Loadstar (magazine)

Loadstar (ISSN 0886-4144) was a disk magazine for the Commodore 64 computer, published starting in 1984 and ceasing publication in 2007 with its unreleased (until 2010) 250th issue.

It derived its name from the command commonly used to execute commercial software from a Commodore 1541 disk: LOAD "*",8,1, with inspiration from the word "lodestar".

At the time, the Commodore 64 was a very popular home computer due to its inexpensive price and advanced graphics and sound capabilities.

A notable feature in some early issues is the inclusion of a disk with software to access the then-new online service Quantum Link, which had been fervently pitched to Loadstar by head of marketing Steve Case.

As the years went by and the Commodore 64 was increasingly regarded as an obsolete computer, the resources of the company were shifted to software for more current systems such as Windows and the Macintosh, and later to the Internet.

Tucker is now concentrating on other ventures such as republishing the books of Harry Stephen Keeler under his Ramble House imprint.

Issue 53 (1988)
Loadstar disks
Basement offices where Loadstar was published for much of its history, despite references to the "Loadstar Tower"