Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Netmonkey Weekly Report Issue 47
Netmonkey Weekly Report
Issue XLVII
May 11th, 1999
g#S$ d. ____ ascii by garflozzy
____ $$$: -- ,$b ----- $$$ ___
$$$$$s __ :$$l $',$$$$.`$$ :$$$._l$$:
,s#S$$$$: $$$"È$$b.`È$i $$$ ',$$'À$$,`$ l$$$T$$$$._
--------- l$$$$$$$$ :$$l b,`Y$$,`l l$$.d$P . À$$,` $$l" $$$ýT$S#g._ -----------
°°°°°°°°° :$$$$$$$l l$$: $$b.`Y$$, :$$$$' d$b À$$,d$$: :$$l ,.`"ýT$S# °°°°°°°°°
$$$$$$$: $$$ :$$$$. Y$$.s$$$' d$$$b '$$$$l l$$: l$'.d$$'
$$$$$$$. $$$ l$$$$$. $$$Sl$' d$$$$$b '$$$: :$$l .'.d$$'
$$$$$$l :$$l $$$$$$l l$$::P :$$$$$$$b.`$l l$$: ~~~~~~~
------------------ l$$: ------- :$$l.' ---------- `: ;$$l ---------------------
$$$ °°°°°°° .l$$ :: ~~~~
³ $$S#s,$$$ :::
``^"ýY$$$
`Y$ [ n ] ETMONKEY [ W ] EEKLY [ R ] EPORT
Ahh yes..no webpage and no story! Golden promises webpage by thursday
though..so who knows. I stick to my word of finishing up the tdp story
if and when our page goes up. So you get to look forward to that, this
week we have another jam packed game report by Blitz..with lots of
interviews from people you rarely see interviewed. Ryche did a DTD
interview..(they do porn as if I have to tell any of you)
-Lester [Co-Editor/Head Writer]
Hey sluts!
We got a sweet issue this week..
Blitz busts out some crazy interviews this week, you definately need
to check them out.
Along the theme of blitz's interview's our "Blast From the Past" section
features a few old names from the razor1911 past... good reading for all
you kids!!
A good friend of ours sent us a picture that he SWEARS is bandido.. that
pic (bandido.jpg) is included, as is a cute pic of glen's mom.
Also fitting in with our "Blast from the Past" article, we've included
the original HBD .nfo from one of their last great releases, "Diablo"..
Read the "cracking notes" section for some interesting info..
Ryche is back this week, with his VCD shiat, as well as another pr0n group
interview, and a mainstream media article about piracy and TPM...
Beats the fuck out of me where bud is, he's awol 2 weeks in a row..
Thanks to zeus(NotZeus?), and the staff of www.socalsys.com (#socalsys)
for the bounce that i've been looking for... Check them out of you are
in need of scene related shit: bounces, webspace, shells, etc...
Thanks to glen for the weektops this week, and i wanna say hi to
horde, and thx for adding me to your bitchin' bot.. <g>
Slow week kiddies... no news is good news.. take care..
ndetroit [Co-Editor/Head Fatass]
-----------[ index ]-----------
I.) Intro
a) Lester
b) ndetroit
II.) Quotes of the Week
III.) Stats - Ndetroit's Weekly Stats, and comments on Sites.
IV.) Lester's Biased Courier Report
V.) Articles
a) Prozac's Kinda Biased Games Report
b) Bud's Biased Utils Report
c) Lesters Moview Reviews
d) VCD Group and Movie Reviews
e) Blast From the Past!
VI.) Scene News - All the news that's fit to print
VII.) Rumors!
VIII.) Closing
---------------------[ Quotes of the Week! ]---------------------
-*** FiXXXerX (FiXXXed@s401.intercom.net) has joined #TPC
<FiXXXerX> This shitty group on AOL upped Thrust Twist'n Turn
<FiXXXerX> yes there is an AOL group called TPC
<FiXXXerX> is it you?
-<FredDurst> who wants to join my new psx/iso/vcd group?
<teacher> i will join
<teacher> only if i dont have to send you that new bangles greatest hits cd
-<Caserd> i love to telnet!
<Caserd> one of america's favorite pastimes is telneting
-<X-Frog> man
<X-Frog> there was a real bomb today @ my school
<X-Frog> so i skipped
<PenisRock> bad frog
<X-Frog> and masturbated in the mall's bathroom
-* mrp__ is away... [Reason/i am an idiot bbl] [Messages/ON] -- (NZT)
<_tczzz> couldnt agree more
<_tczzz> ;)
-<glenner> no, its actually the pics of my mom
<glenner> i hope we are blessed with another one this week
<glenner> <ndetroit> pffff rename mgdgf.jpg glensmom.jpg
-<[Shinobi]> ndetriot - You better grab a couple of corks, before you go
to San Fran.
-----------[ ndetroit's sites and stats section ]-----------
Hey hey hey... lets learn about sites and shit.. ;p
E still not back.. and someone from OGN told me this week that
E was only ever the the *Temp* OGN WHQ... heh.. wtf is that all
about? Oh well.. it still ain't back, so...
I guess we have pretty much fallen into the predictable pattern
of the top 3 sites in the world being FS, STH, and FH, with ET a
close 4th... The 5th is up for grabs, i guess....
Top 2 sites in the US have gotta be TOS and ATX... TOS is very
well supported, and has the nice Class/Siege/DEV affils.. ATX is
the whq for a couple of good groups, VGC, and OGN, as well as the
(dead?) cracking group, KAC..
Word has it that mgoh is set to bring TV back for a(74th?)nother
go at it... He's lost count of how many incarnations of TV there
has been, so this one is just gonna be called "TVx"... no word on
whether or not TViSO will return with it...
Speaking of mgoh, he has a new site up called.... "SEX".. not
overly sure what that stands for, but it's already up, and has
Gcrack and SCUM affils already.. Cheaters beware--the sitebot
announces bad-disks and restarts... ouch!!
FF = down perm after HW problems?... i heard its only an "upgrade",
and it'll be back..
Not new news, but i haven't reported it here yet... SS is back up
on a PHAT PHAT super-fast .fi link.. Affils are CORP/DSi..
SS used to be MnM whq.. not sure if they took MnM back.. doubt it.
I threw DF3 into the charts this week, cause i basically needed another
good US site to round out the charts, and it has a "site lastwkup"
command... LAZY SITEOPS, CODE THAT SHIT IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT.. ;p
House Of God is another good site included this week... LND/MFD,
RZR, and AV are the affils there.. Apparently it has a pretty out of
control daemon, HOGFTPD... The one cool feature of it that like is the
"site vote" system that they have implemented.. Users can vote every
week on certain site policies.. Cool idea.
Oh, and some other late-breaking site news: MDK is back!!... the
daemon is up, its on the same link, and will be 2kadWHQ, DMS HQ, and
gcrack HQ among others.. good to see... contact your favorite
MDK siteop for further details!
Siteops!! send your weektops to: nwr@netmonkey.org... Thanks
to all those that support us every week... ;)
=--------------------------------------------------------------------------=
Sites are rated on a 3X and 2X scale.. if you want to know why we
do it that way, read an old issue. Couriers get 10 points per site they get
#1 on, 9 points for 2nd place, 8 points for 3rd, etc, etc.
Sites are rated by us. If you don't like the ratings, then....
heh... fuck off and die..
