• Tag Archives 80s

  • Blip (February 1983)

    Posted on by Azrael 1 Comment

    Blip, February 1983.

    BLiP was a video games magazine published by Marvel in 1983. It had a comic book form factor and typically included a video game based comic strip among various articles about gaming. Not really a bad idea for the time but they were a little too late. Had Marvel come up with this a couple of year earlier, it probably would have had a longer run. As it was, 1983 was a bad year for the video game industry and BLiP only lasted 8 issues.

    The premiere issue (pictured above) was published in February 1983 and includes:

    • Video Games of the Stars – Mostly child stars and their favorite games but Bruce Boxleitner is also here because of his roll in Tron. On the cover is Matthew Laborteaux who was most famous at the time for his role on Little House on the Prairie. Not sure there was a lot of crossover in terms of fans of that show and video game players though…
    • BLiP Tips I – Hints and tips for the Atari 2600 version of Missile Command.
    • BLiP Tips II – Hints and tips for the arcade version of Centipede.
    • Hall of Fame – An article about Walt Day, director of the Twin Galaxies Official International Scoreboard.
    • Clubhouse – An article about vido game clubs and publications including The Atari Club (Atari Age), Activisions, Odyssey^2 Adventure, and Intellivision Game Club.


    • Video Jokes – Featuring games we will never see like Pudding Defender and Boob Tube as well as various bad puns.
    • Player’s Choice – Videgaming news, this month featuring Pitfall for the Atari 2600, Emerson’s Arcadia-2001, and the new Dig Dug arcade game.
    • News BLiPs – Brief news stories including news about new computer chips, the dangers of gaming and using games for training.
    • Game Design – Introduction to a contest to design your own game.
    • Donkey Kong – Donkey Kong stars in his own comic.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Retro Games 📎and tagged

  • Enter, March 1985

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Enter, March 1985

    ‘enter’ was a computer magazine for kids. It covered most of the home computers available at the time including the Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari 400/800, TRS-80 plus several others and included articles, reviews, programming exercises (generally in BASIC) and more. The March 1983 issue included the following:

    Features

    • Computers In Space – A fairly interesting but non-technical article about the computers on board the space shuttle and in mission control.
    • Games Gone Gonzo – Winners of a contest to come up with crazy game ideas. Titles of these theoretical games include Rockwars, Attack of the Spinach Things, Invasion of the Dirty Dishes, Space Erasers, Thundarr the Barber, Homer, and School Daze.
    • Cursor, Foiled Again! – A choose your own adventure style type game with a computer theme but played within the pages of the magazine.
    • Computer Camping, 1985 – All about computer camps. This was a thing in the 1980s and I’m sure I would have loved to have gone to one but sadly missed out (no space camp for me either…) These weren’t cheap costing upwards of $1000 for a two week camp. A dozen camps are summarized here.
    • Printer Power – An overview of printers covering thermal, dot matrix, letter quality (typically daisy wheel), and printer/plotters.
    • Bill Budge, Software Star – An interview with the creator of Pinball Construction Set.
    • Digital Dolphins – An article about using computers to help communicate with dolphins. An Apple II is featured prominently.

    Departments

    • Bits – Brief bits of news featuring: new games in the U.K. including Bed Bugs, Metagalactic Llamas, and Bath Time; a 32-player version of BallBlazer; a computer screwing up grades; a robot in congress; automatic faucets and the difficulty of using computers.
    • User Views – Computer game reviews featuring:
      • Fahrenheit 451 (Apple II, Commodore 64)
      • Robot Odyseey I (Apple II)
      • Ghostbusters (Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari)
      • Spy vs. Spy (Atari/Commodore 64, Apple II)
      • Breakdance (Commodore 64)
      • Cutthroats (Apple II, Macintosh, Atari, Commodore 64, TI 99/4A, DOS)
      • Spelunker (Atari, Commodore 64) – one of my favorites for the Commodore 64
      • Lightwaves (Commodore 64)
      • PQ: The Party Quiz Game (Commodore 64/Atari, Apple II, DOS)
    • Software Scanner – Reviews of educational software:
      • President’s Choice (Apple II, DOS, Commodore 64)
      • Flying Colors (Apple II, Commodore 64)
      • Dreamhouse (Apple II, Commodore 64)
      • Mission: Algebra (Apple II, DOS, Atari, Commodore 64)
      • Colortone Keyboard (Commodore 64)
    • Newsbeat – News about new and upcoming hardware and software, including coverage of: “Bits & Bytes: The First National Computer Show for Kids”; the new Commodore 128; a re-release of HESGames (called S-Games) and more.
    • Showbeat – An article about the use of computers when making Disney’s Black Cauldron.
    • Pacesetters – Airport software developed by a group of kids.
    • Connections – Low cost Apple II educational software, a newsletter exchange by an Atari computer club and The Freeloader’s Software Library featuring 10,000+ public domain programs.
    • Random Access – A family’s large computer collection featuring four Atari 800s, four Atari 400s, two TRS-80s and various accessories.

    Programming

    • Enter Center – Featuring type-in programs including: Mouse Maze for the Commodore 64 and Atari, Break Dancing for the TI 99 4/A, Melt Away for the TRS-80, Star Destroyer for the Timex Sinclair series, plus various hints and tutorial for programming in BASIC.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged