‘Electronic Games’ From The 1980’s

Found a cache of Electronic Games magazines from the 1980s at a flea market. They were in surprisingly good condition and I’ve had a really great time reading through them. I wrote for Geek about what’s changed and what really hasn’t.

A new games studio called “Electronic Arts” is featured for their innovative new workflow patterns…
New Studio Electronic Arts

Although my Geek colleague Michael Westgarth has come up with the top five classic EA franchises, and I unashamedly love EA’s The Sims, their reputation has changed pretty drastically since this 1982 article. EA’s now also known for “winning” worst company of the year two years running, for the EA Spouse anonymous letter, and Geek writer Mohseen Lala has written about the five worst things about Electronic Arts.

I also found a CES ad from 1982, with a bikini girl, of course, and some other gems, but my favorite was this header from the magazine’s reader mail section.

Lady-arcader-1983-page-3-1024x487

I love this because I worked just up the street from this address at when I was at Next Island. And, like anyone else who writes about games on the internet, I daydream fondly of a time when commenters would have to write a letter, get an envelope and a stamp, and actually mail it in to express their opinions. The magazine mailbag included some players who wrote in to say they’d found an Easter egg and describing how to get it, and although some readers were writing to express disagreement or to add information on a previous topic, the quality of the letters was much higher than the typical internet comment U SUXORS THIS IS THE BEST/WORST GAME OF ALL TIME, AND YOU ARE  CLEARLY A MORON FOR NOT AGREEING! 

Via ‘Electronic Games’ From The 1980’s on Geek.

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5 Responses to ‘Electronic Games’ From The 1980’s

  1. Bill Olander says:

    Next time I comment on your blog, it will totally be via snail mail.

    • Meg says:

      I started to write something about how I like writing for the indie games community because they tend to leave thoughtful, interesting comments thinking about gameplay. BUT the last time I said that, I immediately got hit with a string of R U REAL GIRL? crap on my indie posts.

  2. bethie says:

    This is awesome! (And also why I’m a hoarder. One day, all my junk will be interesting and worth something)

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