In mid-1992, AC got another redesign and begun to cover more specialist areas such as education, digitizing and publishing. In a move that mirrors Amiga Format's 'Head-to-Head' feature, Amiga Computing did a round up of serious software covering a particular topic. At the time no other magazine could compete for technical coverage. Its only competitor was the technical only Amiga Shopper, but AC beat the magazine on circulation (mostly due to the absence of a coverdisk on AS). As well as covering specialist areas, Amiga Computing featured more tutorials than any other magazine. The Amiga Almanac section of 1992 covered subjects such as ARexx, DTV, Music, AMOS, DTP and communication. The Amiga Mart buyers guide educated the reader in potential purchases, and the Amiga Computing Advice Service (ACAS) aimed to cure readers computer woes, going into more detail than many other magazines. In contrast, Amiga Format, the biggest selling Amiga magazine of the time, only had two extremely basic tutorials. Amiga Computing was the creative person's choice.
 

System The second change came in 1994 with the launch of 'System'. This took a more complicated design; reviews were non-linear, allowing the reader to jump to a particular area of the game, such as graphics or sound. The final rating could be found in a coloured 'opinion' box at the bottom of the page. All of these separate elements were linked together by a circuit diagram showing lines and gates. To the reader, reviews seemed shorter, dominated by numerous game shots. Like many magazines of the time it overrated games- those that previously would have been rated 30% were given 50%. That is not to say the scoring system was bad. Like Amiga Power, 'System' used 50% to indicate am average game. Anything above this was above average and worth buying. A 'Bronze Award' was given to games rated 56-66%; 'Silver Award' to games of 66-77%; 78-89% was a definitely worth buying, earning a 'Gold Award'. Games rated from 90-100% were considered the best of the best, setting a benchmark for others and worthy of the 'Platinum Award'.  View Image of Awards (28k)

By 1994, Amiga Computing had increased its already huge page count from 148 to 180. Its cover proudly proclaimed a 'new world' of computing was just around the corner. However, the death of Commodore hit the magazine quite hard and it began to question what would happen next. Ironically in this hour of doom, Amiga Computing showed its true colours, producing a number of fantastic issues that explained exactly what was happening. The rousing cover of the April 1995 issue asked if there would be life after death for the Amiga. The indication were that the Amiga would survive beyond the death of its parent. For many readers this was a golden age for the magazine.
The magazines success continued during 1995 when it included a CD-ROM with the May issue. The 'Weird Science Multimedia Toolkit' was a long way from the specially created CD-ROMs of 1997 onwards but it was a start. For the first time Amiga owners could take advantage of the potential of CD-ROM, viewing hundreds of photos, modules, fonts, and sound samples. The July '95 coverdisk also had the first and only fully registered version of Magic User Interface (v2.2) to appear on a magazine coverdisk EVER. 1995 was also the year that Amiga Computing went international with news of US and Greek editions. Over the next year American companies seemed to make up half of all advertisers. However, the good news came with a sour note. Concern was raised about the magazines continuation. Europress were eager to get out of the magazine business, leading to fears they would close a number of titles. This fear turned out to be unjustified, IDG offered to buy Europress' entire catalogue as a going concern.
 

Amiga Action It is likely 'System' would have continued to be an integral part of the magazine for some time. Its design perfectly matched the more technical readership they were aiming for. Unfortunately, it was cut short by the incorporation of Amiga Action. The supplement took upon a poor imitation of Amiga Action's 'style', which by that time had already worn thin. Reviews returned to their linear design but were extremely poor in comparison to past AC gaming supplements. Over the next year the Amiga Action page count dropped to just 8 pages. Games became drastically overrated, disgusting even the remaining Amiga Action readers.

By 1996 it became obvious that the magazine was in decline and the page count dropped slowly. The magazine had shrunk down to 108 pages, soon followed by a reduction to A4 as software began to dry up. This was particularly evident in the Amiga games scene, leading to AC's sister title, Amiga Action being incorporated into its pages in issue 107 (December 1996). 1997 turned out to be the magazines final year. Over the next few months the magazine shrunk to 100 pages, then 84, and finally, 68 pages. The cover price also increased form £4.50 to £4.99, and the coverdisk shrunk to just one. The quality of writing had also dropped and it became increasingly clear that the writers considered the once great magazine to be a part-time job. The final issue, dated October 1997, briefly mentioned its passing on the contents page with a bizarre metaphor about walking into the light. Final circulation figures showed the magazine sold just 7,000 issues. A tragic end to a once great magazine. In just under 2 years the golden age had become tarnished with neglect.

Walk into the Light/Pub

Amiga Computing- A Rebirth

For almost ten years Amiga Computing published some of the most informative articles for the Amiga computer. Alas the Amiga did slip into obscurity with just a handful of users fighting off the Wintel tyranny.
But perhaps one day it will return to former glory...