Retro|Spective 205: Gaming Magazines

[DeathAdder]

Managed to find a completed scan copy of this online. Blimey, did the memories start flooding back as I browsed the first few pages!!

Any chance of a link?

[Cassius_Smoke]

My older brother used to get Crash. Really takes me back everytime I see one posted somewhere.

I did used to get the odd CVG. I have a photo of me sitting in my room and on the floor is a scattering of CVG mags and others.

[teddymeow]

Any chance of a link?

http://www.outofprintarchive.com/index.html

Loads o' mags!!

[Neon Ignition]

1985 - Zzap!64
The sister magazine to Crash, this magazine primarily focused on the Commodore 64 and lasted for nine years though for many the early years were where the memories lie as the magazine changed so extensively over its life that three years before its end it was retitled and little resembled its prior form. Its launch editor was Chris Anderson, the man who went on to found both Future Publishing and TED Conference. Jeff Minter also worked on the magazine but quit when he disagreed with a poor review his own game, Mama Llama, had received.











Does this Zzap you back to your youth?

[QualityChimp]

So, I never had a Spectrum or C64, so these mags weren't for me.
It's why I moved from C&VG to console-focused magazines.

I had a massive problem with computer games in that the boxart often oversold the contents:

->Open Spoiler<-

Although the cover art on both these magazines were industry-leading and still fantastic to this day, they just furthered the distrust of making the artist's interpretation of the game more exciting than the actual product!

[ploder]

This brings back some memories. Information is ubiquitous now, but back in the day I used to love catching a glimpse of a new mag on the shelf. It's like the feeling you get when opening packets of trading cards to see what you've got. Also, the smell of new ink, as a certified manual sniffer, almost gave me tingles.

I loved the design of late nineties era CVG. It wasn't my main mag but I bought half a dozen issues or so because it was good value for money. I remember the gold one with Nights on the cover in particular. I was a sucker for free tips/guides stuck to the cover. Had a few copies of Mean Machines since I caught the back end of the 8-bit era.

My main mag was Official Playstation UK with the demo disc. Good quality paper, seemingly unbiased reviews. My other was Play UK and occasionally EDGE, although I did find it rather pretentious and the industry info didn't interest me at the time being more interested in actual game content. After that it was TOTAL control, which was a very good but short lived mag

[Neon Ignition]

1988 - Nintendo Power
Launched in the US as Nintendo's official magazine, it ran for 285 issues over 24 years and launched promoting Super Mario Bros 2 with not the best first impression of having Mario be incorrectly coloured on the cover. It gained much attention in 1990 when subscribers were given a copy of Dragon Quest and the magazine had its own phone line that players could call to receive hints and cheats for games.











Given newsagents sometimes carried imported magazines, did you ever feel the power in your hands?

[Nu-Eclipse]

An iconic name for a generation of North American Nintendo gamers, especially during the company's 8 and 16-bit golden ages.

Worth pointing out that NoA officially revived the Nintendo Power brand back in 2017 as a monthly podcast that is still going strong six years and 56 episodes later. A decent listen but ultimately as corporate as you'd imagine it to be.

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9wb2RjYXN0Lm5pbnRlbmRvcG93ZXIuY29tL2ZlZWQueG1s?ep=14

[QualityChimp]

Something that made the magazine stand out were the excellent covers with the clay or Plasticine models that gave an impression of Mario in 3D.

I think it'd be really cool to have a clay Mario game that looked like those covers!

Any idea on who the modeller was?

[Neon Ignition]

Couldn't find a name for them. It seems like they were a result of Nintendo's wider use of clay models in marketing and box art production during the era so may have just had a company behind them.

[Neon Ignition]

1989 - Electronic Gaming Monthly
EGM was an American gaming magazine that ran for twenty years barring one short break between owners. As the years of multi-format coverage rolled on it managed to gain some international acknowledgement with some newsagents carrying the magazine outside the US and some getting attempts at their own versions. For four years a spin-off called EGM2 ran that had a focus on imported games and the magazine was also known for originating the Street Fighter Sheng-Long fake secret. The magazine eventually transferred to being online only and now exists as a gaming news site.










Where you ever a fan?

[Neon Ignition]

1990 - Mean Machines
Starting life as a section within CVG, this spin-off magazine carried a heavier focus on inbound consoles and import gaming meaning that the reviews it contained were often of titles months away from UK release. With a primary focus on Sega and Nintendo consoles, its popularity grew solidly and the publisher decided to split it into two separate magazines with each focusing on a different console. The move killed the momentum and sales began to fall off both versions, the magazines lasting along with other platform variants until 1997 when all staff were rolled into Official magazine crews and this one brought to an end.










Was this your go to magazine in the 90's?

[QualityChimp]

It is of my opinion that Mean Machines was the best gaming magazine of my youth.

[Nu-Eclipse]

It is of my opinion that Mean Machines was the best gaming magazine of my youth.

Hard to disagree with this.

P4P, when you look at what it was on its own, what it spawned (Nintendo Magazine System, Mean Machines Sega, etc.), The influence it clearly had on other magazines of that era and the stable of writers on it who went on to become significant industry names (Rignall, Harrod, Leadbetter, Jarratt, etc.), Mean Machines may well be the greatest British gaming magazine of all-time.

[Nu-Eclipse]

1989 - Electronic Gaming Monthly
EGM was an American gaming magazine that ran for twenty years barring one short break between owners. As the years of multi-format coverage rolled on it managed to gain some international acknowledgement with some newsagents carrying the magazine outside the US and some getting attempts at their own versions. For four years a spin-off called EGM2 ran that had a focus on imported games and the magazine was also known for originating the Street Fighter Sheng-Long fake secret. The magazine eventually transferred to being online only and now exists as a gaming news site.










Where you ever a fan?

EGM was unquestionably the mag that gave me my first insight into North American gaming industry and culture. That alone makes it significant in my mind. Was very much a part of my teenage gaming mag consumption.