Magazines

As of EXODOS Version 5, Magazines have been added to the project. Magazines included are specific to the time period of the project they are included with. Currently only the eXoDOS project has magazines packed with it. Both digital and print magazines have been included.

Included Magazines

Digital Magazines

Big Blue Disk

Big Blue Disk was a monthly On-Disk magazine published by Softdisk. Called "magazettes" by the company, the company began publishing Big Blue Disk (the IBM PC based magazine) in November of 1986. Due to the popularity of some of their game titles, a spin-off called Gamer's Edge was published in 1990. The primary developers behind Gamer's Edge would eventually go on to start id software. Due to the nature of floppy disks, it was a difficult (and expensive) task to acquire many of these disks. Currently issue #2, #13, and #125 are still missing. However ever other issue up to the final issue #141 are accounted for. The magazine changed names a handful of times over the years. It was known as Big Blue Disk, On Disk Monthly, and Softdisk PC.

A menu launcher in eXoDOS allows the user to browse and launch each archived magazine. The disks include reviews, editorials, software, and other fun surprises.

Game Bytes

Game Bytes was a BBS (bulletin board system) magazine that ran for 21 issues between 1992 and 1994. The magazine was largely text, however it did provide a version with screen shots of upcoming and recently released games.

A menu system in eXoDOS allows you to launch and browse through each issue.

Print Magazines \ Newsletters

Electronic Games

As the first dedicated video game magazine in the United States, Electronic Games was breaking new ground when it released it's premiere issue in October of 1981. The magazine ran until 1985 when it was briefly renamed Computer Entertainment before ceasing publication.
In May of 1992 the magazine was resurrected under it's original name. This iteration of the magazine ran until July of 1995 at which point they retired the name and shifted to the short lived Fusion magazine.
Unfortunately this magazine has not been archived as well as others, and multiple issues are currently missing.

Missing

• Issue 38, Aug 1985
• Vol 2, No. 27, Dec 1994
• Vol 2, No. 28, Jan 1995
• Vol 2, No. 29, Feb 1995
• Vol 2, No. 30, Mar 1995
• Vol 2, No. 31, Apr 1995
• Vol 2, No. 32, May 1995
• Vol 2, No. 33, Jun 1995

Fusion Magazine (missing)

• Vol 1, No. 6, Jan 1996

InterAction

Published by Sierra On-Line, InterAction magazine focused on their existing and upcoming catalog of games. Starting in June of 1981 as The On-Line Letter, the magazine ran for 18 years into the spring of 1999. In that time It was also known as the Sierra Newsletter, the Sierra /Dynamix News Magazine, and then eventually it's final name: InterAction. 38 issues were published during this time, all of which are archived and included with eXoDOS.

QuestBusters

Started by Shay Addams in November of 1984, QuestBusters started as a simple fan made newsletter primarily focused on interactive fiction and adventure games. The newsletter was essentially a print version of what would later become bulletin boards and internet forums. Several hint books were sold through the newsletter. It lasted until 1996, which coincidentally is around the time adventure games began to exit the zeitgeist.

run 5

run 5 was published by SSG with a focus on their strategy games. Starting in January of 1986 the magazines ran for 25 issues, ending in January of 1992. The impetus behind the magazine was finding a way to share custom scenarios with their users without having to pay for the procurement, copying, and shipping of disks. The majority of the magazine was made up of detailed instructions, and code, necessary for the user to create these scenarios.

Softline

With only 16 issues over 3 years, Softline wasn't around very long. The magazine was an offshoot of Softalk, which was focused on the industry as whole while Softline focused specifically on gaming. While the Apple II platform was a primary focus through the early issues, the magazine covered gaming on all multiple platforms as they became more relevant.