen can change the ever-present background music, print text and quit the program outright. Each department and feature has a full-color icon; a click on the icon takes the reader to the article.

Advertising is limited and unobtrusive, a factor that many will appreciate after being assaulted by blow-in cards and perfume-ad stench so common in many style-oriented consumer magazines.

The trouble with Trouble & Attitude is that it is so conservative in design; other than the video and sound clips, it offers little that print magazines can already give the reader. The text areas, which don’t take up much memory on the disk, should be longer and have more depth. There was a clear trade-off by the editors between depth and style, with style winning. There are also some typos in the text and a couple of inaccuracies in photo captions.

Overall, Trouble & Attitude is worth a look, but it just doesn’t feel all that new or different. It is published bimonthly, and subscriptions are $29.95 per year. Call 212-334 6700 or e-mail at info@marinex. com for more information, or look for it in the stores. Individual issues are $9.95 each.

DigiZINE is a more daring effort. It just premiered for the fall of 1995, and has been in development for some time according to its press kit. Its content is decidedly quirky and left-of center; it is a bit reminiscent of Spin or Wired with killer graphics and sound.

DigiZINE flatters the user from the start with excellent graphics and sound, and an interface which is functional but looks great. The opening screen has icons for help screens, subscription info and production credits, the three feature areas, and product demos and information from sponsors like Sony and Marvel Comics.

The demos are actually entertaining, quite a feat for advertising, and they are easy to escape. There are also contests to win the products advertised in this premiere issue.

The interface does not have icons like Trouble & Attitude; dragging the cursor around the screen and stopping on certain graphics will cause a change in the display, either a color change for the graphic or a complete screen change. Move off the graphic and the screen returns to normal; click the graphic and the user enters that area.

For example, in the entertainment area a montage of music personalities, all in blue, are shown. Move the cursor to Trent Reznor’s face, and the screen abruptly changes to full color, with the other performers gone and a NIN album cover in their place. Move off Trent and the montage returns; click on Trent to enter the NIN area, with a text article, video clips and audio samples.

The interface is gorgeous, with excellent high-resolution graphics. It takes some time to get used to, although the “Help” screen gives a full explanation of how to use it. The sound quality of the samples is also great.

Articles are split into Entertainment, Culture and Society and Twisted Topics. Twisted Topics includes such fare as a history of condoms, reviews of fanzines likeHEINOUS which is devoted to Evel Knievel, and “The Burnt Fortune CookieTM,” which is a riot. Click on the cookie graphic, it breaks open and reveals some awful fortune like “Destiny is coming to kick you in the ass.”

Like Trouble & Attitude, DigiZINE lacks overall depth of content. However, it gets brownie points for its stunning design, which makes it feel more like a game than a magazine. It too is worth trying, but don’t get too excited over it yet. It just doesn’t have the depth that most people want when they read a magazine.

Also, DigiZINE had one major bug; it crashed the test computer every time the user attempted to quit. That’s a cardinal sin of software design, and creates some hard feelings on the part of the user who paid for the disk only to do a complete system restart due to some flaw in the program design.

DigiZINE has a cover price of $9.95, and subscriptions, which are $19.95 for four issues, can be ordered at: Ahrens International, DigiZINE: Subscriptions, 400 N. State St., Chicago, IL 60610. The company has e-mail and WWW addresses as well: subscriptions@ digizine.com, or use the Web at http://www.digizine.com.

If the problem of shallow content is not fixed by both of these CD-based mags, they will quickly disappear from the market. The format has promise, and both Trouble & Attitude and DigiZINE could have bright futures.

All magazines survive based on the strength of content, and that will hold true for CD-ROM magazines as well.