VideoGames & Computer Entertainment

The correct title of this magazine is VideoGames & Computer Entertainment. Our Wiki does not allow ampersands in article titles.

VideoGames & Computer Entertainment is a monthly magazine devoted to the entire spectrum of video games, with the emphasis placed on home consoles. Although it often worked in the shadow of titles like GamePro and Nintendo Power, its in-depth reviews, mature writing style and knowledgeable staff made it one of the most fondly-remembered magazines of the 8- and 16-bit era.

History

VG&CE began as a spinoff of A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing, a magazine published by LFP devoted to Atari 8-bit computers. With the rise of the NES in 1987, Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel began writing a column in A.N.A.L.O.G. devoted to console games. The column eventually expanded into its own magazine in 1988, with several A.N.A.L.O.G. contributors, including Andy Eddy and Clayton Walnum, on the editorial staff.

The magazine gained instant street cred with Katz, Kunkel, and Joyce Worley (the creative team behind Electronic Games) as contributors. It's commonly believed that the trio was part of the editorial staff, but this isn't quite true -- although they were given virtual free rein over VG&CE's computer reviews and news pages, they were based in Las Vegas and worked as freelancers.

A.N.A.L.O.G. was written for a mature computer-oriented audience, and this rubbed off on VG&CE's writing style. Reviews were almost always 1000 words or longer, and the first year or so of issues have noticeably fewer screenshots than rival magazines, even in strategy guides. (VG&CE also featured a great deal of full-page art to introduce features, many of which had little to do with the game covered.)

Kunkel, Katz and Worley left VG&CE in 1992 in order to restart Electronic Games. Soon afterward, the magazine fell into hard times, as it failed to stay caught up with rival titles' coverage of Street Fighter II and other arcade fighting games.

Eddy left in the summer of 1993, and his departure touched off a massive redesign and renaming to VideoGames. The last issue of VideoGames & Computer Entertainment was August 1993, but the "premiere issue" of VideoGames (September 1993) is unchanged design-wise from VG&CE except for the cover.