Mega Play (magazine)

File:MegaPlay US 01.pdf
Mega Play
Publisher: Sendai Publishing
Country of origin: United States
Backed systems: Sega Mega Drive
First issue date: 1990-xx-xx
Last issue date: 1995-0x-xx
Number of issues: 28 (29)
Frequency: Bimonthly
ISSN: 1058-9171

Mega Play was a bimonthly US magazine devoted to Sega video games, particularly the Sega Mega Drive. It "debuted" inside an issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly before going out on its own in 1990, almost simultaneously with Game Player's Sega Genesis Strategy Guide.

History

By and large, Mega Play was created mainly to create more product for Sendai to sell. Each issue (nearly all of them 52 pages long) had roughly the same content as would be in a normal issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly. Extras included longer strategy guides, more previews, and a different Review Crew taking on new games each month.

In 1991, Sendai announced that Mega Play had been picked up by Warner Publisher Services, the same distributor handling Electronic Gaming Monthly at the time. With this improved distribution, Sendai revealed plans to make the magazine monthly and increase its distribution to over 200,000 copies a month. For whatever reason, though, Mega Play didn't go monthly—in fact, it had trouble keeping a bimonthly schedule in the following years, occasionally skipping a month or putting out two issues in consecutive months.

Despite the lack of original content, the documented devotion of Sega fans allowed Mega Play to survive for over five years before petering out in the summer of 1995, just as Sega's Saturn was debuting in the US.

Ratings

Main article: Mega Play (magazine)/Ratings.

Back issues

Issue	PDF	Name	Date	Price	Barcode	Extras
0		Premiere Issue	1990-xx-xx	$1.991.99		[[File:]]
1		November/December 1990	1990-xx-xx	$2.952.95	014302779014-02	File:MegaPlay US 01.pdf
2		February 1991	199x-xx-xx	$3.503.50	014302779014-02	File:MegaPlay US 02.pdf
3		March/April 1991	1991-04-xx	$3.503.50	014302779014-04	File:MegaPlay US 03.pdf
4		May/June 1991	1991-0x-xx	$3.503.50	014302779014-06	File:MegaPlay US 04.pdf
5		July/August 1991	1991-0x-xx	$3.503.50	014302779014-08	File:MegaPlay US 05.pdf
6		September/October 1991	1991-0x-xx	$3.503.50	014302779014-10	File:MegaPlay US 06.pdf
7		November/December 1991	1991-xx-xx	$3.503.50	014302779014-12	File:MegaPlay US 07.pdf
8		January/February 1992	199x-xx-xx	$3.503.50		[[File:]]
9		March/April 1992	1992-0x-xx	$3.953.95		File:MegaPlay US 09.pdf
0303		June 1992	1992-0x-xx	$3.953.95	014302779014-06	File:MegaPlay US 0303.pdf
0304		August 1992	1992-0x-xx	$3.953.95	014302779014-08	File:MegaPlay US 0304.pdf
0305		October 1992	1992-09-08	$3.953.95	014302779014-10	File:MegaPlay US 0305.pdf
0306		January 1993	199x-xx-xx	$3.953.95	070989373723-01	File:MegaPlay US 0306.pdf
0401		February 1993	1993-0x-xx	$3.953.95	070989373723-03	File:MegaPlay US 0401.pdf
0402		April 1993	1993-0x-xx	$3.953.95	070989373723-05	File:MegaPlay US 0402.pdf
0403		June 1993	1993-0x-xx	$3.953.95	070989373723-07	File:MegaPlay US 0403.pdf
0404		August 1993	1993-0x-xx	$3.953.95		[[File:]]
0405		October 1993	1993-xx-xx	$3.953.95	014302779014-11	[[File:]]
0406		December 1993	1993-1x-xx	$3.953.95		File:MegaPlay US 0406.pdf
0501		February 1994	199x-xx-xx	$3.953.95	014302779014-03	File:MegaPlay US 0501.pdf
0502		April 1994	1994-0x-xx			[[File:]]
0503		July 1994	1994-0x-xx		070989373723-07	[[File:]]
0504		August 1994	1994-0x-xx		070989373723-09	File:MegaPlay US 0504.pdf
0505		October/November 1994	1994-xx-xx	$3.993.99	070992373727-11	File:MegaPlay US 0505.pdf
0506		December/January 1994/1995	1994-xx-xx	$3.993.99	070992373727-01	[[File:]]
0601		February/March 1995	1995-0x-xx	$3.993.99	070992373727-03	File:MegaPlay US 0601.pdf
0602		April/May 1995	1995-0x-xx	$3.993.99		[[File:]]
0603		June/July 1995	1995-0x-xx	$3.993.99	070992373727-07	File:MegaPlay US 0603.pdf

References

Sega-related magazines published in the United States
Sega Visions (1990-1995) Game Players Sega Guide! (1990-1993) | Mega Play (1990-1995) | Official Dreamcast Magazine (1999-2001) | DCM (1999-2000)