Amiga Addict is a new monthly magazine aimed at the Amiga market. Now, stop laughing at the back, such a thing still exists and, given a quick check online, keeps more than a few companies in business, as well as quite a few lawyers but that's way out of scope for this post. As a former Amiga user and someone who still has a passing interest in the format, when I saw this magazine mentioned on Twitter, I thought I would give it a go.
What we have then is a 56 page glossy A4 format magazine in full colour. Nominally priced at £4.99, you'll need to factor in P&P which, for the UK consumer, means one issue will set you back £6.49 whilst overseas customers will pay £9.28. There are subscription options available, UK prices for 6 and 12 month subs are £37.99 and £73.99 respectively. Overseas subs are £52.00 and £101.00 for the same periods, whilst a 12 month online only sub will set you back £51.30.
First impressions are good. A high quality cover which is glossy and sturdy, and a cheeky coverdisk message as well! Inside, similarly high quality paper is used for the pages and it is clear that nothing has been skimped on the physical side of the magazine.
As for the contents, the production team have done a good job here too. The first issue is divided into five sections, as you can see from the screenshot below.
What is good to see is the mix of topics - you have interviews, articles, reviews and productivity pieces, with the ratio about right in my opinion and there is a great balance here. Everything is well written and informative - the efforts of combat piracy on the Amiga especially so given how blatantly rampant it was just from what I remember when I was at school. Every article is of interest too, the interviews well thought out and the reviews fun to read. Even the adverts are interesting, with a good range of advertisers covering hardware, software, merchandise and repair services. Nothing on a par with Silica Systems but those were the days, my friend...
I also applaud the production team on the layout of the magazine. It has been a thing for quite a while now (especially in wargaming publications but they are not the only ones) for magazines to have a lot of white space (doesn't have to be white but a lot of empty space nonetheless). Personally, I hate that. Fortunately here, the layout is really good - well-spaced text and suitable illustrations, but no honking great white spaces that do nothing to add to the content.
It's great to see a new print magazine for the Amiga, one that the publishers themselves see as complimenting existing magazines. Much like Archive and Drag 'n' Drop magazines for RISC OS, it's comforting to see that the market for publications still exists in hobbyist computing circles and with such high production values.
As first issues go, this is a brilliant start and I shall definitely be subscribing when issue 2 is announced in January. If you're an Amiga fan or just someone interested in the format, I heartily recommend it. You can find out more about the magazine here.
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