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Cpc 464 computing

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Cover of CPC Computing issue 8
CPC 464 Computing (later renaming itself to CPC Computing) was a cassette-based electronic magazine from Argus Software Press. Launching in late 1984, it may have been both the first electronic magazine dedicated to the Amstrad CPC and also the first unofficial CPC magazine; with Amstrad's own CPC 464 User having launched only a month or two before it.

The exact date of its launch is hard to determine because both issue 1 and issue 2 of the magazine are not date stamped. We can make a guess at a launch date of either September or October 1984; based on the contents of the 'news' sections in both issue 1 and issue 2. Issues were released on a bi-monthly basis at first but later became monthly. Initially issues were released with plain cassette inlays displaying a poorly printed 'CPC 464 Computing' logo but by issue 8 (and following the rename to CPC Computing) the inlay was reversible, with a much higher print quality and a photograph of a CPC 464 on the reverse side (see image, right).

The magazine was split into several sections, each of which would be loaded from cassette separately. Initially the magazine was written in BASIC; which incurred long load times and meant each page of the magazine rendered slowly on the screen. There was also no apparently 'Print' command; which made using the (often very in-depth) hints and tips the magazine provided quite difficult without a notepad and pen.

The second side of the cassette contained a selection of games and utilities, similar to the way Amstrad Action would lay out their covertapes several years later. The quality of the second-side software varied but several useful utilities and fun, small games were included with the magazine over the course of its run.

The magazine lasted at least 11 issues, running from 1984 to 1986.

Issues

Issues of CPC 464 Computing are now being made available as .DSK downloads, copied from cassette to .DSK by volunteers. The available issues are linked for download below.

  • Issue 1 (September or October 1984)
  • Issue 2
  • Issue 3
  • Issue 4
  • Issue 5
  • Issue 6
  • Issue 7
  • Issue 8 (November 1985)
  • Issue 9 (December 1985)
  • Issue 10
  • Issue 11