Computer Entertainer, originally titled The Video Game Update, was a video game newsletter published from 1982 until July 1990. It began as a newsletter for the video game mail-order company Video Take-Out, operated by sisters Marylou Badeaux and Celeste Dolan, before branching out into general video game coverage.

Computer Entertainer was one of the few American video game publications that ran continuously through the 1983–1984 American game industry crash. As such, it was one of the few American press outlets to cover console video games in the mid-to-late-80s. Notably, the magazine features some of the only known American coverage of the launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System, including one of the only American reviews of Super Mario Bros. Because of its connection with Video Take-Out’s mail order business, Computer Entertainer is also one of the few reliable sources of American release date information for 1980s video games, which were printed in each issue.

The Video Game History Foundation acquired the rights to Computer Entertainer in 2025 and released the complete run of the magazine into the Creative Commons. See “Conditions Governing Reproduction” for more information.

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(UPDATE 2: PC Gamer’s coverage.)

If you’ve been following along on my previous updates, here, you’ll already be familiar with the backstory for this massive single owner (me!) auction. Long story short, this is primarily an onsite auction of countless hundreds of videogame and computer systems, as well as tens of thousands of accessories, software, literature, etc. Just about all of the big (and small!) names from the past four decades of videogames and computers are present from all regions.

Here’s the latest page from the auction house with the details that you’ll need to get your own piece (or pieces) of this collection: https://www.bodnarsauction.com/may-31-gaming-collection

And the social media text from Bodnar’s Auction: “We don’t think you are ready for the incredible collection that is coming on May 31st. We have a huge single owner collection of “the history of gaming”. This collection includes over 1,000 items including virtually every gaming related item from the 1960’s to present day. Follow this link to check out all of the photos and get more information from this estate: https://www.bodnarsauction.com/may-31-gaming-collection“.

That’s a nice summary, but it really does only hint at what’s really there. The small handful of photos, limited descriptions, and quite incomplete item lists don’t do it justice.

Besides tons of everything else, there are many thousands of boxed games for just about every videogame and computer platform!

The date will be upon us in just a handful of weeks, so if you can help spread the word, I’d be grateful. Thanks!

The post New updates for the massive private vintage and modern videogame and computer auction set for May 31, 2018 in Edison, NJ! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

Today’s feature, 002, is on the June 1983 issue of Electronic Games.

This is actually the very first videogame magazine I ever bought and a title that helped set me on the path that I continue on today. To say it was influential in my life would be an understatement. I still have a distinct memory of buying this very issue in the Foodtown supermarket near my childhood home. I flat-out devoured and memorized this issue, along with all of the others before the Great Videogame Crash claimed yet another victim in mid-1985.

In any case, in looking at the cover, it’s clear what attracted a boy who was into fantasy, among all the other geeky checkboxes this ticked off. Interestingly, I never did note the artist’s name, which is Ezra N. Tucker. He has a crappy Website today, but if you are able to click through it enough, you can see his artistic chops are as great as ever.

Also notable on the cover is the “closet classics” thing, a term I would come to use for quite a while, but would eventually abandon. It’s actually a great way to refer to what we refer to today as “cult classics.”

You’ll also note the blurb, “Expanded Computer Game Coverage.” Electronic Games would continue to provide excellent computer game coverage right through their grudging name change to Computer Entertainment, before the whole thing went poof.

Page 3 – Electronic Games, June 1983

Pages two and three have a M*A*S*H videogame ad. What’s interesting is that one of the second prizes is a TI-99/4a computer. Because it made use of the speech synthesizer, that computer probably had the best version of the M*A*S*H videogame. As we know, M*A*S*H II was never made, so who knows what became of the contest entries or the contest itself.

Page six has an Arnie Katz editorial that calls for game designer’s names to be prominently featured on the cartridges they design. As we’d see in the years that followed, that would happen in select cases, but never really became commonplace. There are only a select few designer’s whose names help to sell games, and that’s what obviously is the primary driver in letting the names share space with the Publisher/Development Company name.

Page seven has a Spectravideo SV-318 ad. It was one of the many budget computers to flood the market and then become absolutely irrelevant in the wake of Commodore’s dramatic C-64 price drops.

Page 10 – Electronic Games, June 1983

Page 10 shows a prototype of the ColecoVision’s Trackball controller (repeated on page 28; page 45 has a Coleco ad with yet another prototype variation). The four orange buttons were moved to a more logical location on the center console. Side note, Slither was an awesome pack-in.

Page 12 – Electronic Games, June 1983

Page 12 makes mention of Imagic supporting Intellivision. They’d go on to be one of the platform’s great third parties. Although flawed, the pictured Swords and Serpents was an innovative, simultaneous two player action dungeon crawl.

Page 14 makes mention of the Intellivision II and its accessories, as well as the Aquarius, which were all released. What was also mentioned, but sadly never released, was the Intellivision III (not to be confused with the INTV III). Both that and the Intellivision IV were casualties of Mattel getting out of the business. It’s a pity, because the planned hardware would have been incredible if they were able to pull it off.

