Best tech magazines of the 80s/90s

Do you remember the good old days when the Internet wasn't there yet and the only source of information and software/games for your favorite micro were the newsstands? There you could browse through lots of newspapers, books, etc. to find a good computer magazine featuring news, hardware and software reviews, and long long listings of BASIC / Assembly / Machine Language games or tools. Do you remember that? Well, of course you do, ohterwise you wouldn't be logged in here in AOC and wouldn't be reading this post.

As I grew up in Italy I know very well what they were published in my own country, but what were your favorite magazines in UK or US, especially for game and program listings you (maybe) used to type in and run on your micro? I don't care about game reviews (like ZZAP! or TGM), only magazines that offered code and tech stuff.

I recently found out about The Transactor, a Canadian fanzine that slowly evolved in a full and cool magazine. In Germany I'd choose 64er for the technical articles and BASIC/ML code listings. What would you recommend among the most technical magazines in your country? UK, US, France, Spain (as these are languages I can understand).

Many thanks.
Daz

 

In the UK the only type-in listings I ever done were from general computer magazines like Page 6, Atari User, Big K.
I know there were a few withan emphasis on listings but can't recall them as it wasn't something I was really into back then.

 

Never heard about Big K, although there was a games magazine name "K" published in Italy in the 90s. But that was only games' reviews, no program listings, no tech stuff. Just sort pf an imitation of TGM. But I'll look for it in Archive. I know about Page 6 and Atari User, they were specific for a system (A8 and A16 IIRW) but they included columns about programming and so they also contained listings in BASIC or M.L. - thanks

 

Big K only ran for 13 issues around 1984 in the UK. Great memories for me as it was the first computer magazine I ever bought. Still have most of the issues and the free blank cassette that came with issue 1.

 

Yes, I found them all on Archive - nice mags, lots of advertising, good contents. Many thanks for pointing me out to this magazine.

 

If you are into ZX80/81's and Spectrums then ZX Computing was a good one.

ZX Computing

 

Thanks for the advice. I kind have learned to appreciate Sinclair's little gems (from ZX80 to QL) for their philosophy and practicity, so it would be fun to browse through ZX Computing and play around with ZX Basic and a little of Z80 assembly.

 

They have articles on homebrew electronics and connecting them to the ZX range as well as programming.
I remember BigK from back then, it used to have a covertape if I recall so Spectrum Computing should have images of the tapes in the archive.
There was a multi format magazine called Your Computer that was very thick and had a lot of type-ins and projects for all the formats.

 

Big K was multiformat as well, so no cover tape. Unless you count the blank C15 they gave away with the first issue.
It's also where I read about the Atari 800XL for the first time. Ah memories!

Sorry for dragging this thread off-topic a bit!

 

Thanks, @nysavant - your post is quite interesting and not off-topic. Personal past experiences with machines, software and magazines are always cool to read. It's what I often look for in forum threads or social media groups.

I have downloaded from Archive.org, among other tons of mags, both "Big K" and "ZX Computing" collections (don't know if they are complete) and started to browse them when I find some time to spare.

 

Have to say that I did not remember that Big K mag..Getting the archive to have a look..Ta all for the heads up..

 

Love the old adverts, remember so many of them.. Hated type in's, For anyone who owned a ZX81 with 16K (the power!!!) ram pack will know the perils of type in's. Often made worse by typo's and unchecked listings.

 

Oh, a top tip for mags, use a renaming tool and change the zip extension to cbr and then read them in comic book reading software. 99% of comic software has colour correction for old comics, so adjust the mild yellows of age to white and makes them look so much nicer. Also they normally auto correct the reading size so it can either be seen as single pages or in 'book' mode, so apart from the cover, you get 2 pages on screen.

If files are in 7zip then just change extension to cbz..

 

Any comic reader software you recommend Paul?

 

Se whatsapp

 

Am I the only one to see weird screens, maybe its my blocker

 

Ah, better, bloody blocker

 

Your Computer was my fave mag back then...and still is, Rich. Like Match of the Day on a Sat night being the HIGHLIGHT of the week, ganning down to our local newsagent on the 1st Sat morn of a month and walking back home, literally eyes glued to every word, every glossy ad and every games/hardware review and in depth article, meant I often arrived home having walked into several lamp posts so would spend the rest of the day in A&E - but Your Computer kept me going all the same!!

 

Thank you all for your kind responses and stories about your favourite magazines back in the 80s. For a project related to the mag RMW, I took inspiration from issue 36 of C+VG (UK) and rebuilt all the listings featured, 7 different games for 7 different 8-bit machines.

All games were written in BASIC (I mean the dialect of every system). The games were surprisingly good and somehow fun. At the end of 1984, even a small game running slowly in BASIC was like getting aboard of a starship. It was very fun.and part of it has been typing some listings or find them online and learn how to run them on emulators or original machines. I had some trouble with the Dragon 32, so I thought that Richard could be of some help...

As soon as the editorial project is finished, I'll let you guys know more about it.

 

Sounds like an interesting project indeed Alex, look forward to hearing more about it.

Here's a question, what comptuer magazines do any of us still read today?

 

Good question. Simple answer: none or almost none - personally I read a hacking mag and a Linux mag I still have the pleasure to buy in a newsstand. Then mostly blogs or websites. These are my readings regarding IT, computers, programming, etc.

 

I, in general, read very little. Back in the day, I'd read manuals and programming books with the odd mag like C@VG. Started reading the Edge but found it arrogant about average gamers. These days I read the odd PDF of ZZapp, Fusion and RetroGamer, but I mostly skip through them as the info in mags has normally been on the internet more than a month before (the joys of writing for a mag).

I use mags more to be a trigger to look out games I'd either forgotten about or didn't know existed. They are also handy for reigniting a love of a game you had enjoyed in the past. Not opened a programming book in years, used to be my first thing when I got in from work, straight in to Mapping The Atari to help me finish a naff utility I'd written, loved to write disk copiers for non protected stuff and cheating tools. Simple but fun stuff, all in assembly, I never could get on with BASIC

 

I still enjoy picking up old copies of Atari User, Antic, Page 6 and - of course - Oric Owner / Oric User Monthly (the latter delivered by highway ninjas direct as we drive oop to Sunderland on matchdays!!)

 

https://www.retromagazine.net/press-play-again-11-mar-2026/

Well, retroguys, this is the project I worked on last end of January. "Press Play Again" is a digital booklet that is inspired to the old good little mags with tape included that we all used to find in kiosks and newsstands. Do you remember them? In Italy, where I grew up, they were not only legal magazines that proposed homebrew or free games, they were also weird publications with a tape attached that featured cracked and pirated games, often with titles and labels renamed.

Anyway, chatting with you in this thread, I had the idea to retrieve all the listings from a C+VG issue (namely nr. 36 October 1984), typing them in their respective systems, testing them and running them. The result is PPA nr. 11, also available in English. You can get it now for free and ad-free. Just follow the link above.

I'd like to thank you all for your advice here. Special thanks to Rich/Vyper for the help on the Dragon DOS drive emulation.

 

FANtastic - cheers, Daz.
This looks GREAT!
I surely will and send some feedback ASAP.