INDEX ABOUT

▶ComputerHits provides a comprehensive reference guide for every UK software chart published during the golden age of computer games, 1982 to 1993.

Over 35,000 chart positions have been checked, corrected, dated and synchronised. Most of these charts are standard All Formats (ALL) charts, but sometimes Multi-Format (M/F) charts were printed - in these charts games could take several positions in the same chart, one for each platform. The data also includes Acorn Electron (ELK), BBC Micro (BBC), BBC and Electron combined (B/E), Amstrad (CPC), Atari 8-BIt (A8), Dragon(DR), Commodore (C16,C64 and VIC) and Sinclair Spectrum (ZX) and ZX81 (81) specific charts. The least coverage is for the MSX which is for only two months in 1986.
Charts that did not indicate who they were compiled by are not included, nor are charts based on reader votes.

While site is focused on 8-bit titles, many 16-bit titles are included where they appear in All Format and Multi-Format charts. Console games, which make very few appearances, are excluded completely. In the early 1980's there were so many Chess programs published that chart compilers combined all their sales together into a single 'Chess' entry; these generic entries are also excluded from the database, along with some very obscure utilities that have been impossible to correctly identify.

ComputerHits uses the charts printed in these magazines:

▶A&B Computing - April 1985
▶Acorn User - January 1984 - March 1987
▶Amstrad Computer User - June 1985 - May 1992
▶Atari User - May 1987 - October 1988
▶Bang Weekly - seven issues from September 1986 to November 1986
▶Commodore Format - December 1990 - May 1993
▶Commodore User - April 1985 - January 1990
▶Computer & Video Games - April 1984 - December 1984, October 1985 - January 1988, July 1988 - March 1992
(some charts were printed in earlier issues of CVG but they are not included here as the source is not listed. From May 1984 to March 1985, CVG published the bi-weekly NOP/Daily Mirror chart (also published in other EMAP magazines, Sinclair User and Commodore User). Although only the first chart provides a date, the provision of 'last week' and 'weeks in chart' statistics (which are really 'fortnights' rather than 'weeks') allows all of the NOP charts to be accurately dated)
▶Computer Gamer - April 1985 - October 1985
▶CPC Attack - June 1992 - September 1992
▶Electron User - October 1987 - July 1990
▶Games-X - March 1991 - March 1992
(issue 119 to 124 of CVG feature the same weekly charts as Games-X, but CVG still refers to them as 'monthly')
▶Home Computing Weekly - December 1984 - August 1985
▶New Computer Express - November 1988 - August 1989, September 1990, July 1991 - October 1991
(the charts printed in 1991 are identical to those printed in Games-X magazine)
▶Personal Computer Games - December 1983 - February 1985
▶Personal Computer News - June 1983 - February 1985
▶Personal Computer World - March 1984 - January 1985
▶Popular Computing Weekly - December 1982 - January 1985, August 1985 - December 1987, March 1988
▶Sinclair User - December 1984 - April 1991, January 1992
▶Your Commodore - March - October 1985
▶Your Computer - February 1986 - April 1987
▶Your Sinclair - January 1986 - December 1991, August 1992 - June 1993
(the earliest charts printed by YS are actually weekly charts which match with those printed in Popular Computing Weekly)

The chart history lists display links to archived copies of these magazine pages where possible.
Most of these charts were published without giving the exact date, particularly in the later years. Where this happens an estimated date is shown, indicated on the chart history with c. prefix ahead of the date in italics. In some cases, the 'last week' or 'last month' placing is also listed, these are displayed inside brackets. For example, this is an extract from the chart history of Paperboy: Here, the issue of Popular Computing Weekly for February 5th is missing, but the chart place for that week is taken from the 'last week' position in the February 12th issue.

In addition, data has been included from a number of trade publications:
▶the MIcroscope/Prism Distribution chart compiled by RAM/C for the two weeks to 1st Nov 1984 (image)
▶the Computer Software Retailing/Gallup chart for the week ending 12th Nov 1984 (image 1) (image 2)
▶the Computer Software Retailing/Gallup chart for the week ending 30th Nov 1984 (image 1)
▶the Computer Trade Weekly/Gallup charts for the week ending 25th March 1989 (image)
(identical charts were also published in New Computer Express 1st April 1989. This allows accurate dating of all the 1988/89 NCE charts and also identifies them as '8 bit' charts, although Gallup's definition of '8 bit' is unclear and judging from the titles in the chart it actually seems to mean 'not exclusively 16 bit')
▶Computer Trade Weekly issues 338 and 343 featuring Gallup charts for the weeks ending 18th May 1991 and 22nd June 1991. These issues are archived at SegaRetro.

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The period covered by these charts is shown below: