English Magazines

3DO Magazine was a 1990s publication from Paragon Publishing and was the official magazine for The 3DO Company's videogame console. Featuring the usual preview, news and features, the magazine also came with a covermounted disc with playable demos of the latest 3DO games.

Acorn Action
The Ultimate Acorn Games Magazine

Acorn Action was launched in mid-1994 as a glossy A4-sized full-colour magazine. It was published by 32-bit Action, a subsidiary of BEEBUG Ltd, and was edited by Sam Greenhill.

The first issue of Acorn Action was dated July/August 1994, but was preceded by the Acorn Action Games Guide, a small 'sampler' version of the magazine.

Acorn Action was a valiant attempt to boost the Acorn games market, which appeared to be picking up in 1994. Unfortunately the market was too small and the magazine was not a commercial success, and was cancelled almost immediately. Work on the second issue was started but did not progress very far; a single article was produced for issue 2, and is published here for the first time in HTML format.

Amiga CD32 Gamer called itself "The Best Guide to CD32 Software in the World". It was published in the 1990s.

Amiga CD32 magazine was the fourth and final title to spin-off from Amiga Format. The previous three (Amiga Shopper, Amiga Power, and Amiga Format Special) had all been a success. However, events would conspire to kill the magazine before it had even left the runway.
The first issue, dated Spring 1994, was released in March of that year. The 92 page magazine featured the usual game reviews and tips, but also included more in-depth information, such as an industry commentary on the new machine and David Pleasance interview. Reaction to the magazine was positive, leading to the production of a second issue during Autumn 1994. This expanded upon the coverage of the first issue to provide a glimpse of the possibilities that CD technology provided. There was also the news that the magazine would move to a monthly publication, beginning with the release of issue 3 on December 1st. However, the Commodore liquidation and the relative difficulty in finding new hardware forced the cancellation of these plans- issue 3 never saw the light of day.

Credit: Out of Archive

Computer and Video Games was established in 1981, being the first British games magazine. Initially published monthly between November 1981 and October 2004 and solely web-based from 2004 onwards, the magazine was one of the first publications to capitalise on the growing home computing market, although it also covered arcade games. At the time of launch it was the world's first dedicated video games magazine. The first issue featured articles on Space Invaders, Chess, Othello and advice on how to learn programming.

Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published from 1984 to 1991 by Newsfield Publications Ltduntil their liquidation, and then until 1992 by Europress.

Before the official magazine, Crash was a kind of mail order catalog with reviews. This is a Super Rare pre Issue One mail order magazine from 1983. Crash Magazine remains an iconic relic of the entire ZX Spectrum scene. Crash began life in 1983 as a catalog for a mail order games company concentrating on Sinclair games. It included reviews, and in a matter of months the catalog was more popular than the games it was selling. In 1984 Crash magazine was launched, concentrating solely on Spectrum entertainment, reviewing far more games than any other magazine available at the time. Crash’s signature artwork, by fantasy artist Oliver Frey, not only gave the magazine an exciting style, but gave each issue a familiarity and air of quality. With the slow demise of the Spectrum, the reliance on cover tapes, and Crash’s publisher having little success with next generation magazines, Crash was sold to arch rival Emap/Europress late in 1991. Europress continued with Crash until April 1993 when they finally merged it into their other failing Spectrum magazine, Sinclair User.

DC-UK

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Editor Caspar Field, Keith Stuart, Lee Hart
Categories Video games magazines
Frequency Monthly
First issue August 1999
Final issue — Number 20, March 2001
Company Future plc
Country United Kingdom
Language English
ISSN 1467-5250

DC-UK was a Dreamcast video game magazine published by Future plc in the United Kingdom. Its first issue was published in August 1999 and it ran until 2001. The magazine was launched by ex-Edge deputy editor Caspar Field, who edited the first seven issues. After his departure to launch the children's Dreamcast magazine, Mr Dreamcast, associate editor Keith Stuart took over until issue 19. At this point, then-deputy editor Lee Hart took over for the single issue that remained.

At launch, DC-UK changed the prevailing Future plc games magazine running order of the time, which went news - previews - features - reviews - tips - letters, by rearranging some of the major sections. This resulted in a running order of reviews - news - features - previews - tips - letters. The magazine also offered some additional content, such as interviews with game developers and attempts at unusual features, such as creating cocktails themed around famous Sega characters. Following Field's departure, DC-UK reverted to the standard Future plc format, which was used until the magazine's closure. The upbeat feel of the magazine, however, continued throughout every issue, and prior to being revised the title was nominated for the 1999 InDin Magazine of the Year award.

Sales of DC-UK, particularly during the early months of its existence, were strong – often coming close to those of the Official Dreamcast Magazine (UK) despite the latter selling with a cover-mounted disc featuring demo versions of games. DC-UK had in fact started life as Future Publishing's pitch for the rights to the UK Dreamcast magazine license. However, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), from which Future held the rights to the Official UK PlayStation Magazine, objected, leading Future to withdraw its bid for the Dreamcast deal.

In March 2000 Future published the first issue of the short-lived DC-UK spin-off title DC-TIPS. Both DC-TIPS and DC-UK's sales began to suffer[3] during early 2000 as British public interest in Dreamcast declined during the run-up to PlayStation 2's November 2000 arrival in Europe.

Website

During the magazine's run it was supported by a website at dc-uk.co.uk. This closed on 8 March 2001, shortly after the magazine's last issue had gone on sale, with the message 'Goodbye folks!'.

The awkwardly titled Dreamcast Magazine was a Sega Dreamcast magazine sold in the United Kingdom. Despite not having the official Dreamcast license it managed to outlive all of its rivals, though due to its name it is often confused with the Official Dreamcast Magazine.

Most Dreamcast magazines went out of print around mid-2001 as the Dreamcast console was put to rest and Sega moved out of the hardware business. However, for the next few months games were still being released for the platform, and Dreamcast Magazine was one of the few publications left to review them. It did struggle in its later years to fill up the magazine with content however, so it went back and re-reviewed Dreamcast games from the past in an attempt to win over some last customers.

Credit: Sega Retro

This was a UK only based magazine and 100% unofficial.

Artbook dedicati alle bellezze femminili di videogiochi e anime... di ieri e di oggi.

With the release of issue 7, the complete set of Maximum (issues 1-7) has now been digitised over at Out-of-Print Archive. The underrated (commercially, at least) multi-format magazine was published by EMAP from 1996 to 1997, was edited by Richard Leadbetter and covered the 32-bit era: Saturn, PlayStation, Neo Geo CD, Arcade, PC and 3D0.

With superb production values and incredible in-depth coverage of the top games (from six to 12 pages), Maximum was perhaps its own worst enemy. Because of these high standards set, deadlines couldn’t be met and issues would often be late, displeasing the suits in charge of EMAP. Also, matters weren’t helped with the revival of stable mate multi-format magazineC&VG, courtesy of Paul Davies and his able crew. The mid/late 90s was also a time when EMAP, the once great gaming magazine publisher of the UK, was moving away from the gaming scene, closing down or selling off under performing titles.

If you have never read or even heard of Maximum then now is the perfect time to catch up on a piece of forgotten gaming mag history. Issues 1-7 in all their re-mastered glory, courtesy of meppi, can be found at Out-of-Print Archive, with each release accompanied with four online articles (previews of the better articles from within the magazine). Check out the online articles, read up on the contents, download the full magazine release and enjoy.

Weblink: Maximum magazine catalogue

Mean Machines Sega was a monthly Sega magazine that ran for over 50 issues and over four years, won two Magazine of the Year awards, and covered a variety of Sega consoles, including the Mega Drive (and its Mega-CD and 32X add-ons), Master System, Game Gear, and even the Saturn.

For the first few issues, it originally covered three consoles: Mega Drive, Master System and Game Gear. But less than a year later, it started covering the Mega-CD, eventually adding it up to four, then five for 32X.

