Running for just over three years, Future Publishing's New Computer Express was a bold attempt at a weekly newspaper-style magazine focusing on the then-vibrant late 1980's computer and console markets, and all for the tidy sum of 48p! Issue zero was given away with multi-format mag ACE, but issue one proper is what we're looking at today, and what the magazine promises will be, via its corner splash, a "Great Launch Issue." I know, I said I'd do something more suited to games players last time, but it kind of is, and anyway, my blog, my rules.
As you can see, the cover does exactly what it needs to in order to attract potential readers. Very tabloid-esq for the big news, and rather busy, but also highly effective is gaining attention.
Straight into page two and we have that Atari software push (aka WAR!), with the Tramiel-led company aiming to have two dozen games and productivity packages out within the following twelve months across the ST, Amiga and PC formats. Creating four new software labels showed some planning, but as with most post-1985 efforts, talk was cheap and the eventual results would turn out to be disappointing.
In a topic that seems highly pertinent these days, the price of memory is a talking point, with PC clone manufacturer Opus deciding that recent shortage and prices rises were about over, and that it was returning some of its machines to their pre-Summer prices. If only the same could be said today - although there again, the current price issues are completely down to the wank-spangled mass derangement over AI.
Amstrad's 2000 series are arriving earlier than expected - the 286 model, at least, and starting from £749 ex VAT for a dual drive mono model, up to £1,249 for the colour hard drive equipped offering, they are not badly priced for their intended market: businesses. Sadly for Amstrad, duff hard drives would scupper the intended impact of the 2000-series, and by the time the follow up 3000-series arrived, the combination of reputational damage and the changing nature of the PC clone market would mean that Alan's kit never held the same sway again.
A BBC Micro emulator for the Amiga gets its own box out, while a half page is dedicated to convincing those brave enough to pick up issue one of NCE that it was worth staying with the magazine. This also highlights the fun nature of the magazine's approach, and reading it still raises a smile today.
Oh, and the box out on the weeks most quotable sayings has a corker from Jack Schofield of the Computer Guardian espousing the negatives of the Sinclair PC200, and a senior Amstrad employee declining forthrightly the chance to speak about the future direction of computing.
Page four tells us that apparently there's an Amiga games console planned, although Commodore UK's boss, Steve Franklin, is definitely playing with words when he says that any console in development "wasn't a C64" because we all know it would be a C64GS, so not strictly a C64. The update on other 16-bitters also amuses with hindsight - Atari have a £99 ST-based console effort - an eventual no-show after being confirmed as the Panther in 1990, then dropped for the more advanced Jaguar; Sega's follow up to the Master System would be there in September 1989 (right month, wrong year) and play all existing titles (true... with an extra add-on); Nintendo would have a machine out in 2-3 years (not far off considering the need for software); and Konix... well, they had ambition, you can't argue that.
In a not very good example of "sex sells", A-Soft's importation of US title "Sex Vixens from Outer Space" hints heavily that it is a bit racy, but would in fact turn out to be just a load of hype. It must be pointed out for the younger readers out there, this was before the World Wide Web and, for many a youngster at the time, their first sight of porn was a porno mag was either the top shelf of the local newsagents or (more likely) finding a random one stuck in a hedge down a country lane... What? Just Tantobie then???
The top ten charts offer some insight into what the public were actually buying, and yep, it is mostly 8-bit. Not exactly a surprise - even the ST at £399 with a ton of games was still a pricey beast. And would new ST owners be buying many more games in the short term with twenty two of the buggers already in the box?
A relaxation in memory supplies also benefits Atari, whose PC4 and PC5 ranges give you 286 and 386 power respectively starting at £1,299. Meanwhile, Grandstand are to publish a game featuring that popular 80's footballing pundit duo, Saint and Greavsie. You've never had it so good!
A trio of interviews bring up the subject of computers in schools, with a politician, an industrialist, and a headmaster (surely a joke in there somewhere...), commenting on the introduction of computers into schools and the rise of the City Technical Colleges. The arguments have long since been rendered moot, but it's interesting to note that the average school at the time had 18 computers in total, and the ratio of students to computers in the North (capital N, so basically Manchester and up-over one would presume) was 70:1. In CTC's? 4 to 1 or even less. The final comment about the CTC's possibly being a euphemism for Grammar Schools is telling.
The letters page is an absolute corker, with C Sinclair of Cambridge lambasting the PC200 and asking if Alan Sugar is mad, while A Sugar of Brentwood is mightily confused by PC graphics display standards. Very droll, peeps, very droll.
The hardware review (backed up by a title worthy of the best of Robert Ludlum) this week is for the Schneider Euro PC, a gamble on making the DOS PC a machine at a price just about affordable to home users (well, cheaper than an Archimedes, which let's be honest, in 1988 wasn't exactly a difficult objective to achieve). For £399 plus VAT, an 8088 running up to 9.54MHz could be yours. Sure, the 512K of RAM is a bit limiting, as are the CGA graphics capabilities - although Hercules mono with a decent monitor is a good work option. A single half length expansion slot makes the most of the design (and in a much neater way than the PC200's dual slot functionality), but despite including a copy of Microsoft Works (the DOS version, obviously, we're way too early for the Windows one), it isn't a bad productivity machine.
On the other hand, since the cover raised the question of whether this was an Amstrad beater, then the answer is rather nuanced. We'll discount the CPC and PCW because they are not DOS compatibles, although both ranges are capable of being very good productivity machines. Spec-wise, the Euro PC's closest competitor is the PC1512, which if we take Evesham Micros as a guide to dealer prices, then a single drive mono 1512 comes in at £384.35 ex VAT. Close, very close, so buyer's call. But what about the colour option? £509.57 ex VAT, or £586.00 inc, cheaper than the Euro PC's ex VAT price. This does not take into account any dealer discounts for the Euro PC, but you can see my point. And by now, even Amstrad was being pushed in pricing. One last comparison though: the colour Euro PC versus the single floppy mono 1512 with a 21MB hard drive - Alan's option landing at £583.48 ex VAT.
Of course, if your DOS options were just the Euro PC and the Sinclair Professional PC200, then fuck it, buy the Euro PC. And if not DOS, then an ST or Amiga would see you right. And if you were a forward-looking genius, get an Arc because they were cool!
The cover feature "Where Next?" asks various figures throughout the computer and games industry to predict what the future would bring in four categories: the PC, 16-bitters, 8-bitters, and consoles.
For PC's, Jack Schofield (Computer Guardian Editor), Jeff Minter (coding legend), Bob Gleadow (then Atari Uk boss and local lad - according to a 1987 Atari User article, Bob's dad was the licensee of a club in Consett), William Poel (business pundit), and Nick Alexander (Virgin Mastertronic boss). Schofield believes different computers will be used for different purposes, leading to a PC split between Macs (in 2025, still Macs), cheap DOS machines (pretty much Windows these days), and a crowd of users with DeskView, Windows, OS/2 etc (I'm calling these as modern Linux flavours). Stretch too far? Oh, and really cheap PC's, like the PC200? We already know what he thinks about that!
Poel believes that PC's, and its software, will become cheaper, like supermarket cheap, and laser printers will replace dot matrix ones. Oh, and there will be comms. To be honest, not a bad job, William. Lacking a smidge of detail, but for general trends, pretty close.
Between the pair of them, Minter and Gleadow are both near the mark. Minter: "PC's are mutating into Macintoshes" is a fair thing to say given how Windows has developed, at least until Windows 10. My hatred of 11 still burns brightly. Gleadow's comments on the 286 being a volume seller in 1989, with the 386 replacing it come 1990/91 was, plus or minus six months, near as dammit right. OK, we're not talking Septic Peg levels of accuracy here, but as a trend, the 286 shone for a short while before being pushed aside by the 32-bit wonder chip - albeit it in its 16-bit bus SX version.
As for Nick... oh, you tried, you really did. Yep, the PC200 would NOT make PC games a goer, and yes, the current market would be supported by wealthy home users and business users, but, good sir, you strike out at claiming that the PC would never become the dominant games medium in the UK. To be fair, and to apologise for my waspishness, how could he know that both Atari and Commodore would absolutely balls up their 16-bit formats, and that consoles would replace home computers as the dominant games machine in the home with the advent of the Mega Drive, SNES and the following 32-bit explosion of the mid-1990's? And let's call it co-dominance, alongside consoles, but out of the various formats around in 1988, the descendants of the PC are still alive and kicking.
