Newsfield Publications
Encyclopedia
Newsfield Publications Ltd (also known as Newsfield) was a British
magazine publisher during the 1980s and early 1990s.
in 1983. Based in Ludlow
, Shropshire
, Newsfield published a number of popular computer game magazines from the mid-1980s to early-1990s. This line-up was later supplemented by a number of less successful magazines covering role-playing games, film
, horror and youth culture. Faced with financial difficulties, the company went bankrupt towards the end of 1991. This didn't spell the immediate end for some of their magazines though. Another magazine publisher, Europress, continued to publish Newsfield's flagship publications, Zzap!64
and Crash
, for a further six months before the former was relaunched as Commodore Force and the latter sold to rival publisher EMAP
and merged with Sinclair User
.
Thalamus Ltd
, Newsfield's sister company, was set up in 1985 to publish a number of computer games on various 8-bit and 16-bit platforms, with a slant towards the Commodore 64
. Thalamus initially survived the demise of Newsfield before it too finally went bankrupt in 1993.
In recent years, Roger Kean, Franco Frey and Oliver Frey have established Thalamus Books, an independent book publisher. http://www.thalamus-books.com/
, it was a lively, colourful magazine that soon attracted a considerable cult following. It remained in print, as a Newsfield publication, until October 1991. When Europress Impact took over publication of the magazine, it lasted for a further six months before finally being sold in 1992 to rival publisher EMAP and merged with Sinclair User. The May 1992 issue was the only merged issue published, and Sinclair User itself finally shut up shop in 1993.
, but later incorporated Amiga
game news and reviews. Like Crash, it had a dedicated cult following amongst C64 owners, but extensive changes prompted a relaunch of the magazine, this time published by Europress Impact. Issue 91 of Zzap!64 would become issue 1 of Commodore Force, a magazine that itself lasted until March 1994. Special issues in digital format were later made in March 2002 and July 2005, the latter celebrating the 20th anniversary of its creation and included with issue 18 of Retro Gamer
.
platform. Launched in November 1985 (although a special "issue zero" was given away with Crash and Zzap!64), it offered as much in-depth coverage of the Amstrad gaming scene as its sister magazines did for the Spectrum and C64. Unfortunately Amtix! was unable to compete with Amstrad Action
, the leading publication for Amstrad CPC users; only 18 issues of Amtix! were published before Newsfield sold the magazine to Database Publications, who merged Amtix! features into their own publication, Computing With The Amstrad. CWTA was a general Amstrad CPC/PCW/PC magazine, which used Amtix as the brand for its games review section. CWTA later split into three single-format magazines including Computing with the Amstrad CPC, and it was CWTACPC which continued using the Amtix name for its games section.
and the originators of the Rough Guides
travel series.
publication. The first batch of issues attempted to broaden its appeal by featuring articles on non-gaming products, such as remote controlled cars and high-tech gadgets, but it soon narrowed its focus to concentrate exclusively on games. The magazine continued for thirty-four issues before finally folding in 1990, having been consigned to the margins by Future Publishing's more robust ACE
publication.
An Italian
version of the magazine was launched around the same time, which initially translated much of the English version's content. It still continues to thrive today as one of Italy's best selling multi-format games magazines.
) whose work it first championed. Another name who appeared regularly in its film reviews pages is that of Mark Kermode.
tapes was beginning to bloom and Newsfield decided it would be wise to try and capture a slice of this market. Launched in September 1988, Movie managed to attract the interest of advertisers within the video industry, but circulation of the magazine remained low and it failed to make a profit. It lasted for seven issues before Newsfield reluctantly discontinued publication.
-based publisher Macro and survived until that firm in turn collapsed in 1993.
, the role-playing market was hit by a recession strong enough to force even Games Workshop
's White Dwarf and Warlock magazines to dip in sales. (The latter would only last for 13 issues.)
and Nintendo Entertainment System
, which were growing in popularity. Once again, poor advertising revenue and an expensive out-of-house editorial team meant that the magazine failed to reap the profits Newsfield were hoping to see.
. The issue was subsequently re-issued with a less offensive image. Only three more issues were printed.
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 publisher during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Overview
Newsfield Publications Ltd was founded by Roger Kean, Franco Frey and Oliver FreyOli 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...
in 1983. Based 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...
, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, Newsfield published a number of popular computer game magazines from the mid-1980s to early-1990s. This line-up was later supplemented by a number of less successful magazines covering role-playing games, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, horror and youth culture. Faced with financial difficulties, the company went bankrupt towards the end of 1991. This didn't spell the immediate end for some of their magazines though. Another magazine publisher, Europress, continued to publish Newsfield's flagship publications, Zzap!64
Zzap!64
Zzap!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....
and 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:...
, for a further six months before the former was relaunched as Commodore Force and the latter sold to rival publisher EMAP
EMAP
Emap Limited is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...
and merged with Sinclair User
Sinclair User
Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum...
.
Thalamus Ltd
Thalamus Ltd
Thalamus Ltd was a British computer game developer that published titles for a number of 8-bit and 16-bit platforms during the late 1980s and early 1990s.-Genesis:...
, Newsfield's sister company, was set up in 1985 to publish a number of computer games on various 8-bit and 16-bit platforms, with a slant towards 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...
. Thalamus initially survived the demise of Newsfield before it too finally went bankrupt in 1993.
In recent years, Roger Kean, Franco Frey and Oliver Frey have established Thalamus Books, an independent book publisher. http://www.thalamus-books.com/
Crash
Crash began life in 1983 as a software catalogue, offering reviews of games and a mail order service. The first issue of the dedicated monthly magazine was published in February 1984. Focusing exclusively on 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...
, it was a lively, colourful magazine that soon attracted a considerable cult following. It remained in print, as a Newsfield publication, until October 1991. When Europress Impact took over publication of the magazine, it lasted for a further six months before finally being sold in 1992 to rival publisher EMAP and merged with Sinclair User. The May 1992 issue was the only merged issue published, and Sinclair User itself finally shut up shop in 1993.
Zzap!64
Zzap!64 was launched in May, 1985 as the sister magazine to Crash. It focused on the C64Commodore 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...
, 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, it had a dedicated cult following amongst C64 owners, but extensive changes prompted a relaunch of the magazine, this time published by Europress Impact. Issue 91 of Zzap!64 would become issue 1 of Commodore Force, a magazine that itself lasted until March 1994. Special issues in digital format were later made in March 2002 and July 2005, the latter celebrating the 20th anniversary of its creation and included 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...
.
Amtix!
Amtix! was Newsfield's short-lived gaming magazine dedicated to the Amstrad CPCAmstrad 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,...
platform. Launched in November 1985 (although a special "issue zero" was given away with Crash and Zzap!64), it offered as much in-depth coverage of the Amstrad gaming scene as its sister magazines did for the Spectrum and C64. Unfortunately Amtix! was unable to compete with Amstrad Action
Amstrad Action
Amstrad Action was a monthly magazine, published in the United Kingdom, which catered to owners of home computers from the Amstrad CPC range and later the GX4000 console....
, the leading publication for Amstrad CPC users; only 18 issues of Amtix! were published before Newsfield sold the magazine to Database Publications, who merged Amtix! features into their own publication, Computing With The Amstrad. CWTA was a general Amstrad CPC/PCW/PC magazine, which used Amtix as the brand for its games review section. CWTA later split into three single-format magazines including Computing with the Amstrad CPC, and it was CWTACPC which continued using the Amtix name for its games section.
LM
LM (variously said to be short for Leisure Magazine, Leisure Monthly, or Lloyd Mangram - a pseudonym used by editors in Newsfield's computer magazines) was launched in December 1986. It was a bold move for Newsfield, attempting to capture a youth market within the 18-30 demographic with a wide range of pop-culture coverage. While the magazine was met with enthusiasm amongst its readers, its various advertising partners felt it wasn't projecting the image they'd hoped for. Having already drained Newsfield's financial resources without any prospect of recovery, and requiring a large editorial team with both London and Shropshire offices, the magazine was discontinued after only four issues. Among writers contributing to LM who later became household names were Neil GaimanNeil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
and the originators of the Rough Guides
Rough Guides
Rough Guides Ltd is a travel guidebook and reference publisher, owned by Pearson PLC. Their travel titles cover more than 200 destinations, and are distributed worldwide through the Penguin Group...
travel series.
The Games Machine
The Games Machine launched in the autumn of 1987. It was Newsfield's first multi-format games magazine, intended to be a much more informative, serious rival to the popular Computer and Video GamesComputer and Video Games (magazine)
Computer and Video Games is a video game magazine and website published in the United Kingdom.- History :...
publication. The first batch of issues attempted to broaden its appeal by featuring articles on non-gaming products, such as remote controlled cars and high-tech gadgets, but it soon narrowed its focus to concentrate exclusively on games. The magazine continued for thirty-four issues before finally folding in 1990, having been consigned to the margins by Future Publishing's more robust ACE
ACE (games magazine)
ACE was a multi-format computer and video game magazine first published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing and later acquired by EMAP.-History:...
publication.
An Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
version of the magazine was launched around the same time, which initially translated much of the English version's content. It still continues to thrive today as one of Italy's best selling multi-format games magazines.
Fear
Fear began life as a full-colour newsstand magazine edited by former deputy editor of Sinclair User John Gilbert. Newsfield, keen to find publishing ventures outside the volatile computer game market, agreed to publish Fear with Gilbert as managing editor. The first issue of the magazine, which would be dedicated to horror book/film reviews and original horror, fantasy and science fiction, was published in June 1988. Despite relatively low sales it managed to survive for the duration of Newsfield's business operations, seeing off rivals such as Skeleton Crew and Phantasmagoria, which entered the market midway through its run. Fear achieved recognition from many international writers, and is still quoted today on back-cover blurbs by novelists (e.g. Peter F. HamiltonPeter F. Hamilton
Peter F. Hamilton is a British author. He is best known for writing space opera. As of the publication of his tenth novel in 2004, his works had sold over two million copies worldwide.- Biography :...
) whose work it first championed. Another name who appeared regularly in its film reviews pages is that of Mark Kermode.
Movie
Newsfield's next venture was Movie - The Video Magazine. The market for commercial/sell-through pre-recorded VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
tapes was beginning to bloom and Newsfield decided it would be wise to try and capture a slice of this market. Launched in September 1988, Movie managed to attract the interest of advertisers within the video industry, but circulation of the magazine remained low and it failed to make a profit. It lasted for seven issues before Newsfield reluctantly discontinued publication.
Prepress
Prepress with the Macintosh was launched in September 1989, a trade magazine aimed at the publishing industry. It was well regarded within the industry but struggled to find sufficient advertising revenue until it later expanded to cover non-Macintosh platforms and was renamed simply Prepress. After Newsfield's closure it was sold to HertfordHertford
Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. Forming a civil parish, the 2001 census put the population of Hertford at about 24,180. Recent estimates are that it is now around 28,000...
-based publisher Macro and survived until that firm in turn collapsed in 1993.
Complete Computer Entertainment Guide
With their financial resources running low, Newsfield attempted to launch a new computer magazine that would be produced by staff working for their existing titles. Launched in November 1989, it was intended to be a quarterly production, but the second issue wasn't published until November 1990. The magazine nevertheless continued to be published until Newsfield's demise in 1991.Games Master International
In July 1990 Newsfield took over publication of Croftward Publishing's GM magazine. Aimed at fantasy role-playing gamers, GM had been a successful production with high circulation and strong advertising revenue. Unfortunately, as Newsfield relaunched it as Games Master InternationalGamesMaster International
GamesMaster International, or GMI, was a roleplaying game magazine in the UK published by Newsfield Publications starting in July 1990. The magazine featured the same editorial team of G.M. The Independent Fantasy Roleplaying Magazine...
, the role-playing market was hit by a recession strong enough to force even Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
's White Dwarf and Warlock magazines to dip in sales. (The latter would only last for 13 issues.)
Raze
With Newsfield's multi-format games magazine The Games Machine floundering, the publisher decided to rebrand it as Raze in October 1990 and move the editorial within the direction of the new Japanese games consoles, the Sega Master SystemSega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
and Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The 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...
, which were growing in popularity. Once again, poor advertising revenue and an expensive out-of-house editorial team meant that the magazine failed to reap the profits Newsfield were hoping to see.
Frighteners
In an attempt to gain some much needed revenue, Newsfield decided to publish a spin-off of Fear magazine. Launched in June 1991, Frighteners was intended to be a monthly fiction magazine, showcasing up and coming new talent within the horror genre. Unfortunately the first issue had to be pulled from the shelves after receiving consumer complaints about the blood-dripping cover painted by Oliver Frey, which featured a story by novelist Graham MastertonGraham Masterton
Graham Masterton is a British horror author. Originally editor of Mayfair and the British edition of Penthouse, Graham Masterton's first novel The Manitou was released in 1976. This novel was adapted in 1978 for the film The Manitou...
. The issue was subsequently re-issued with a less offensive image. Only three more issues were printed.