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Computer Entertainer
Video game newsletter

Computer Entertainer, also known as The Video Game Update, was an American video game newsletter. Based out of Los Angeles, California and edited by Celeste Dolan, it was published monthly between 1982 and 1990. It regularly featured news and reviews of computer and home console software; sales charts; coverage of the annual Consumer Electronics Show; interviews with developers in the video game industry; and release dates.

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History

Computer Entertainer was a newsletter for a mail order retailer called Video Take-Out, which was located in North Hollywood, Los Angeles and started as a supplier of blank and pre-recorded VHS tapes. The store's general manager, Celeste Dolan, told Billboard in August 1982 they had begun business two and a half years earlier but that product demand had fluctuated the past year. They chose to begin sales of video games due to its stronger market at the time and for being "a natural extension of selling video tape", even claiming Video Take-Out to be one of the original outlets for Atari.1 Video Take-Out sent the first issue of its newsletter, originally titled The Video Game Update, to customers in January 1982 as an information guide for its customers.2 Dolan was its chief editor alongside Marylou Badeaux, who was also credited as its publisher.34

The monthly newsletter most prominently featured news and reviews of computer and home console software. It survived the video game crash of 1983 and covered the rise of industry juggernauts Nintendo and Sega as well as the introduction of CD-ROM technology.5 Other features included sales charts, reports of the annual Consumer Electronics Show, interviews with developers, and release dates. Game evaluations could be found in the Critically Speaking sections in every issue. Titles were rated based on gameplay and graphics6 except text adventure which were not given graphical scores. While Dolan was the designated review editor, Computer Entertainer later introduced writer and game designer Jeffrey Stanton as a staff reviewer. An extensive game release schedule was provided each month. The staff would contact game publishers directly to obtain and report accurate information7 and dates would be regularly updated to reflect cancelations and changes.8

Dolan served on the award selection committee alongside other video game journalists for The First Video Games Conference, which was co-sponsored by Billboard and the Video Marketing Game Letter and held in San Francisco in April 1983.9 The periodical was permanently renamed Computer Entertainer in April 1984.10 It was announced in the February 1985 issue that Video Take-Out had partnered with Sydney Software to exclusively distribute Best of B.C., a compilation of the Coleco Adam games B.C.'s Quest for Tires and B.C. II: Grog's Revenge. Just prior to the release in April, Computer Entertainer stated that the companies had halted all future collaborations due to the threat of piracy by Adam users and its potentially negative financial impact.11

Video Takeout launched its own bulletin board system for southern California called The Hotline in early 1986, which included an online version of Computer Entertainer and weekly columns by Dan Gutman.121314 Print circulation for the newsletter reached up to around 10,000 copies by as early as 1987.151617 According to the April 1987 issue the publisher moved its office to Van Nuys. The business moved again around January 1990 and Computer Entertainer continued publication until abruptly ending that July with a total of 100 issues, one special edition, and one index.18

A 2014 documentary series featured Computer Entertainer in the collection of gaming historian Frank Cifaldi. He alleged that the newsletter's 1986 review of Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System was the first and only English-language review of the game's original release. Websites such as IGN and Kotaku recited this claim.1920

References

  1. Gold, Marcia (August 28, 1982). "Considering Video as a Way of Life". Billboard. Penske Media Corporation. p. VM-10. ISSN 0006-2510. https://books.google.com/books?id=8SQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT37 ↩

  2. Backiel, Al (September 1993). "CLASSIC BACKTRACK" (PDF). Classic Systems & Games Monthly. Vol. 2, no. 10. Adkins Publishing. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220120025444/https://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/newsletters/csg_monthly/csgv2n10.pdf ↩

  3. Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters. Oxbridge Communications, Inc. 1991. p. 148. ISBN 0-917460-32-4. 0-917460-32-4 ↩

  4. The Standard Periodical Directory (16th ed.). Oxbridge Communications, Inc. 1993. p. 359. ISBN 0-917460-44-8. 0-917460-44-8 ↩

