Zzap!64
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.
), and reviewers Gary Penn and Julian Rignall
, who won their jobs after having placed as finalists at a video game competition. The editorial HQ was in Yeovil
, more than 200 kilometers from Newsfield's headquarters in Ludlow
; the team was relocated to Ludlow after three months to cut costs, and Anderson and Wade left the staff after declining to make the move. Anderson would later found Future Publishing.
As the Amiga gained popularity in the UK, Zzap!64 began to publish occasional reviews of Amiga games. The Amiga coverage became a fixed feature of the magazine in issue 43 (November 1988), when the title was renamed to Zzap!64 Amiga.
The magazine experienced controversy in 1989, when three out of four reviewers (Gordon Houghton, Kati Hamza and Maff Evans) were fired and replaced during production of issue 50 (June 1989). The only one remaining, Paul Rand, had been employed at Zzap!64 a mere two months. Houghton wrote a farewell editorial, which was never published—instead, issue 50's editorial mentioned nothing of what happened, and the issue featured content from the three fired reviewers without discussing their fates.
Issue 74 (June 1991) saw the dropping of all Amiga coverage (the word "Amiga" was dropped from the name in 1990), and the magazine became completely devoted to the C64 once more. Four months later the publisher Newsfield declared bankruptcy and publication was suspended for a month. Europress Impact (a satellite company of Europress launched by Roger Kean, Oliver Frey and Jonathan Rignall) became the new publisher of Zzap!64, beginning with issue 79 (December 1991).
Issue 90 (November 1992) was the last official Zzap!64 issue. From the following month, the magazine was replaced by Commodore Force.
, MSX
, Amstrad CPC
and the Atari 8-bit family
. From issue 1 (May 1986) to issue 73 (December 1992) it was released as an actual magazine; with issue 74 (January 1993) it became an inset of the Italian version of The Games Machine
until December 1993 when it stopped being published.
From 1996 to 1999, Zzap! became an online magazine, a PC gaming website with a different "cover" each month and a mailbag, which reviewed games with the same style of the original magazine.
In 2002, a special "issue 85", dedicated to recently-released games for 8-bit machines, was released in PDF format.
format, later receiving a limited print run of 200 copies. Originally intended as a fan project based on a suggestion by journalist Cameron Davis in a Zzap!64 discussion forum, a number of ex-Newsfield writers later volunteered to join the project, including former editors Gordon Houghton, Robin Hogg and Paul Glancey
.
The special issue reflected the C64's continuing popularity in the 21st Century as a platform for retro gamers and hobbyists, with the majority of reviews focusing on recently-released C64 games. The magazine's design was based on "classic era" Zzap!64, and the front cover was based on an illustration by former Newsfield artist Oli Frey, significantly revised by designer Craig Grannell.
Another special issue of Zzap!64 was created in July 2005 to celebrate the magazine's twentieth anniversary. Dubbed The Def Tribute to Zzap!64, it was professionally printed and given away with issue 18 of Retro Gamer
magazine. Although more celebratory and retrospective in design than issue 107, it nevertheless featured a great deal of new content, including a foreword and articles by former Newsfield director and Zzap!64 editor Roger Kean and new material from former editors Gary Penn and Chris Anderson. The front cover and centerfold featured rare illustrations by Oli Frey from his pre-Newsfield days.
Commodore International
Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore Business Machines , the U.S.-based home computer manufacturer and electronics manufacturer headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which also housed Commodore's corporate parent company, Commodore International Limited...
series of computers, especially the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
(C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact
Europress
Europress was a British magazine and software publisher. Their magazine publishing business was previously known as Database Publications.-History:...
.
The magazine launched in April, with the cover date May 1985, as the sister magazine to CRASH
CRASH (magazine)
Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published from 1984 to 1991 by Newsfield Publications Ltd until their liquidation, and then until 1992 by Europress.-Development:...
. It focused on the C64 for much of its shelf life, but later incorporated Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
game news and reviews. Like CRASH for the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, 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
Oli Frey
Oliver "Oli" Frey is a magazine illustrator and artist who worked on comic strips in the 1970s and 1980s.- Biography :Frey was born in Zurich, Switzerland on 30 June 1948. He grew up fluent in Italian and German...
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
Commodore Force
Commodore Force was a computer games magazine covering games for the Commodore 64. It was published in the UK by Europress Impact. Its predecessor was Zzap!64.-Background:...
, a magazine that itself lasted until March 1994.
History
The first issue of Zzap!64, dated May 1985, was released on April 11, 1985. Its inaugural editorial team included editor Chris Anderson, Software Editor Bob Wade, freelance writer Steve Cooke (who joined the staff from the recently-folded Personal Computer GamesPersonal Computer Games
Personal Computer Games was a multi-format UK computer games mag of the early/mid eighties.-History:It is famous for launching the careers of several notable games journalists of the '80s including Bob Wade, Peter Connor and Chris Anderson. Anderson would later launch Amstrad Action, and Future...
), and reviewers Gary Penn and Julian Rignall
Julian Rignall
Julian "Muppet" Rignall is a longterm publishing veteran with experience launching and managing numerous video game magazines and websites...
, who won their jobs after having placed as finalists at a video game competition. The editorial HQ was in Yeovil
Yeovil
Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...
, more than 200 kilometers from Newsfield's headquarters in Ludlow
Ludlow
Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place...
; the team was relocated to Ludlow after three months to cut costs, and Anderson and Wade left the staff after declining to make the move. Anderson would later found Future Publishing.
As the Amiga gained popularity in the UK, Zzap!64 began to publish occasional reviews of Amiga games. The Amiga coverage became a fixed feature of the magazine in issue 43 (November 1988), when the title was renamed to Zzap!64 Amiga.
The magazine experienced controversy in 1989, when three out of four reviewers (Gordon Houghton, Kati Hamza and Maff Evans) were fired and replaced during production of issue 50 (June 1989). The only one remaining, Paul Rand, had been employed at Zzap!64 a mere two months. Houghton wrote a farewell editorial, which was never published—instead, issue 50's editorial mentioned nothing of what happened, and the issue featured content from the three fired reviewers without discussing their fates.
Issue 74 (June 1991) saw the dropping of all Amiga coverage (the word "Amiga" was dropped from the name in 1990), and the magazine became completely devoted to the C64 once more. Four months later the publisher Newsfield declared bankruptcy and publication was suspended for a month. Europress Impact (a satellite company of Europress launched by Roger Kean, Oliver Frey and Jonathan Rignall) became the new publisher of Zzap!64, beginning with issue 79 (December 1991).
Issue 90 (November 1992) was the last official Zzap!64 issue. From the following month, the magazine was replaced by Commodore Force.
In Italy
The Italian edition (just titled ZZap!), authorised by the original publisher, was not limited to Commodore 64 games, but it also reviewed games for other 8-bit machines like the ZX SpectrumZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
and the Atari 8-bit family
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
. From issue 1 (May 1986) to issue 73 (December 1992) it was released as an actual magazine; with issue 74 (January 1993) it became an inset of the Italian version of The Games Machine
The Games Machine (Italy)
The Games Machine , also known by the acronym TGM, is an Italian Video game magazine. The magazine features previews, reviews, and cheat codes for computer games.- History :...
until December 1993 when it stopped being published.
From 1996 to 1999, Zzap! became an online magazine, a PC gaming website with a different "cover" each month and a mailbag, which reviewed games with the same style of the original magazine.
In 2002, a special "issue 85", dedicated to recently-released games for 8-bit machines, was released in PDF format.
Commemorative issues
In March 2002, a special "Issue 107" of Zzap!64 was published digitally in PDFPortable Document Format
Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
format, later receiving a limited print run of 200 copies. Originally intended as a fan project based on a suggestion by journalist Cameron Davis in a Zzap!64 discussion forum, a number of ex-Newsfield writers later volunteered to join the project, including former editors Gordon Houghton, Robin Hogg and Paul Glancey
Paul Glancey
Paul Glancey is a video game producer and former journalist in the United Kingdom. He made his first steps into the videogame industry as a writer with Zzap!64 and CVG before contributing a few reviews to Mean Machines...
.
The special issue reflected the C64's continuing popularity in the 21st Century as a platform for retro gamers and hobbyists, with the majority of reviews focusing on recently-released C64 games. The magazine's design was based on "classic era" Zzap!64, and the front cover was based on an illustration by former Newsfield artist Oli Frey, significantly revised by designer Craig Grannell.
Another special issue of Zzap!64 was created in July 2005 to celebrate the magazine's twentieth anniversary. Dubbed The Def Tribute to Zzap!64, it was professionally printed and given away with issue 18 of Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Although launched as a quarterly publication, Retro Gamers soon became a monthly...
magazine. Although more celebratory and retrospective in design than issue 107, it nevertheless featured a great deal of new content, including a foreword and articles by former Newsfield director and Zzap!64 editor Roger Kean and new material from former editors Gary Penn and Chris Anderson. The front cover and centerfold featured rare illustrations by Oli Frey from his pre-Newsfield days.
Staff
- Chris Anderson
- Bob Wade
- Roger Kean
- Gary PennGary PennGary Penn is a former British games reviewer who wrote for Zzap!64 in the '80s and is a games industry veteran. He later was editor of The One and was Creative Director at DMA Design where he supervised the release of the first Grand Theft Auto game in 1997....
- Julian RignallJulian RignallJulian "Muppet" Rignall is a longterm publishing veteran with experience launching and managing numerous video game magazines and websites...
- Gary LiddonGary LiddonGary "Gaz" Liddon is a former British games reviewer who wrote for Crash and Zzap!64 in the '80s and is a games industry veteran. He worked for games developer Thalamus Ltd as Technical Executive.Since 2008 he is Studio Head at Ruffian Games....
- Sean Masterson
- Steve JarrattSteve JarrattSteve Jarratt is a long-time videogames journalist and magazine editor. He has launched a large number of magazines for Future Publishing, many of which are still published. Magazines he has worked for include:...
- Dan Gilbert
- Paul GlanceyPaul GlanceyPaul Glancey is a video game producer and former journalist in the United Kingdom. He made his first steps into the videogame industry as a writer with Zzap!64 and CVG before contributing a few reviews to Mean Machines...
- Matthew "Maff" Evans
- Kati Hamza
- Robin Hogg
- Mark Caswell
- Carl Rowley
- Gordon Houghton
- Ciarán Brennan
- Richard Eddy
- Lucy Hickman
- Stuart Wynne
- "Footy" Phil King
- Steve Shields
- Dominic Handy (aka Paul Sumner)
- Warren Lapworth
- Paul Rand
- Nik Wild
- Massimo Valducci
Fictitious characters
- Chuck Vomit (a green troll fond of billygoats)
- Lloyd Mangram (editor of the Letters pages, named for golfer Lloyd MangrumLloyd MangrumLloyd Eugene Mangrum was an American professional golfer. He was known for his smooth swing and his relaxed demeanour on the course, which earned him the nickname "Mr. Icicle".Mangrum was born in Trenton, Texas...
) - Paul Sumner (Reviewer. A pseudonym used by many contributing writers, including Warren Lapworth's early spell and Dominic Handy, who the caricature image was based on)
- The White Wizard (editor of the adventure game pages)
- The Harlequin (took over from the White Wizard)
- The Scorelord (manager of the high score page, ZZAP! Challenges, and bleach-drinking alien)
- Miss Whiplash (replaced both Lloyd Mangram and The Harlequin's roles in the magazine, in conjunction with Bash the Barbarian)
- Bash the Barbarian (Adventure columnist and letters page editor)
- Rockford, Thingie and Nose (doodles in the margin, two of them from video games - Rockford from Boulder DashBoulder DashBoulder Dash, originally released in 1984 for Atari 8-bit computers, is a series of computer games released for the Apple II, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and ColecoVision home computers, and later ported to the NES, BBC Micro and Acorn Electron, PC, Amstrad CPC, Amiga and many other platforms...
, Thingie from Thing On A SpringThing on a SpringThing On A Spring is a side-scrolling platform/puzzle game produced in 1985 for the Commodore 64 by Gremlin Graphics. Gameplay involves controlling a character resembling Zebedee from The Magic Roundabout through a toy factory while avoiding evil toys....
) - Tamara Knight (transporter-booth saleswoman, and heroine of a nine part serial by Mel CroucherMel CroucherMel Croucher is a British writer and video games pioneer. Originally an architect, he moved into computers and set up Automata UK after the release of the Sinclair ZX81...
) - The Terminal Man (science fictionScience fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
character, part human, part computer and part virus, was featured in a comic in the magazine)
See also
- Video game journalism
- MagazineMagazineMagazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
- Video game industry
- Video game
- ComputerComputerA computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
- ComputingComputingComputing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...