Europress
Encyclopedia
Europress was a British
magazine and software publisher. Their magazine publishing business was previously known as Database Publications.
series.
The publishing business was purchased by IDG
and became IDG Media towards the end of 1994. A reorganisation of the titles promptly followed, with the Atari, Amiga and Acorn divisions each losing one or more titles along the way.
Their software publishing business was purchased by Hasbro Interactive
in 1999. At first, the studio prospered and expanded. It was able to produce titles using some of the brands owned by Hasbro, even producing two for Hasbro Germany. A little over a year later, Hasbro Interactive was losing money and was sold to Infogrames
for a small amount; Infogrames gained ownership of all the Hasbro brands. However, Infogrames were not interested in the educational multimedia, which was Europress's focus, and ignored the company for several months. Ownership was then returned to the Meakin family. They ran the company for little over a year before it went into liquidation. A major factor in this was Granada TV's ignorance of their rights over Countdown. They had encouraged Europress to produce a Countdown CD Rom, but only weeks before the launch, with large pre-orders, they discovered that they did not have the interactive rights.
Derek Meakin sold the rights to the Europress brand name to Atari, who then sold them to Koch Media in 2002. Meakin then cofounded Meakin Enterprises with Chris Phillips.
Past magazines that have since ceased publication include: Amiga Action
, Amiga Computing
, Atari User
, Atari ST User
.
Key titles from Europress / Impact Magazines included:
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
magazine and software publisher. Their magazine publishing business was previously known as Database Publications.
History
Europress was formed by Derek Meakin in 1965, it began by publishing magazines and newspapers, then during the 1980s as an expansion of their magazine publishing business, they became involved in the rapidly-growing software industry. During the late 1980s Europress purchased Mandarin Software, and the company was later renamed Europress Software, their output included a high proportion of educational material, such as the Fun SchoolFun School
Fun School is the name of a series of educational packages developed and published in the United Kingdom by Europress Software, initially as Database Educational Software.-Under 6 Years:...
series.
The publishing business was purchased by IDG
IDG
International Data Group is a technology media, research, event management, and venture capital organization.IDG evolved from International Data Corporation which was formed in 1964 in Newtonville, Massachusetts, by Patrick Joseph McGovern and a friend, Fred Kirch...
and became IDG Media towards the end of 1994. A reorganisation of the titles promptly followed, with the Atari, Amiga and Acorn divisions each losing one or more titles along the way.
Their software publishing business was purchased by Hasbro Interactive
Hasbro Interactive
Hasbro Interactive was an American video game production and publishing subsidiary of Hasbro, the large game and toy company.Hasbro Interactive was formed late in 1995 in order to compete in the computer and video game arena. Several Hasbro properties, such as Monopoly and Scrabble, had already...
in 1999. At first, the studio prospered and expanded. It was able to produce titles using some of the brands owned by Hasbro, even producing two for Hasbro Germany. A little over a year later, Hasbro Interactive was losing money and was sold to Infogrames
Infogrames
Infogrames Entertainment SA was an international French holding company headquartered in Paris, France. It was the owner of Atari, Inc., headquartered in New York City, U.S. and Atari Europe. It was founded in 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet using the proceeds from an introductory...
for a small amount; Infogrames gained ownership of all the Hasbro brands. However, Infogrames were not interested in the educational multimedia, which was Europress's focus, and ignored the company for several months. Ownership was then returned to the Meakin family. They ran the company for little over a year before it went into liquidation. A major factor in this was Granada TV's ignorance of their rights over Countdown. They had encouraged Europress to produce a Countdown CD Rom, but only weeks before the launch, with large pre-orders, they discovered that they did not have the interactive rights.
Derek Meakin sold the rights to the Europress brand name to Atari, who then sold them to Koch Media in 2002. Meakin then cofounded Meakin Enterprises with Chris Phillips.
Past magazines that have since ceased publication include: Amiga Action
Amiga Action
Amiga Action was a monthly magazine about Amiga computer games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Europress and ran for 89 full issues, from October 1989 to December 1996, making it the longest running UK Amiga games magazine. After its closure, it was merged into sister publication Amiga...
, Amiga Computing
Amiga Computing
Amiga Computing was a monthly computer magazine of a serious nature, published by Europress and IDG in both the UK and USA. A total of 117 issues came out. The games section was called Gamer, although later Amiga Action was incorporated into the magazine and became the games section.- External...
, Atari User
Atari User
Atari User was a British computer magazine aimed at users of Atari home computers, and published by Database Publications between 1985 and 1988....
, Atari ST User
Atari ST User
Atari ST User was a British computer magazine aimed at users of the Atari ST range. It started life as a pull-out section in Atari User magazine...
.
Europress Impact
When Europress bought Newsfield in 1991, Europress Impact, a satellite company of Europress, was launched. Run by ex-Newsfield directors Roger Kean, Oliver Frey and Jonathan Rignall. In 1993 the publishers name changed to Impact Magazines. Beginning of 1994 Impact Magazines closed.Key titles from Europress / Impact Magazines included:
- Zzap!64Zzap!64Zzap!64 was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 . It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact....
- Along with CRASHCRASH (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:...
, Zzap!64 was one of the two main titles brought in from Newsfield. After issue 90 Zzap! was re-launched as Commodore ForceCommodore ForceCommodore 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:...
, which lasted for 16 more issues ending with the last one on March 1994. - CRASHCRASH (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:...
- CRASH was Newsfield's first ever magazine title and the best seller at its peak. In 1992 the tile was sold to EMAPEMAPEmap Limited is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...
after only five issues and was incorporated into their own Spectrum title Sinclair UserSinclair UserSinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum...
. - Sega ForceSega ForceSega Force was an early 1990s publication that covered the Sega console range .-History:...
- As with N Force, Sega Force was in its planning stage and ready to go ahead just when Newsfield collapsed. Covering the range of SegaSega, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
consoles at the time. In July 1993 the magazine was split into Sega Force Mega, for the Mega Drive, and Sega Master Force, for the Master System and Game Gear. The titles disappeared as Impact Magazines closed. - N-Force - Similar to sister title Sega Force but covered the NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
consoles NESNintendo Entertainment SystemThe Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, SNESSuper Nintendo Entertainment SystemThe Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
and Game BoyGame BoyThe , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
. Later renamed SNES Force. - Amiga ForceAmiga ForceAmiga Force was a video games magazine launched towards the end of 1992 by Europress Impact. It lasted for 16 issues before going down with its publishers. The first issue of Amiga Force went on sale around September 1992. The magazine would switch to monthly release soon after. Amiga Force showed...
- Amiga Force was very much a video games magazine launched towards the end of 1992. Covering the CommodoreCommodore InternationalCommodore 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...
AmigaAmigaThe 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...
computer games scene. It lasted for 16 issues before going down with its publishers. - Mega Machines - Impact Magazines launched Mega Machines in the summer of 1993. Similar to the existing Sega Force Mega, the new title catered for the Sega Mega Drive and Sega CD. However, it was aimed at a younger audience and was printed in landscape.