When the Sega Saturn finally hit UK shops, the magazine, like Sega, later on became fully focused on the soon-to-be-underrated console rather than the other consoles. Despite this, Mega Drive coverage continued through the rest of the magazine's lifespan as it was still supported in the UK until 1998. At its March 1997 issue, MMS folded when it was merged with its successor, Sega Saturn Magazine (formerlySega Magazine).

Mean Machines

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Editor Julian Rignall
Categories Video game magazines
Frequency Monthly
First issue October 1990
Final issue number 24 — September 1992
Company EMAP
Country United Kingdom
Website http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk
ISSN 0960-4952

Mean Machines was a multi-format gaming magazine released between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom.

In the late 1980s Computer and Video Games (CVG) was largely covering the outgoing generation of 8-bit computers like the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and newly emerging 16-bit computers (the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga). Julian Rignall built and launched a consoles-oriented section of the magazine called Mean Machines. The inaugural section was featured in the October 1987 issue of the magazine and largely covered games on 8-bit games systems like the Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega's Master System. It included features on newly emerging Japanese-only videogame systems such as NEC's PC Engine.

Over the ensuing months, CVG increased its coverage of consoles and started off a 'Mean Machines Megaclub'. At the same time, a new import gaming marketplace started to emerge fuelled by gamers' demand for these new consoles. Small retailers in Britain began importing consoles and games directly from Japan, modified them for the UK market and sold them on.

Rignall and newly hired designer Gary Harrod spent two weeks planning the design, editorial tone and style, and published Mean Machines Issue Zero - a 16-page test version of the magazine that was used to elicit feedback from potential advertisers and readers. Only ten of these magazines were published, although a mini version was reprinted and given away free with Issue 15 of the magazine.

The first issue covered the Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy and Amstrad GX4000 consoles. Within a few months the Amstrad was taken off the market due to poor sales, and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System replaced it in the magazine's focus, making MM a mainly Sega and Nintendo only magazine. Coverage was also given to other machines like the NeoGeo and PC Engine.

Following the lead of parent magazine CVG, Mean Machines covered both domestic and imported releases, meaning that the magazine could review titles that were months away from UK release. At the time, import gaming was more popular than it is now, as increased territory lockouts and swifter UK release dates have made import gaming a relatively niche market.

Mega, subtitled "100% pure Sega Mega Drive...", was a monthly magazine, published in the United Kingdom, aimed at users of the Sega Mega Drive and its additions, the Mega-CD and 32X. During its time as one of the main Mega Drive publications, Mega covered the golden age of the Sega Mega Drive from 1992 to 1995. The magazine went through many changes including a re-design in content and layout before being sold to a rival publisher.

Mega Drive Advanced Gaming

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Editor: Hugh Gollner
Categories: Video game magazines
Frequency: Monthly
First issue: September 1992
Company: Maverick Magazines
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
ISSN: 0966-551X

Mega Drive Advanced Gaming was a magazine that focused on the Sega Mega Drive video game console, but would also cover theMega-CD and 32X. Launched by Maverick Magazines around the same time as Future's MEGA in August 1992, with issue 1 cover dated as September 1992.

Hugh Gollner, publisher and owner of Maverick Magazines, granted the magazine preservation project, Out-of-Print Archive, permission to scan, edit and release the back issues of Mega Drive Advanced Gaming.

MegaTech (sometimes styled with the kanji メガテケ) was a publication from EMAP aimed specifically at the Sega Mega Drive gaming market. The launch editorial consisted of a small team including Paul Glancey (editor) and Mark Patterson (deputy editor).

N64 Magazine was a British magazine whose subject-matter concerned the Nintendo 64, upon launching in April 1997. The magazine underwent a change of name pursuant to the imminent launch of the Nintendo Gamecube, assuming the titleNGC Magazine in the sixtieth issue in order to reflect the change in principal subject-matter.

N64 Magazine is deemed the successor to Super Play, from which it sourced myriad talents and features. The successor toNGC Magazine was NGamer, which developed into Nintendo Gamer in its seventieth issue.