=--------------------------------------------------------------------------=
The Top Ten sites for this week are:
x3 FS -*- STH -*- ET -*- FH -*- CAT
x2 DLS -*- HOG -*- TOS -*- ATX -*- DF3
---=NETMONKEY COURiER REPORT=---
trader group FS STH ET FH CAT DLS HOG TOS ATX DF3 pts pos
-------------------------------------------------------------------
godbless DEV 4 1 1 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 147 [1]
tc DEV 6 2 3 0 2 5 0 3 0 0 121 [2]
cedric AOD 2 3 5 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 113 [3]
garoto DEV 3 4 2 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 103 [4]
zarkof AOD 7 8 6 0 6 4 0 0 0 0 65 [5]
kruzin DMS 0 0 8 0 5 6 0 0 5 0 49 [6]
jaydee DEV 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 42 [7]
nightsky AOD 5 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 34 [8]
bud VLN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 32 [9]
dscman DSC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 32 [9]
* = no weektop this week.
* = no weektop this week.
=--------------------------------=--------------------------------------=
-----------[ Lester's Biased Courier Section ]-----------
Biased Bullshit
AOD: Cedric and Blaze and a few other boys. Still, relying so heavily on
Cedric is only going to lead them into trouble when he finally decides to
take a break. The picked up Dthangel from DMS and that's about all the
changes this week.
AV: Kind of winding down from the merger excitement. Jess is still preing
and Manioc is up on a couple weektops here and there. But they are slowly
heading back to the land of the idle I think
Devotion: Dev is still going strong..no changes this week and basically
just so long as they get to pre and GB/Garo are around..they will be on top.
Officedog joined dev..that's right..so they gained another pre guy!
Dimension: A little better this week, some signs of life from the dismal
performance of the past 2 weeks. Have started off this new week with even
more positive things. Gregk joined from MNM. No other changes other than
the mass cuts.
MNM: Mossyjoke is back at his pftp game..been trading 1 day and already
caught slowupping..how sad.
I know the report sucks..sorry, I'm rushed preparing for my big day of
trying to get Star Wars tix..I vow to be back to normal next week..:)
=----------------------------------=--------------------------------------=
-----------[ Articles ]-----------
=----------------------------------=--------------------------------------=
-----------[ Prozac's Kinda Biased Gaming Report]-----------
Prozac = at E3, doing his behind-the-scenes NWR coverage of the games world's
BIGGEST event of the year.. He is working hard, taking notes, dispatching
reports, and interviewing notables... (Note to prozac: that expense report
that you sent me that had "screaming orgasm x 24" in it... was that the drink?
and why did it cost so much for just a few shooters...?)
In place of the roving-reporter, we bring you:
THE BLITZ REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF 05/03/99 - 05/10/99
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prozac is still on vacation, so I'm back again this week with my third issue
of NWR. The week that was wasn't the most active, but we do see a game-of-the-
month candidate from Origin in Expendable.
ÜÛÛßÛÛÜ ÞÛÜ ÛÜ
ÞÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÝ ß ßß ßß ßßßßÞ۲ݲÛßßß ßßß ß ß
ÞÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÝÛÛÜßÛßÛÛÜßÛÛÜÞÛßÞÛ²ÝÜ ÞÛßÛÛÜßÜÛÛÜ
ÞÛÛÝÜÛÛß Þ²ÛÝÝ ÛÛ² ÞÛÛÝÝ ÞÛÛÝÛÛ Ý ÞÛÛÝÛ ÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛÝ ÜÛÛßÜÛÛÝÝ ÜÜÜßÜÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÝÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÝÛ ÞÛÛ
ÞÛÛÝÞÛÛÝ ÞÛ²ÝÝÞÛÛÝ ÞÛ²ÝÝ ÞÛ²ÝÛ²ÝÝ ÞÛ²ÝÛ ÞÛ²
ÞÛÛÝ ßÛÛÜÛßÛÝÛÜßÛÛÜÛßÛÝÛÜÛÛßÜÛÛÝÛÜÞÛ²Ýß ÛÛ²
==============================ÜÜÜ=ÞÛÛÝ=====
ßÛÛÛÜÛÛÛ
ßßßßß
Points Release Title
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2.0 Puma_Street_Soccer-PARADiGM (44.8M)
2.0 Puzzle_Bobble_2X-PARADiGM (2.7M)
3.0 Final_Odyssey-PARADiGM (23.8M)
2.0 The.Operational.Art.Of.War.2.LOADGAME.FIX-PARADiGM (0.0M)
0.5 Warzone_2100_Update_v1.01b-PARADiGM (0.7M)
0.0 Official_Formula_1_Real_D3D_Fix-PARADIGM (0.0M)
0.0 Official_Formula_1_Racing_Fix-PARADiGM (2.6M)
---
9.5
Paradigm owned the week with their standard all-around releasing. About the
only thing they didn't manage this week was a trainer, probably their weakest
area. Puma Street Soccer probably deserves a little more than a 2.0, but frankly
that's enough soccer games thank you very much. Puzzle Bobble 2X is another
sub-par title that was just good enough for the PDM stamp of approval. Their
biggest release of the week was another RTS game for your collection. Final
Odyssey is a mediocre game, but let's face it... this week was Expendable and
not much else. PDM got the quantity and pull down first place on numbers.
PDM stole CLS's points for The Operational Art of War II. CLS was docked the
entire 4.0 for failing to fix a game within a reasonable amount of time. The
two F1 racing fixes were deducted last week, so they won't hurt them now. The
patch team got yet another Warzone patch (how buggy is this game anyway?).
__ ______ ______ ____ _____ ____ _____
\// _ \ _ \_\__/ _ \_\__/_\_ \
/ / / / /. / / / / / /
\______/ \____|_/\___ /___/___/ /
--------|___|---------/____\------/____\-
One of the biggest titles Origin has ever landed, Expendable makes their week
(and month most likely). Nothing at all from the rest of the team all week, it
makes you wonder why there are more than 5 members in this group. The
trainer/patch/USA teams have almost nothing to show for May thus far. The
long-anticipated arrival of Cyric from Razor finally happened, giving this
group more punch in Europe. Still no USA suppliers around, but a step in the
right direction to be sure. After being snubbed by Smokey for PDM, Origin had
to be feeling good about getting this proven supplier over PDM and CLS. Give
the assist to TK4, but we'll hold the fanfare until Cyric manages a title in
his new group.
Points Release Title
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5.0 Expendable-ORIGIN
---
5.0
______ /| ___ /\______ /\______
/ \/ | / _ \ / _____/ _____>
/ |_ / |/ | \\____ \ \____ \
< | < / | / | \/ | \
\ _____\_<____|___\_____ /\_____ /
+=\/======================\/=======\/==+
Class ties with Origin for the week on the back of one release plus extras.
Shattered Light is yet another RPG in the sea of RPG's we already have. I've
heard it spoken very highly of, but it looked pretty run of the mill to me.
Regardless, it's a fine game to try out if you have finished the award-winners
already. RPG's take up so much time I can't see anyone picking this up over
LOL3 or Baldur's Gate, but I guess this one got ripped. Four points with the
addon. Class shows a little attention to detail with a patch for Expendable.
Really a minor thing, but let's give credit for the small touches. Joystick
is nice with this one, so it's not irrelevant at all. Note that last week's
Championship Manager 3 "fix" was actually a patch. It wouldn't change anything
though, since a NT patch or fix still means nothing except someone gave a shit
to make it.
