Men From g.o.d.

Why are these Dallas high-tech hotshots chucking the action, gore and riches of the computer gaming world to hawk a genteel digital magazine?

A A A Comments By Mark Stuertz Thursday, Jan 24 2002

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Yet Chambers is optimistic about the survival of Substance TV. "I believe it's got a better shot than earlier attempts," he says. "DVD stores so much in so little space. You're going to be looking at full-screen, high-resolution clips."

Both Chambers and Boyes are also bullish on the fact that Substance DVDs are intimately threaded with the company's Web site, www.substance.tv, offering deeper levels of content and opportunities for feedback and viewer contributions.

John Anderson

Substance TV CEO Mike Wilson says he's aiming his DVD magazine at the same demographic that grew up with professional wrestling, Jerry Springer and MTV's jackass. Bottom: Video-game star Max Payne indulges his trigger finger.

Mark Graham

Substance TV's Jeff Smith says g.o.d. was hitting financial turbulence, and its tail was about to snap off.

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And if the first issue can be called a fascinating potpourri of slicked-together cultural strands, issue two, due to hit the first of February, may be even more of a gripping medley. It features a Japanese punk/speed metal band, an in-depth look at the first independent feature film in which all the roles were auctioned off on the Web and a glimpse of "consumer defense corporate poet" Richard Macklin, a gadfly who antagonizes corporations by flooding them with letters asking them preposterous questions about their products and promotional campaigns. (He once tried to special order a coffin from Tupperware.)

Record-store owner Bill Wisener is wistfully amused by the whole Substance thing. He's also a little circumspect about being the first feature on the first stab at a pioneering form of publishing. "The first time I watched it I was mesmerized by it," he says, his voice cracking. "I'm tired of watching it now."