An incredible computer magazine that was unlike anything that came before. Published by
Dennis Publishing and edited at launch by
Gareth Hendrincx. The first issue went on sale in November 1989. It covered the
16-bit home computers (
Commodore Amiga,
Atari ST and
IBM PC) and acknowledged that the users of these machines were mostly adults.
As well as game reviews (which eschewed pseudo-scientific scoring systems, and reviewed each format's version of a game seperately) and extremely in-depth previews, there were regular columns on computer graphics, music, coin-ops, adventure games, consoles and "Stuff" (which covered books, gadgets, comics, etc.). Whereas a dull mag like PC Format would cover MIDI with a load of snoozy diagrams and a demo of Cakewalk, Zero would go out and interview Tim Simenon or Captain Sensible. This emphasis on coolness and immediacy might sound trite today, but it was carefully judged and backed up with well-written and informative content.
The back pages contained the Yikes! celebrity interview (phone interviewing such icons as Jeremy Beadle, Bob Holness and Bungle the Bear) as well as the Black Shape letters page and the Highest Joystick in The World. Regular contributors included Duncan MacDonald, David McCandless, Marcus Berkmann, Tim Ponting, Mike Gerrard, Paul Lakin, Sean Kelly and Matt Biebly (a veritable games journalism 'supergroup').
Zero ran for about 30 issues and won the 'European Magazine of The Year' prize, before folding. Game Zone, and its successor PC Zone, carried the torch, although most of the original staff have moved on. A large number of Future Publishing magazines shamelessly aped Zero over the years, the ill-fated Mega being a prime example. Only Super Play (edited by ex-YS and Zero bod Matt Biebly) managed to come close, but even that was a bit full of itself.