Commodore User

Commodore User was launched in October 1983[1] with an initial preview issue in June.[2] Initially, the magazine contained what was referred to as the serious side of computing, with programming tutorials, machine code features, and business software reviews. The first issues were produced and written by a small team, which consisted of editor Dennis Jarrett, a writer (future editor Bohdan Buciak) and editorial assistant Nicky Chapman.[3] The features were written by a range of contributors, and the issue sizes grew rapidly from 64 to 96 pages.[4]

The first 12 issues were published by Paradox Group and then from October 1984 by Emap for the rest of the magazine's lifetime.[5]

Game coverage began to appear from the second issue.[6] This consisted of a small section called Screen Scene from issue three.[7]

In 1985, the Commodore 64 became more popular.[8] The amount of technical coverage also decreased as the games market took over. Gradually the circulation began to rise, and CU produced more color through the magazine. At the height of the C64's success, CU had a page count of 116.[9]

In 1986, CU began to cover the new 16-bit computer: the Amiga.[4] The magazine was at an all-time high, covering all the Commodore platforms, from the C16 to the Amiga. Circulation figures also showed an all-time high of over 70,000 for the 1988 period.[10]

To establish that the magazine content was changing to cover the emerging Amiga, the magazine changed its title CU Commodore User Amiga-64 with emphasis on the CU part in the February 1989 issue.[10] The Commodore User part was dropped quickly, and the name became CU Amiga-64.[11] This period of the magazine was a transitional time between transferring coverage from C64 to the Amiga.

In 1990, CU Amiga-64 removed the "64" from its name and relaunched it as CU Amiga with the March 1990 issue.[12] The magazine eventually gained circulation as a result of the internationalization.

In late 1994, the Amiga's popularity was declining. CU Amiga had a final name change to help distinguish itself from other competing magazines in an increasingly small market. It became CU Amiga Magazine (from October 1990).[13] In its remaining years under the control of editor Tony Horgan, the magazine became highly technical but also gained a professional edge. Some staff from sister magazine The One were moved to CU when the former closed in July 1995 and provided games coverage for CU readers. "THE ONE AMIGA you have known and loved is not dead, but It has changed somewhat. The previous writers and publishers have moved on to better things, and the magazine now lies in entirely new hands, at Maverick Magazines. So we'll take to opportunity to welcome all the original readers of The One to the new Maverick Edition, and to point out to them the new address."[14]

The final issue was released in October 1998. The magazine came to an end without the preceding page, staff or quality cuts that had afflicted. CU Amiga Magazine's closure meant that the only remaining monthly Amiga newsstand magazine was its closest rival, Amiga Format.

A year after CU's closure, in October 1999, the magazine Amiga Active was launched. It had several of the same staff and was competition for Amiga Format, which it ultimately outlived, by being published until November 2001.

• CU Amiga Magazine Online
• Amiga History: CU Amiga
• Short History and full scans of the magazine
• Home page of EMAP
• Computer magazine history including CU
• Archived Commodore User Magazines at Internet Archive