Speaking of the 16-bitters, Bob, Jack, Jeff, and Nick are joined by David Braben (Elite co-writer) and Steve Franklin (boss of Commodore UK for now...). Naturally, with "company men" present, of course there is going to be some big-ing up of their own achievements.
Bob starts first with proclaiming there was still a lot of life left in the ST, but there would be a crossover with parallel processing and RISC processors in three years time. Is it even a late 1980's UK computer magazine without at least some reference to the Transputer? He does, however, temper his remarks by tying that advancement to the affordability of memory chips and the pricing of semi-conductors. The more things change... Am I right?
Mr Schofield judges it to be unlikely and unimportant to have a winner between the ST and Amiga - a single platform to rule them all does no-one any good. He also states that the US is of little import to the success of the two formats. Hmmm... maybe not, but they were both US headquartered companies and both fucked around over there rather than just selling bloody computers. His final thought is that he wouldn't be surprised if Amstrad launched a definitive 68000-powered machine that could run both ST and Amiga software. A great what if, perhaps, and also a "not bloody likely" considering the legal ROM requirements, but hey, Alan and co. chose a different path, one that we shall cross onto presently.
As for Jeff, all he wants is a cheaper Archimedes in the £250 to £300 range, and who could blame him? He hits the nail on the head though by adding that it would never happen because it's Acorn.
David Braben's point of view, that games should be fun, and that they only truly become fun despite the technical capabilities of the hardware rather than because of them, is something I can heartily agree with. After all, I am a sucker for a good indie release, and kids, there are many, many of them out there to enjoy! He also points out the then-contemporary perception of a gamers player (spotty kid in his bedroom) will change. It has, and rightly so, but... there's still fucking idiots out there and it seems they'll never go away.
If Bob is hinting at the Transputer, Nick is having none of that subtlety and just plain cames out with it. However, he also says that it would be better to use just half the power of a Transputer and produce a game that everyone can afford rather than a fully technology driven product that no-one has the money for. Between Nick and Mr Braben, there is a theme developing here, and something that is still pertinent to this day.
Finally, to Steve, and he's full of piss and vinegar about the Amiga: expecting to sell 90,000 in 1988, and lacking any future surprise if that, by 1992, there weren't 750k in the UK alone. As it would turn out, something like double that number would end up being sold by the time the curtain came down on Commodore, so yeah. maybe that confidence was warranted.
The now familiar faces return for the 8-bit section, which begins by highlighting the 75% by value market share of the established tech. What does our panel say?
Jeff sings the praises of the C64 and Spectrum, and if they go below £100, they are good fighters against Nintendo and Sega. But, and there is always a but, since they're predominantly tape-based, they (and all other tapers) will be dead by Christmas 1989. Maybe a tad premature, but he ain't wrong in the substance.
Steve is still give it some beans, bragging that the C64, already proclaimed dead by some for the last three years, is still expected to sell 120k units in 1988, and who are we to judge? The focus would change in 1989, and by 1990, well, you could still get a C64, and also the C64GS. To ruin a brilliant movie quote, "I think that boy's had enough beans."
Bob is more realistic with the 8-bitters being squeezed out by the newer formats, although he reckons the Spectrum will retain software support longer than the C64.
Jack goes all serious with demographics, proclaiming that the Spectrum is now reaching 8-11 year olds, and the C64 appealing to the 11-15 age group. Jack, my boy, and I speak with authority since it was me who went through this: by the Christmas of 1988, although I loved my CPC 464, I was very much reading ACE magazine and truly wanted an Amiga or ST, and I was at the lower end of that C64 range.
Nick, for some reason, is both balls on accurate, and also having something of an episode. There's no great sales drop, just a slow decline for the older machines, but he can't see the Spectrum or the C64 appealing to the younger market (Fuck you and your demographics, Jack!), but that it could possibly change in 18 months when Amstrad launch a £39 Spectrum. Nick, babes, what's the matter? Maybe New Computer Express knew something was up as that caption under the picture of Nick... worthy of mid-December 2025 Vanity Fair.
