In October 1992 the magazine entered its fourth and final phase
with the addition of 'Amiga' onto the title. This allowed new
readers to more easily recognize it as an Amiga publication. The
staples were also replaced in favour of a spine bound magazine. The
obvious disadvantage of this was the loss of the Kill Zone as a
pull-out supplement. Another piece of fallout from ACE magazine was the introduction of 'The
Blitter End'. This was a rumour section that revealed the latest
gossip from the Amiga scene. However, most of the ACE crew had departed for pastures new,
leaving only David Upchurch. They were replaced by Simon Byron
(Deputy Editor) and Matt Broughton.
 
The Amiga scene began to change during 1993, witnessing a
diversification of Amiga machines. The constant A1200 coverage on
how it would make games better quickly annoyed A500/A600 owners,
especially those who had recently purchased their machine. These
people would probably blow a gasket when the September 1993 issue
featured a 9 page special on the launch of the CD32, and how it
would change gaming as we know it.
This created a dilemma for the magazine- for the first since the
multi-format days it was faced with games that were written for a
range of specifications. To accommodate these machines the game
details box was modified to give an indication of what
specification the game was designed for. If it ran on 16-bit
systems, a picture of the A600 was shown, if was 32-bit only the
A1200 would appear. The new rating box also gave additional
information on support for a hard disk or two-button joystick.
In the March 1994 issue, David Upchurch announced his departure,
replaced by Simon Bryon. In turn, the deputy editor job was taken
by Simon Nuttal, who had previously worked for ST Format. This
marked the beginning of a worrying trend. While David Upchurch had
been able to control the level of humour to avoid distraction from
the games coverage, this would quickly subside into a poor
imitation of Your Sinclair. The writers tried to portray it as
irreverent and a magazine that did not take its task too seriously.
This was demonstrated on the spine of the May 1994 edition, that
proclaimed The One to be "Britain's Most Childish Amiga Games
Magazine - And That's Official!" While this was intended as a jibe
towards Amiga Power, it was also a statement that no one could
refute. The One had become pathetically childish and boring.
The magazines' YS-tribute took a turn for the worse with the
introduction of page-filling 'humorous' photo stories (20.5k), covering subjects such as
the Amigas history. Game reviews had also returned to the
exaggerated scores of the second phase.
In retrospect, this was an effect of the Commodore liquidation and
the growing uncertainty in the market. It is difficult to remain
cheerful when publishers' are deserting the platform.
 
Just nine months after Simon Byron became editor, the December 1994
issue revealed his shock departure and the promotion of Andy Nuttal
as acting editor. This was actually a smart move that stopped the
slide in quality. However, the new editor could do nothing to
prevent the magazine shrinking from 100 to 92 pages. This would
mark the beginning of a downward spiral from which the magazine
would never recover. In this emaciated state the magazine would
become a meaner, leaner beast repairing many of the problems that
had plagued it. The cover artwork looked more professional and
there was an increased sense of vigour to investigate the new
generation of developers.
Despite the renewed sense of optimism the page count fell to 84
pages. Just when they thought it could not get any worse, the shock
announcement was made that the magazine would close after the June
1995 issue. The publishers' cited "conditions in the games market"
as the reason for its suspension, although the departure of the
magazines editor was later indicated as a contributing factor. And
how did The One break this earth-shattering news to its
readers?
"Arse, Arse, and Arse
Again"
At least the magazine was consistent and had gone out in its own
'particular' style. A month later The One Amiga was incorporated
into sister title, CU Amiga, with the
intention of relaunching at a later date. This gave CU the
opportunity to reintroduce a game tips section into the magazine (a
feature that had been absent for many years). In addition, a minor
part of The One lived on in a page called 'The One- Games in View',
written by former deputy editor, Matt Broughton. This took a look
at the latest game rumours and products due for release over the
coming months.
Many readers thought this would be the last they would see of The
One. While the publishers had promised to reintroduce the title at
a later date, few believed that Escom could return the Amiga to its
former glory.
 
The magazines reintroduction came sooner than anyone expected
when, just a month later, Maverick bought the magazine. At first,
readers dubbed the magazine 'Lazarus'- it had died and risen from
the grave. However, it was quickly realized that it was a walking
zombie of its former self. Aesthetically, it looked like The
One but it lacked the spirit that had made the magazine great. The
magazine quickly shrunk to just 64 pages, and after a few months
finally shrunk to just 16. The magazine seemed more like a pamphlet
taken up almost completely by coverage of the 'free' game. During
this period the magazine broke the gentlemen's agreement that
prevented Amiga magazines from including full games on the cover.
It had not been the first magazine to do this (Amiga Action had
given away a copy of the Blues Brothers) but to do it every issue
indicated their belief that the Amiga market was in decline.
The The final issue dated July 1996, included just 1 cover
disk and sold for £3.99.
You are not THE ONE!
The One became the first of the Amiga game magazines to fall
from grace. Its early closure was disappointing but understandable.
However, the Maverick year dragged the magazines name through the
mud. In selling the magazine EMAP dirtied not just the name of the
magazine but stripped their own name of the reputation they had
built for the magazine. It was a sorry end to a magazine that had
always been different from the rest of the pack.
Back to The One Index
Back to 'The One'
Forward to 'The One is worth more than the
many'
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