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Readallaboutit...again
Twoiconicgamesmagazinesfromthe 1980sarecrashingand zapping theirway
backasregularpublications,butthey’renotthe only oneskeepingprint alivefor
retro-loving readers,asDavidCrookesexplains
T
here is, and always has been, something
rather special about amagazine,from
the waytalented editors package a
curated mix of articles from skilled journalists,
to the familiarity publications bring when they
thud on the doorstep or peer at you invitingly
from the stands of your local newsagent.
Over the past fewyears, however,many
of our favouriteprinted titles have closed, and
theycontinue to do so,withComputer Shopper
the latest casualty.The internet has taken
many ascalp,advertisers are increasingly
looking elsewhere,and scores of great writers
have foundthemselves out of work.
But just as we’d all miss the smell of the
printed page if it was ever to become extinct,
so the whiff of nostalgia means this particular
chapter of journalism doesn’t necessarily have
to come to aclose.
“Having amagazine to read from cover
to cover has always been rather magical,
and that feeling has stayed with me,” says
Chris Wilkins, reminiscing about his favourite
videogame magazines from yesteryear.
“It has made me incredibly sad that so
many of those Iloved are no longer in
publication.”
And this is why he has been resurrecting
two of the biggest names from the past.
Wilkins can reel off the magazines that
helped to make his childhood special. “Crash,
Sinclair User,Computer and Video Games...”
he begins, explaining how he’d get his
newsagent, Alan, to put in aspecial order
having come across the names of new
magazines from his friends at school.
It’s the first of those,Crash,thathehas
worked hard to bring back to life, first as
an annual in 2018, and now as amagazine
coming out four times ayear.He’salso
doing the same forZzap!64,again having
resurrected the publication as an annual and,
now,making it aregular fixture once more.
“CrashandZzap!64won over many gamers
back in the day, andthatfondness forthe
magazines remains,”hesays.
Indeed, the debutCrashannual raised
£46,990 from 1,784 backers on Kickstarter,
