40 years ago, Commodore showed a ton of new tech in Germany. Maybe at the behest of the US considering the UK folks' lack of confidence in them. Meanwhile, the Dragon was almost dead, the QL STILL hadn't launched, and the church was attacking Dungeons and Dragons. ⛪️🤡🤣

This 40-year-old ad takes me back. I remember seeing it and thinking how amazing the game looked. Flight sims were super-popular back then (and evolving fast), and this Microprose effort created by none other than Sid Meier was yet another step forward. Just seemed really cool!

35 years ago, Microprose created ads like these - faux-'reviews' of their games designed to look like mag pages. Our ad team was happy to run them, but the editorial team was not. We insisted on that 'ad' text at the top/bottom of the page, but it still felt really misleading.

I don't recall anything about this 35-year-old Ocean title. Not the ITV show upon which was based, nor actually playing it. But even though it wasn't especially memorable, I seemed to like it. Not outstanding, but entertaining enough - despite a hideous-sounding multiload format.

35 years ago, I was busy playing California Games on the Master System. While it had been released on C64 a couple years earlier, I still had a ton of fun playing it. And indeed still do. It's one of the all-time multi-event 8-bit sporting greats! Brilliant on almost everything!

35 years ago, I compiled these simple PC Engine Vigilante tips. I do love my screenshots. Taken using our brand new pro-quality Mamiya 645 medium format film camera, the CRT details it captured were crystal clear. No crappy scans. This is what screens actually looked like!

35 years ago, the Mega Drive arrived at CVG. We also had exclusive news of a new portable called the Game Boy. With only Kings Quest IV (91%) and SMS California Games (93%) scoring big, it was a poor month for games - but a HUGE month for consoles! The next gen was on its way!

40 years ago, CVG featured this excellent Marvel-themed cover based on Scott Adams' new Questprobe text adventures. While the games themselves were somewhat pedestrian (and a bit too difficult), this cover was nevertheless a real eye-catcher. A terrific piece of art!

35 years ago, Imagine's Renegade III sent players back to the dinosaur era, where they battled through time to rescue the hero's girlfriend who was trapped in the future. A far cry from the mean streets brawler the series out started as - but this craziness made it a lot of fun!

Here's another 40-year-old oddity. Like the game I posted earlier, it's from Interceptor, but this time the art is at least relatively indicative of the game's action. Which appeared to feature camels nicked from Llamasoft, along with other oddball stuff shown in the ad.

40 years ago, it was the era of oddball games and concepts. Like Wheelin' Wallie on the C64. However, some artistic liberties appear to have been taken since the ad's sad, egg-like dude on a monocycle is a far cry from his actual in-game appearance. Good old misleading box art!🤣

40 years ago, Amstrad announced its CPC computer. Meanwhile, Sinclair's QL yet again failed to launch as promised, while the company's weird Spectrum mouse concept was pulled from production. Finally, claims that a dongle will beat home copying were somewhat premature...

30 years ago, Argos peddled this video gaming fare in its spring catalog. Feels like a minute past peak 16-bit. The updated hardware and plentiful peripherals indicate a mature market, while reasonably-priced bundles attempt to woo those who were slow on the console uptake.

40 years ago, this cool minimalist ad was Imagine's final marketing salvo, booked as the company was going bust. Both these games were crazy concepts that just weren't commercially viable. Imagine had top development talent; the problem was always the people that ran the company.

40 years ago, CVG's report on the 1984 UK ATEI coin-op show highlighted some interesting period tech, including Laser Disc games and the epic triple-screen racer TX-1. Spy Hunter was top class, while the super-rare Scrum Try was also fun; the rugby equivalent of 10-Yard Fight!

40 years ago, this Marvel text adventure starring the Hulk was released. Unfortunately, the first puzzle (type 'bite lip' to turn into the Hulk and escape) was so obscure and random, many players were unable to guess it and had to wait months for mags to print the solution! 🤣

40 years ago a double-whammy of Matthew Smith games sat atop CVG's charts: Jet Set Willy and predecessor Manic Miner. C64 Hunchback's #3 position shows that despite a slow start, the machine was making serious inroads into UK homes. Plenty of other cool period classics here too!

40 years ago, this was the last of the original 'generic' Ultimate ads. After this, they made bespoke ads for each of their new titles as they were launched. And what a selection we had to look forward to. Sabre Wulf, Atic Atac, Underwurlde... The hits just kept on coming.

This 35-year-old Red Heat ad highlights the sometimes odd licensing choices UK publishers made back then. Not only were most gamers to young to legally see this movie, it wasn't really ideal game material. Just would have preferred to see the dev £££ put into an original product.

40 years ago, despite knowing they were going bust, Imagine was still advertising its games. Well, more advertising itself/its staff. But then that's what happens when you have a team of incredibly talented people, but no actual games to show. The company was wound up in July 84.