Early last year rumours began circulating in America of a new magazine about to join ANTIC and ANALOG, a magazine devoted entirely to ATARI. The months went by and most people dismissed it as yet another unfounded rumour but finally this new magazine - HI-RES has appeared.
The 'Premier' issue is dated only 1983 so that the publishers can have plenty of time to feel the water. The most important question they need answered
is can America support yet another Atari only magazine? The first issue looks similar to Antic or Analog but has a much more 'newsy' content with three pages of news and gossip plus a considerable and very interesting history of Atari from the early days in an upstairs bedroom at Nolan Bushnell's house to the multi-million dollar giant of 1982. Unfortunately nothing is said of 1983 which probably wiped out most of the previous 10 years profits! Nevertheless, a very interesting history. There are several different departments and some very famous writers such as Russ Wetmore of Preppie fame, dealing with most subjects from beginners to Assembly language but very few actual programs.
Obviously issue I finds the publishers trying to establish a identity and more programs will inevitably appear in future issues. There is quite a lotto read but the magazine also features the VCS so some articles may not interest Atari computer owners. Advertising is much the same as in Antic and Analog with one notable exception - Atari has five full colour pages. Maybe the reason for the delay in publication was some hard talking and agreement with Atari? Let us hope so, for we may then begin to get much more inside information.
The answer to the question - can America support another Atari-only magazine? - appears to be no as
I understand that HI-RES will in future also feature the Commodore 64 but they promise that the magazine will be twice as big with equal space devoted to both machines. If they can do this and not drift off into various other makes as they become popular then HI-RES promises to be well worth buying.
I for one will be getting the next few issues at least. The magazine is published bimonthly at present but will soon be monthly.
The Atari Center in Birmingham have secured sole U.K. distribution rights and your local retailer may order from them or you can buy direct. The price is expected to be similar to Antic and Analog. If you and your Atari are hungry for more then
HI-RES might satisfy your appetite - at least until the next new magazine appears!
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