Finally, to consoles, and Nick, Steve, Jeff and Jack have to contend with the addition of Mike Wensmann (Nintendo UK Director). That and the knowledge that consoles have conquered Japan and the US, so is the UK next?
Nick continues his episode from the 8-bit section by expecting a mid-90's super console linked with CDI (which would see the light of day as the CDi) and including real life videos. It would also have tilt and swivel peripherals similar to arcade machines, and use HDTV's. Close, Nick, close, but seriously, R U OK, hun?
Steve, as quoted here, has a very particular world view: the US has more spending power than the UK (and certain demographics/social groups did, and still do, to a degree), and that "Father has his Apple and the kids have a console. But that won't happen over here." Now I will say that until 1990, a basic Apple Mac Plus was still north of £1500 before you added VAT, so he has a good point. However, this is also the guy who worked for the company that gave the world the C64GS. The GS, Steve! What, in the ever loving spirit of our Lord and Saviour Cthulhu, was the long-term planning behind that almighty clusterfuck? And yes, you are reading the words of someone who really, really wanted an Amstrad GX4000. You get some defence by it being your actual job to sell Commodore kit, but la-la-ing in the face of what people could see coming from Japan is just silly.
Speaking of Japanese companies, Mike from Nintendo really sees the future as a computer for computing and a console for gaming. Which is pretty much what happened in the 90's as children were given zero choice since both Atari and Commodore fucked up their own formats and left the DOS/Windows PC the de-facto home computing winner. For those who wanted the latest and greatest games, a PC would see you right, for a price, but for the majority, Sony, Sega, and Nintendo were your go to options.
Jeff thinks that the PC Engine at £99 would wipe the floor with the competition, and he'd be right, but NEC never got round to it. He's also right that some people want to do more with their machines than just game. There's a tree limb being traversed when it comes to the Konix, although he does caveat that by stipulating "if Konix get that right..." which, SPOILERS, they did not. The greatest threat comes from Nintendo, whose backlog of NES games even then was enough to give pause.
We leave the last comment to Jack, who declares that there are "more and more kinds of machines for more and more niches." Also, "the market will become increasingly diverse." And it did, Jack, it did. Before it stopped. And here we are now...
Apologies for that longer than expected diversion, but I really did find that a fascinating article to delve in to. On with the usual gubbins now.
There is a single page Commodore show preview that promised attendees a jolly good time for all things Chicken Lips. That is if you travelled to the Novotel in Hammersmith and paid the rather expensive sounding £5 (adult) or £3.50 (under 16's) door charge. BOE calculator has those figures as £14 and £10 respectively. Someone was making money somewhere!
There are two application reviews: Devpac 2 and Replay 4, for your development and audio needs respectively, and both rating highly.
Given the relative paucity of PC gamers in 1988, the handy two-pager on the various graphics standards is illuminating and informative. Not just the tech, mind you, but also the prices. These would drop quite a lot over the coming year or two, but to add VGA capabilities to an existing PC would set you back at least £600 by the time you factored in the card and the supporting monitor. Fret not, DOS-players, your time would come.
Nine games receive a rating, and the standout for me is Tomahawk for the PCW 9512 no less. Never a games machine per se, it's still nice to see some leisure time being set aside for Amstrad's CP/M wonder. The other titles receiving coverage are: 944 Turbo Cup, Guerilla (sic) War, Crystal Hammer, Lombard/RAC Rally, Caveman Ugh-Lympics, The Mars Saga, Return of the Jedi, and Trivial Pursuit: A New Beginning.
Matters take a more serious turn with the return of BASIC (had it ever truly left us?), and a introduction to what is an operating system. You kind of get talking about BASIC, but leaping straight into the concepts of OS's? Heavy stuff, man, heavy stuff!
Games again, and this time, it's the race for the number one spot of Christmas 1988. Cast your peepers over this menagerie of marvels! Some will be familiar, others less so, Odds for the eighteen selected here range from 25,000-1 for the home conversions for Shinobi - cheating a smidge because it's not due out until January - and 7-4 favourite Afterburner. Who would win? Would anyone care? Oh, it's all just for fun anyway.
