Game Zone magazine
Game Zone doesn’t get mentioned much these days. It’s not a magazine that people bring up when talking about childhood favourites. It’s no EGM or Mean Machines.
But it’s worth a closer look. Because the story of Game Zone is also the story of Sega vs Nintendo, and the impact of the early 90s console wars on magazine publishing.
Welcome to the 90s
Game Zone made its debut in November 1991. Launched by Dennis publishing in the UK, it covered the main home consoles and handhelds of the era. Per the front cover, this included the Mega Drive, Super Nintendo, NES, Master System, and PC Engine. Also, the GameBoy, Game Gear, Atari Lynx and PC Engine Turbo Express. So, a lot…
The actual content was a familiar mix of news, previews, reviews and guides. Albeit, with an irreverent and pop-culture leaning slant. Which makes sense given the founder of the company, Felix Dennis, got his start in 1960s counterculture magazines, branched out on his own with a Kung Fu title in the 70s, and eventually launched Your Sinclair in 1986, a magazine that became known for its “tone of voice”.
By the time Game Zone hit the newsstands that particular mix of pop-culture boxouts, sarcasm and irreverence had been neatly distilled, and it ran through the magazine's 100+ pages every month.
This included an ironic fashion section - Kev’s Kool Kode, fake celebrity interviews, and ongoing references to drowned publishing magnate Robert Maxwell. You may have heard of his daughter, Ghislaine…
We thought of it first
While circulation numbers aren’t available, we can assume that Game Zone did okay during its initial 12 months on newsstands. The page counts remain high and there’s a healthy mix of advertising. But it’s what happened next that makes this story worth telling.
In October 1992 the magazine was split into two separate titles. Sega Zone and Nintendo Game Zone. As the names imply, these new titles would be Sega and Nintendo specific.
Which is interesting timing… because rival UK publisher, EMAP, did the exact same thing. The exact same month…
In October 1992 EMAP split the massively successful Mean Machines magazine into two separate titles - Mean Machines Sega and Nintendo Magazine System.
Was this a coincidence? Well, the timing might have been. But the underlying intention wasn’t.
Sega vs Nintendo
By 1992 the UK console wars were in full flight. Kids were updating from their old 8bit computers to home consoles. That meant either Sega or Nintendo. And since your choice had far reaching consequences, it created a tribal loyalty more often associated with football clubs.
This had significant ramifications in the magazine publishing world.
Unlike the US - where Nintendo was the clear market leader - the UK computer and video game market of the late 80s didn’t have an obvious leader. Rather, you had a bunch of home computers and consoles slicing up the proverbial pie.
This allowed multi-format magazines to flourish, as the consumer base for each individual system was pretty modest, and it didn’t make economic sense to launch a bunch of hyper focused magazines about, say, the BBC Micro, or the Amstrad.
Instead, you had titles like CVG, The Games Machines, Raze and Game Zone covering the broader industry and doing quite well.
The arrival of Sega and Nintendo changed all this. It created concentrated pockets of gamers who only wanted to hear about their systems. And there was enough of these people to justify a stand-alone magazine.
What followed was a flood of new magazines aimed at Sega and Nintendo owners. Especially Sega magazines…
Sega Pro, Sega Power and MegaTech all appeared on UK newsstands in 1991. Sega Force, Mega Drive Advanced Gaming and Mega appeared in 1992 alongside Sega Zone and Mean Machines Sega.
Question is, did this pivot to console specific magazines work?
Kill your darlings
As you may have guessed, there’s only a finite number of Sega magazines any given market can sustain. And the UK market quickly reached that threshold.
In response, publishers began buying up rivals and consolidating the market. Sega Zone and Nintendo Zone were two early examples of this strategy.
Future Publishing purchased both Sega Zone and Nintendo Game Zone in 1993, adding them to their suite of magazines. They then sold both properties to Maverick Magazines in 1994. Which closed them soon after…
The point of all this? Culling the magazine options on newsstands to a more manageable number. By buying up and closing the competition publisher could corner the market and ensure the survival of their preferred publications.
Desperate struggle
Game Zone and its spin off titles may not be remembered with the same fondness as other magazines from the era, but they capture a moment in time.
A transitional period that saw UK publishers go from multi-format magazines to hyper specific titles.
It couldn’t last... But for a brief, glorious moment, walking into a newsagent gave you more magazine options than any economy could sustain.
….