Amstrad Computer User
Encyclopedia
Amstrad Computer User was the official magazine for the Amstrad
CPC
series of 8-bit home computer
s. This monthly publication, usually referred to as ACU by its readers, concentrated more on the hardware and technical side of the Amstrad range, although it had a small dedicated games section as well.
, which was launched in June 1992.
, a division of Amstrad
, the first couple of issues were not made available to the general public, but only to members of the Amstrad User Club. CPC464 User’s only editorial credit in the launch issue was Consultant Editor Gareth Jefferson. Content in these early months included News, Overview (an in-depth look at the CPC464), Q&A, Software Reviews, Listings, Programming and more. Early games featured included Roland in the Caves and Roland on the Ropes.
The Jan/Feb 1985 issue 3, with slightly renamed title, Amstrad CPC464 User, was the first issue to go on sale to the general public costing 95p and 84 pages long. Simon Rockman is credited as editor along with other contributors.
From issue 4 onwards Amstrad CPC464 User went monthly. Sorcery, from Virgin Games, is the first game to receive 5 stars in all ratings, Graphics, Playability, Addictiveness and Overall.
Following the release of the CPC 664, the June issue is the first to display the renamed title; the familiar Amstrad Computer User. The Gallup
software chart is published for the first time. Topping the top 20 chart is Virgin’s Sorcery. Anne Coker joins the magazine as Assistant Editor.
A slight re-design for July’s issue 8. Credits list includes editorial and, for the first time, Production, Design and Advertising staff. Contents still include the regular Programming, Hardware and Software features.
October 1985's issue 10 looks at the new Amstrad CPC 6128; a new computer with a disk drive plus 128k of memory.
December 1985’s issue 12, and ACU’s 1st birthday, a bumper 148 page issue, featuring a re-design of the games reviews, again; which has a new ratings box that has marks out of 20 for Graphics, Sound, polish, First impression, lasting impression, value and a final comment.
and Managing Director of ACU, announced that he will be leaving to run a software company called New Star. A new Adventure feature ‘Seek and Ye Shall Find’ starts in the February issue
March 1986 and another re-design; clearer layout and main content sections include Regulars, Features, Listings, Reviews and ABC (Amstrad Business Computing). The long running column ‘Hairy Hacker’ debuts this issue; a feature that looks into getting the most out of the CPC including game pokes. Also a 5p rise in the cover price; now up to £1.00.
June 1986, issue 19, introduces new Deputy Editor Jeremy Spencer. Also reviews are given a much needed rework; three reviewers, Colin, Nigel and Liz, are credited as giving their views on the games along with their overall score (out of 20).
October 1986 and ACU credits its publisher as Avralite Ltd.
November 1986 issue seems to be a letters page for professional programmers as Graham Blighe, Andrew and Philip Oliver write in to comment on recent ACU games reviews.
, Gryzor and Nigel Mansell’s Grand Prix.
The November 87 issue publishes the ACU circulation figures for Jan-Jun 1987; an impressive 63,599. This figure would turn out to be the only ABC figure that would be published.
ACUs January 1988 and another redesign of the magazine layout. The cover logo has also changed along with the general look of the magazine; more colour and neater design. The regular features remain the same for the time being.
Auntie John is the character behind a new programming feature ‘Auntie John’s Machine Code’ which starts in June 1988’s issue.
A special cover feature on David Perry and his CPC game Savage
features in the November 1988 issue.
Focus Magazines Ltd takes over the publishing of the magazine from March 1989. All change for the April issue as ACU has moved to a new publisher and new office. Mark Evans and Andrew Banner are the new Editor and Assistant Editor respectively. Many new reviewers are credited on the games pages including Matt, Adrian, Colin, Paul, Billy, Tony and Rik.
May 1989 - As quick as the new editorial staff arrived the quicker they left. New Editor and staff writer are Duncan Evans and Richard Henderson. Another redesign sees a new 'Neon Zone' section where the latest arcade games are featured. The games section is changed again; going under the 'Meltdown' title the games are rated by percentages; Grafix, Sonix, Gameplay and Overall.
June 1989's issue reviews Emlyn Hughes International Soccer
, by Audiogenic
, and it becomes the first game to gain over 90% overall rating with a 91%.
July 1989 and a completely redesigned magazine with a new front cover logo. New credits mast (including new Editor Carlo Jolly, Sub Editor Harold Mayes, Designer Simon Pipe and contributor Mark Ulyatt. Even contributors have been credited for the first time. The Arcade feature is renamed 'Combat Zone'. 'Gameplan' is the new name for the games section and games are rated by using a bar indicator. The higher the indicator went along the bar the better the rating. Published, again, by Avralite Publications Ltd.
More changes for the October 1989 issue; Guy Matthews is the new editor while the games ratings change back to percentages.
April and the inconsistent game ratings are changed again. The overall rating has changed from the percentage to a picture that represents the score; e.g. Laser Squad
gets a sparkling smile rating.
June 1990 and, after a longer than usual stint of stability in the editorial line up, there are more changes; Chris Knight moves up to editor and Marc Jones is the sole reviewer credited.
The publisher changes over to MCM Ltd after August, still under the MCPC Ltd division as before.
A Turrican
comic strip/players guide begins in the November 1990 issue.
.
ACU continues unchanged until August 1991 when the games section is re-named 'Bomb Alley'.
May 1992 and ACU announce that this issue will be the last. ACU’s successor, CPC Attack from HHL Publishing, which even advertises for staff in this issue and has a two-page preview slot, will concentrate more on the games playing scene.
Amstrad
Amstrad is a British electronics company, now wholly owned by BSkyB. As of 2006, Amstrad's main business is manufacturing Sky Digital interactive boxes....
CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
series of 8-bit home computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s. This monthly publication, usually referred to as ACU by its readers, concentrated more on the hardware and technical side of the Amstrad range, although it had a small dedicated games section as well.
ACU History
ACU ran from August 1984 to May 1992, producing 90 issues in total. Originally a bi-monthly Amstrad User's club newsletter titled CPC464 User, it was renamed to Amstrad Computer User when the CPC664 was released in 1985. Its successor was CPC AttackCPC Attack
CPC Attack! was a short-lived magazine dedicated to Amstrad CPC gaming. The magazine was a successor to Amstrad Computer User magazine. It was characterised by a strong comic-like graphical style featuring a recurring mascot - a Tank Girl-like character called Amy Strad. Funnily enough this same...
, which was launched in June 1992.
August 1984 to April 1985
Amstrad Computer User started out as CPC464 User (subtitled ‘The Official AMSTRAD Mirco Magazine’) and the first issue was dated August September 1984, costing £1.00 and 32 pages long. Published by AmsoftAmsoft
Amsoft was a wholly owned subsidiary of Amstrad, PLC, founded in 1984 and re-integrated with its parent company in 1989. Its purpose was to provide an initial infrastructure of software and services for users of Amstrad's range of home computers, the Amstrad CPC and, from 1986, the Sinclair ZX...
, a division of Amstrad
Amstrad
Amstrad is a British electronics company, now wholly owned by BSkyB. As of 2006, Amstrad's main business is manufacturing Sky Digital interactive boxes....
, the first couple of issues were not made available to the general public, but only to members of the Amstrad User Club. CPC464 User’s only editorial credit in the launch issue was Consultant Editor Gareth Jefferson. Content in these early months included News, Overview (an in-depth look at the CPC464), Q&A, Software Reviews, Listings, Programming and more. Early games featured included Roland in the Caves and Roland on the Ropes.
The Jan/Feb 1985 issue 3, with slightly renamed title, Amstrad CPC464 User, was the first issue to go on sale to the general public costing 95p and 84 pages long. Simon Rockman is credited as editor along with other contributors.
From issue 4 onwards Amstrad CPC464 User went monthly. Sorcery, from Virgin Games, is the first game to receive 5 stars in all ratings, Graphics, Playability, Addictiveness and Overall.
