Joystick (magazine)

Joystick (formerly Joystick Hebdo)[4][8] was a French computer magazine that published monthly issues on PC games. It was founded in 1988 by Marc Andersen,[5] who later left in November 1995. Originally published in the form of a 32-page weekly magazine in 1988 and 1989, it saw monthly 148-page issues (and more) past 1990.[1][4][9] It initially sold with one or more floppy disks and then later with several CD-ROMs, and finally, until April 2012, a DVD that included complete copies of video games. In 2012, Joystick ceased distribution.

Not to be confused with Joystiq, a defunct video game blog.

Joystick
Issue 107 cover
CategoriesComputer magazine, Video games
FrequencyMonthly[1][2]
Circulation14000[3]
FounderMarc Andersen[4][5]
Founded1988
First issue9 November 1988
Final issue
Number		23 November 2012
260
CompanySipress,[5] Hachette Digital Presse,[1] MER7,[6] Anuman Interactive[7]
CountryFrance
Based inParis
LanguageFrench
ISSN1145-4806

Despite 80,000 unique visitors per month to Joystick's website, it was closed in March 2002 due to the lack of profitability.[10] It reopened in early 2008 as a summary of the magazine, including video game reviews and video game news; it would be updated irregularly until June 2012.

History

The first issue of Joystick Hebdo was published on 9 November 1988[8] and contained cheat-code listings, game testings and reviews.

Sometime between November 1989 and January 1990, Joystick Hebdo rebranded as Joystick[4][11] and began selling monthly issues.

In June 1993, Joystick was purchased by Hachette Digital Presse.[5][12] In 2003, Hachette Digital Presse was acquired by Future.[13] During this time, many editors left Joystick and created the independent publication Canard PC.[14]

In 2011, MER7[6] (formerly Future France) was liquidated,[14][15][16] causing the last issue of Joystick to release on 23 November 2012. On 8 February 2013, based on a decision by the Paris Commercial Court, Anuman Interactive acquired the Joystick brand[7][17] and announced Joystick Replay in March 2013.[18]

On 17 May 2018, ZQSD.fr and Anuman launched a podcast series to commemorate the magazine.[19] It showcases interviews with former Joystick writers and editors.

Joystick Replay

In March 2013, Anuman Interactive announced Joystick Replay,[18] a game label that repurposes retro PC games for the modern age. It has published remakes of games such as Darkstone, Fire & Forget, Moto Racer, North Vs South, Prehistorik, Prohibition 1930 and Titan.

Controversy

On 3 July 2012, in the "Summer Special" issue of that year, Kévin Bitterlin, a former journalist for Joystick, wrote in a review for the 2013 Tomb Raider game "Subjecting one of the most iconic figures in video games to such torture is just great. And I daresay it is quite exciting." Many outraged reactions launched a debate on sexism in video games in France. [20][21][22][23][24]

References
  1. "press-0-tech". Fiche magazine. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  2. Willing, James (2006). Willing's Press Guide. Michigan State University: Willing's Press Service. p. 20. ISBN 9780955174537.
  3. "Joystick entry on OJD". ojd.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  4. "Magazine Joystick Hebdo". Abandonware France (in French). Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  5. "Marc Andersen - Cyber Press Publishing Sa (cybr.ln)". The Wall Street Transcript. 3 April 2000. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  6. "Company Overview of M.E.R.7, Joystick and Tilt Brands". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  7. "L'éditeur Anuman Interactive acquiert les licences "Joystick" et "Tilt"". AFJV (in French). 8 February 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  8. "Le site des anciennes revues informatiques - Joystick Hebdo". www.abandonware-magazines.org (in French). Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  9. "Oldies But Goodies". Le site des jeux vidéos rétros. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  10. "Le site Joystick.fr ferme ses portes". Clubic (in French). 1 February 2002. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  11. "CPC-POWER, CPCArchives". www.cpc-power.com (in French). Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  12. "Magazine Joystick". Abandonware France (in French). Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  13. "Future acquiert Hachette Digital Presse". www.gamekult.com (in French). 12 March 2003. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  14. Wolf, Mark J. P. (2015). Video Games Around the World. MIT Press. p. 189. ISBN 9780262527163.
  15. Gasperini, Cedric (8 November 2012). "L'éditeur de Consoles+, Jeux Vidéo Magazine, Joystick... placé en liquidation judiciaire - page 1- GamAlive". www.gamalive.com. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  16. "Liquidation judiciaire pour MER7 (Consoles +, Jeux Vidéo Magazine...)". jeuxvideo.fr (in French). 8 November 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  17. Weber, Rachel (12 February 2013). "Anuman acquires Tilt and Joystick magazines". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  18. Verdin, Guillaume (27 March 2013). "Anuman Interactive annonce le label "Joystick Replay"". Le Mag de MO5.COM (in French). Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  19. Pépin, Guénaël (27 September 2016). "ZQSD: des journalistes financent l'avenir de leur podcast sur le jeu vidéo via Patreon" (in French). Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  20. Provost, Lauren (22 August 2012). "Joystick et Lara Croft: la critique d'un jeux-vidéo accusée de faire "l'apologie du viol"". Huffington Post (in French). Retrieved 23 January 2019. Faire subir de tels supplices à l'une des figures les plus emblématiques du jeu vidéo, c'est tout simplement génial. Et si j'osais, je dirais même que c'est assez excitant.
  21. Checola, Laurent (23 August 2012). "Lara Croft et le sexisme des gamers". Le Monde. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  22. "Lara Croft, le sexe et les machos". L'Express. 17 May 2014.
  23. "Joystick: apologie du viol et culture du machisme". cafaitgenre.org. 18 August 2012. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  24. "Tomb Raider: Joystick déclenche une polémique sur la tentative de viol de Lara Croft". mcetv.fr. 24 August 2012. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
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