From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


Well, maybe I should rather say it's a magazine from the classic era
of video games, since it's not one I ever heard of until today, and I
wouldn't be surprised if most of the readers here haven't heard of it
either. "Computer Entertainer" ran between 1982 to 1990, and it was
unlike many of the other consumer-focused publications of that era.
For one thing, it lacked the glossy polish of its contemporaries; it
was more of a newsletter than a proper magazine. For another, it was
aimed as much at the retailers as the gamer, informing them of
upcoming releases and letting them know what games were likely to be top-sellers and what games they needn't stock.

Regardless, it retains historical value because it was one of the rare
US publications that remained active through the "great video game
crash" that pummeled US sales between '83 and '84, and was thus one of
the few active magazines to follow the recovery thereafter (including
the rise of Nintendo). Its focus on retail also meant it was a good
resource for knowing when games came out, making it extremely useful
for researching release dates of particular games.

Anyway, the Video Game History Foundation recently acquired the rights
to Computer Entertainer and released it in its entirity to the
Creative Commons. If you're interested in reading some early gaming
history, you can read or download the magazines en toto here: https://archive.gamehistory.org/folder/519c0dbd-0f5d-45fe-83c2-355a756391a9






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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Sun, 10 Aug 2025 14:53:34 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

Anyway, the Video Game History Foundation recently acquired the rights
to Computer Entertainer and released it in its entirity to the
Creative Commons. If you're interested in reading some early gaming
history, you can read or download the magazines en toto here: >https://archive.gamehistory.org/folder/519c0dbd-0f5d-45fe-83c2-355a756391a9

Thanks. I never heard of it either. The look of it reminds me of
QuestBusters.
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Mon, 11 Aug 2025 09:16:27 -0400, Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com>
wrote:

On Sun, 10 Aug 2025 14:53:34 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson ><spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

Anyway, the Video Game History Foundation recently acquired the rights
to Computer Entertainer and released it in its entirity to the
Creative Commons. If you're interested in reading some early gaming >>history, you can read or download the magazines en toto here: >>https://archive.gamehistory.org/folder/519c0dbd-0f5d-45fe-83c2-355a756391a9

Thanks. I never heard of it either. The look of it reminds me of >QuestBusters.

Which, incidentally, are available in full at MOCAGH https://www.mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getcompany=questbusters

Myself, I was more fond of The New Zork Times (later, The Status Line)
from Infocom. It was, as may be obvious, limited only to Infocom
products, but I remember eagerly awaiting each issue.
(available here: https://www.invisiclues.org/collections/nzt )

So many classic periodicals, so little time to read them all. ;-)


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