Tech tips offers the typical array of technical questions and answers for owners, but only for one page, so limiting the help that could be offered.
What isn't limited is the Your Format section, half and quarter page insights for owners of the following machines:
ST - there's severe criticism of hard drive prices, but what do you expect for 1988? That pricing would continue for a while yet.
PC - games for users of the GEM desktop OS, as well fonts and US software importation.
Amiga - Commodore's dire marketing of the Amiga, Arthur C Clarke's Amiga usage (must have replaced that Kaypro), and MusicX
Spectrum - a sharp eye on the MGT SAM Coupe and its delay, and Amstrad's "approach" to +2 and +3 pricing.
C64 - mostly a round up, with some bemoaning of the grouping of the existing 8-bit formats as "8-bitters", when in fact the C64 is much better, or something like that.
CPC - Amstrad's 6128 and desk offer. Yeah, 'nuff said.
PCW - Locomotive's software endeavours.
QL - a QL emulator for the ST and the QL's future from the perspective of European markets that saw an influx of machines after Sir Clive was bought out.
BBC - various software bits, as well as congratulations to one young lad who designed a process to make circuit board production faster as part of his GCSE's, and won both £200 for himself and £200 for his school. Safer than cleaning chimneys, I suppose.
MSX - mostly about software stock, although those wanting an MSX 2 could find a Philips model with built-in disk drive for £350 plus VAT, and a cheaper no disk option for £199 plus VAT. Bless their hearts, but the MSX 2 was done for by this point.
The final page is the now traditional funny section which, as this is the first issue proper, has this still amusing bon mot.
Adverts, there are a few, with games receiving full page efforts if deemed worthy - here's Operation Wolf (I played that for yonks on my CPC), and F19 Stealth Fighter.
Atari were offering potential ST purchasers a computer with £450 worth of software for £399.99 inclusive. Take take, MSX 2 wannabes! The games weren't all great, but they at least got you started... and starved publishers of new sales if parents realised they didn't have to shell out for more games for quite some time.
Good old Evesham Micros are here with Atari ST offers (that ST plus games pack just £349.99 including VAT and delivery), as well as the usual array of Amstrad PC's. The base 1512 appeared really cheap, but as with any PC at the time, adding colour and/or a hard drive rocketed the cost upwards dramatically. Still better value than either the Euro PC or the PC200! There's also a squint in case you miss it special Amiga 500 offer.
North Circular Computers are another dealer of PC's, with not only Amstrad but also Akhter, Commodore, Opus, Hyundai, Packard Bell and SBC options also in the mix. I quite like the breakdown of XT's AT/286, and AT/386 specs, as well as the display options. Remember the 286/286 comments above? CGA 286 with a hard drive was at least £1300 ex VAT, and more likely closer to £2,000 with EGA. The would be "power" 386 owner would need extremely deep pockets for a hard drive equipped box, and even with "just" EGA, you are looking at three grand plus change for one.
Page 24 has something that will warm the cockles of the peeps of a certain age: Special Reserve. You could easily mistake it for an advert for floppy disks, but instead it's a load of software bundles - two titles and the ever-present membership fee (£4, so cheaper than an adult visiting the Commodore Show) at a special pack price. Small acorns and all that.
Miles Gordon Technology show up, not with SAM, but with floppy drives, scanners, hardcards and disks, and the prices don't look silly.
The Ancient By-Law of 16-bit Computer Advertising is invoked on page 49 as you can see, and I have nothing more to add on the subject.
The final advert belongs to Gifford Soft, showing off a frankly ludicrous amount of Amiga and ST games even for 1988. If it wasn't clear already, their time as games machines had more than begun.
That, gentle reader, was the first issue of New Computer Express, and what a fine start it was too. It would unfortunately shut down in 1991, but happily for those of us who like that sort of thing (and what's wrong if we do? Don't you dare mag-shame me!), the whole collection is available to peruse on Archive.org.
All that leaves me to do is wish you all the very best for the festive season and new year, and I'll hopefully see you in 2026!
