Paragon Publishing

Infobox Company
company_name = Paragon Publishing Ltd
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company_type = Ltd
foundation = Richard Monteiro and Dianne Taverner (co-founders)
location = Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, UK
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area_served =
industry = Magazine publishing
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revenue =
operating_income =
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Paragon Publishing Ltd (or Paragon for short) was a magazine publisher in the UK, which published computer games and other entertainment titles from 1991 to 2003.

Brief History

Paragon Publishing Ltd was formed in a small office in Trowbridge, Wiltshire by ex-Future Publishing staff Richard Monteiro and Dianne Taverner. With a small team of staff they began work on their first publication "Sega Pro".

With the success of "Sega Pro" the company began expanding and launched several other titles, hiring more staff to produce these new titles. It was not long before the company moved into new premises in Bournemouth.

The company continued to publish magazines for the video games market as well as other areas for the next decade.

In July 2003 Paragon Publishing and its 30-odd magazine titles were sold to Highbury House Communications for £32m. Imagine Publishing, which were formed by ex-Paragon staff Damian Butt and Mark Kendrick, would buy back most of these titles when Highbury themselves sold them in 2006.

Key Titles

Paragon published many titles during its decade run, mainly computer or video games based, but later moved into other areas of entertainment.

"Sega Pro"

The company's first magazine publication and a big success. Covering the early 90s explosion in popularity of Sega's Mega Drive as well as the Master System and Game Gear. Well-known names on early issues included Dominic Handy, Les Ellis, Dave Perry, and Damian Butt. Ran for many years up until Sega themselves disappeared.

"Mega Power"

Following the success of "Sega Pro", a new title focusing on the Mega Drive and in particular the Mega CD was launched in 1993. The magazine was the first console publication to include a covermounted CD.

"Console XS"

A bi-monthly games console tips magazine launched in 1993. Featuring game cheats, tips, and guides for the consoles of the early 90s. After four issues, the title was split into two: "Sega XS", which focused solely on Sega platforms, and "Super XS", covering Nintendo games.

"Games World: The Magazine"

"Games World" was a video games based tv show broadcast on satellite in the early 90s. The show's producers, Hewland International, gave the rights to produce "Games World: The Magazine" to Paragon. The multi-format magazine content was generally centred around Sega and Nintendo's consoles.

"Nintendo Pro"

As with "Sega Pro", "Nintendo Pro" focused on the Nintendo range of consoles. It was originally known as N64 Pro and was one of the titles Paragon Publishing acquired with the acquisition of the Macclesfield-based titles of IDG Media.

"Play"

Launched in 1995 by Paragon with Dave Perry as editor. One of the first PlayStation magazines released covering Sony's PlayStation products, later including the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and the PlayStation 3. It is the UK's longest-running PlayStation magazine, and is currently in its 11th year on sale, published under Imagine Publishing.

"PowerStation"

A PlayStation tips magazine launched at the same time as sister title "Play" by Dave Perry. As with "Console XS" content included games cheats, tips and guides. Along with its sister title, "PowerStation" was bought by Imagine Publishing in 2006.

"X Gen"

A short-lived multi format magazine in the style of "ACE" and "EDGE".

"64 Magazine"

Launched in 1997, "64 Magazine" covered Nintendo's N64 console.

"Dreamcast Magazine"

Covering Sega's Dreamcast, "Dreamcast Magazine" was launched in 1999.

"DVD Review"

Launched in 1999 and later purchased by Future Publishing.

"CUBE"

Launched in 2001 to cover Nintendo's GameCube console.

External links

* [http://davesworld.gamesanimal.com/published.php?art=19&page=1 Dave Perry talks about his time at Paragon Publishing.]
* [http://www.imagine-publishing.co.uk Imagine Publishings website]