Computer Gaming World Issue 6

Features:

• From the Editor (CGW adds two new columns, and it's getting harder to start a software house these days, so look for a general decline in the near future)
• Inside the Industry (The 37 best-selling computer games of 1982 as of June 30th)
• Initial Comments (This is now a full-fledged mini-review area, offering 1-2 paragraphs on each item):
  • Bez-Off (Apple II)
  • Hi-Res Computer Golf (Apple II)
  • Computer Gin Rummy (Apple II)
  • Pig Pen (Apple II/IBM PC)
  • Soccer (Atari 400/800)
  • Serpentine (Apple II)
  • Rainbow Graphics (Apple II)
  • The Poor Man's Graphics Tablet (Apple II)
  • VC (Apple II/TRS-80)
  • The VisiCalc Book (Book, Apple/Atari)
  • Alibi (Apple II)
  • Mathematical Recreations for the Programmable Calculator (Book)
  • Falcons (Apple II)
  • Trailblazer
  • Renaissance (VIC-20)
  • Amok (VIC-20)

  [*]Hobby and Industry News (What's moving and shaking in the world of computer gaming)

  [*]Labyrinthine (Steve Rasnic Tem's short story of a man's increasing obsession with an unexplained computer glitch)

  [*]Software Piracy: The Slaying of a Hydra (Roe R. Adams, III offers his opinions on what it will take to end software piracy once and for all)

  [*]Star Wars Meets Galactic Gladiators (Recreating the opening Stormtrooper/Rebel Soldier battle of A New Hope using the scenario builder from Galactic Gladiators)

  [*]Heroic Fantasy: An Interactive Role-Playing Game or "How Revenge Is Going to Be Sweet" (Graham Masters, Jr. signs up for Flying Buffalo's new play-by-mail game and does the magazine version of live blogging the results; hilarity ensues)

  [*]Atari: Exploiting the Human Connection (David Myers proffers thoughts on how computer games played against/with live opponents will expand the genre into territories that will elevate gaming to a new level)

  [*]Get on the Bandwagon: Computer Games by Cable (The Games Network is coming to a cable carrier near you! Learn what you'll need to start gaming through your TV.)

  [*]Route 80 -- The Road to Adventure (A new column by Dick McGrath about the wonders of gaming via the TRS-80)

  [*]Starship Commander: Notes and Tips (Gilman Louie takes the helm to help you survive your initial missions)

  [*]Real World Gaming (Dan Bunten's column focuses on effective researching to help create the most life-like game you can develop)

  [*]New Scenarios for Invasion Orion (Floyd Matthews offers up his tips for beefing up the Klaatu and playing to their strengths to add additional challenges)

  [*]Reader Comments (Last issue, we asked what your biggest complaint about computer games was. You answered.)

  [*]Reader Input Device #4 (And the results of R.I.D. #3)

  [*]Computer Gaming World Top 10 (The ten best games according to staff reviews; Wizardry takes the top slot, Eastern Front brings up the rear)

Reviews:

• Star Blazer (Apple II)
• Guadalcanal Campaign (Apple II)
• Galactic Gladiators (Apple II/Atari)
• The Road to Gettysburg (Apple II)
• Cytron Masters (Apple II)
• Firebug (Apple II)
• The Demon's Forge (Apple II)
• Epoch (Apple II)
• Cannonball Blitz (Apple II)
• Battle Trek (Atari 32k)

Notable Stuff:

• The reference to Psalm 9:1-2 appears on the masthead.
• Subscription costs for non-US residents have gone up. It's now $16 for Canadians and $25 for anywhere else in the world.
• The best-selling game of 1982 so far is K-Razy Shoot-Out, a Berzerk clone, which sold a whopping 35,000 copies. Right behind it? Zork I with 32,000 copies, and Temple of Apshai with 30,000 copies. These are considered runaway successes. Today, a game only selling 30,000 copies would be considered an abject failure.
• Oops! The Eastern Front strategy contributor from last issue's letter column actually does have a name! He was one David Myers of Austin, Texas.
• The Silicon Cerebrum takes a brief vacation from this issue; Bruce Webster will be back in issue 7.
• Steve Tem's story in this issue is leaps and bounds better than the amateur fanfic crap we've seen in issues past. That's probably because he's a professional, published sci-fi writer, but still: more like this, please!
• Roe Adams, III's theory on software piracy is still applicable today, where some people pirate software because it's too expensive for them, which causes a death-spiral of companies spending more and more money on anti-piracy measures as previous ones get defeated, keeping prices inflated all around. Three decades and not much has changed.
• Fifteen years after David Myers writes his article on multiplayer gaming, Ultima Online will prove him correct. Five years after that, we get World of Warcraft.
• The second Robot War tournament is now accepting submissions, with results to be announced in the March/April 1983 issue.
• Cytron Masters is the world's first real-time strategy game, just FYI.
• Issue size has increased to 50 pages.