  5. Backiel, Al (September 1993). "CLASSIC BACKTRACK" (PDF). Classic Systems & Games Monthly. Vol. 2, no. 10. Adkins Publishing. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220120025444/https://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/newsletters/csg_monthly/csgv2n10.pdf ↩

  6. Backiel, Al (September 1993). "CLASSIC BACKTRACK" (PDF). Classic Systems & Games Monthly. Vol. 2, no. 10. Adkins Publishing. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220120025444/https://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/newsletters/csg_monthly/csgv2n10.pdf ↩

  7. Kunimune, Robin (January 6, 2021). "Ep. 13: Living Atari's History with Kevin Bunch". Video Game History Foundation. Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230924093758/https://gamehistory.org/ep-13-living-ataris-history-with-kevin-bunch/ ↩

  8. Backiel, Al (September 1993). "CLASSIC BACKTRACK" (PDF). Classic Systems & Games Monthly. Vol. 2, no. 10. Adkins Publishing. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220120025444/https://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/newsletters/csg_monthly/csgv2n10.pdf ↩

  9. Kleiner, Karen (July–August 1983). "Billboard Conference". Softline. Vol. 2, no. 6. On-Line Systems. p. 45. ISSN 0142-7210. https://archive.org/details/Softline_Magazine_Issue_2.6/page/n46/mode/1up ↩

  10. Backiel, Al (September 1993). "CLASSIC BACKTRACK" (PDF). Classic Systems & Games Monthly. Vol. 2, no. 10. Adkins Publishing. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220120025444/https://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/newsletters/csg_monthly/csgv2n10.pdf ↩

  11. Dolan, Celeste (April 1985). "Time for Some Serious Soul Searching?". Computer Entertainer. Vol. 4, no. 1. VTO Inc. p. 1. ISSN 0890-2143. https://archive.org/details/computer-entertainer-4-1/mode/1up ↩

  12. Infoworld staff (May 12, 1986). "Bulletin Boards". InfoWorld. Vol. 8, no. 19. International Data Group. p. 31. ISSN 0199-6649. https://books.google.com/books?id=Sy8EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22The+Hotline%22&pg=PA ↩

  13. MicroTimes staff (January 1988). "Bulletin Boards". MicroTimes. No. 39. BAM Publications, Inc. p. 118. https://archive.org/details/microtimesissue300unse/page/118/mode/1up ↩

  14. Gufman, Dan (November 1987). "I Didn't Know You Could Do That With a Modem!". Commodore Magazine. Vol. 8, no. 11. Commodore Magazine, Inc. p. 80. https://archive.org/details/11-commodore-magazine/page/n81/mode/1up ↩

  15. The Standard Periodical Directory (16th ed.). Oxbridge Communications, Inc. 1993. p. 359. ISBN 0-917460-44-8. 0-917460-44-8 ↩

  16. MIMP 1987: Magazine Industry Market Place. R. R. Bowker. 1987. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-83-522269-3. 978-0-83-522269-3 ↩

  17. Katz, William (1991). Magazines for Young People: Formerly Magazines for School Libraries (2nd ed.). R. R. Bowker. p. 149. ISBN 0-8352-3024-4. 0-8352-3024-4 ↩

  18. Backiel, Al (September 1993). "CLASSIC BACKTRACK" (PDF). Classic Systems & Games Monthly. Vol. 2, no. 10. Adkins Publishing. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220120025444/https://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/newsletters/csg_monthly/csgv2n10.pdf ↩

  19. Mahardy, Mike (January 30, 2014). "Collector Has First and Only English Super Mario Bros. Review". IGN. Archived from the original on November 12, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231112020420/https://www.ign.com/articles/2014/01/30/collector-has-first-and-only-english-super-mario-bros-review ↩

  20. Kotaku staff (January 31, 2014). "The First And Only English-Language Review Of Super Mario Bros.". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 4, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20191104211722/https://www.kotaku.com.au/2014/01/the-first-and-only-review-of-super-mario-bros/ ↩