ACU - June 1985 to January 1986
May 1985's issue 6 features the newly released Amstrad CPC 664 (basically a 464 with a disk drive instead of a cassette deck) on the cover and in depth analysis and features inside.Following the release of the CPC 664, the June issue is the first to display the renamed title; the familiar Amstrad Computer User. The Gallup
The Gallup Organization
The Gallup Organization, is primarily a research-based performance-management consulting company. Some of Gallup's key practice areas are - Employee Engagement, Customer Engagement and Well-Being. Gallup has over 40 offices in 27 countries. World headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Operational...
software chart is published for the first time. Topping the top 20 chart is Virgin’s Sorcery. Anne Coker joins the magazine as Assistant Editor.
A slight re-design for July’s issue 8. Credits list includes editorial and, for the first time, Production, Design and Advertising staff. Contents still include the regular Programming, Hardware and Software features.
October 1985's issue 10 looks at the new Amstrad CPC 6128; a new computer with a disk drive plus 128k of memory.
December 1985’s issue 12, and ACU’s 1st birthday, a bumper 148 page issue, featuring a re-design of the games reviews, again; which has a new ratings box that has marks out of 20 for Graphics, Sound, polish, First impression, lasting impression, value and a final comment.
A Year of Changes – February to December 1986
William Poel, General Manager of AmsoftAmsoft
Amsoft was a wholly owned subsidiary of Amstrad, PLC, founded in 1984 and re-integrated with its parent company in 1989. Its purpose was to provide an initial infrastructure of software and services for users of Amstrad's range of home computers, the Amstrad CPC and, from 1986, the Sinclair ZX...
and Managing Director of ACU, announced that he will be leaving to run a software company called New Star. A new Adventure feature ‘Seek and Ye Shall Find’ starts in the February issue
March 1986 and another re-design; clearer layout and main content sections include Regulars, Features, Listings, Reviews and ABC (Amstrad Business Computing). The long running column ‘Hairy Hacker’ debuts this issue; a feature that looks into getting the most out of the CPC including game pokes. Also a 5p rise in the cover price; now up to £1.00.
June 1986, issue 19, introduces new Deputy Editor Jeremy Spencer. Also reviews are given a much needed rework; three reviewers, Colin, Nigel and Liz, are credited as giving their views on the games along with their overall score (out of 20).
October 1986 and ACU credits its publisher as Avralite Ltd.
November 1986 issue seems to be a letters page for professional programmers as Graham Blighe, Andrew and Philip Oliver write in to comment on recent ACU games reviews.
ACU Settles Down – January 1987 to December 1988
A year of continuous fluidity. During 1987 several games are given special 2/3 page feature reviews, including the innovative strategy game The Sentinel, RanaramaRanarama
Ranarama is a top-down Gauntlet like action game developed by Graftgold in 1987 and published by Hewson Consultants. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum home computers. In 2004 it was featured as one of the games on the C64 Direct-to-TV...
, Gryzor and Nigel Mansell’s Grand Prix.
The November 87 issue publishes the ACU circulation figures for Jan-Jun 1987; an impressive 63,599. This figure would turn out to be the only ABC figure that would be published.
ACUs January 1988 and another redesign of the magazine layout. The cover logo has also changed along with the general look of the magazine; more colour and neater design. The regular features remain the same for the time being.
Auntie John is the character behind a new programming feature ‘Auntie John’s Machine Code’ which starts in June 1988’s issue.
A special cover feature on David Perry and his CPC game Savage
Savage (video game)
Savage is an action video game developed by Probe Software and published by Firebird Software in 1988 for ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST and DOS. In 1989 Firebird published a version for the Amiga.-Gameplay:...
features in the November 1988 issue.
Incorporation – January 1989 to February 1990
January 1989 and ACU incorporates CPC Computing and the magazine goes through a redesign. The games pages get a new look with the introduction of the 'ACU Star Game' awards; 'ACU Gold Star Game' and the 'ACU Silver Star Game'.Focus Magazines Ltd takes over the publishing of the magazine from March 1989. All change for the April issue as ACU has moved to a new publisher and new office. Mark Evans and Andrew Banner are the new Editor and Assistant Editor respectively. Many new reviewers are credited on the games pages including Matt, Adrian, Colin, Paul, Billy, Tony and Rik.
May 1989 - As quick as the new editorial staff arrived the quicker they left. New Editor and staff writer are Duncan Evans and Richard Henderson. Another redesign sees a new 'Neon Zone' section where the latest arcade games are featured. The games section is changed again; going under the 'Meltdown' title the games are rated by percentages; Grafix, Sonix, Gameplay and Overall.
June 1989's issue reviews Emlyn Hughes International Soccer
Emlyn Hughes International Soccer
Emlyn Hughes International Soccer is a soccer computer game first released in 1988 by Audiogenic Software Ltd.. The game is named after the popular English footballer Emlyn Hughes...
, by Audiogenic
Audiogenic
Audiogenic Software is one of the oldest United Kingdom video game developers. It was established in 1985 out of the ashes of an earlier Audiogenic company that had been founded in the late 1970s. It published its last new title in 1997, after the core of the development team were taken over by...
, and it becomes the first game to gain over 90% overall rating with a 91%.
July 1989 and a completely redesigned magazine with a new front cover logo. New credits mast (including new Editor Carlo Jolly, Sub Editor Harold Mayes, Designer Simon Pipe and contributor Mark Ulyatt. Even contributors have been credited for the first time. The Arcade feature is renamed 'Combat Zone'. 'Gameplan' is the new name for the games section and games are rated by using a bar indicator. The higher the indicator went along the bar the better the rating. Published, again, by Avralite Publications Ltd.
More changes for the October 1989 issue; Guy Matthews is the new editor while the games ratings change back to percentages.
The Forever Changing Face Of ACU – March 1990 to November 1990
March 1990 and one of the largest Gameplan sections yet including, for the first time, a Budget Basement section.April and the inconsistent game ratings are changed again. The overall rating has changed from the percentage to a picture that represents the score; e.g. Laser Squad
Laser Squad
Laser Squad is a turn-based tactics computer game, originally released for the ZX Spectrum and later for the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Amiga and Atari ST computers, as well as PC computers. It was designed by Julian Gollop and his team at Target Games and published by Blade Software...
gets a sparkling smile rating.
June 1990 and, after a longer than usual stint of stability in the editorial line up, there are more changes; Chris Knight moves up to editor and Marc Jones is the sole reviewer credited.
The publisher changes over to MCM Ltd after August, still under the MCPC Ltd division as before.
A Turrican
Turrican
Turrican is a 1989 video game programmed and designed by Manfred Trenz. It was first developed for the Commodore 64 by Rainbow Arts, but was ported to other systems later. In addition to concept design and character creation, Trenz personally programmed Turrican on the Commodore 64...
comic strip/players guide begins in the November 1990 issue.
The Final Incarnation – December 1990 to May 1992
December 1990 and a completely revamped design; new main logo, a re-established 'ACU Gold Award' accolade which is given to Electronic Zoo’s table top game conversion SubbuteoSubbuteo
Subbuteo is a set of table top games simulating team sports such as association football, cricket, both codes of rugby and hockey. The name is most closely associated with the football game, which for many years was marketed as "the replica of Association Football".The "Subbuteo" name is derived...
.
ACU continues unchanged until August 1991 when the games section is re-named 'Bomb Alley'.
May 1992 and ACU announce that this issue will be the last. ACU’s successor, CPC Attack from HHL Publishing, which even advertises for staff in this issue and has a two-page preview slot, will concentrate more on the games playing scene.
See also
- Alan SugarAlan SugarAlan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar is a British entrepreneur, media personality and political advisor. From humble origins in the East End of London, Sugar now has an estimated fortune of £770m , and was ranked 89th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2011...
, the founder of Amstrad. - Video game journalism
- MagazineMagazineMagazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
- Video game
- ComputingComputingComputing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...
- History of computer games