We all had favourite computing and gaming magazines back in the day, I'm sure, and in one way or another, a lot of them aren't around anymore. Which ones do you really miss? The question still applies even if the publication is still around but with a different crew, or in a different format (i.e., web-based, e-reader/tablet-based), of course.
Myself, I particularly miss the following;
1: CVG as it was in the early-to-mid 1990s. At that time, it included a supplemental A5-sized magazine inside the main one, which specifically covered handheld systems and their games. This was, by far, my favourite part of the magazine, as my gaming was always handheld-focussed (and still is now).
2: Nintendo Magazine System - specifically the state of the publication between the Spring and late Summer of 1996. During that time, it was a pretty well-balanced and entertaining read, which did not degenerate into bashing other consoles - this was rare for an "Official This, That, or The Other" magazine. In the Autumn of 1996, the editorial crew were entirely replaced with a bunch whose writing was not nearly as entertaining or well-thought-out, and who frequently threw out stupid insults about other consoles on the market, such as "Phoney GreyStation", "Sega Sadturn", and later, "Sega Dreampants"... Even after those people left and the magazine changed names and publishers countless times, it sadly never fully recovered to its prior state.
3: Super Play. It was a SNES magazine that was famed for its custom-drawn covers, and well-written previews, reviews, and news. It was unique in that it also heavily covered the SNES import scene (as well as, in a small sideline section, the anime video tapes import scene), and carried excellent, well-researched players' guides, often for games that never saw release in the UK at all. This was possibly my favourite games magazine of all time.
4: Sega Saturn Magazine - the official UK Saturn magazine, which was unlike any other officially-licensed magazine ever published. It was a particularly interesting magazine because, as the Saturn ailed in the UK, it was allowed to cover a lot of Japanese imports (since the system did quite well over there), and even openly talk about getting the console chipped so as to play them. They were also known for sometimes having very generous cover-discs - one of which was a giveaway of the entire first disc of the RPG, Panzer Dragoon Saga, as a means of promoting the full game.
The common thread I see in all of these, is that they existed to serve and assist their readership. Unfortunately, even during the time of print magazines still being dominant, publications like this ultimately faded out in favour of magazines that existed to serve and assist their advertisers, instead. I believe that Amiga Power (which I can see, from having read several issues online in recent years, would have been in my list had I had an Amiga back in the day) wrote a very prophetic article about this, in which they mentioned bribes, cover-exclusives, and suggested that the review-score number of the beast is 73%.
Does anyone else have any oldey-timey computing and/or games magazines that they particularly miss?
Myself, I particularly miss the following;
1: CVG as it was in the early-to-mid 1990s. At that time, it included a supplemental A5-sized magazine inside the main one, which specifically covered handheld systems and their games. This was, by far, my favourite part of the magazine, as my gaming was always handheld-focussed (and still is now).
2: Nintendo Magazine System - specifically the state of the publication between the Spring and late Summer of 1996. During that time, it was a pretty well-balanced and entertaining read, which did not degenerate into bashing other consoles - this was rare for an "Official This, That, or The Other" magazine. In the Autumn of 1996, the editorial crew were entirely replaced with a bunch whose writing was not nearly as entertaining or well-thought-out, and who frequently threw out stupid insults about other consoles on the market, such as "Phoney GreyStation", "Sega Sadturn", and later, "Sega Dreampants"... Even after those people left and the magazine changed names and publishers countless times, it sadly never fully recovered to its prior state.
3: Super Play. It was a SNES magazine that was famed for its custom-drawn covers, and well-written previews, reviews, and news. It was unique in that it also heavily covered the SNES import scene (as well as, in a small sideline section, the anime video tapes import scene), and carried excellent, well-researched players' guides, often for games that never saw release in the UK at all. This was possibly my favourite games magazine of all time.
4: Sega Saturn Magazine - the official UK Saturn magazine, which was unlike any other officially-licensed magazine ever published. It was a particularly interesting magazine because, as the Saturn ailed in the UK, it was allowed to cover a lot of Japanese imports (since the system did quite well over there), and even openly talk about getting the console chipped so as to play them. They were also known for sometimes having very generous cover-discs - one of which was a giveaway of the entire first disc of the RPG, Panzer Dragoon Saga, as a means of promoting the full game.
The common thread I see in all of these, is that they existed to serve and assist their readership. Unfortunately, even during the time of print magazines still being dominant, publications like this ultimately faded out in favour of magazines that existed to serve and assist their advertisers, instead. I believe that Amiga Power (which I can see, from having read several issues online in recent years, would have been in my list had I had an Amiga back in the day) wrote a very prophetic article about this, in which they mentioned bribes, cover-exclusives, and suggested that the review-score number of the beast is 73%.
Does anyone else have any oldey-timey computing and/or games magazines that they particularly miss?
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