Points Release Title
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3.0 Shattered_Light-CLS (143.0M)
1.0 Shattered_Light_Addon-CLS (13.7M)
0.5 Shattered_Light_v1.20_Update_Cracked-CLS (3.5M)
0.5 Expendable_Joystick_patch-CLS (0.3M)
---
5.0
/\______ /\______ ____/\______ __
\____ \/ \__ \/ _ \____ \ __/ \____
/ _/ _/ \/ / / / _/ _// / / / / /
/ \ \ /\ / /\ / / \ \/ /\ / / /
\__/\ \/ \______\___/\__/\ \/ / /_/_/
======\___)===\__)============\___)=\/=======
Another ho-hum week for Razor. With ttol gone now, how could any group expect
to go on? Check the interview with The Punisher for more insight on what's
going on inside the scene's oldest group.
Points Release Title
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
0.5 CORSAIRS_UPDATE_PATCH_CRACKED-RAZOR (0.3M)
---
0.5
Ü
ÛÛÛÛ ÜÜþßÛÜÜÜ
ßÛÛÛÛß ÜÜ ßÛÛÛÜÜþÜÛÛÜÜ ßßÛ ßÛÛÛß
ÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛ ßÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛß Û ß ÜÜÜÜÛ
sQzÞÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÛÝÜÛÛßßß ÜÛÛÜÜ ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛ
<<====ßßþßß == ÜÛÛÛÛÝ==== ßßß ßßßÛÛÛÛßß =>>
t h e p l a ÛÛÛÛÛß y e r s c l u b
The Player's Club decided to make me look like an idiot for saying anything
half decent about them. Nothing this week at all. C'mon guys let's get the
ball rolling, Prozac and I are cheering you on.
ÚÄÄÄ ÛÛÛ ÜÜÜ ÜÜÜ °±² ÜÜÜ ßßßßÛÛÜ ßßßßÛÛÜ¿
³ ÜÛÜÛÛÛ ßßß ÛÛÛ ±²Û ßßß ²±° ÛÛÛ °±² ²ÛÛ³
³ÛÛÛ ²ÛÛ ²±° ÛÛ² ²ÛÛ °±² Û²± ²ÛÛ ±²Ûßßß ³
:ÛÛ² ±²Û Û²± ÛÛ² ÛÛÛ ±²Û ÛÛ² ²ÛÛ ²ÛÛ °±²:
³ÛÛ² °±² ÛÛ² ÛÛÛ ÛÛÛ ²ÛÛ ÛÛÛ ²ÛÛ ÛÛÛ ±²Û³
³ßÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÛÛÛ ßÛÜÛß ÛÛÛ ÛÛÛ ÛÛÛ ÛÛÛܲÛß³
Divine made it back into NWR this week, but not in the way they would like.
If sites nuked games for minor updates like they do for utils, Heretic 2 v1.06
would be nuked anyway. But DVN had a better way to get themselves negative
points, how about we pack without the nfo file? Shit, even Warrior remembers
the nfo file (what happened to those guys anyway?). To cap it all off, our
good friend ttol, ex of Razor managed to put out a dupe of ASS. Yes folks,
sites everywhere were spewing out [NUKED] DUPE_ASS. The couriers could
hardly contain themselves. Rumours that the release was stolen from an ASS
dropsite are as yet uncomfirmed.
Points Release Title
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-1.0 3D_MS_Maze_Tropical_Adventures-DVN *NUKED*
-0.5 Heretic2_Enhancement_Pack_v1.06-DVN *NUKED*
~~~
-1.5
============================================================================
Well, this week's first interviewee needs no introduction. He's the leader of
Razor 1911 and one of the best suppliers the scene has ever witnessed. Currently
retired on his own island in the South Pacific, The Punisher took some time to
speak on a variety of issues for our readers.
<NWR> Hello Punisher, and thank you for agreeing to do a NWR games interview
this week. Let's start off by stating your full nick and past and current affils.
<The Punisher> The Punisher - Razor 1911, Drink or Die.
<NWR> Razor 1911 is indisputibly the best known name in scene history. How did
you come to join Razor 1911, and what is your position there currently?
<The Punisher> Actually, the story behind me joining Razor is kind of interesting.
I didn't want anything to do with the scene originally, however I decided to
donate a 4 gig SCSI drive to a Razor site back in 95 to be able to leech what
I wanted when I wanted. Turns out I was forced to earn my credits, (still trying
to figure that one out), having time on my hands then I smoked all the current
couriers upload stats on the sites and was invited to join Razor as a courier
by my friends Vitas and Sir Alf. So I was couriering for a good while and
doing quite well at it when I managed to figure out how I could supply Razor
with the original Quake. After succesfully doing so, I decided supplying was
my route to the top. Many titles and a year later, I supplied Red alert (c)
Westwood Studios and TSR decided to make that title his going away ride.
With his retirement came my getting the opportunity to run the group. I have
since retired and returned and now I am in a state of limbo. I still run
the group, but not like I used to.
<NWR> Like so many in the scene, you got your start as a courier. You are
probably one of the last people who I would have expected to start as one.
I was not around when the scene made the transition to the internet. What
is your take on the transition from BBS's to sites? Has it hurt or helped
the scene?
<The Punisher> I've always been a person who believed in the theory that a
good leader will lead by example. "Follow me!" instead of "Go ahead!" I
started as low as I could possibly go and earned my way up. I got a lot
of grief from others who weren't couriers that liked to put me down at the
time saying I was just a simpleton courier, but after beating every supplier
on their own turf (their best company to get games from), and being voted
#1 PC game supplier of all time, I think I've proven my point. As far
as BBS's and the Internet I believe it's a mixed bag. The BBS's were much
more secure and personal, people know who each other were. Scene parties
were much more flagrant and get togethers were encouraged between the elites.
Now it's terrifying if someone get's your phone number let alone your full
name. I'm not going to bag on the internet however, it has revolutionized
the scene in more ways then one. It has brought everyone mainstream and
given even the newbies a fighting chance against the old conglomerate
groups like Razor, Class, Paradigm etc. I think that competition breeds
quality and revised methods of thinking. Something we didn't have with
the boards.
<NWR> Quake and Red Alert are both huge titles. What other blockbusters
have you been able to bring in for Razor?
<The Punisher> Oh hell, let me think...Heavy Gear, Comanche 3, Star Wars
Rebellion, Interstate 76, Grand Prix Legends, recently Midtown Madness and
Xwing Alliance, over 140 titles altogether from me. However, I seriously
doubt anyone wants to read about me patting myself on the back...
<NWR> It's good that you bring up X-Wing and Midtown Madness, because I was
going to ask you about those two titles in particular. My collegue Prozac
and I have noticed Razor tends to still have the ability to find the top
titles like those, Starcraft Brood Wars, and others. With the resources to
get titles like that, why aren't we seeing more quantity to go with the quality?
<The Punisher> Well, I'll be honest. There is a lot of talent in Razor with
no one to guide it or hone it into a blade, (excuse the pun), I had more
time when I wasn't concentrating on my career and paying off all those
fucking bills. I guess the time hasn't come for someone to take the initiative
to carry the group to a new level. I come around when I can and supply what
I can when I have time, but that's not enough to keep a group alive.
<NWR> What do you say to the critics of Razor, those who say "they aren't
what they used to be? Is it unfair to compare the Razor of today to the
great teams of the past?
<The Punisher> For the most part the scene today is based on groups
revolving around one to two insiders with the occasional store pickup.
