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The lovely folks at UK outlet The Guardian recently ranked the best British video game magazines of all time, which was wonderful to see – but when it comes to old video game magazines, the same titles tend to get referenced.
Mean Machines, CVG, EGM, Total!, Super Play, GameFan, you know the score. This is, of course, great, and those are all certified ‘bangers’ in the annals of publishing history – but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Back in the '80s and '90s, newsstand shelves all over the world were positively bursting with video game magazines. We had a wide selection of multi-format publications as well as mags which focused either on a particular platform holder or went even more specific and just covered a single system.
So, let’s take a moment to pour one out for all the magazines that fly under the radar and have escaped our collective memory. In no particular order, then, here are ten forgotten gaming magazines worth remembering.
CU Amiga (1983-1998)
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Commodore User was published in one form or another between 1983 and 1998, but it’s the early 90s iteration - when it was known as CU Amiga - which I know and remember.
Because for a very brief and specific moment in time they had some of the best screenshots, writing and layout in the business. I don’t know how they sourced their screenshots, but they’re razor-sharp and clear. A genuine delight – and a real anomaly at the time.
One problem - I owned a Commodore 64. So, while CU Amiga was the gold standard for UK computer game coverage circa 1990, the games I was playing at home looked nothing like the screenshots in the magazine.
EGM2 (1994 - 1998)
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Everyone remembers Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM). It was so popular the publishers were able to launch a spin-of magazine that dropped the reviews and focused exclusively on upcoming releases - EGM2.
This was possible because console gaming in the mid-90s was completely unhinged, with new systems being released every other month. It was glorious, and chaotic, and completely unsustainable.
Also, there was no real internet, so EGM2 was required reading for those paying attention.
Go! (1992 - ????)
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With the Atari Lynx, Sega Game Gear, Nintendo Game Boy and PC Engine Turbo Express all competing for market share, handhelds represented a significant slice of the gaming market in the early '90s.
Looking to capitalise on that popularity, EMAP launched a handheld gaming supplement bundled with CVG magazine. And it was ‘fine’. Nothing fancy, but at least you could keep track of all those Game Boy games flooding the market.
30 years after the fact, no one seems to remember any of this. And a world in which four rival handhelds are competing for your attention feels like some sort of alternative timeline. A better one at that.
Video Games and Computer Entertainment / VG&CE (1988-1993)
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VG&CE doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Maybe because the editorial team looked like a bunch of middle-aged data analysts with thick moustaches and big ‘dad energy’. That may be a harsh characterisation, but it goes to the heart of VG&CE’s appeal - and its ultimate downfall.
Ostensibly a multi-format magazine about home computers and video games, VG&CE was staffed by seasoned veterans who wanted to dig deeper and deliver ‘think pieces’ about the state of the industry.
While this helped to separate the magazine from the more hyperbolic EGM and GamePro, it didn’t do much for sales. Still, it makes old copies of VG&CE a treasure trove of early 90s gaming insights.
Compute! (1979-1994)
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This was one of the first gaming magazines I ever read, so I’m probably biased, but I grew to love Compute!’s very earnest mix of computer game coverage, productivity reviews (a new spreadsheet program!) and ads for AT/XT IBM compatibles in the back pages - yours for just $2,000 USD ( $5,000 adjusted for inflation).
The magazine ran across three decades, but it’s the late '80s / early '90s era that’s really interesting, as it provides a fascinating counterpoint to the micro-computer dominance of the UK gaming media.
Also, great ads for long forgotten PC games.
Raze (1990-1991)
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Raze magazine was a mess. It looks like every single section has been outsourced to a different person, and no one is talking to each other. Which means the tone, layout, and coverage switches wildly from page-to-page.
I interviewed the man responsible, Richard Monteiro, and he confirmed that the whole magazine was basically outsourced to different freelance writers and agencies scattered throughout the UK. Yeah, it’s a bit shambolic – but then so was the video game industry in the early '90s.
Turbo Force (1992-1993)
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Publishers in the US favoured multi-format gaming magazines. More consoles = more readers = more ads = more revenue.
So, when a single-format title came along, it was usually bankrolled by the console manufacturer itself, which is exactly what happened with Turbo Force.
More marketing Hail Mary than legit magazine, Turbo Force was a last-ditch-effort to breathe life into the failing TurboGrafx-16 and its CD add-on.
