Bulletin 1000

Eardley House, 182/184 Campden Hill Road, London, W8

"Hi, my name is Jeremy and I'd like to welcome you to the first issue of Bulletin 1000 Video Magazine which we're bringing to you from the Video Cafe here in the heart of London's West End. Over the coming months we will be bringing you details and indeed showing you advertisements featuring highlights of some of the best software from the leading software houses. In addition we'll be running competitions which could get your face here on this very screen and win you some great prizes such as software, monitors, computers, joysticks, and lots lots more. Including the chance to be a video disc jockey for the evening here at London's Video Care but more of that later."

BULLETIN 1000 is a quirk of the mid-eighties software market. An attempt to solve the problem of how to get moving footage of games in front of consumers at a time when television adverts were out of the price range of most software companies[1]. The solution is literally in the title, a video magazine made available to shops. The main source of information about BULLETIN 1000 is a three page feature in THE GAMES MACHINE (May 1988 page 116) which delves a little into the background of the three founders, Martin Chater and Mike Carroll originally of Visions Software,  and Julie Inskip, who worked for distribution company Centresoft, owners of the US Gold label.

Bulletin 1000 ran on a subscription service:

For new customers, deals were set up allowing clients to get the videos and equipment they required through Bulletin 1000 at lower cost than buying direct or through rental firms...
The format used by most of Bulletin 1000's customers is VHS; very few Betamax recordings are made, reflected m the ratio of duplicating machines they have - 38 VHS, two Betamax. That's about the percentage in terms of demand for our tapes, ' says Julie. 'At the moment the VHS system, awful in quality that it is, is the system which everyone is using.

A few BULLETIN 1000 issues have survived to be uploaded to Youtube. It's difficult to be precise because several of the Youtube videos are fragments of the same tape. The one issue which definitely survives complete is the first. Its fascinating because it's completely atypical. It's hosted by "Jeremy" and is much more of a magazine programme than the compilation of game adverts it would become.

Julie explains: 'As everyone is tuned to watching television, we made it very much like a programme that the viewers could get involved with and. to a certain extent, interact with. A sort of Blue Peter for computer users on video!
'However, a problem arose when the video was put into service. Even though it went down well with retailers, attracting customers and helping subsequent sales, after a couple of showings it was found that viewers lost interest In the scenes with the presenter. He was superfluous customers wanted to see the computer games and not someone talking - leading to valuable airtime on the tape being wasted while noone watched the presenter.'

C&VG
November 1985 page 119

Issue one of BULLETIN 1000 can be dated to November 1985 because it ties in with an advert featured in that month's COMPUTER & VIDEOGAMES. It's not great and can possibly be most kindly described as a good pilot. The biggest problem is the host. Jeremy hasn't been given an autocue, or even any cue cards behind the camera, and so he's constantly looking away to consult his script. Issue one most closely resembles an earlier 1984 one-off called THE WORLD'S GREATEST COMPUTER GAMES, which looks a lot more professional because its presented by Chris Tarrant who was infinitely more comfortable with hosting duties. Jeremy didn't last long:

After the third Bulletin 1000 'issue', the presenter was removed and the programme looked like the now standard series of short advertisements. Research conducted by Bulletin 1000 showed that this change was for the better Stores using the videos were contacted and asked detailed questions relating to their effectiveness in terms of product sales, number of viewers and the average length of time customers watched the video. With the presenter's deletion, attention span time was increased from four minutes to 14.

 It's a shame the second and third issues haven't survived because it would be interesting to see how the presentation developed. Did Jeremy ever get an autocue? What does mainly survive on Youtube are fragments. There's a video called volume two which runs to 26 minutes and seems to overlap with a couple of other fragments but I'll get to that later. The next most complete issue is number 43 August 1989. How do we know this? Remarkably the original tape has survived and is pictured in the Youtube thumbnail. Here's the best quality image I could grab.

BULLETIN 1000 video -43

I've been wracking my brain trying to work out if I remember seeing any of BULLETIN 1000. The answer is.... probably. I must have gone in shops where the tape was playing but once the issues just become compilations of adverts they get less memorable. That said, THE GAMES MACHINE article does mention a couple of interesting experiments:

In some cases, adverts show nothing of the game bar the title. Bedlam from Go! was a good example of this type of 'teaser' m which the game title appeared with a voice-over shouting Bedlam!'. This style of promotion is certainly original and eye-catching and Bulletin 1000 are watching it very closely indeed to determine its success (or failure) as an alternative form of advertising.

...

 An extreme case was Ocean's advertisement for Platoon, which was also to appear on the Columbia Video of the film. A unique event in computer software history, it lasted all of seven seconds! This incredibly limited amount of time proved a major headache for Bulletin 1000. 'The specifications for the recording were terrible,' recalls Julie. 'It had to be exact - no more, no less - and it was extremely frustrating having to compress all the information on the game into seven seconds. We had to keep re-editing and cutting bits out while trying to put in everything Ocean wanted to say about the game, along with the artwork, packaging and the Ocean logo.'

I haven't been able to locate the adverts for Bedlam or Platoon. I'd love to think that both are lurking out there somewhere in someone's loft. If you find them, get them on Youtube post haste.

That's pretty much it. I don't know how many issues there were of BULLETIN 1000 or how long it lasted. THE GAMES MACHINE article is even vague about the name of the company which produced the tape. Companies House lists a company called BULLETIN 1000 LIMITED (company number 01711082) who were dissolved in 1995, was that them? The dates sound about right and 1995 would be the point when a lot of the independent game shops, which made up the backbone of the BULLETIN 1000 subscriber base, had been replaced by chains like Electronics Boutique and Game.

June 2024

This picture was taken at 18.57 on Monday 24th June. This blog update went up at 21.24 on Monday 24th June. Making this officially the freshest photo I've taken, so far. I've been slightly preoccupied recently and I had the embarrassing moment on Saturday of realising I'd almost completely finished this entry (except for this bit, obviously) and neglected to get a photo. Uh-oh! Could I put this entry up with an apology and a promise to grab a picture as soon as possible. Yes. Of course I could. The king of the internet isn't going to arrest me for doing my blog wrong. Did I want to put this entry up with an apology and a promise to grab a picture as soon as possible? No. Of course not. To hell with what the king of the internet thinks. I didn't want to do this blog wrong. So about six hours ago, I made my excuses and dashed down to London. I stopped off in North Acton and grabbed a picture of where Games Workshop were based as well, in order to obtain some sort of sense of value from this nonsense trip. I still think the silliest thing I've done for this blog was my trip to Baglan Bay to photograph the site of a demolished BP refinery, which was used on the cover of Forbidden Planet (see the Design Design entry for the full story) but this might be a close second... Right. I'm back after a break for victuals and an EMERGENCY BEER. If the rest of this entry drifts into nonsensicality then at least you'll know it's because of the effect of BEER on my enfeebled brain. 

Eardley House is just round the corner from Notting Hill Gate underground station. I doubt the street and building have changed since Bulletin 1000 was based there some 40 years previously. At the time it was whatever the office equivalent is of a house of multiple occupancy. AMSTRAD ACTION referred potential advertisers there for the first couple of years. Viper Software were also based there; so it shouldn't have been difficult for Viper to get Big League Soccer featured on the January 1986 tape. A couple of the Viper Software adverts (like this one) also refer to a company called Consolidated Software Marketing Ltd, so that may have been another company set up in Eardley House.

What follows is a sort of BULLETIN 1000 episode guide. It's assembled from the bits and pieces on Youtube and also the pages of COMMODORE COMPUTING INTERNATIONAL which used to print the contents of each tape, for some reason. 

Issue one: October 1985?

Strikeforce Harrier (Mirrorsoft), Zyto and Highrise Horror (Rabbit), Scarabeus (Ariolasoft), Christmas Card (Virgin Games), the Computer Hits compilation (Beau Jolly), Scalextric (Leisure Genius), Doriath and Fire of London (Rabbit), Willow Pattern, Chimera and Elite (Firebird), Wizardry (The Edge), Batalyx (Ariolasoft).

January 1986?
Wild West (Ariolasoft), Revs (Firebird), the Now Games II compilation (Virgin Games), Superman (Beyond), Spitfire 40 (Mirrorsoft), Arc of Yesod (Thor), Who Dares Wins II (Alligata), The Young Ones (Orpheus), Gyroscope (Melbourne House), Robin of the Wood (Odin), Strangeloop (Virgin Games), Elite (Firebird), Yak's Progress compilation (Llamasoft), Scalextric (Leisure Genius), Swords & Sorcery (PSS), Big League Soccer (Viper), Panzadrome (Ariolasoft), Little Computer People (Activision).

