It’s History! – Amiga Magazines

I’ve done a lot of things in the past that I regret, and one of the biggest was “selling” (more like giving away) all my Amiga magazines—from 1986 to around 1998—via an auction site called QXL (similar to eBay). The reason? I was moving to a new apartment.

For a hardcore collector and gamer like me, it was a bold move, and I knew I’d regret it eventually—and sure enough, I did, just 2–3 years later. In the early 2000s, people started realising the importance of preserving magazines, much like we had begun preserving game images through projects like TOSEC and later C.A.P.S.

My scanner was practically glowing from months of scanning box after box, all inspired by my work helping to get the Amiga Hall of Light website off the ground—a site that’s probably still the most visited resource for Amiga games today.

At that point, I felt a bit overwhelmed, thinking, “I have way too much to do!” and, of course, my old Amiga magazines were long gone. After a few beta attempts and a lot of waiting, the Amiga Magazine Rack website was finally born around 2007. Ironically, I hadn’t contributed a single thing yet.

Now, seven years later, I’m finally in a position to change all of that! Just two days ago, a friend of mine decided to give me his entire Amiga magazine collection—one I didn’t even know he had. The best part? His collection includes some of the rarest, most obscure magazines, especially from the early years. After a few clicks on the AMR site, I discovered many missing issues that I can now scan and upload to help preserve them for everyone.

The collection I received totalled 218 magazines. While many came from the more well-known publishers, there were still some real gems in there—like Christmas specials and other unique issues. Some highlights include CU Amiga Magazine, Commodore User, Dator Magazine, Amiga Action, Amiga Computing, and The One.

I still have a portion of my old collection—around 50+ magazines—but those are mostly from the later years, 1997 and onwards.

There are many gems in the collection, but here’s one that really stood out: the last known review of Lightwave 5.0—at least as far as I know. The reviewer was brutally honest, and I have to admit, my eyes got a little misty reading it last night. His verdict was simple and striking: “This is the end. The Amiga is too slow to compete with today’s (1997) PCs.”

It makes you wonder—what could have happened if Lightwave had gone PPC and embraced 3D acceleration…

Sometimes it’s hard to read about the past—a life that shaped you. In my case, it always makes me… I don’t know… a bit mushy. I remember far too much of it compared to everything else from the same time. For example, I know the exact date, time, and place (Bergen, 1989, school trip) when I bought Rainbow Islands for the C64—and even why I bought it. Yet, I can’t for the life of me remember what the school trip was actually about. I know I bought a terrible hamburger too, but seriously… why did the school even go on that trip?

Life is strange, and the history of the Amiga is just as strange—one heck of a ride, even if it’s only through old game magazines. I want to make sure you can all experience that journey too. That means I’ll be scanning magazines like crazy and uploading them as fast as possible so everyone can get a little mushy along the way.

Thanks, everyone!

EDIT: I’ve counted and checked the collection: there were a total of 218 magazines. Four were missing their front pages, but the rest are complete, spanning from 1984 (general computer magazines) up to 1999.

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