If someone stopped you in the middle of the street and asked what was the first Croatian video game magazine, what would you say? Maybe not Hacker? Inaccurately! Although the first issue of Hacker was published way back in 1994, it was not the first magazine on that topic. Pilot Video had the honor of breaking the ice and being the first. Pilot what??? If the name is not familiar, you are probably too young to remember it.
Pilot Video is a magazine from 1985! In March 1985, Zagrebački Vjesnik made a bold pioneering move and started publishing a magazine intended for those who like to "pilot" on the video screen. Namely, many Yugoslavs acquired computers at that time and liked to play video games.
Unlike similar English and American publications (CVG, Zzap!64, Crash, CGW, EM) Pilot Video did not last long on the market, it was shut down after 3 issues. The editor-in-chief was Borivoj Jurković (better known as the initiator and editor-in-chief of the Yugoslavian SF magazine Sirius). Looking from today's perspective, it's a real shame that Pilot Video didn't survive.
Thanks to the good people, all three released issues are available for free download in the vastness of the interwebs. The magic word is: ex-YU Computer Review!
Article originally published in December 2020 in Press X digizine.
