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The 15 (ish) greatest UK video game magazines of all time

www.theguardian.com The 15 (ish) greatest UK video game magazines of all time

Part newspapers, part fanzines, these titles were a lifeline to information-starved gamers and generated a sense of community to rival any YouTube streamer

The 15 (ish) greatest UK video game magazines of all time
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  • This is the best summary I could come up with:


    A gruelling labour of love for founders Rich Leadbetter and art editor Gary Harrod (both Mean Machines graduates), Maximum was the size of an Argos catalogue and filled with detailed, rigorous articles on the key games of the era, accompanied by beautiful screenshots.

    Originally launched as a tie-in to the famed Channel 4 video gameshow, GamesMaster took on its own identity through snappy writing, raw enthusiasm and page designs that felt almost kinetic with their myriad box-outs and screenshot sequences.

    Providing a regular demo disc and some of the best writers in the business at that time (Richard Leadbetter, Lee Nutter, Gary Cutlack) it put up a brave fight for Sega’s 32-bit machine.

    Perhaps the most anarchic and chaotic games mag ever made, Amiga Power belied the stately, sensible image of Commodore’s 16bit computer with its eccentric vocabulary, surreal reviews and furious industry feuds (don’t mention Team17).

    Launched by Steve Jarrett as a video game equivalent of high-end photography magazines, Edge was – and still is – a serious, lavishly designed mix of critical essays, leading industry news and tough reviews, beloved of “pro-sumers” and developers alike.

    I worked there in the 90s with brilliant editor Jason Brookes, but perhaps it was the early 2000s when the magazine truly reached its zenith, holding the games business to account, sharpening its writing style and revelling as much in obscure independent studios as mammoth triple A publishers.


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