This tape contains a lot of games which can be dated to Christmas 1985 but it can't be issue two or three because we know from  Julie Inskip's comments that a presenter was used until issue three. Notable things about this tape; the terrible Vyvian and Neil impressions for The Young Ones segment and the terrible Dalek impression for the Panzadrome advert. The Elite coverage on this tape is for the ZX Spectrum version, it was the C64 on tape one, and this time round Scalextric is for the C64, tape one covered the Spectrum version. Also, the Little Computer People advert seems to come direct from Activision and is a spoof US news report. This is unique footage which, I think, survives only because this tape survives.

July 1986:
Biggles (Mirrorsoft), Knight Games (English Software), Batman, Superbowl, and V (Ocean), Nexus (Nexus Productions), Off the Hook compilation (various), Golf Construction Set (Ariolasoft), Shogun (Virgin), Mercenary (Novagen), Psi 5 Trading Company, and Legend of the Amazon Women (US Gold), Saboteur and Turbo Esprit (Durell), Starstrike II (Realtime Games), Green Beret, Ping Pong and Yie Ar Kung Fu (Imagine), Archon II (Ariolasoft), Empire (Firebird), Mikie and MOVIE (Imagine), Way of the Tiger (Gremlin Graphics), Rambo (Ocean). 

This seems to be the first time BULLETIN 1000 features in CCI, the write up suggests that the magazine also featured on one of the tapes around this time.

August 1986:
Leaderboard, Silent Service, Psi 5 Trading Company, and Legend of the Amazon Women (US Gold), Batman, Green Beret, Knight Rider and Hunchback -The Adventure (Ocean), Action Reflex (Mirrorsoft), Toad Runner, Touchdown Football, and Hyperforce (Ariolasoft), Sai Combat (Mirrorsoft), Meltdown (Alligata), Pyracurse (Hewson), Graham Gooch's Test Cricket (Audiogenic), Mercenary (Novagen), Phantom Combat (Doctorsoft), Jack the Nipper (Gremlin Graphics), Shogun (Virgin).

Listing taken from the August 1986 issue of CCI.

October 1986:
Parallax (Ocean), Arac (Addictive Games), Heartland (Odin Computer Graphics), Winter Games (Anco), Streethawk (Ocean), Mikie (Imagine), Dynamite Dan II (Mirrorsoft), Mission Elevator (Micropool), Ping Pong and Yie Ar Kung Fu (Imagine), Mission A.D. (Odin Computer Graphics), Room 10 (CRL), Batman (Ocean), Green Beret (Imagine), Jack the Nipper (Gremlin Graphics), Miami Vice and Knight Rider (Ocean).

Listing taken from the September 1986 issue of CCI. They didn't print one for September.

November 1986:
Alley Kat (Hewson), Thai Boxing and Sports 4 (Anco), Zythum (Mirrorsoft), Hardball (Advance Software), Computer Hits 3 (Beau Jolly), Thanatos and Big 4 (Durell), Deactivators, Camelot Warriors, Marble Madness and They Stole a Million (Ariolasoft), Highlander, Galvan, Miami Vice, The Great Escape, Streethawk and Nightmare Rally, Konami's Golf (Imagine)

Listing taken from the November 1986 issue of CCI.

January 1987:
The Sacred Armour of Antiriad (Palace Software), Breakthru' (US Gold), Firelord (Hewson), Fat Worm Blows a Sparky (Durell), Cobra and Mallstrom (Ocean), Hardball (Advance Software), Crash Smashes II, Zzap Sizzlers, Amtix Accolades, C16 Classics III, and MSX Classics (Gremlin Graphics), Tarzan (Martech), Trivial Pursuit (Domark), Shao-Lin's Road and Fairlight II (The Edge), Terra Cresta and The Great Escape (Ocean), Reference Book, Bridgehead and Sports 4 (Anco), Crystal Castles (US Gold), Computer Hits III (Beau Jolly), World Games (US Gold), Warrior II (Nexus), Inheritance (Infogrames), Alleycat (Hewson), Headcoach (Addictive), Xeno (Argus Press), Streethawk and Highlander (Ocean), They Stole a Million and Marble Madness (Ariolasoft), 5 Star Games (Beau Jolly), Trailblazer, Avenger and Future Knight (Gremlin), Movie Monster and Ace of Aces (US Gold), Thanatos (Durell), Sentinel (Firebird), Miami Vice (Ocean), They Sold a Million III (Hit Squad), Camelot Warriors and Deactivators (Ariolasoft), L'Affaire Vera Cruz (Infogrames), Yie Ar Kung Fu II , Galvan, and Mag Max (Imagine), Frostbyte (Mikrogen), Kettle (Alligata), Uridium (Hewson).

Listing taken from the January 1987 issue of CCI. The December 1986 issue is AWOL. The next issue of CCI archived online is June 1987 and by then the magazine has stopped promoting BULLETIN 1000.

Issue 43 August 1989.
Bloodwych (Image Works), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (US Gold), Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (Tynesoft), The New Zealand Story (Ocean), Gemini Wing (Virgin Mastertronic), The Games Summer Edition (US Gold), Robocop (Ocean), Populous (Electronic Arts), Thunderbirds (Grandslam), Kenny Dalglish Soccer Manager (Kognito), Red Heat (Ocean), Passing Shot (Image Works), Rock Star Ate My Hamster (Code Masters), Kick Off (Anco), Special Action compilation (Ocean), The Running Man (Grandslam), Silkworm (Virgin Mastertronic), Emlyn Hughes International Soccer (Audiogenic), Navy Moves (Dinamic).

The Running Man, Robocop, and Red Heat adverts all include film footage. The footage from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade seems to be from a Making Of... documentary (to judge by at least one shot of a camera whizzing past) rather than the film itself.

Fragments

Two fragments exist, ironically they both seem to be taken from the same issue with so many missing it would be nice if they came from different editions.

Fragment 1
Gyroscope (Melbourne House), Strangeloop (Virgin Games), Big League Soccer (Viper), Panzadrome (Ariolasoft), Sky Fox (Ariolasoft), Yabba-Dabba-Doo (Quicksilva), Fleet Street Editor (Mirrorsoft), Gerry the Germ Goes Body Poppin' (Firebird), Quake Minus 1 (Beyond), The Tube (Quicksilva), Leviathan (English Software), Samurai Trilogy (Gremlin), Kinetik (Firebird), Mario Brothers (Ocean),

Fragment 2 
The Tube (Quicksilva), Leviathan (English Software), Samurai Trilogy (Gremlin), Kinetik (Firebird), Mario Brothers (Ocean).

At first glance it looks like Fragment 2 is just the end of  Fragment 1. However any attempt to date Fragment 1, based on the games it includes, soon goes awry. The adverts at the start (Gyroscope, Strangeloop, Big League Soccer, and Panzadrome) are all identical to those seen on the January1986? video. The middle titles from Skyfox through to Quake Minus 1 also point to an early 1986 date but both  the Fragment 1 and 2 videos end with a 1987 copyright date. The games duplicated between the two videos (that's The Tube, Leviathan, Samurai Trilogy, Kinetik, and Mario Brothers) all suggest a date somewhere towards August or September 1987. My best guess, Fragment 1 originally ended at Quake Minus 1 and someone edited Fragment 2 on the end before uploading it to the internet.

French version
Infiltrator, Gauntlet, Xevious, and Breakthru (US Gold), Terra Cresta and Miami Vice (Ocean), Yie Ar Kung Fu II and Mag Max (Imagine)

The games suggest a date around the end of 1986/early 1987.

[1] Barring a few exceptions, like Oceans' adverts for Hunchback and Matchday  which probably only went out in the Granada region, 

Do you have more episodes of BULLETIN 1000? Do you have access to the Platoon advert? Are you Jeremy? Did you win the Video Disc Jockey competition in issue one? If the answer to any of these questions is Yes then leave a comment boasting about the fact. Or do the same  on Bluesky, shammountebank.bsky.social or Instagram, shammountebank, or email whereweretheynow@gmail.com. Or do those things even if the answer isn't yes.