The fact that only 4 issues were produced during a two-year run, and all the ads were from the console's local distribution arm, tells you everything you need to know about the PC Engine's failed attempts to crack the global market.
Cube (2001 - 2005)
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I bought all my copies of Cube in the bargain bin for pennies – which is not dissimilar to how I bought all my GameCube games.
Clearly, the system had some issues cutting through in the early 2000s era of ‘urban slum gaming’. Or, to borrow a line from the legendary Sega site UK:Resistance, “We want to play in a HAPPY PRETEND LAND, not a shit version of an American slum full of mixed-race gangsters wearing licensed sportswear!”
That being said, my original copies of Mario Superstar Baseball, Paper Mario and Wario World are now worth a small fortune. There’s probably a lesson to be learnt somewhere in all that.
Electronic Games (1992 - 1995)
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Electronic Games is the first dedicated video game magazine published in the US. It made its debut in 1981 and ran until 1985. But we’re not talking about that magazine – we’re talking about its relaunched early '90s edition.
Like its forefather, the magazine was helmed by industry alumni Bill Kunkel, Arnie Katz and Joyce Worley. By this point, the trio had been kicking around the industry for some 15 years and felt that video and computer games deserved a more nuanced, adult-contemporary magazine.
I mostly bought it for the fanzine column that Arnie Katz wrote, back when that was a whole thing.
Arcade (1998 - 2000)
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Lager. Lager. Lager. And video games. And ‘birds’. (Yes, we're aware there's some crossover with this entry and The Guardian's list, but we feel that Arcade remains a forgotten gem regardless).
Arcade marks the video game industry’s transition from the bedroom to the high street. Its stylish layout and high-end aesthetic capture the spirit of the era – one that hasn’t aged particularly well with the benefit of hindsight.
But we’re talking New Labour, Girl Power, economic prosperity, and a brief moment in time when the future seemed assured, and the possibilities were endless. It wouldn’t last. And neither did the magazine, closing up shop after two years.
Comments 25
I’m afraid I don’t remember any of these other than Go! 😅 It was always a good read though, I bought so many GB and GG games back then as they were much cheaper than console games. I do seem to remember that the screenshots for Sonic on the GameGear looked like the SMS version…
My personal forgotten gem from back then is Games X (which has been covered on here). Being a fortnightly magazine meant it often got reviews and news out faster than any of their competitors. I’m pretty sure they were the first to show a picture of the US SNES in the UK.
I read some copies of EGM 2.
I have no idea which ones those were though and after the magazine folded so at least in 99 to 2001.
Can't narrow it down beyond that.
It introduced me to FF 3 , The 3do and many many other things.
I'm oddly fond of EGM 2.
Electronic Games is fantastic. I own several.
I also own several VG&CE and... It's weirdly very racist. Maybe not "racist", but nearly every issue I own has an overt anti-JP sentiment.
"Do we want these Japanese games in America? Do you want us even to cover these Japanese games rather than good ol' homegrown American games?"
I'm not kidding. It's tonally bizarre. These issues are pre-SNES. Later it mellowed a bit.
An American friend told me this was common circa the late 80s, because of a fear of Japanese industry taking over.
My fave obscure mag is GAME ZONE, by the Your Sinclair staffers.
Another lesser mentioned mag I enjoyed back in the day was Game Zone. (Edit - started typing this comment so long ago just saw Sketcz also mention this!)
A cheeky chap at my school (whose only machine was the Gameboy so he wasn't bothered about other consoles) used to take Go! out of CVG in the supermarket and place it in the trolley. The unsuspecting cashier would pass it through the till without charging him anything for it - it does say FREE in large letters on it after all!
Gawd, this article hits all the sweet spots for me. I remember spending more money on video game magazines than games, for fear of spending $80 CDN on a dud game. Check out retromags.com for your nostalgia fix, it’s a real treasure trove.
@MarkusM Nice tip about retromags.com nice one - not seen that before. 👍
The other obvious resource is Out of Print Archive - phenomenal job being done by Andy cataloguing old mags:
https://www.outofprintarchive.com/magazine_catalogue_UK.html
Without reading too much of the article, I miss then90s dearly. I LOVED reading magazines. Could read them over and over. And over and over.
If I kept them, I could honestly read them now and enjoy it greatly.
I love EGM magazine back then, always bought them from my local (import) books store. I also love gaming magazine special issue for console launch, it's fun to reads which launch game available for the new console.