Editors

Jonathan Davies: Issues 1-12
James Ashton: Issues 13-27
Tim Weaver: Issues 28-41, 60-72
Andrea Ball: Issues 42-56
Mark Green: Issues 57-59
Jes Bickham: Issues 73-84
Marcus Hawkins: Issues 85-103
Tom East: Issues 104-116
Martin Kitts: Issues 117-120

Publisher: Catalyst Publishing
Number of pages: 20 
Country of origin & language: United Kingdom & English
premiere issue: 1989
final issue: 1993 
 

Official Dreamcast Magazine (commonly abbreviated as ODCM) was a video game magazine published by Dennis Publishing in the United Kingdom between 1999 and 2001.[1] The magazine held the license for the Sega Dreamcast console in the UK and featured a DreamOn demo disc on almost every cover. The magazine also featured complete games Sega Swirl and Planet Ring on its front cover. The magazine also covered fashion related to Dreamcast gaming but this feature was dropped in later issues. The magazine was published monthly but towards the end of its life issues were sold bimonthly due to not enough content being made available for the demo discs.

Launch Editor: Richard Leadbetter

Company: EMAP

First Date: January 1994

Final Date: October 1995

Total Issues: 22

Raze was a multi-format videogame magazine published by Newsfield Publications from October 1990 to September 1991 and was the successor to Newsfield’s own multi-format title The Games Machine. The editorial work for Raze was contracted out to Words Works Limited, which was head by Richard Monteiro. The magazine itself was planned to be replaced after its initial 12-month run with two separate titles that would concentrate on the Sega and Nintendo consoles (Sega Force and Nintendo Force), however, those plans were put on hold when Newsfield entered liquidation in 1991. Content of Raze covered the 16-bit computer and console machines, with news on US and Japanese videogaming.

Roger Kean, co-owner of Newsfield Publications, granted the magazine preservation project, Out-of-Print Archive, permission to scan, edit and release the back issues of Raze.

S: The Sega Magazine was a video game magazine centred around the Sega Master System and was sold in the UK.

The first issue of the magazine was only available to Master System owners who had warranty cards (or by purchasing a new game at selected retailers), and up until issue 4[1], the magazine was only available via subscription[2]. It was later put on sale to the general public, though only lasted 12 issues in total before being rebranded Sega Power to allow it to cater for the Sega Mega Drive.

Sega Computer was a magazine given away in New Zealand to members of the Sega User's Club. It was created byGrandstand Leisure and was distributed to subscribers on a bi-monthly basis until the very last release, in which the responsibilities were given to Poseidon Software.

Sega Computer was a technical magazine, providing advice and knowledge on SC-3000 programming.

Sega Power, initially known as S: The Sega Magazine, was a Future publication aimed at the Sega range of consoles, including the Master System, Mega Drive, Game Gear and later on the Mega-CD, 32X and Saturn. The magazine was later relaunched as Saturn Power when the other Sega consoles were discontinued.

Sega Pro was the first publication from Paragon Publishing and catered for the Sega consoles: the Master System, Game Gear and the Mega Drive. Early editorial staff included Dominic Handy (editor), Les Ellis (games editor), Dave Perry (designer), Simon Christophers (designer), James Scullion and Damian Butt as staff writers. The magazine existed between 1991 and 1996.[1] A German edition of Sega Pro was also published (1992-1994).

Sega Saturn Magazine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Editor Richard Leadbetter
Frequency Monthly
First issue January 1994 (as Sega Magazine)
Final issue  November 1998 - number 37
Company EMAP
Country United Kingdom
Language English
ISSN 1360-9424

Sega Saturn Magazine was a monthly UK magazine dedicated to the Sega Saturn. It held the official Saturn magazine licence for the UK, and as such some issues included a demo CD created by Sega, called Sega Flash, which included playable games and game footage. The last issue was Issue 37, November 1998.

Sega Saturn Magazine was originally known as Sega Magazine which launched in 1994 and covered the Sega consoles available at the time, including the Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Mega-CD, Sega 32X and Sega Game Gear. From November 1995 the magazine was relaunched as Sega Saturn Magazine and coverage of other Sega consoles were gradually reduced and withdrawn in favour of the Sega Saturn.

In addition to reviews, previews, and demo discs, the magazine included interviews with developers about topics such as the development libraries that Sega was providing them with, and would routinely cover topics of interest only to hardcore gamers such as imported Japanese RPGs and beat 'em ups. The magazine retained its title even after its content became chiefly devoted to the Saturn's successor, the Dreamcast, as the Saturn had been discontinued in Europe.

Super Play was a British Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) magazine which ran from 1 October 1992^[3] to September 1996.

Overview

Super Play covered in great detail the role-playing video game genre. Many of these games were never released officially in the UK or European games market, and therefore the magazine concentrated much effort in covering aspects of the American, and moreover the Japanese games markets.

It also featured in-depth, intelligent and passionate coverage of all aspects of gaming. Given the close ties between the world of Japanese console RPGs and animation, the magazine also heavily featured information about manga and anime by noted UK-based writer Helen McCarthy. It can be said that Super Play was one of the magazines that helped to push forward what was at the time a nascent market for anime in the UK. In this vein, the magazine itself was also notable as its cover illustrations (and many illustrations between the covers) were done in manga-influenced style by artist Wil Overton.^[4] Overton also caricatured many of the staff in chibi form, wearing various types of anime-related costumes - sci-fi armour, flying gear, RPG-style armour etc. The cover even had the name "Super Play" written in katakana.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Adventurer was a game magazine published by LucasArts from 1990 to 1996. Designed as a consumer-facing company newsletter, it promoted upcoming LucasArts releases and featured background information on their development in the form of essays and staff interviews. In addition to printed copies which were distributed free of charge, LucasArts also published selected articles on their website.

Despite the magazine's name, The Adventurer did not focus exclusively on adventure games, but covered all kinds of titles published by LucasArts.

Issues

Over the course of the magazine's 6-year run, a total of 13 issues were released. Due to issue number 13 being skipped, the magazine's final issue was #14, published at the end of 1996.

The Games Machine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Editor: Graeme Kidd, Gary Penn (co-editor)
Categories: Video game magazines
Frequency: bi-Monthly, monthly
First issue: October / November 1987
Final issue: September 1990
Numbers: 34
Company: Newsfield Publications
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
ISSN: 0954-8092

The Games Machine was a video game magazine that was published from 1987 until 1990 in the United Kingdom by Newsfield, which also published CRASH, Zzap!64, Amtix! and other magazines.

History

The magazine ran head to head with Future's recently launched ACE and EMAP's long running C&VG magazines. Unhappy with the profits from the title Newsfield decided to call it a day for the title in 1990.

However Newsfield would, more or less, continue with a multi format magazine with Raze. This new title would concentrate on the ever rising consoles like the Mega Drive as well as the established NES and Master System.

The Games Machine

In Italy there is a magazine of the same name which used to be the Italian translated version of the British magazine. However, the Italian version still publishes with original articles, and it is one of best selling magazine in Italy about PC games.

Zzap!64

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zzap!64 was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact.

The magazine launched in April, with the cover date May 1985, as the sister magazine to CRASH. It focused on the C64 for much of its shelf life, but later incorporated Amiga game news and reviews. Like CRASH for the ZX Spectrum, it had a dedicated cult following amongst C64 owners and was well known for its irreverent sense of humour as well as its extensive, detailed coverage of the C64 scene. The magazine adopted an innovative review system that involved the use of the reviewers' faces, artistically rendered by in-house artists Oli Frey and Mark Kendrick, to express their reaction to the games. These eventually evolved into static cartoons as the magazine began catering for a younger market.

By 1992, the magazine had changed so dramatically in design and editorial direction that then-publisher Europress decided to relaunch the magazine. Thus, issue 91 of Zzap!64 became issue 1 of Commodore Force, a magazine that itself lasted until March 1994.