Draft:Phil South

• Comment: It only appears you have gotten significant coverage in one article, with minor or primary coverage in others, which does not pass WP:NBASIC. Fish! does not mention your involvement, so I'm not sure WP:NAUTHOR is passed either. You'd have to explain which notability criteria you believe the article fulfills, and why. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 08:43, 25 August 2026 (UTC)

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Phil South is a British journalist, writer and author. He is known for his work in British computer magazines during the 1980s and 1990s, including Your Sinclair, and for his involvement in the 1988 adventure game Fish!. A retrospective profile in Retro Gamer traced his career from early computer journalism through his later work in Amiga and technology publishing and fiction.

Journalism

South began his career in computer journalism in the mid-1980s, working initially for Argus Specialist Press on Software Today for editor Kevin Cox before moving to Dennis Publishing with Cox to work on Your Spectrum and related Dennis Publishing titles. He subsequently worked for the relaunched Your Spectrum, called Your Sinclair, where he became the staff writer and later the technical editor. He was often referred to by the nickname “Snouty”.

Following his period at Dennis Publishing, South worked as a freelance writer. His later magazine work included contributions to Future Publishing titles, including Amiga Shopper and Amiga Format, and he also appeared regularly in Edge.

South also had a long association with Computer Shopper, for which he wrote an Amiga column.

Fish!

In 1988, South was co-creator of Fish!, an adventure game developed by Magnetic Scrolls and published by Rainbird. In a retrospective account of his career, South described how an idea developed with close friend John Molloy (beginning an adventure game as a fish in a bowl) was taken to Magnetic Scrolls with whom Molloy was freelancing for at the time. South wrote the story with Molloy, which was subsequently adapted into a game by Molloy and latterly polished by Molloy and Rob Steggles. The game received contemporary coverage and reviews in computer and video-game magazines.

A later Retro Gamer feature, “The Making Of: Fish”, examined the game’s development and described South’s transition from writing about games at Your Sinclair to co-creating an adventure game.

Fish! subsequently won the 16-bit award for Adventure Game of the Year at the 1989 Golden Joystick Awards.

Books and other writing

South wrote technical books about Amiga computing, including Mastering Amiga AMOS. His work as an author was covered in contemporary Amiga magazines, including publications outside the United Kingdom.

He later continued writing for websites and other publications.

He also writes fiction under the name Philip Why.

Theatre

Before establishing his career in computer journalism, South was an actor and writer involved in theatre. In 1985 he created Maxine, a musical production performed by Hill O’Beans Theatre Company, in his home town of Hemel Hempstead and subsequently at the Edinburgh Festival that same year.

Reviewing the production at the Edinburgh Festival, Joseph Farrell wrote in The Scotsman on 29 August 1985 that “Phil South was the creator”, while noting that the group had participated in devising the show. The review gave a strongly positive assessment of the production.