Computer Entertainer was an early American video game magazine that has been digitized and made freely available by the Video Game History Foundation (VGHF). Originally published from 1982 to 1990, the magazine provided a rare and continuous record of the home console market during a formative period for the industry.
As one of the few U.S. publications to persist through the 1983–84 industry downturn, Computer Entertainer served as a valuable primary source for contemporary reviews, industry developments, and game release information. Edited by sisters Marylou Badeaux and Celeste Dolan, it also held the distinction of being among the earliest console video game magazines led by women.
The publication began as The Video Game Update, a newsletter produced by Video Take-Out, a Los Angeles–based mail-order retailer, before evolving into Computer Entertainer. It went on to provide regular coverage of home console video games at a time when much of the American games press had disappeared.
Through VGHF’s digitization efforts, the magazine’s complete run was made available as a fully searchable, high-resolution archive. All issues were released under a Creative Commons Attribution license, allowing the material to be used for research, publication, and other projects with appropriate credit to the Video Game History Foundation.
