PC Zone – The Full Set

It was something of a momentous occasion (for me at least) this weekend as I uploaded the last missing PC Zone scan. The full set of 225 issues spanning 1993 – 2010 are all scanned and available to download from https://www.pixsoriginadventures.co.uk/PCZone. It has been a long, long time getting to this point and I didn’t realistically think I’d get them all done back when I started about 8 years back. There was a lengthy break in the middle of that with the majority being done over the last 2 and a bit years when I decided to make a concerted effort to actually complete this project. Thanks to everyone who helped out along the way, whether through donations or scanning.

The work isn’t quite finished yet. First off, I’d like to know about missing pages, pages in the wrong order and the like. If you spot any problems like this, let me know and I’ll attempt to get it fixed.

Some of the donated scans aren’t necessarily in the best quality. In particular, there are six early issues made up of mobile phone photos. While that’s a whole lot better than nothing, I’d like to replace these with proper scans. I’ve managed to get hold of physical copies of 2 of those 6 issues so I’ll get those scanned properly over the next two weeks. Without the original magazines, I can’t fix the other issues myself unless someone wants to donate their copies or scan them in on my behalf.

I’m missing a large number of the cover disks. I still have a small pile of floppies which I’ll add in the coming weeks but if you have any of the missing CD’s, DVD’s and floppies and want to donate them, either physically or digitally I’d love to add them to the archive. It’s quick and easy to image CD’s and DVD’s with CloneCD. Just dump the files somewhere (preferably with scans of the disks and cover artwork), let me know where, and I’ll add them to the appropriate magazine.

Finally, I’ve a sizeable pile of pull-outs which still need to be scanned. I’d expect to get most of them finished up over the next couple of months, possibly sooner if we all get shut in doors for weeks avoiding the current plague. I may move on to other magazines after that but will probably take a break from scanning first and maybe even read some of these things myself.

21 thoughts on “PC Zone – The Full Set

  1. These are great. Thanks again for putting these up. I’ve been retro-gaming 90s PC games for a good few years now, using PC Zone scans as my main guide (currently playing the 1998 FPS, Forsaken), but even three or so years ago only a handful were available and its great to finally have a full set. I used to love reading it back in the day. Cruelty Zoo lives on! (as does the magazine’s grovelling apology in the next issue – lol).

  2. You absolute legend! I was pretty devastated when they folded. Glad these are all preserved now in digital format!

    I think a complete read-through is in order now, I feel like I’ve finally lost touch with modern gaming.

  3. All your efforts are hugely appreciated! I’ve always wanted to have a full set, and this is as close as I’ll ever get.

    Now…care to take on PC Gamer? After a well-earned break of course! 😉 I’d do it myself if I wasn’t in Australia. All the mags I can find on the likes of Ebay are in the UK, with horrendous postage.

    Again, thank you!

    • I’ll do some more scans sooner or later but I’m having that break first. I’d really like to do PC Review but I don’t have all that many of them. I may keep an eye on Ebay and see if I can get hold of some more. If I were to just scan random 90’s PC mags on the other hand, I’ve pretty much got a lifetimes supply already at the speed I go at.

  4. Absolutely fantastic, what a herculean effort but so greatly appreciated.

    Top man! can’t wait to re-read Brookers caustic reviews.

  5. Thank you for this.
    Do you have any info on how to mount the cover disc images? I tried using the “Mount” option built into windows 10 but get a “The disc image is corrupted” error message.

    • The images are all done with cloneCD so you want something that supports CCD format. I used to use Daemontools for this sort of thing. ImgDrive looks like another option.

  6. Amazing effort to complete this and kindly share it for those who hold those years past as the golden years of PC gaming. Thank you!

  7. This is absolutely sterling work, thanks! I’ve still got a set of near enough the first 200 issues (I think, don’t remember exactly my last regular issue), had always wanted to see them digitised but the prospect of doing it myself was pretty daunting.
    Think I’ve got all of the cover disks too in one way or another, I wasn’t a subscriber so issues that had both CD and floppy cover mounts, I got whatever was available in the shop at the time (usually plumped for the CD where possible though). I’ll have to take stock of which ones I’ve got…

    • It would be much appreciated if you could fill in some of the missing pieces. Aside from the missing cover disks, I think there are 3 (maybe 2) of the earlier magazines in here that aren’t scanned but are just mobile phone photos as I couldn’t find a copy myself. They could definitely do with being scanned properly if you were up for the job.

      • Looks to me as though issues 4, 10 and 18 are the likely candidates for being mobile phone photo-sourced? Shouldn’t be a problem to scan those, leave it with me a week or so….

        • Yes, those are the ones. It would be great if you could get those scanned properly. I’ve been looking for copies to turn up on Ebay for years at this point.

    • Very much so if you any have issues that I’m missing (or the cover disks). It’s the earlier magazines that I need, quite a few of the first 30 + issue 54. Loads of cover disks are missing for the first 100 issues or so also if you have any of those, especially the floppy disks.

      I really should put a list up on here of everything I’m still looking for. If you think you have any of those, let me know and I’ll make sure to get that list sorted out.

  8. I can only reiterate what other people have already said: WOW! This is an AMAZING archive! A thousand Thank You’s for the effort you spent getting it all organized and online. I am having a blast reminiscing. Thank you for preserving this part of history and sharing it with the world.

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