''Personal Computer Games'' was a multi-format UK computer games magazine of the early/mid-1980s published by VNU.

History

''Personal Computer Games'' was launched in July 1983. The magazine was part of VNU and had its headquarters in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The second issue was published on 28 October 1983 with the magazine going monthly from February 1984. Computer coverage at the time were mainly consisted of the

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...

, C64 and the

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...

, although there were others featured such as Atari 8-bit,

Electron The electron ( or ) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary particles because they have no ...

Vic 20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the P ...

and the newly released

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...

. The February 1985 issue was the last of the magazine. Chris Anderson and Bob Wade went on to launch the Commodore 64 magazine ''

Zzap!64 ''Zzap!64'' was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact. The magazine ...

''.

Screen Test

One of the sections of the magazine was the 'Screen Test' pages where the latest games were reviewed. The PCG Panel, who voiced their opinions on the games reviews, consisted of the PCG staff plus several contributions from readers. The review was laid out with an explanation of the gameplay and then three opinions from the reviewers were given in boxouts at the end. PCG Ratings were out of ten, with a score giving to the graphics, sound, originality, lasting interest and the overall score.

Game of the Month

The highest accolade awarded by Personal Computer Games was the "Game of the Month" (First introduced in issue 3), issue 1 did not have a Game of the Month. Issue 2's Game of the month was actually called the "Screen Star" award. * Summer 1983(Issue 1) No Game of the month awarded. * January 1984(Issue 2):

Manic Miner ''Manic Miner'' is a platform video game originally written for the ZX Spectrum by Matthew Smith and released by Bug-Byte in 1983 (later re-released by Software Projects). It is the first game in the Miner Willy series and among the early titl ...

(ZX Spectrum) - "Screen Star" award. * February 1984(Issue 3): Revenge of the Mutant Camels (Commodore 64) * March 1984(Issue 4): Scuba Dive (ZX Spectrum) * April 1984 (Issue 5):

Forbidden Forest (video game) ''Forbidden Forest'' is a game designed by Paul Norman (game designer), Paul Norman, published by Cosmi Corporation in 1983 for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit family. Gameplay In this game the player controls an archer, armed with a bow and a ...

(Commodore 64) * May 1984(Issue 6):

Jet Set Willy ''Jet Set Willy'' is a platform video game originally written by Matthew Smith for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published in 1984 by Software Projects and ported to most home computers of the time. The game is a sequel to '' Man ...

(ZX Spectrum) * June 1984(Issue 7): Fortress (1984 video game) (BBC Micro) * July 1984(Issue 8):

Loco (video game) ''Loco'' is a 1984 computer game developed by Antony Crowther and released by Alligata for the Commodore 64. ''Loco'' is a clone of the 1982 Sega arcade game '' Super Locomotive''. Ports for the ZX Spectrum and Atari 8-bit family were released ...

(Commodore 64) * August 1984(Issue 9): The Lords of Midnight (ZX Spectrum) * September 1984(Issue 10):

Quo Vadis (1984 video game) ''Quo Vadis'' is an action-adventure game designed by Steven T. Chapman for the Commodore 64 and released by The Edge in 1984. Gameplay The object of the game is to explore a vast set of caverns and retrieve a scepter. Along the way the play ...

(Commodore 64) * October 1984(Issue 11): Ancipital (Commodore 64) * November 1984(Issue 12): Pyjamarama (ZX Spectrum) * December 1984(Issue 13):

Boulder Dash ''Boulder Dash'' is a 2D maze-puzzle video game released in 1984 by First Star Software for Atari 8-bit computers. It was created by Canadian developers Peter Liepa and Chris Gray. The player controls Rockford, who collects treasures while e ...

(Commodore 64) * January 1985(Issue 14): Underwurlde and

Knight Lore ''Knight Lore'' is a 1984 action-adventure game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game, and written by company founders Chris and Tim Stamper. The game is known for its use of isometric graphics, which it further popularized in vid ...

(both ZX Spectrum) * February 1985(Issue 15):

Impossible Mission ''Impossible Mission'' is a video game originally written for the Commodore 64 by Dennis Caswell and published by Epyx in 1984. The game features a variety of gameplay mechanics from platform and adventure games, and includes digitized speech. ...

(Commodore 64)

Cover mounts

In February 1984 ''PCG'' gave away a cover-mounted FlexiDisc containing game data that could be transferred to cassette. These included free programs for the Vic 20, Spectrum, BBC and

Dragon 32/64 The Dragon 32 and Dragon 64 are home computers that were built in the 1980s. The Dragons are very similar to the TRS-80 Color Computer, and were produced for the European market by Dragon Data, Ltd., initially in Swansea, Wales before m ...

computers.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Archived Personal Computer Games Magazines on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...