Computer Gaming World Issue 20

Features:

• RobotWar Tournament (The 4th annual RobotWar tournament is here! Get your entries posted!)
  
• War in Russia: Replay of Case Blue, Part I (CGW editors Kirk [Russia] Robinson and Jay [Germany] Selover go head-to-head in the Case Blue scenario of SSI's War in Russia)
  
• Come Cast A Spell With Me (Roe Adams' new adventure gaming column looks at the trend of the professional writer-turned-game-designer with Michael Crichton's Amazon and Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
  
• A Software Agent Looks At the Industry (Bob Jacobs sees things different from your average reader or developer, and what he sees on the horizon are opportunities galore!)
  
• Breakthrough in the Ardennes: Designer Notes (Chuck Kroegel explains why things work as they do in this reenactment of the Battle of the Bulge)
  
• Gulf Strike: A Review (Mark Bausman gives his thoughts on this modern-day war sim)
  
• Cosmic Balance Contest Results (A narrative-style recounting of the battles faced by the winning ship)
  

Departments:

• Taking a Peek:
  • Ram! (IBM)
    
  • Berserker Raids (Atari/Apple/C64/IBM)
    
  • Wings out of Shadow (IBM/Apple)
    
  • Telechess (Apple II)
    
  • Squire (Apple/MS-DOS)
    
  • The Ancient Art of War (IBM PC/XT/PCjr)
    
  • Karateka (C64/Apple)
    
  • The Serpent's Star (Apple/Atari/C64)
    
  • Welcome Aboard: A Muppet Cruise to Computer Literacy (Apple/C64)
    
  • Whistler's Brother (C64/Atari)
    
  • Video Stock Market (Apple)
    
  • Sorcerers and Soldiers (Book)
    
  • Golden Flutes and Great Escapes (Book)
    
  • Timeship (Apple)
    
  • Adventure Construction Set (C64)
    
  • La Triviata (Apple II)
    
  • Rescue Raiders (Apple)
    
  • Field of Fire (Atari/C64)
    
  • Gemstone Warrior (Apple/C64)
    
  • Carriers At War (Apple II/C64)
    
  • Mindwheel (Apple/Atari/C64/IBM)
    
  • Caveman (C64)
    

  [*]Editorial: The Editor Muses (Russell Sipe explains how CGW weathered the great computer game magazine storm of 1984 and what's coming for the future)

  [*]Strategically Speaking (Reader-submitted gaming tips for the following games):

  • Sieg In Afrika
    
  • Germany 1985
    
  • War in Russia
    
  • Fighter Command
    
  • Cosmic Balance
    

  [*]Tele-Gaming (Patricia Fitzgibbons explores what the new online system Delphi has to offer for users who get in on the ground floor)

  [*]Scorpion's Tale (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy got you twisting your towel in knots? Scorpia's here to help.)

  [*]The Learning Game (Bob Proctor's 'Year in Review' for educational software, 1984 edition)

  [*]Atari Playfield (Spelunker and Realms of Impossibility have David Stone raving)

  [*]Micro-Reviews:

  • Competition Karate (C64/Apple)
    
  • Clear For Action (Notes from playtester Floyd Mathews)
    
  • 3 in 1 Football (Apple)
    
  • Relax! (C64/Atari/IBM PC/PCjr/Apple)
    
  • How About A Nice Game of Chess? (C64/Apple/Atari)
    

  [*]Reader Input Device

  [*]Game Ratings

  [*]1984 Index

Notable Stuff:

• The reference to Psalm 9:1-2 appears on the masthead.
  
• First issue of CGW with a subscription/service card insert.
  
• No Jon Freeman column this issue? B-but how will I know what to hate this month?!
  
• According to Russell Sipe, at the start of 1984 there were over seven hundred different computer magazine titles being printed in the US, a ten-fold increase in the five years since CGW began printing.
  
• Kirk and Jay's back-and-forth for War in Russia makes for great reading, similar to the battle reports published in Games Workshop's White Dwarf magazine.
  
• A subscription to Delphi starts at $49.95 for the sign-up fee; users pay an additional $6 per hour during off-peak times, and a whopping $16 per hour for prime time access. Zoiks!
  
• Relax! is a $99 - $139 (depending on your system) software/hardware combo that helps you to unwind after a long day at work. Alternately, you could just soak in the tub, read, or do one of the myriad other activities people chose before computers were a thing...
  
• This issue seems much more ad-heavy than the preceding ones.