A classic '80s video game magazine called Computer Entertainer has been released under the Creative Commons license, allowing anyone to make use of the magazine's contents for free. The Video Game History Foundation, which facilitated Computer Entertainer's move into what's essentially a public utility, says this is one of the only English-language sources for information about what gaming enthusiasts actually thought of the NES during its North American launch.
There were numerous gaming magazines covering home console titles in the early '80s, but most of them disappeared in the aftermath of the infamous North American video game industry crash of 1983. Computer Entertainer is an extremely rare exception – which is why it was uniquely positioned to cover the NES launch as Nintendo attempted to revitalize the console game market in the US.
VGHF founder Frank Cifaldi says in the video announcement that Computer Entertainer was "one of the only outlets still reviewing console video games during this period. If you want to know what an American thought about Metroid or The Legend of Zelda when it first arrived, this is one of the few resources that you can tap into. If you want to know what someone thought about Super Mario Bros. when it was brand new, this might be the only English language review."
As an example of the magazine's content, the June 1986 review of Super Mario Bros. said that the game "belongs in that special hall of fame reserved for truly addictive action games, the kind that keep you from being on time for supper. The graphics are cute and comical, the music lively, but it's the great depth of play action that keeps you playing again and again. No owner of the Nintendo Entertainment System should be without this game – it's a must!"
That review – which awarded a nearly-perfect score for graphics, and a perfect score for "quality of game play" – pretty accurately guessed the impact Super Mario Bros. would eventually have, and the reviews for titles like Metroid, Final Fantasy, and The Legend of Zelda are similarly in tune with what's become the accepted critical appraisal of those games. All in an era well before Metacritic.
Computer Entertainer also marked another game journalism milestone, as the "earliest console video game magazine run by women," according to the VGHF. Sisters Celeste Dolan and Marylou Badeaux – the latter of whom had a day job managing music legend Prince for Warner Bros. – ran the magazine in support of a mail order video game retail business. That means this is also one of the only accurate sources for release date information on this era of console games.
The full Computer Entertainer library is available for perusal as part of the VGHF Digital Archive. The organization has several other classic gaming magazines in its archives – many of which will be more familiar to gamers who grew up with the medium in the '90s – but the full Creative Commons release of Computer Entertainer marks what I certainly hope will be a new standard in game preservation.
Preserving not just games, but information about how they were made, marketed, and played, is central to the Video Game History Foundation's mission, and Computer Entertainer gives a unique perspective on an undercovered time in gaming history. Here's hoping more gaming magazines will someday follow suit.
Our list of the best NES games offers similar praise for the classic that kicked off the NES's rise.
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