''VideoGames & Computer Entertainment'' (abbreviated as ''VG&CE'') was an American magazine dedicated to covering

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

on computers,

home consoles A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few game ...

and arcades. It was published by LFP, Inc. from the late 1988 until the mid-1990s. Offering game reviews, previews, game strategies and

cheat code Cheating in video games involves a video game player using various methods to create an advantage beyond normal gameplay, usually in order to make the game easier. Cheats may be activated from within the game itself (a cheat code implemented by ...

s as well as coverage of the general industry, ''VG&CE'' was also one of the first magazines to cover both home console and

computer game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, mo ...

s. The magazine gave out annual awards in a variety of categories, divided between the best of home video games and computer video games. The magazine featured original artwork by Alan Hunter and other freelance artists.

History

''VG&CE'' began as a spinoff of ''

ANALOG Computing ''ANALOG Computing'' was an American computer magazine devoted to Atari 8-bit computers. It was published from 1981 until 1989. In addition to reviews and tutorials, ''ANALOG'' printed multiple programs in each issue for users to type in. Almo ...

'', a magazine published by LFP devoted to

Atari 8-bit computers The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...

. ''VG&CE'' was started at LFP by Lee H. Pappas (publisher), with

Andy Eddy Andy Eddy is an American video game journalism, video game journalist and critic. He resides in Redwood City, California. Biography Eddy was the executive editor (and de facto editor-in-chief) of ''VideoGames & Computer Entertainment'' in the la ...

as executive editor (Eddy was a freelance contributor to the first issue of the magazine, which had the cover date of December 1988, just before relocating to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in September 1988 to become its editor before the first issue hit the streets. During Eddy's tenure at the magazine, there was no one listed as editor-in-chief, simply due to odd staff-titling decisions.) Contributors included Arnie Katz and Bill "The Game Doctor" Kunkel, co-founders of the first video game magazine, ''

Electronic Games ''Electronic Games'' was the first dedicated video game magazine published in the United States and ran from October 15, 1981, to 1997 under different titles. It was co-founded by Bill Kunkel, Joyce Worley, and Arnie Katz. History The h ...

''.

Tips & Tricks ''Tips & Tricks'' was a monthly video game magazine devoted to the subjects of video game cheat codes, strategy guides and lifestyle content. Unlike most video game magazines, it did not include critical reviews of video games and was not a pr ...

editor-in-chief Chris Bieniek was an associate editor at ''VG&CE''. ''Computer Player'' editor-in-chief Mike Davila was an associate editor and later executive editor at ''VG&CE''. ''

Knights of Xentar ''Knights of Xentar'' is an eroge, erotic role-playing video game published for MS-DOS compatible operating systems in North America by Megatech Software in 1995. It was originally published as in Japan. It is part of the ''Dragon Knight (video ...

'' writer David Moskowitz was also an associate editor covering news and computer games during the Eddy/Davila/Bieniek tenure.

''VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine''

The magazine was renamed into ''VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine''''The Paper Trail: VideoGames & Computer Entertainment #1''
at 1up.com starting with the September 1993 issue and dropped computer game coverage. In an effort to compete with magazines popular at the time, such as ''

GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...

'', the magazine was made more child-friendly with vibrant colors and issues often featured a videogame cheat printed on the cover, labelled as a "free code" (this ended in late 1994). For much of this era,

Chris Gore Christopher Patrick Gore (born September 5, 1965) is an American speaker and writer on the topic of independent film. He founded, edited and wrote for Film Threat magazine and website and other film sites. He was producer, writer or host for seve ...

was editor-in-chief, and it had a monthly news and gossip column "The Gore Score". The magazine ended publication in late 1996, when

Ziff-Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related servic ...

bought ''VideoGames'' from LFP and folded the brand.

Spin-off magazines

''VG&CE'' spun off several other video game magazines: * ''

TurboPlay ''TurboPlay Magazine'' is a bi-monthly, U.S.-based video game magazine which was published by L.F.P. from June/July 1990 through August/September 1992. It was available via subscription only (US$9.95 per year). A total of 14 issues were release ...

'' (June/July 1990-August/September 1992), a bi-monthly magazine dedicated to covering

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation of video game con ...

hardware and software. * ''

'' (February 1995-August 2007), a game magazine dedicated to game strategies and cheat codes. The magazine concept was spun out of the "Easter Egg Hunt" and "Tips & Tricks" sections in ''VG&CE'', which offered extensive codes and cheats for video games, as well as the "walkthrough" strategies that ''VG&CE'' also provided.

References

External links

''VideoGames & computer entertainment.''
at worldcat.org
''VideoGames.''
at worldcat.org

Magazine #21: ''Video Games & Computer Entertainment''

covers of issues December 1988 to April 1990
''VideoGames & Computer Entertainment'' scans
PDF repository of ''VG&CE''
''VideoGames'' scans
PDF repository of ''VG''
Archived Video games the Ultimate Gaming Magazines
on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:VideoGames and Computer Entertainment Defunct video game magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1988 Magazines disestablished in 1996 Magazines published in California Monthly magazines published in the United States Bimonthly magazines published in the United States