Paragon Publishing Ltd (or Paragon for short) was a

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

publisher in the UK, which published

computer game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

s and other entertainment titles from 1991 to 2003.

Brief history

Paragon Publishing Ltd was formed in a small office in

Trowbridge, Wiltshire Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England, on the River Biss in the west of the county. It is near the border with Somerset and lies southeast of Bath, 31 miles (49 km) southwest of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) sout ...

by ex- Future Publishing staff Richard Monteiro and Diane Tavener. With a small team of staff they began work on their first publication '' Sega Pro''. With the success of ''Sega Pro'' the company began expanding and launched several other titles, hiring more staff to produce these new titles. It was not long before the company moved into new premises in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

. The company continued to publish magazines for the video games market as well as other areas for the next decade. In July 2003 Paragon Publishing and its 30-odd magazine titles were sold to Highbury House Communications for £32m.

Imagine Publishing Imagine Publishing was a UK-based magazine publisher, which published a number of video games, computing, creative and lifestyle magazines. It was founded on 14 May 2005 with private funds by Damian Butt, Steven Boyd and Mark Kendrick, all we ...

, which was formed by ex-Paragon staff Damian Butt, Steve Boyd and Mark Kendrick, would buy back most of these titles when Highbury themselves went into liquidation in early 2006. Later, in 2016 Imagine Publishing itself was acquired by Future Publishing.

Key titles

Paragon published many titles during its decade run, mainly computer or video games based, but later moved into other areas of entertainment.

''Sega Pro''

The company's first magazine publication and a big success. Covering the early 90s explosion in popularity of

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

's Mega Drive as well as the

Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and ...

and Game Gear. Well-known names on early issues included Dominic Handy, Les Ellis, Dave Perry, James Scullion and Damian Butt. Ran for many years up until

themselves disappeared.

''Mega Power''

Following the success of '' Sega Pro'', a new title focusing on the Mega Drive and in particular the

Mega-CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan, ...

was launched in 1993. The magazine was the first console publication to include a covermounted CD.

''Console XS''

A bi-monthly games console tips magazine launched in 1993. Featuring game cheats, tips, and guides for the consoles of the early 90s. After four issues, the title was split into two: ''Sega XS'', which focused solely on Sega platforms, and ''Super XS'', covering Nintendo games.

''Games World: The Magazine''

Games World ''Games World'' was a British entertainment programme that aired on Sky One originally from 1 March 1993 to 10 March 1995 with Bob Mills as host, and then revived from 9 March 1998 to 1999 with Andy Collins as host. Format The main body of t ...

'' was a video games based TV show broadcast on satellite in the early 90s. The show's producers, Hewland International, gave the rights to produce ''Games World: The Magazine'' to Paragon. The multi-format magazine content was generally centred on

and

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

's consoles.

''Nintendo Pro''

As with '' Sega Pro'', ''Nintendo Pro'' focused on the

range of consoles. It was originally known as N64 Pro and was one of the titles Paragon Publishing acquired with the acquisition of the Macclesfield-based titles of IDG Media.

''Play''

Launched in 1995 by Paragon with

Dave Perry Dave Perry (born 21 May 1966) was co-commentator on the UK computer and video games television shows '' GamesMaster'' and ''Games World''. Perry was most famous for walking off ''Gamesmaster''. He was responsible for launching many games mag ...

as editor. One of the first

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

magazines released covering Sony's PlayStation products, later including the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

, PlayStation Portable and the PlayStation 3. It is the UK's longest-running PlayStation magazine, and final issue released in 2016 under Future Publishing.

''PowerStation''

Originally a

magazine and now a

and Xbox 360 tips magazine launched at the same time as sister title '' Play'' by

. As with ''Console XS'' content included games cheats, tips and guides. Along with its sister title, ''PowerStation'' was bought by

in 2006.

''Saturn+''

A short-lived

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

magazine that ran for six issues, from Christmas 1995 to February 1997.

''X Gen''

A short-lived multi format magazine in the style of '' ACE'' and '' EDGE''.

''64 Magazine''

Launched in 1997, ''64 Magazine'' covered

N64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and A ...

console.

''Dreamcast Magazine''

Covering

's Dreamcast, ''Dreamcast Magazine'' was launched in 1999.

''DVD Review''

Launched in 1999 and later purchased by Future Publishing.

''CUBE''

Launched in 2001 to cover

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

console.

''Windows Made Easy''

A beginner's guide to Windows, including step-by-step guides and tutorials about using the platform.

''Web Pages Made Easy''

A beginner's guide to creating web pages, including step-by-step guides and tutorials..

''Digital Photography Made Easy''

A beginner's guide to digital photography, launched in 2000, covering camera skills and photo editing.

''PC Essentials''

A quarterly title, launched in 2000, devoted to software that can be downloaded from the internet.

''PC Home''

Launched in November 1992, PC Home provided articles and tutorials for creatives and gamers on a PC.

''PC Basics''

A magazine dedicated to computing, software and hardware, including step-by-step guides, reviews and features.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Dave Perry talks about his time at Paragon Publishing.
( Wayback Machine copy)
Imagine Publishings website
Computer magazine publishing companies Magazine publishing companies of the United Kingdom Publishing companies established in 1991 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom 2003 disestablishments in the United Kingdom