''Future Gamer'' was an

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game 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 generate visual fe ...

e-zine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer ...

created by

Future Publishing Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History 1985–2012 The company was founded by Chris Anderson a ...

History

''Future Gamer'' was launched in 1998 with Andy Smith as

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

. ''FG'' as it became known to fans, was the world's first

e-mail Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...

deliverable gaming magazine. This business model was unsuccessful. ''FG'' ran for about 18 months before finally being reshaped into the UK version of

Daily Radar ''Daily Radar'' was a news aggregator and portal site for Future US's male-oriented content, including sports, film and television, and video games. Launched in October 1999, Daily Radar started as a gaming website like IGN, GameSpy and GameSp ...

, later

GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', '' Edge'' and ''Computer ...

. Campbell, Stuart (April, 2000). ''CTW: The Entertainment Computer Trade Weekly''.

Staff

Amongst others: * Andy Smith (Editor) * Steve Bradley (Deputy Editor) * Andy Ashwin * Mark Eveleigh * Alan Jarvie * Amazing Bryan

Community

FG spawned a close online community through its

newsgroup A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are not only discussion groups or conversations, but also a repository to publish articles, start ...

. This included a '' Half Life''

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

('' GC'') that was featured in a subsequent advertising campaign. Despite community pressure, at 00:00 on 23 May 2001 Future Publishing shut down their

News Server A news server is a collection of software used to handle Usenet articles. It may also refer to a computer itself which is primarily or solely used for handling Usenet. Access to Usenet is only available through news server providers. Articles an ...

in favour of Internet forums. This, along with the demise of the original magazine, led to the ''FG'' community seeking out a new home. It has endured to this day through a variety of newsgroups and is currently situated at ''vgj.forum'' on ntp://nntp.cheeseorsausage.com nntp.cheeseorsausage.comand a
cheese or sausage
.

References

External links

Magazines established in 1998 Defunct British websites Online magazines published in the United Kingdom Video game websites Magazines disestablished in 1999 Defunct video game magazines published in the United Kingdom {{Videogame-website-stub