''PC Leisure'' was the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's first magazine dedicated exclusively to

IBM PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones ...

(PC) entertainment and was published by

EMAP Ascential plc, formerly EMAP, is a British business-to-business media business specialising in exhibitions & festivals and information services. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Ri ...

between spring 1990 and September 1991. A total of nine issues were published in its lifetime, the first four being quarterly with the remaining five bimonthly. The magazine was eventually incorporated into ''PC Review'', a new monthly publication launched on October 15, 1991.

History

Within the UK prior to ''PC Leisure's'' release, PC entertainment news was supplied via general computing and multi-format magazines such as ''

The One The ONE is a shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is built on the site of the former Tung Ying Building at 100 Nathan Road. It was developed by Chinese Estates Holdings and opened in 2010. Owner Joseph Lau Luen-hung ...

'' and ''

New Computer Express ''New Computer Express'' was a weekly magazine published by Future Publishing in the UK from 1988 to 1991. History and profile ''New Computer Express'' was started in 1988. The first issue appeared in November 1988. The launch editor was Chris An ...

'', but by 1990 the PC entertainment market had sufficiently developed to warrant the introduction of a dedicated magazine. In November 1989, EMAP tested the waters by including a free ''PC Leisure'' preview copy along with ''What Personal Computer'', and the feedback from this venture filled the letters section of the launch issue the following spring. In May 1991, ''PC Leisure'' became the recipient of the PC coverage originally published within the pages of the 16-bit multi-format magazine ''The One'', as EMAP decided to split it into ''The One for Amiga Games'' and ''The One for ST Games''. A number of the staff moved to working on ''The One for Amiga Games''. The final issue #9 Sep/Oct 1991 included a two-page special across pages 28 and 29 stating that the magazine was going to be renamed ''PC Review'' and released monthly from October 15, 1991.

Staff

Editors

* Ciarán Brennan, Spring 1990 to Jan/Feb 1991 * Steve Cooke, Mar/Apr 1991 only * Garth Sumpter, May/Jun 1991 to Jul/Aug 1991 * Christina Erskine, Sep/Oct 1991 only

Art Editor

* Jim Willis

Designers

Jenny Abrook, Andy Beswick, Gregory Brown, Allister Cordice,

Pete Hawkes Pete Hawkes (born 28 May 1965) is an Australian composer, poet, musician and luthier. There are over 50 recordings by Hawkes, covering a wide range of genres. He has collaborated with Bert Jansch, Joe Cocker, Phil Emmanuel, Steeleye Span and D ...

, Nick Howells, Gareth Jones, Yvette Nicholls, Simon Poulter, Richard Slater, Andrea Walker and Jim Willis.

Photographer

* Ian Watson

Contributors

Rob Beattie, Kelly Beswick, Neil Blaber, Matt Bloomfield, Paul Boughton, Clive Bremner, Robert Browning, John Cook, Steve Cooke, Tony Dillon, Jim Douglas, Alan Dykes, Christina Erskine, David Fitzgerald, Rik Haynes, Ed Henning, Gordon Houghton, Fiona Keating, Steve Keen, Eugene Lacey,

Gary Liddon Rockstar Dundee Limited (formerly Ruffian Games Limited) is a British video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Dundee. The studio is best known for developing '' Crackdown 2''. Gary Liddon, Billy Thomson, and Gareth Noyce ...

, Chris Long, Declan McColgan, Steve Merritt, John Minson, Tony Naqvi, Matt Nicholson, Frank O'Hara, Lee Paddon, Russell Patient,

Mike Pattenden Mike Pattenden is a freelance journalist and writer. He began his career in the entertainment games industry including a period at Commodore User before moving into music journalism. He was formerly Reviews Editor at ''VOX'' magazine then music ...

, Mark Patterson,

Gary Penn Gary Penn is a former British games reviewer who wrote for Zzap!64 in the 1980s and is a video game industry veteran. He later was editor of The One from 1988 to 1990 and was Creative Director at DMA Design where he supervised the release of th ...

, Paul Presley,

Matt Regan Matt Regan was one of the original team that launched UK multiformat videogame magazine ''Mean Machines''. He and Julian Rignall started off as the two main reviewers. According to the first issues' editorial, he was a keen Amiga player before ...

, Gail Robinson, Laurence Scotford, Garth Sumpter, Alastair Swinnerton, Jimmy Taylor, David Upchurch, Austin Walsh and

Gary Whitta Gary Leslie Whitta (born 21 July 1972) is an English screenwriter, author, game designer, and video game journalist. He was editor-in-chief of both the UK and US editions of ''PC Gamer'' magazine and contributor to gaming magazine '' ACE''. Wh ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

A selection of scanned issues of the magazine
accessible via Thunor's website. Defunct computer magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1990 Magazines disestablished in 1991 Magazines published in London Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom