RIP GamesMaster magazine.

[Exoddus]

Only just found this out. This will also be the first post of 2019 on this forum .

GamesMaster magazine, which had been running for over 25 years. Came to an end on 1st November 2018. Unfortunately GamesMaster and GamesTM magazine were no longer profitable. So Future Publishing took the sad decision to end publication of both magazines. With the last issues being published on 1st November 2018.

GamesMaster magazine was the last remnant of GamesMaster the TV show. Which debuted on Channel 4, 7th January 1992. That's one hell of a legacy! GamesMaster host Dominik Diamond. Actually had his own column in GamesMaster magazine called "Dominik's Big Purple Column".

I personally own the first 150 issues of GamesMaster magazine. I would like to thank everyone who had ever worked on the magazine. It was a part of my childhood. It was a holy grail. It pointed us in the right direction for games to buy and just importantly, games to avoid. The walkthroughs and cheat pages were also a great addition. The magazine was really well written and featured a huge, varied amount of gaming related content.

Truly the end of an era.

*EDIT*

As of 2012, GamesMaster magazine was the biggest selling multi-format video games magazine in the United Kingdom. What a great achievement that was!

[SeeNoEvil]

I own Gamesmaster Magazine 1-121, although I prefer the issues released during the life of the TV show most, especially the first 20 issues. Sad to see it go, but many print magazines are going this way unfortunately. I have a huge collection of physical/original gaming magazines, and enjoy flicking through them from time to time, including;

Console XS 1-4
Gamesmaster Magazine 1-121
Mean Machines 1-24
Mean Machines Sega 1-53
Retro Gamer 1-179
Sega XS 1-15
Super Play 1-47
Super XS 1-6
Total! Nintendo 1-54

Strange to think that people growing up today, won't have this opportunity, as so many of their memories will be tied to the online world, which is here today, gone tomorrow. A physical magazine is something I can own for a lifetime.

[Exoddus]

That's a nice collection you have there. They're all individual small pieces of gaming history.

I don't know if this is just a syndrome of being born in the 80's. But I actually take more in, reading physical copies of books and magazines rather than reading them on the internet.

We had a newsagent shop just down the road from our infant/primary school. In fact it's still there. It's probably still only in business because of the infant and primary school just down the road.

I miss the days of running in there with my pocket money. Buying Merlin football stickers, A packet of Space Raiders, Taz bar (which was always better than Freddo), Sunny Delight and a gaming magazine. With preference being one with a demo disc stuck on the front!

Can anyone remember the rumour about one of the demo discs (maybe Silent Hill) was fully playable using a GameShark?

[SeeNoEvil]

I bought gaming magazines as far back as buying Amstrad and Spectrum magazines with cover tapes in the late 80s and early 90s. All my current magazine collection was just built up in the past few years, I never kept any magazines from my childhood. For the most part, especially if you're buying a larger collection of magazines, you can pick them up for far less than the original cover price. Single issues can be more expensive though.

[Exoddus]

I never kept any either. I actually bought all 150 issues of GamesMaster magazines from either this forum or the old one. Or a combination of both.

[Marcus]

Sad to hear this and I was made aware at the time. Why they didn’t give it a proper send off and just ended it abruptly, is a shame, especially after 25 years.

Your Sinclair and Commdore Format both got their well deserved “tribute” final issues, GM was just like any other issue when it ended.

Still, what a great magazine it was, the fact it still continued for all these years long after the show ended, was simply because it was an excellent and essential publication for all your gaming needs.