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23 December 2004 January 2005 CGW
The CGW Museum was featured in this month's (January 2005) issue of CGW! Check it out at the bottom of p.40 ("news feed") and pick yourself up a copy for posterity. :-)

On another note, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. Thanks for your participation in making this site a success.
1 December 2004 Museum update
Time for a quick update on the state of the Museum. I am currently in the middle of moving to the United Kingdom, therefore you may notice that the pace of updates will slow... not that they ever were that quick in the first place!

I will be in the UK for a year, and it is likely to be a busy year, therefore I'm not sure how much time I will have to work on the Museum. That said, I will still attempt to add new features and articles as I get the chance. Rest assured that I have at least a few new things in mind for the near future. If you have anything that you would like to submit for publication on the site, don't hesitate to send me an e-mail! Thank you for your understanding.
14 November 2004 It took a year and a half...
Some said it couldn't be done, but I'm happy to report that with the recent acquisition of issue 4.1, the Museum now has intact copies of each of the first 100 issues of CGW!

Thank you to everyone who helped me in my search during the past year and a half, and special thanks to Tim Finkas for providing the final missing link!

Note: The Museum just changed to a different server, so if you tried to visit the Museum yesterday and got an error, that's why. Sorry about the inconvenience!
13 November 2004 Updated Links page
The Links page has been reworked and updated. The links are now divided in two categories: those directly related to CGW and those related to vintage computer gaming in general. I've also added two links of interest, courtesy of Randy Sluganski at Just Adventure +: an interview with former CGW adventure and RPG contributing editor Scorpia, as well as an article by long-time CGW Editor Johnny Wilson. They're both excellent reads. Thanks to Randy for the links.
1 November 2004 Two page spread from 1982
I put up a great ad from 1982: a two page spread by Sierra On-Line featuring their release of Ultima I and Ultima II. This ad was strategically located at the center of the magazine.
29 October 2004 A new tale
I've added a new, very funny story to the Tales section of the Museum. This one comes courtesy of CGW Founder Russell Sipe and involves well-known game designers Al Lowe and Damon Slye. Thanks Russ!
9 October 2004 Museum update
An update on the state of the Museum: as you may recall from the first Museum column, the Museum was looking at making the entire contents of the first 100 issues available on-line, for your viewing pleasure. Unfortunately, Ziff Davis rejected our request to do so. However, we're not giving up, and are looking at another possibility to bring you the contents of these early issues.

In the meantime, you can look forward to a few new items this month, hopefully very soon.
21 September 2004 A request fulfilled
As requested, CGW's review of King's Quest IV is now up. A great full-page ad by SSI has also been added.
4 September 2004 CGW issue 2.2: It exists!
It has been a long and often fruitless search, but the CGW Museum now has a copy of issue 2.2. We also now have a copy of issue issue 2.4. A big thank you to John McDaniel for providing the magazines from the collection of his brother, Robert McDaniel.
28 August 2004 A small update
Nothing too exciting as far as new material in the last few weeks, although I'm working on something for September. In the meantime though, I scanned a new ad and a new article from the Feb 1988 issue of CGW.
1 August 2004 New column!
Great news, as the Museum's second column has been published. This one is extra-special: entitled Dragons, Dreamworlds, and... Diskettes, it's an interview with original CGW cover artist Tim Finkas! Tim discusses his work with CGW, shows us some previously never seen pictures and sketches (as well as the covers to the Museum's missing issues!), and explains the techniques and inspirations behind a number of his cover illustrations. Not to be missed!
17 July 2004 1000 visits!
We have received our 1000th visit, four months to the day after the opening of the Museum. Not bad! As luck would have it though, the 1000th visit was made by a web-bot...

A quick update on what's coming up soon: a new column. I won't reveal the contents just yet, but it should quite interesting. Stay tuned! I also hope to add more scans in the near future.
1 July 2004 Happy Canada Day!
Happy Canada Day to everyone... and in that spirit, happy soon-to-be 4th of July! Anyhow, today, the CGW Museum continues with the LucasArts/Lucasfilm theme by presenting a review of Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders. There's also a new classic game ad, and this one is as classic as it gets: from 1982, an advertisement for Muse Software's Castle Wolfenstein.
16 June 2004 Maniac Mansion Mania!
It's Maniac Mansion Mania at the CGW Museum... ok, so maybe not. But fans of Lucasfilm/LucasArts will be pleased by today's additions: a new classic game ad for Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken, as well as a new article: CGW's review of Maniac Mansion, by Charles Ardai.
9 June 2004 A major update!
Finally, the long-awaited update!

To start, the first Museum column has been published. Entitled "Birth of a Museum", it discusses the reason for the Museum's existence, and offers a glimpse of what's the come.

Secondly, three new classics game ads have been added, including an awesome full-page ad for Interplay's Wasteland. Three additional articles are also now available - two of them reviews: from 1983, M.U.L.E., and from 1988, Neuromancer.

Finally, a new "Tales" section has been added. This section takes a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the magazine by offering stories and anecdotes from former CGW staff members. The first tale is from David Wilson, brother of long-time CGW Editor Johnny Wilson. You can find this new section by heading to the Galleries.
24 May 2004 Lack of updates
Sorry about the lack of updates in the last month. I should have a fairly significant update soon, which will include the first CGW Museum column, new articles, new ads, and an entirely new Museum gallery. Stay tuned!
29 April 2004 A great new ad
I just put up Electronic Arts' original ad for the Bard's Tale, from 1986. If you enjoy great classic ads, it's worth having a look!
20 April 2004 A new article
It has been a while since the last excerpt was added to the site, but this latest article should make up for it. From the 50th issue of CGW, this two-pager entitled "Over the River and Through the Woods: The Changing Role of Computer Game Designers" is a must-read.
12 April 2004 Happy Easter and a new ad
Hope everyone had a great Easter break. I've just posted a new classic game ad from 1988 by Koei. Koei had a number of excellent ads that frequently won, or came close to winning, the CGW ad contests, for which CGW readers voted for their favourite advertisements. These were held annually for three or four years - I'll have to look up the magazines for more exact information.
5 April 2004 An update and a new article
First of all, I know you're all looking forward to reading the first CGW Museum column (!) but I've unfortunately been a little too busy to finish it - so it will have to wait. Soon, soon... in the meantime, however, a new article has been posted: an excellent sneak preview of AOL's "Neverwinter Nights", circa 1991.
31 March 2004 New classic game ad
Added a second classic game ad in the Galleries, this time by Electronic Arts.
26 March 2004 New excerpt added
A second excerpt has been added to the galleries. This one takes us back to 1985 and the Atari 8-bit machines.

On another note, articles have now been run through OCR and are text-aware!
24 March 2004 New "Classic Game Ads" gallery
By popular request, the Museum now features a gallery of Classic Game Ads. The first ad has been posted: it features two SSI games from 1987. Similarly to the Excerpts gallery, new ads will be posted regularly.

New entries were also added to the Links page today.
22 March 2004 New links added
Added some new sites to the Links section. Also, an update: the first CGW Museum column should be out by the end of the month!
20 March 2004 New galleries descriptions
Just added individual descriptions for each gallery.
19 March 2004 Excerpts section added
The CGW Museum will now feature regular excerpts from CGW/CGF issues. These are available as .PDF documents under the "Galleries" section. Note that currently, the documents are not text-aware. However, it is the intention of the Museum to make them as such in the near future.

The first excerpt has been published, from CGF Issue 1. In includes a little tidbit about an Ultima pen-and-paper role-playing game!
17 March 2004 Grand opening of the CGW Museum!
Welcome to the CGW Museum. This site is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of the first magazine specifically dedicated to computer games: Computer Gaming World. While CGW is still in publication under the Ziff-Davis umbrella, the CGW Museum focuses mostly on the 1981-1992 time period, which represents the first 100 issues of the magazine.

The museum is still in its infancy, and you may notice that some information is currently missing. In the future, you can expect more information on each CGW issue. You can also expect monthly (with any luck!) columns discussing subjects ranging from magazine collecting to the impact of CGW on the computer gaming industry. Furthermore, I have no doubt that you have suggestions as to the kinds of things you would like to see in the future. The CGW Museum welcomes those suggestions. Please, do not hesitate to send me an e-mail, whether you simply have comments, noticed a mistake, or have an idea.

I encourage you to look around and head back to the days when the Apple II was king, software came on 5 1/4" floppies, and gameplay was more important than graphics... Enjoy!


Questions, comments or suggestions? Please send an e-mail to the Museum

1308094 visitors have set foot in the Museum since 17 Mar 2004