Commodore User

Commodore User, known to the readers as the abbreviated CU, was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. A publishing history spanning over 15 years, mixing content with technical and video game features. Incorporating Vic Computing in 1983 by publishers EMAP, the magazine's focus moved to the emerging Commodore 64, before introducing Amiga coverage in 1986, paving the way for Amiga's dominance and a title change to CU Amiga in 1990. Covering the 16-bit computer, the magazine continued for another eight years until the last issue was published in October 1998 when EMAP opted to close the magazine due to falling sales and a change in focus for EMAP. The magazine also reviewed arcade games.

Timeline

Carrying on from where Vic Computing left, Commodore User was launched in October 1983, with an initial preview issue in June. 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, consisting of editor Dennis Jarrett, a writer (future editor Bohdan Buciak) and editorial assistant Nicky Chapman. Features were written by a range of contributors. Rapidly the issue sizes grew from 64 to 96 pages.