My top 3
@bring_on_branstons That’s great, I’ll definitely check it out. Scanning and archiving all these issues must be a real labour of love.
@MarkusM
That , and a pain in the ass, especially if you don't have a book/document scanner like a Czur.
The past 12 years I've been scanning all the comics and video game magazines I own.
It's a slow, boring, cumbersome never ending task, cause I keep buying more.
I've gone through six scanners by now, scanned thousands of pages and at least 1500+ comics and magazines.
I mostly scan for myself, so I can keep the actual comics in boxes in storage and read the scans on computers laptops tablets phones etc.
I subscribed to EGM2 as a kid. Along with regular EGM, of course. And way too many other gaming magazines.
I read EGM and Nintendo Power but since I got into Japan only games and my parents couldn’t afford to buy a lot of games for me, I mostly read game guides for the games I owned and would sometimes see game articles in Disney Adventures. I put most of my magazine allowance into Astronomy Magazine and Sport Rider.
I don't know about the UK perspective, but I don't think VG&CE was that "forgotten" in the US.
It had a pretty long run, if you consider that in 1993 it was rebranded to just "VideoGames", focusing on console content and dropping the computer gaming stuff.
Then in 1994 it launched its successor publication Tips & Tricks, which like the name says focused on strategy guides and cheats, that magazine far outlasted the original publication.
@Sketcz Wow, what did those writers think to find that many of those "homegrown" English games were infact Japanese in origin?
Many license shovelware NES games could have as well been developed by Rare as by Atlus.
Or worse, by either Micronics or Imagineering. If you need two companies of different nationalities but about equal crappiness.
EGM did produce two single-format publications which I think ran at least a couple years each. Super NES Buyer's Guide and Mega Play.
As you might guess the former was an all-SNES magazine and the latter devoted to Sega consoles (though I didn't have any so I didn't read it new, I'm going to guess it went over Genesis/Sega CD and Game Gear?)
And yes, the only TurboForce I read is that issue above, which I believe was given away as a preview within one issue of... EGM?. As you might be able to tell by not having a UPC code on the front. (kind of a necessary thing so you could buy the magazine at the store.)
Kind of surprised at that relaunched Electronic Games, as it is at least from the same publisher as EGM (and even advertised by them). Seems kind of redundant?
@KitsuneNight That’s both impressive and kind of makes me squeamish, lol. So many hours spent with the scanner! I admit, I’m lazy and just look for online copies of publications. But I’m not protecting a physical collection like you are. More power to you!
I think I remember Cube, Electronic Games, and Arcade of this list.
I wasn't even aware there was a EMG2, nice to know.
@Sketcz Yeah well they took advantage of our military occupation and stole our technology in order to grow their electronics economy into one the US couldn't compete with, so there was good reason to fear their dominance in that field because they were dominant. Don't get me wrong this isn't anti Japanese sentiment, it's just what happened. Rising Sun by Michael Crichton is an interesting and entertaining look into the xenophobic views of the time, which went both ways for sure. Good thing they did steal our tech though it turns out the Japanese have a knack for video games.
I the only one of those I read was Go.
@Sketcz VG&CE was definitely opinionated. At one point they wanted to ban Dr Mario because ‘drugs’… Oh, and Game Zone was great. It was originally on the list but was ultimately bumped by Arcade magazine.
@bring_on_branstons Game Zone was great. It was in the original list but I ultimately bumped it for Arcade magazine. Oh, this is Mikolai, the guy who wrote this.
Yeah, VG&CE was virulently anti-Nintendo in the late 80s. I'm sure the late-80s anti-Japanese rhetoric played a part in this, but the staff of VG&CE were also a lot older than the staff of most other gaming magazines and seemed bitter that Atari was dead. I remember reading one article about how the Atari 2600 controller was superior to NES-style controllers and game design is worse off because the joystick was controlled by the left hand instead of the right. I mean, this was the late 80s/early 90s and they were still bitter about the death of Atari. They just came across as bitter old weirdos.
I vividly remember Go as part of CVG. But never considered it separate to the mag itself. Used to throughly enjoy picking up cvg every month when dragged to morrisons in Pontefract for the big shop with my mam. I used to get the Amstrad magazine posted to the house so i assume my mam signed me up for this. But can't find any copies in my old house.
Yeah i really wish i hadn't binned any of them now. Same with my Beano's and Dandy's
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