AGE OF AMSTRAD ACTION

1985

Amstrad Action became Future Publishing’s first magazine when it was launched by Chris Anderson in October.

1985

Sales were boosted by issue four’s covertape containing the unreleased games Kung Fu and Number 1.

1986

Issue 9 introduced coverage of the Amstrad PCW as well as the CPC but it didn’t last long.

1986

Thrust was given 94% and made an AA Rave - the highest rated title not to be named a Master Game.

1987

A new look was introduced in issue 18 by Bob Wade, with efforts to lighten the tone of the magazine.

1987

Future Publishing moved from Somerton to Queen Street in Bath.

1987

The circulation figure was stated for the first time: 34,555 between July and December.

1988

AA marked its third birthday with an eggs-cellent collector’s edition of Dizzy on the tape.

1988

Circulation hit 35,095 between January and June and 38,457 from July to December.

1989

Cheat Mode regular Phil Howard revealed how he hacked games in a series of articles.

1989

Circulation fell to 35,189 between January and June and fell to 35,064 from July to December.

1990

AA took a look at Codemasters’ CD Games Pack and revealed the new GX4000 console and Plus computers.

1990

Rick Dangerous II was awarded 97% by Adam Waring and his own game, Lost Caves, was named ‘Best Budget Breakthrough’.

1990

Circulation rose to 30,156 between January and June, and to 31,228 between July and December.

1991

Covertapes went monthly in April, thanks to mounting pressure from readers.

1991

Frank O’connor, who would later edit Total!, started his first journalism job at AA, taking over from James Leach.

1991

Circulation rose to 35,159 between January and June and to 37,120 between July and December.

1992

AA ramped up the fun and leaned more towards games. Readers named Turrican their favourite.

1992

Reader Peter Worley’s strong opinions earned him a regular spot in the letters pages under the heading ‘Worley’s World’.

1992

Amstrad Computer User closed and AA gained a new rival in CPC Attack. It lasted six issues.

1992

Circulation was 35,298 between January and June 1992 but slumped to 27,090 from July to January 1993.

1992

The page count decreased to 60 pages.

1993

Linda Barker took over from Rod Lawton as editor for one issue.

1993

The vertical Amstrad Action logo was switched to a horizontal one.

1993

Circulation fell to 21,832 between February and July 1993 and to 15,168 between July and January 1994.

1993

Questions began to be asked about the long-running saga of US Gold’s promised Street Fighter II.

1994

AA reached issue 100 and put Elite on the covertape calling it the best CPC game ever.

1994

The magazine steered increasingly towards the indie scene, giving space to noncommercial software, such as the game Fluff.

1994

With the page count having slipped from 60 to 52 to 36, the writing was on the wall for the future of Future’s first mag.

1995

The number of pages had fallen to 24, and issue 117 was to be AA’S last.