• Tag Archives video games
  • Electronic Games, May 1982

    Electronic Games, May 1982

    Electronic Games was the best and most influential of the early 1980s video games magazines. It was also the longest lasting at that time though that isn’t saying much. The video game crash caused even this magazine to go under but it would influence many that would come later.

    The May 1982 issue of Electronic Games includes:

    • Switch On!
    • Electronic Games Hotline
    • Test Lab – An expert shows how to fix the Atari VCS’ most common problem.
    • Q&A
    • Feature: Videogame Outlook – 1982 – The coming year will see several new systems and perhaps 100 new cartridges. Here’s the lowdown!
    • Insert Coin Here – If you can’t stop the ape in Donkey Kong, maybe you can defeat the kitten in Make Trax!
    • Women Join the Arcade Revolution – Women are now ready and willing to challenge the best of the men for electronic arcading laurels.
    • New Products
    • Special Section: The Players Guide to Electronic Wargames – Fight past, present and even future battles with a host of exciting military simulations.
    • Inside Gaming – Meet Bob Ogdon, the man who put the magic in Wizard, the new Astro Arcade cartridge.
    • Arcade America – Electronic Games visits Las Vegas’ Circus Circus, where the coin-op action is under the big top.
    • Games We’ll Never See (We Hope) – Our humorous look at some unlikely ideas for forthcoming games.
    • Stalking the Left-handed Joystick – There’s new hope for southpaws – if they follow this article’s simple instructions.
    • Computer Playland – No-holds-barred analysis of the latest game software for the most popular microcomputer systems.
    • Strategy Session – Our prize-winning strategy editors show how to be an Intellivision champ and win at Tempest.
    • Those A-maze-ing Gobble Games – Pac-Man and similar maze-chases have taken the arcade world by storm. Here’s the whole story.
    • Clubs for Gamers – Whether your main interest is computers or videogames, there’s a group that’s right for you.
    • Slam Dunk! – Even if you’re not a seven-footer, electronic basketball can provide a full measure of sports thrills.
    • Programmable Parade – The new games are coming! EG’s critics separate the winners from the also-rans.
    • Passport to Adventure – Castle Wolfenstein dares you to escape from a Nazi prison!
    • Stand-Alone Scene – Treasures await the adventurer in Mattel’s Dungeons & Dragons!
    • Reader Poll


  • Electronic Games, January 1983

    Electronic Games, January 1983






  • Blip (February 1983)

    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!