Page 32 has an interesting feature about playing videogames over the telephone. That and other innovative ways of getting videogames, like over cable systems, did all see limited release over the years, but never became mainstream until the modern era.

Page 56 – Electronic Games, June 1983

Page 57 – Electronic Games, June 1983

Pages 56 and 57 show “screenshots” of two ColecoVision games, Sword and the Sorcerer, and Tunnels & Trolls, that never had much work done on them (much to my and many others’ dismay–I mean, they still look appealing today!), and obviously never got anywhere near release. Naturally, the screenshots, like many from back in the day were artist impressions of what the final product should look like. The Intellivision mockup for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons on page 56 also looked nothing like the finished product, although that was of course already released by this time.

Page 60 starts a review of the Intellivision version of Imagic’s classic Microsurgeon. What I find fascinating is that the mock-up screenshot on page 62 shows a textual vitals display instead of the impressive cross-body section. Side note, the TI-99/4a and IBM PCjr version of Microsurgeon are also well worth checking out, with the former featuring speech and the latter featuring even better visuals.

Page 76 starts a lengthy three page review for SSI’s hardcore war simulation, Germany 1985. Although rare, when Electronic Games deep dived on a game like this, I really ate it up.

Page 82 – Electronic Games, June 1983

Page 84 – Electronic Games, June 1983

Page 82 starts the Closet Classics feature. It’s interesting to note some of the lesser known (at the time) games mentioned have endured today with enthusiasts.

Page 85 – Electronic Games, June 1983

Page 85 has an uninspired ad for Syncro Inc.’s games. I have to admit I have little, if any, familiarity with these titles or the company itself, which I suppose is not that surprising considering how vague the ad is (noting that only Kamikaze Saucers mentions what platform it’s actually for).

The HES ad on page 87 for Gridrunner misspells the legendary Jeff Minter’s name as “Mintor.”

Page 92 has an arcade game review for Nintendo’s Popeye. It really was (and still is) a beautiful game.

Page 94 has a review for the Atari arcade release of Pole Position. It’s funny not to think of Pole Position as kind of always being around, so it’s nice to see this contemporary review.

Page 96 has a small ad for a video rental store. That was likely a good investment (approximately $82,500 in today’s dollars) for at least a few years before the big chains took over everything, and then they themselves were put out of business by video steaming.

Page 99 – Electronic Games, June 1983

Pages 98 – 101 are a review of the Votrax Type ‘N Talk. Notable is the Zenith Z-100 low profile computer on page 99, which was partially PC compatible, but also ran a version of CP/M. I have the model with the built-in monitor in my collection. I also have a Type ‘N Talk in my collection, although I’ve never been successful sending commands to it due to cable issues (I think I’m getting close, though).

Page 106 – Electronic Games, June 1983

Page 106 shows Mattel’s excellent Dungeons & Dragons LCD game. I had that as a kid, although I’m sad to say it’s no longer in my possession.

Page 114 makes mention of the infamous Ultravision company in a reader Q&A. It was a promised super system compatible, at minimum, with Atari 2600 and ColecoVision games, that never came to be.

Page 188 makes mention of the potential release of an Atari 2600 adapter for the Atari 5200. That was a genuine desire at the time, particularly since Coleco and Mattel offered their own solutions for doing that very same thing on their respective consoles.

Inside Back Cover – Electronic Games, June 1983

The inside back cover has an ad for the Magnavox Odyssey2 port of the little-known arcade game, Turtles. That was notable because most of the Odyssey2’s titles were original creations. The port makes clever use of The Voice add-on, and is actually a pretty good game overall.

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Today’s feature, 001, is on the August 1986 issue of Computer Gaming World, which is issue 30.

Computer Gaming World, 08/1986 (cover)

Starting with the cover, I know I’m already in for a treat as artwork from SSI’s Phantasie II box is featured. The Phantasie series was my first proper introduction to Dungeons & Dragons pen and paper-style role-playing on a computer – in this case my Commodore 64 (C-64) – and it left a lasting impression. I also had fun with the other game mentioned on the cover, GBA Championship Basketball and dabbled with Activision’s Gamemaker, although I never ended up making much with it. I’m not sure what American Dream is, so I’ll be curious to find out. In any case, there’s a lot to be said for Computer Gaming World‘s (hereafter, CGW) cover design, as the artwork against the blue background and clean lettering is particularly classy. It’s understated in a way that today’s magazines simply wouldn’t be able to attempt.

On page 5, in the Taking a Peek column (short previews), a mention is made of a “nice new entry into the ranks of chess programs,” called Chessmaster 2000, available for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, C64/128, Amiga, and Atari ST (and as was normal for the time, suggesting to Circle Reader Service # 23 on the magazine’s advertiser’s card to potentially get more information mailed to you). Chessmaster was of course a long running multi-platform series that made it into the modern era, and was arguably the most popular chess simulation series of all time. Ubisoft last held the rights, but it’s unclear to me who owns them now. Either way, it’s not possible to play a version of the game on a modern platform, which is a pity because I always liked the core concept of playing against computer opponents with different personalities rather than just a generic opponent. The latest version I own is for the Microsoft Xbox 360, followed by versions for the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation 2. While I still can play on any of those systems any time I want, I’d much rather have a version for a newer platform, and especially on the PC side.

Also mentioned on page 5 is The American Challenge, a match race sailing simulation for Apple II and IBM (and compatible) computers. Sailing simulations were definitely a thing at one time, although I can’t think of any prominent titles these days.

On page 10 is an ad for Dragon Fire II: The Dungeonmaster’s Assistant, which works on IBM PCs and compatibles, C-64, and Apple II. The only other major commercial dungeon master assistant I was aware of was the stuff from SSI during the Gold Box era. I suppose the advantage of this one is that it was meant to be somewhat generic and work with most pen and paper role playing systems. It’s an interesting artifact even if I’ve never heard of it before myself.

Computer Gaming World, 08/1986 (page 12)

On page 12 is American Dream: The Management Simulation from Blue Chip Software (BC) for the IBM PC and compatibles. Now I know what it is. I’m intimately familiar with BC’s earlier management simulations like Millionaire and always liked the padded vinyl packaging (later releases went to cardboard), but perhaps because this particular game was not multi-platform like the others (not surprising since this one is not strictly text-based like the earlier games) relegated it to greater obscurity. As usual, BC wasn’t shy about pricing their software sky high, this one at $124.95 (about $272.06 in today’s dollars!). Presumably the target audience was high powered business executives.

Page 16 has the Phantasie II review (original Apple II version) by the infamous Scorpia. She makes good points, in that even at the time I thought Phantasie II was really just a bug fixed minor update of the first Phantasie game. I still loved it, however, and the concluding paragraph of the review more or less agrees:

“Bottom line: Although flawed in certain aspects, Phantasie II is an interesting, and overall good, game of the RPG type; if you liked the original Phantasie, you won’t want to miss this one.“

Page 20 has a rather breathless review of GBA Championship Basketball: Two On Two. It was a favorite of mine too, only surpassed a few years later for me by Cinemaware’s TV Sports: Basketball. Either way, it’s still good for a spin now and again.

Page 24 features a Consumer Electronics Show and Origins: The National Strategy and Adventure Gaming Convention post-mortem, discussing some of the games shown there.

Computer Gaming World, 08/1986 (page 25)

Page 25 has the first mention of Cinemaware and some of their upcoming titles, including what would be the Amiga’s killer app, Defender of the Crown. Needless to say, the writer was very impressed by the upcoming Cinemaware offerings (page 46, where the story continues, there’s mention of Star Rush, which I’m pretty sure was never released in any form).

Page 26 shows Amiga game momentum building, with mention of another popular early title, the arcade conversion for Marble Madness. Notable is another very early Amiga game, Mind Walker, being written as Mynd Walker. There’s also a mention of the graphical Epyx release of Rogue.

Page 28 is interesting. Notable is the mention of the influx of British software into the US, as well as something that I’ve talked about many times, and that’s how quickly the US moved away from cassette software and onto disk software versus almost every other territory, particularly Britain. The author quotes 97% of all Commodore 64 users having disk drives. While I think that’s probably a bit high, even for 1986, I suspect that number wasn’t even a quarter of that in the UK, where they were far more price sensitive.

For those that lament that today’s games are released buggy, page 30 shows that was also sometimes the case in the past as well. Being an owner of Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative from back in the day, I can definitely confirm some of the bugs mentioned.

It’s nice to see they have a Macintosh column on page 36. While it was never a premiere gaming platform, it definitely had some interesting releases in the 80s.

Computer Gaming World, 08/1986 (page 39)

Page 39 has a Game Designers’ Workshop ad. Combined with some of the other ads, including those from SSI, and the general editorial content, it’s clear to see that a big portion of CGW’s audience at the time must have been into simulations. Targeted advertising (and an early form of narrow-casting) at its best.

Page 44 has mention of more Commodore 64s being sold than any other home computer, with a claim from Commodore of 3.5 million combined C-64s and C-128s. As we know now, the Commodore 64 would retain that title, selling quite a few more units worldwide into the early part of the 90s. As I recounted in Vintage Game Consoles: An Inside Look at Apple, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, and the Greatest Gaming Platforms of All Time, unfortunately, various factors have contributed to the final official number being difficult for historians to determine. Sales have been reported by various sources as anywhere between 12 and 30 million. Even taking the lowest number, it’s still more than any other single computer (the C-128, often wrongly considered a failure, reportedly sold close to six million units when all was said and done, though again, I wouldn’t take those figures as definitive).

Computer Gaming World, 08/1986 (page 48)

Page 48 has a nice reader-driven rating summary for various games. The games on the list again clearly indicate the editorial focus of the publication.

And just to finish off the feature is the back cover, which has a nice Origin advertisement.

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