Class does it with Hemp, Prozac and Skill and Paradigm with Leno, Zeus,
Drizzt... Razor, with yours truely being the lucky person and Origin
claims not to rely on one or two people but at the same time they can't
compete in the US market and never will without USA insiders. So no,
it's not fair to compare... in the past Razor had a team of suppliers
and crackers instead of one or two to count on. If one method fails,
goto another if all else fails call the insider and get it from him.
A chain reaction so to speak of supply methods. That still exists but
not as effectively.
<NWR> If the groups today are indeed supported mainly by a few people,
why do we still see 20-30 members in each group? What do the rest of
the people do?
<The Punisher> Different things I guess...cannon fodder on one hand, or
card suppliers, organizers, couriers, people that used to do shit and
dont anymore, people that promise to do shit and never do and a few of
them are actually friends you enjoy having around.
<NWR> A lot of the people in other groups were surprised to see ttol as
a Razor member this month. From what I understand, he was at least
partially responsible for your release of a dupe last week. One of
your other active suppliers left to join Origin, apparently over some
mishap with ttol as well. Although it was rumoured that Cyric was leaving
Razor for some time, what happened there, and why was ttol offered membership
in the first place?
<The Punisher> Actually, I don't know why he was invited to join Razor and
he was responsible for the dupe that he stole from TPC's shell unbeknownst
to any other Razor members. Cyric left because of those actions he says
but he joined Origin awfully quick. Since I'm familiar with the recruiting
game, I'm willing to bet it would have happened anyhow. TTOL was given
the boot and life goes on.
<NWR> It seems that Paradigm and Class have really broken free from the rest
of the groups this year. Origin does their UK games, and Razor does the
odd big title, but those two groups take all the rest. Why do you think
that we're seeing two groups dominating like this? In the past we would
see 4-5 groups putting out titles, but now it's a surprise when a US game
is not put out by PDM or CLS.
<The Punisher> They've got the talent, the determination, and the force.
(couldn't resist since Phantom Menace is so close). Realistically, they
are on the swing this year and more power to them. Things change and people
change, it will happen and you will see different outcomes as always.
<NWR> The scene is constantly in flux, as you mentioned. Groups rise and
fall, and suppliers come and go. Yet Razor's membership stands virtually
unchanged month after month. Is Razor still seeking fresh blood? Who will
carry the torch in 2000 if you are semi-retired?
<The Punisher> Good question, if you find someone with a decent resume...
please send him my way. :) I'm not sure really...only time will tell and
I may be back full swing sometime soon. At this point I highly doubt it,
but you never know.
<NWR> Who does the day to day work in Razor? If you don't have the time,
who is on top of the store games every day? Who tracks down the patches,
kicks the crackers in the ass? Does Razor have people working on the smaller
stuff, or will we continue to see only your big games?
<The Punisher> The day to day chores are handled a little bit by everyone.
Toast has been a great asset to the group as well as Jkowall and Shinobi not
to mention others. We do still have one of the if not the greatest crackers
in history who we all know as Beowulf. Not to mention Wolverine, Beep, MrNop
and a few other crackers who we recently recruited. Razor will continue as
it is and with the flow of games from myself and others will do what we can
to bring the scene the quality it has come to expect from us.
<NWR> Last week NWR spoke to ][ce in this space. He has been one of the most
vocal opponents of Razor. Although he has always been a handful, there is
no doubt that he and Cypher can and do supply many games. What happened
with them leaving Razor, and why all the bad blood?
<The Punisher> Ok, lets get it out...Ice (I refuse to spell it with the ][),
and the babbling no english speaking Cypher situation. Ice and Cypher were
a great asset to Razor at one point and they carried a lot of the weight of
the group. Ice is a fantastic supplier that still needs to learn some people
skills and what fights to pick and which to pass. (funny me saying that,
everyone told me the same thing) Anyhow, he will eventually someday grow
up and get laid for once and lose the brash attitude he carries. Ice and
Cypher tried to split Razor into Razor US and Razor UK and wanted to run the
Razor UK part of the group which was unacceptable. It's Razor 1911...period.
They didn't agree and felt like it they had single handedly changed the world
of Razor somehow which albeit they supplied a great deal, wasn't going to
happen. Then came the point of the seniors meeting which even though I was
retired I was invited to join since I had originally recruited Ice for Razor.
It was a tragic mess, everyone fought and nothing was solved, Ice asked me to
pick sides and I refused to do so since remaining neutral would have been the
only thing for me to do since I was inactive. This upset him at me personally
for a while and they eventually got the boot from the other seniors. The
reality is I had spoken with Pitbull, (leader at the time), and The Speed
Racer (friend and advisor), on a conference call and I was against them
being booted since I felt it would really hurt the group. But the decision
was out of my hands and they were toasted. Seeing how they reacted to me
personally as well as the group which had helped them in more ways then one
really upset me and left a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths which is why
they eventually had to form their own group since no one else wanted them.
Now they are doing great...more power to them. I wish them the best of luck.
<NWR> I'd like to thank you for taking the time to speak to NWR today, do you
have any final comments or greets?
<The Punisher> I'm really glad to see Lester is doing something productive
and hopefully this scene mag continues to grow. I don't do interviews very
often so you should all feel honored. :) Only greets I have are for my real
life friends from the scene and the Razor family. Oh yea, I'd like to ask
everyone to message The Renegade Chemist on irc and ask about his fucking
couch. That has to be the ugliest god damn thing I've ever witnessed.
============================================================================
Lechucky hasn't been around for as long as The Punisher, but he has done
something few others have managed to do... put a dent in the Origin stronghold
known as the UK. We get his thoughts on the state of Class, the Thrust, Twist
and Turn release, and more.
<NWR> Hello Lechucky, and thank you for agreeing to do a NWR games interview
this week. Let's start off by stating your full nick and past and current affils.
<Lechucky> Lechucky - Class - Fairlight - Aod
<NWR> Class has been a very successful group from their creation. How did you
come to be a part of Class, and what is your role in it today?
<Lechucky> Well close to a year ago, i contacted a friend in Class, as i noticed
i was able to get games early enought to be able to supply and wanted to give
it a shot at supplying. he UK is a very hard place to supply from but it has
worked out towards our favor a few times, my role today in Class is still as
before, Supplier.
<NWR> What are some of the games you have done in the past?
<Lechucky> The games i am most proud of are Championship Manager 3, Warzone
2100 and F16 Agressor, although i cant really stand Championship Manager 3,
find it so boring and slow. It was a long awaited game, and a funny supply.
<NWR> Last week, NWR had a chance to interview ][ce of Origin. He and Cypher
have been the ones most active in the UK scene, but Class has gained a
foothold there of late. Is the UK still Origin's backyard, or will CLS be
taking more of that pie for themselves?
<Lechucky> Well Origin will always have a the upper hand in the UK as things
are now, and they do a pretty good, the balance latey has tipped away from
them, its a hard place to supply from and not alot of people have been able
to supply constantly, I think for now its there backyard for now but unlike
before were they didnt have to race when a game came in, they have to now to.
Its only been this year ive been able to become more active, Studying and
working and trying to juggle a girlfriend isnt the best combo for a supplier :]
<NWR> A lot of people who have the same hobby we do tend to get so wrapped up
in it that their other lives suffer. I know people who have dropped out of
school because of the scene, or made other sacrifices. You mentioned your
girlfriend and your studies... does she know what you do?
<Lechucky> For me, studies will always come first, no matter what... oh and
my girlfriend of course :). I only wanna go through this studying shit once
and not ever come back to college. But i understand how some people can take
it all a bit to seriously but its not worth dropping out of college for, its
not somthing worth giving up the finer points in life (i.e shagging) and
theres always the risk factor but like alot of things No risk, no fun.
<NWR> Class has a reputation of being very difficult to communicate with. You
have no public channel, and even for people who have been around for a long
time in other groups don't seem to know much about you. Why the seclusion?
Is it for security reasons, or are you all just naturally unsocial?
<Lechucky> Well if you remember back Class used to be public chan even tho
it was +m at all times, after a few take overs the channel went +i. I dont
think its seclusion, if someone really wants to contact us there is a way,
and most people in the scene know a few members (love or hate us), its not
really a security thing i thing... well i dont think so anyway. Its More of
one less agro to deal with. As channel takeovers can be a pain to deal with.
I always try to be helpful if i ever get msgs with someone having a problem
with one of our releases and try to reslove any problems for them but
sometimes you cant help certin people there just plane dumb.
<NWR> Recently the scene has seen a lot of fixes for games. Paradigm's Formula
One required two official fixes last week, and your release of The Operational
Art of War 2 went unfixed by CLS for over 5 days. Fixes are unfortunately
a product of the need for speed in today's competitive scene, but why do we see
CLS ignoring the need to fix their games more frequently than other groups?
<Lechucky> Well fixes do happen, they're a nasty thing and no one likes it when
one is required, but when a group is in a rush, wanting to win on a game, over
looking a point, not testing all the possable funcations. It happens to all
groups at some point, sometimes you wont know it needs a fix until later on in
the game or how the game funactions (i.e settlers 3 / gangsters ).
With The Operational Art of War 2, yeah Class fucked up on that one i'll be
the first to say, i didnt know it needed a fix until the pdm one was out.
<NWR> Last week we saw The Player's Club release a game from the UK in Thrust,
Twist, and Turn. I've already asked ][ce what the hell happened on that one,
as Origin or yourself generally nail down those UK titles before a group like
TPC would have a chance. TPC seems to have been unable to continue their
success into this week (no releases), but Grind seems to think TPC has a
chance at those titles now. What do you feel about TPC's chances in that
tough market?
(The Thrust Twist and Turn section from NWR46 was pasted for Lechucky)
<Lechucky> Hmm well i dont like taking away anything form TPC and there great
work on TTT, but with ice/cypher (fast bloody limeys) and me it will be very
hard, but maybe not impossable to keep their work up. There's alot of factors
which are against them, one being the ever increasing protections on games,
in the past some games have been in the stores for a good few days before they
were cracked. Also there's only a hand full of crackers in the scene that
can deal with these ever increasing and changing protections in a fast manner.
I guess were only have to see how well they do in time, i wish them all the
luck, the more compation the more fun it gets.
<NWR> There have been rumours of internal trouble in Class lately, and even
talk of a break in the crew. Is this just wishful thinking, or perhaps
recruiting propaganda? Are there problems in Class?
<Lechucky> all i can say all groups have problems, its the strong ones that
work out the problems and keep going.
<NWR> Last month Class put out Requiem - Avenging Angel. The game was really
solid, but some of the other groups cried foul because of the D3D/3DFX being
ripped and released as addons. My opinion on the matter was that it was a
good enough game to circumvent the faction rules your group abides by, but
it raises the question... are the Faction rules out-dated?
<Lechucky> Well, releases like Requiem will always cause a stir and bring
up new questions, should the faction rules be updated or changed? There
have been a few releases done in the past in the same style as Requiem...
i.e releasing the working game and making addons for the brand of 3d card
you have, or doing 2 releases 1 being the software, other the 3dfx etc.
PDM [has] done it with Redguard a while back, i didnt see anything really
wrong with it. For now i think chaning the Faction rules is not needed and
would be silly :).
<NWR> A lot of couriers read this scene review, and there is a lot of talk
about the Devotion/Class/Siege relationship and how it affects the power
base of the courier scene. What is the relationship, and why do those
three groups tend to occupy the same sites?
<Lechucky> Well take a example, Garoto, he is in all the 3 groups you said
above, and I dont think anyone can dout his trading skills, and I've worked
with him on a many times and has done a great job, a few times we would
have lost if it wasnt due to him, i think your find the relationship is
well earned.
<NWR> Last month, CLS made up for a poor showing in the year to date by
winning the month running. China Blue publicly announced prizes for the
best supporters of your group last month. I've spoken to a few CLS members,
and they were unanimous in saying they were definately thinking about
those P3's when wondering if they should spend time tracking down a title,
or go to the movies. CLS has so far maintained that momentum into May.
How much of a dropoff if any do you think we'll see this month?
<Lechucky> well of course when ever there is a prize like that, were all
human and of course it will enter a suppliers/crackers mind, but there
was The same effort put in by me as i do every month regardless, if you
take a look at the past 2 years, there was hasnt been any sort of prize
then and we still saw a Strong constant showing by Class. I dont think
there be a drop off, we can speak all we want about it, but only time
will tell show.
<NWR> Where do you see yourself a year from now?
<Lechucky> Well, I think a year from now rips will be still going strong,
and were gonna see a new generation of protection schemes. so crackers will
have their work cut out for sure. I dont think iso will take over anytime
soon, I hope i'll still be in the scene.
<NWR> I'd like to thank you again, Lechucky for agreeing to speak with us
today. Do you have any final comments or greets?
<Lechucky> Thanks for having me, wish you guys all the luck with nwr and i
hope you keep it up, greets to all of my great friends in Class, Fairlight
and Aod, and also to most of the hard working groups in the scene
pdm/rzr/ogn etc. personal greets to, ofd, lgb, sun tzu, hemp, cedric,
Thargon, xfrog, ][ce(die), Gal, morbid(fat), gollie and everyone else or
somthin :)
=----------------------------------=--------------------------------------=
-----------[ Bud's Biased Utils Section ]-----------
Beats me where the fuck bud is... ;p
Think he's at E3? ... i dunno....
Lester is pissed tho, cause we haven't gotten a single review
of VGC yet.... heh...
Come back, bud, for god's sake... or grad will want to do the
report.... ... ... (he *is* the leader of the #1 CAD/CAM util
group in the scene, you know)...
Come back, or we will bring JJ out of retirement...... ack!!!
=----------------------------------=-------------------------------------=
=---------[ Lester's Movie Reviews ]----------=
Sure he's a prominent scene member, leader of the #1 courier
group, and former "Miss Scene 1995".. But did you also know that
in real life, Lester's real name is "Roger", and he hosts a popular
syndicated television show, where he plays a big fatass who has
nothing better to do with his time than go to every single movie
ever released? Well.. now you know..
The Mummy
Starring: Brendan Fraser
Rating: 3 Stars
The Indiana Jones for the 90's. Though this is based on the Anne Rice novel.
Pretty gnarly effects and a decent cast to bring together this story about
a really old guy who tries to destroy the world to get his girlfriend back.
jeez..now every girl is gonna want their guy to do that..sigh god damn
hollywood does it again.
------
Election
Starring : Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick
Rating: 2 1/4 Stars
MTV Films brings us yet another youth driven flick. There are some quality
jokes and one liners in here, but the overall movie and tempo is not so
great..also there's a little too much attempted depth for an MTV picture.
<g> I'd suggest renting or vcd..because it IS funny
=----------------------------------=-------------------------------------=
=---------[ VCD Group and Movie Reviews ]----------=
VCD Group and Movie Review
We would like to begin by explaining some of the common terms used in VCD
releasing. These formats are:
CAM - A cam is usually a handheld camera snuck into a full theatre. The base
is shaky, the audio is poor, you can hear people laughing and talking. A cam
is distinguishable by usually having a combination of all three or more of
these flaws. Most sites nuke cams for their general poor quality.
Workprint - An early release of a movie. These are usually stolen or leaked
copies of movies that have made their way onto VCD from VHS or a variety of
other sources. These will usually contain running time codes as well as other
identifying marks used in movie production. The quality on these can vary
from bad to very good depending on the quality of the source material used to
encode the VCD. Note: This category is also used for very bad screeners or
copies of movies that just didn't fit into any of the other categories due to
defects or problems with the quality of the VCD's audio/video image.
Telesync - Basically a very good Cam. A steady base such as a tripod is used,
the theatre is empty or very close to empty, and the audio and video are up
to par. Although, you can usually detect some flaw with a TS. You may see a
random head pop up, the screen edges are noticable, or the audio isn't always
crystal clear. While not perfect, the quality in general of a telesync ranges
from good to very good and is usually the first type of VCD made of a new
movie.
Screeners - These are the top quality VCDs. They can be in either widescreen
(letterbox) or in full-screen (pan and scan) with excellent audio and video.
These are made from video distributors demo tapes, reviewers copies, insider
copies of the film or from any number of sources. Most screeners will contain
"1-800-NO-COPIES" or "Property of.." messages somewhere in the film, but it's
not a requirement to fit into the screener category. These most closely
resemble a VHS or LaserDisc copy of the movie. They're easily identifiable by
their top quality.
Special Thanks to Ryche of EViLiSO for the education in VCD terms, and to
come.to/vcddupe for keeping us up to date on the new titles.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryche's Really Biased VCD Group Report #13
Ah yes, I am back. Here's a few sample comments from people about
NWR without me.
<Anonymous> SUCKED
<Anonymous> SUCKED
<Anonymous> SUCKED
Never fear fans, Im back in action and better than before! The itching
and swelling has gone down and Im peeing clear again. This week we saw a
new report pop up doing its worst imitation of this one. Call out the NWR
Lawyers! They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but
not when it sucks as bad as that one. Don't be fooled, NWR is your true
VCD Group report source.
Sometime last week, a few of the VCD groups got together and had a small
meeting (fight)about some new rules, which some groups did and some groups
didn't agree to. Basically its over the Telesync and whether they have to
have PERFECT sound to be considered a TS or with out perfect sound its a
CAM and should be nuked. I have news for you guys, a Telesync IS a cam.
Its just a good one. There is almost ALWAYS some flaw with each one. Whether
its the audio, the picture, the slanted screen, etc. No one considers them
Cams unless theyre just absolutely horrible and unwatchable. Nice try to
enforce rules on people and sites that dont give a fuck though. Kudos for
acting like a real scene for once..
One thing I would like EViLISO to address, however, OWNS is that lately
Ive taken YOUR some heat ASSES for being a little "too" biased. I dont
think BOW Im too out of line DOWN and I try to be as AND fair and WORSHIP
even in the report as possible. Almost every group has had good THEM weeks
and when they did, LIKE we do a good job of THE letting the public know
about GODS it. Everyone has THAT good weeks and THEY bad weeks. And no,
I do not, despite what people ARE say, use subliminal messages in the
report.
Was actually a slow week in VCD but Ive thrown in some goodies this week
like an interview with two of the members of DTD, about porn VCD's, and
the Wired article on George Lucas' concerns over net piracy with my
commentary included. Now, without further ado..
Releases for the Week of May 3, 1999 to May 10, 1999 (Yes, I missed another
week, so what?) European Translation: Releases for the week of 3 May, 1999
to 10 May 1999
050499 - Pushing Tin - Telesync - VCD-EUROPE
050599 - eXistenZ - Telesync - EVILISO
050699 - Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane - Telesync - NOTCTP
050799 - She's All That - Screener - EVILISO
050899 - Entrapment - Telesync - EVILISO
- VCD-Europe -
Well theyve gone to releasing telesyncs which is off from thier normal stance
of mostly screeners. This is the trend for the european groups this week.
Pushing Tin is the Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack movie about Air
Traffic Controlers. Comedy is what I think it was supposed to be.
- Total 2 Points -
- NOTCTP -
Yeah, right. Its not Centropy. Really its not. Another example of one of
the Screener groups releasing Telesyncs but not wanting to "soil" thier
image by doing it under thier own name. Instructions: Pull down pants,
stick from ass. Blood and Guts is an action comedy that mixes violence
with being funny. What a concept.
- Total 2 Points -
- EViLISO -
EViLISO released a few things this week, the most recognizable being
Entrapment. Now all you horndogs can watch Catherine Zeta Jones stick her
ass through the lasers at home where you really wanted her. Other releases
this week were ExistenZ (WTF?) which is a movie directed by David Cronenberg
(whacked out freak who made The Fly, Scanners, Videodrome, Naked Lunch)
about virtual reality and wierd shit like actually plugging yourself in
through your belly button or something. Strange. She's All That? Well..
the IGN screener wasn't all that so we get another screener of it. No
points for it though.
- Total 3 Points -
Group of the week? EViLISO for ammount of releases and for Entrapment,
which was on the most wanted list of the week. Hopefully next week will
give me more to do. Until then, read this over and over.
Wipe them out. All of them..
- Ryche -
=------------------------=
DTD Interview by Ryche
This week I continue the Porn VCD Group Interview series with a fireside chat
with Xarion and K|Z of DTD (#dtd) who are a newer group in Porn VCD. I didnt
get to interview them together but thier respective interviews are here in
full. Xarion is a senior in the group while K|Z is one of thier top encoders.
I'd like to thank them both personally and if I met you in person I'd probably
shake your hands (if you washed them a few times first maybe). Support your
local porn group!
------------------------
<Ryche> Ok, tell me who you are, where you come from, and how DTD started.
<Xarion> well, I should start with how it started, the main founder Dalamar
was recruiting members, and then I and a few others joined.. from there it
was going to be a 0day and ISO group, currying and releasing whatever we
could.. but then Dalamar had to move, and things really slowed down.. it
was dead for a while, and then Fobsolo, Night-Owl and myself tried to get
things going and we started getting sites, couriers and just get things
going again..
<Xarion> as for who we are, well DTD is really a release and curry group.
Since it started off as a curry group, we are still doing that, but we are
also releasing VCD's (xxx of course) :) just for fun.. but that also brought
us to currying VCD's as well, so we do a lot of things
<Ryche> Where did you guys come from? other groups.. or just hanging out
in chans over here?
<Xarion> well, a lot of it started off with people in public channels,
because that's where Dalamar was recruiting.. once the 3 of us picked up
the group since Dalamar was not here for so long, the 3 of us were
getting people from groups, and friends who were in groups, etc..
<Xarion> so far we've had 8 XXX vcd's released.... 3 of them were Jenna =)
<Ryche> So I take it most of you are Jenna Jameson fans?
<Xarion> hehe, yeah... and we will be doing a bunch more Jenna flicks soon =)
<Ryche> So are you guys a buncha young cats or a buncha old pervs with hairy
palms?
<Xarion> well, we are not a total XXX vcd group.. DTD stands for Dominant
Trading Division, we have just released XXX vcd's so far because they are
easier than say apps and games.. we just had a few members who were able
to rip them, so we decided we would release them to build DTD to what it
is now, and it seems to have worked :)
<Ryche> heh, but no comment on the hairy palms thing.
<Ryche> Is there any kind of porn you guys wouldn't release? fisting? horse
fucking? nuns with whips?
<Xarion> haha... no, we aren't a bunch of freaks =) we stick to normal, but
hardcore porn..
<Ryche> Nuns with whips isn't normal?
<Ryche> err.. lets move on..
<Ryche> Do you think theres too much porn on the net, or do you live by the
too much is never enough rule?
<Xarion> well there is a lot of porn on the net, yeah =) but when we started
releasing there were only a few other groups, so as for VCD porn, there isn't
that much really.. there has been a few new groups popping up.. but, IMO
too much is never enough =)
<Ryche> So do you spend alot of time with your porn collection?
<Xarion> haha, no...
<Ryche> Do you get alot of requests for certain movies/actresses/actors?
<Xarion> yep... that is a big reason for the Jenna ones, a lot of people like
her so we like to release what people like to see.. and we usually release
what people request too, if they are good and well known..
<Ryche> Whos your personal favorite besides Jenna? any up and cumming actresses
we should know about?
<Xarion> hmm... probably more of Shane, Chasey Lain, Stephanie Swift and
Saint
<Ryche> Do you guys get alot of flak from other porn groups? Is there alot of
cutthroat competition like there is in ISO/VCD?
<Xarion> nah.. to us it's mostly just for fun.. since there isn't really a
porn "scene" or a big one like ISO/VCD anyway, there isn't much competition,
not in our eyes anyways..
<Ryche> Not much competition as in DTD owns all these worthless faggot ass
groups, or as in not a whole lot of releasing groups at the moment?
<Xarion> nono... a lot of our members know members from other groups like
pornorder, pornolation, and tok.. we don't think we are any better than any
of them, or think they are worthless faggot ass groups.. hehe
<Ryche> Awww come on.. you dont hate any of them?
<Xarion> hehe... there is just one group, heaven.. new group I guess, and it
seems they are releasing PPV porn's ..those are censored, which is pretty
lame to release... that's the only group I can think of =)
<Ryche> CENSORED?!?!
<Xarion> hehe, you don't see any of the action, you hear the chick but you
don't see whats happening..
(Note to self: Nuke Heaven releases 100x)
<Ryche> Those are nuked immediately though right?
<Xarion> hehe, well we don't put them on any of our own sites, but i've seen
their releases staying on some sites...
<Ryche> Oh thats something I wondered.. what are your sites like? Are they
just chock full of pics, avi's, porn vcds, etc?
<Xarion> nah... no pics or avi's or whatever, hehe... just the porn vcd's..
but since we curry as well, ISO's too.. we are not total porn freaks =)
<Ryche> Sure your not Xarion... sure your not. Keep telling your therapist
that.
---------------------
-K|Z is one of the main encoders for DTD and was nice enough to give me an
impromptu interview from the "working class" of perverts. <G>
---------------------
<Ryche> whats it like being in a porn group?
<K|Z> dunno it's like going to a store
<K|Z> you don't want to be seen going in
<Ryche> HAHAHAHAA
<Ryche> so you guys dont want anyone to know your in DTD?
<K|Z> no DTD is fine cuz we're curry's
<K|Z> but if we had a name like PORN-DTD
<K|Z> i wouldn't hang in that channel
<K|Z> my sister drops by and shit
<K|Z> she can read irc
<Ryche> how olds your sister?
<Ryche> never mind, next question..
<Ryche> so are like everyone in this group a buncha undercover pervs hiding
as a curry group?
<Ryche> or just a curry group acting like pervs?
<K|Z> perv's hiding under curry group name
<K|Z> we're the old guy nekkid under the trench coat
<Ryche> So you were saying earlier to me that the XXX scene isnt organized.
Edge- from Pornolation was telling me that there really hasnt been alot of
dupes or races yet in the scene. Is it getting tougher or just full of more crap?
<K|Z> yah it's not organized, i'd like to see some organization...hopefully
some of the established groups, deciding on something or other...
<K|Z> i haven't checked out the new stuff released
<K|Z> so i can't say if it's more crap
<K|Z> or not
<Ryche> Porn rules(!) ?
<K|Z> what is valid
<K|Z> are old stuff okay
<K|Z> does it have to have known stars
<K|Z> if they should have sample files
<K|Z> or not
<K|Z> it's not telesync so why'd you need a sample file? as far as i know there
is no TS pr0n releases yet.
<Ryche> I wouldnt think cam recording in a porn theatre would be that big of
a hit anyway
<Ryche> instead of seeing someone get up and walk away and hearing coughing
<Ryche> youd see splooge on the camera lens and hear a buncha people going
"UHHHHH" in the audience.
<Ryche> Whats the wierdest porn you ever saw?
<K|Z> I don't watch weird porn...
(Editors Note: Yeah, right..)
<Ryche> Do you think porn vcd is just a fad or its here to stay?
<K|Z> it's here to stay, the net is infamous for nekkid pictures, xxx vcd
is just one step up
<Ryche> Do other iso/vcd groups take you guys seriously or are you looked
down upon because you release porn?
<K|Z> wow that's a tough one...don't know really...they don't really care
i suppose
<Ryche> Do you encode your own tapes or image original vcds?
<K|Z> 2 of our releases were images from original vcd, but as for me i encode...
<Ryche> Do you get alot of people coming in the channel begging for porn?
<K|Z> unfortunately we do :P, but that's like any release channel, mostly
we get people asking for a certain rar file...
<Ryche> Anyone we would know? or we could make fun of?
<K|Z> anyone you would know? uhhhh no they all wear caps sunglasses, and a
fake mustache when they come in here.
<Ryche> You ever get a guy named Lester begging for "Animals Who Love Men?"
or something similar? How about people with the hostmask of @r0cks.risciso.com
asking for anal exploration videos?
<K|Z> No, but i'll keep a eye out for em
<Ryche> Whos the hottest new porn star we should be downloading and watching?
<K|Z> dunno, it's all a matter of opinion now isn't it? depending what you
like...we try to release different stuff now and then...
<K|Z> different types of pron , not just the usual vivid stuff
<Ryche> well in your opinion, whos a hottie thats just a dirty slut? :)
(Editors Note: No chinablue and jess jokes) <G>
<K|Z> jenna's a dirty slut, (I don't like girls with silicone) oh shit i'm
gonna get killed for that comment :)...doubt she can feel it...she'd feel
mine though...uhhh most euro girls are nice cuz they have real tits
<Ryche> eurogirls? like who? gimmee some names!
<K|Z> anita blond, and sylvia saint..
<Ryche> Ill be looking for those two then..
<Ryche> Well, its time to wrap this up.. anybody you wanna give a shout out
to or say suck it to?
<K|Z> suck it? hahaha ..shout to people who actually do shit to make the
scene better, iso release groups, mp3 release groups , vcd release groups
etc... cheers mate, it was fun talkin to yah.
<Ryche> Uhh.. yeah, same. :D
=----------------------=
Ahhh... another fine mainstream media article.. this one is from our good
friends at wired.com... you'd think they'd get it right, after that dead-on
"warez" article they did a few years back about the (shocking!) warez
scene, and its massive use of the "usenet" as its main technique for
file transfer... *sigh*... that was strike one.. i suppose this article
is strike two... would someone please put wired news out of their misery? ;p
-editors
Lucas: Net Piracy Is a Menace
by Joyce Slaton
(as printed on www.wired.com)
Eight bucks is a lot to pay for a movie,
but it's a small price next to a jail
sentence.
(NWR: This opening line must have taken about
2 seconds and one brain cell to come up with)
That's the message being sent by
Lucasfilm, which has enlisted the FBI's
computer crime task force to fight its war
against Phantom Menace piracy.
"We have referred certain matters to the
FBI," said attorney Terrence P. McMahon,
whose firm, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe,
is Lucasfilm's Phantom piracy
representative. "We are combining forces
with law enforcement and the motion
picture industry to attempt to eliminate
the distribution of bootleg and pirated
copies of Episode I."
Calls to the FBI for comment were not
returned. (NWR: How surprising)
Lucasfilm's piracy fears aren't
unwarranted. The first Phantom trailer
spread online faster than pinkeye in a
kindergarten class. It was uploaded onto
fan sites mere minutes after its release.
(NWR: duh, Lucasfilm posted it on
www.starwars.com, what'd they expect?)
Company insiders fear that Web piracy
will make a serious dent in its theater
receipts. Piracy is big business, says Ken
Jacobsen, vice president and director of
the Motion Picture Association's US
Anti-Piracy Operations. He estimates that
pirates cost the motion picture industry
US$3.5 billion worldwide every year.
(NWR: Sigh, another ESTIMATE. Based on what?)
"What's ironic is that pirates are hurting
themselves indirectly," Jacobsen said.
"Making movies is such an expensive
proposition. If income is not made, then
new, good films won't be made either. It
damages the industry as a whole."
(NWR: What?! No more Barb Wire? No more
Ernest Saves Christmas!? Say it isnt true!!)
Wary from watching what MP3 files are
doing to the music industry, moviemakers
are determined to stop pirates from
diluting their trademarks and draining
cash from their coffers.
(NWR: Heaven forbid they should make less
than 200 gazillion this year)
"Pirating has long been a problem for the
movie industry, but now with the
widespread use of the Net it becomes an
even [more] heightened concern,"
McMahon said. He claims there have
already been indications that pirates plan
to post illegal copies of Phantom online.
(NWR: Everything is posted online morons)
"Anybody with a computer is potentially a
pirate," said Frank Creighton, antipiracy
chief of the Recording Industry
Association of America, who has learned
a thing or two about Net piracy in recent
years. "With a click or a keystroke, you
could be distributing unauthorized
recordings to hundreds, if not millions, of
users. The potential for financial damage
is exponential."
(NWR: If you have millions of users on your
site, its time to make some cuts)
The process of pirating films is certainly
simple enough. Sometimes a studio
employee steals a copy of a
yet-to-be-released movie for duplication,
but more often a projectionist or movie
watcher uses a camcorder to record the
movie at a theater showing. Once that
video is transferred into a digital file and
uploaded, it spreads like a virus. Just ask
the makers of The Matrix and
Entrapment, two movies that have been
making the digital rounds via college
campus networks.
(NWR: This is where Joyce Slaton uses what is
known as literary license. Entrapment hadn't
been released on the net yet when this article
was posted, throwing out what little credibility
the article might have had)
Complicating matters further is the Net's
international reach, Jacobsen said.
"The seller of a pirated film could be in
Malaysia, the buyer in Germany,"
Jacobsen said. "The laws in each area will
be different, they'll be enforced
differently. How's a copyright holder
supposed to enforce all these different
laws in the far-flung locations of our
cyber-swapmeet?" (NWR: Hint: You can't)
Perhaps that's why Lucasfilm has
seemingly decided that the best defense
is swift offense. Last week Lucasfilm
representatives sent letters to about 700
ISPs, warning them that unauthorized
distribution of copyrighted material on
their servers would bring swift retribution
under the aegis of the October 1998
Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The
prospect of Lucasfilm and attorneys
swooping down on noncompliant fan sites
is a scary one for Star Wars fans -- but
not as scary as the possible outcome of
rampant piracy. (NWR: Please use retribution
on the bastards at my ISP. I keep getting
disconnected)
"The fans need to listen to what Lucas
has said about piracy," Jacobsen said. "If
no income is generated from this movie,
we won't be seeing the next episode."
(NWR: You dont really believe that do you?)
-Ryche
=----------------------------------=-------------------------------------=
-----------[Blast from the Past!]-----------
Here is another in the NWR series of "Blast From the Past" articles, where
we hope to share some of the scene's rich and coloured history with some of
the newbies out there... ;p
The full text of these interviews can be found in INQ-5 and 11 for those
of you who are interested...
/** The Scenario: It's late 1995, and its a battle to the death between
Razor1911, and Hybrid for games supremacy.. There was not a lot of love
between these 2 groups, and even less love between them and TDU-Jam..
Hoson is the leader of Hybrid, at a period many considered to be the peak
of HBD's run... **/
INQ : Who founded Hybrid and when?
Hoson : I founded Hybrid together with a german guy called LowTec back in
Winter 1993.
INQ : So it is an Euro group correct?
Hoson : Yup, correct. It used to be ran from Europe, but a few months back,
Bluewater and his old CD group, Dynamix, decided to join us. So, I
guess you can say it's not Euro based anymore, but both US and Euro
based.
INQ : If you were to rate Hybrid in realsing vs. TDU, RAZOR, ECLIPSE how do
you think you stand?
Hoson : Well, I personally think that our releases are the BEST, they are
nicely packaged, most of the time. They work, we have a cool intro,
and all files fit onto 1.44 floppies. TDU releases have the ugliest
NFO file, and Razor CD-Rips are a bit unprofessional, but they seem to
get better. Eclipse, well I'm in Eclipse as well, and since there's
not so many floppy titles anymore, Hybrid of course releases alot more
stuff.
INQ : What do u think of RAZORCD and do you think they pose a problem in
competition?
Hoson : Yeah, they got a good grip on UK and US, so they pose a real threat,
but it's nice with competitoin. The good thing about CD-Rips is that
not just anyone can go and release a CD-Rip. You have to work with
the game before you release it, and since Hybrid has the best crackers
(Randall Flagg, Cyber, Excessive Knight et cetera), we often win 'coz we
crack and rip them quite fast. To be able to crack and strip CD
titles, not only must you be good at cracking, you must also know alot
about game programming and Assembler coding.
INQ : Could you rate the CD groups from best to worst?
Hoson : Yeah sure, 1. Hybrid 2. Razor 3. TduJam 4. hmm.. are there any others
worth mentioning?
INQ : Will HYBRID stay in the games scene or branch off to utils, since
there are alot of utilis on CD now?
Hoson : Games only. Never utils. I hate utils, 'coz 75% of all utils are not
useful. Most util releases sux.
INQ : Who do you think has a better grip on suppliers TDU, HYBRID, or RAZOR?
Hoson : I think RAZOR and HYBRID. TDU - nah.
INQ : Do you think HYBRID will ever merge?
Hoson : No, I don't think so. Merge with whom? RAZOR or TDU? Haha..
INQ : Who are HYBRID's offical couriers, and do you think HYBRID with ever
have a couriering section?
Hoson : Well, we don't have any official couriers, since we don't really need
them. I mean game releases spread themselves, and we already have
quite an impressive courier section with BBS/Internet couriers.
INQ : IF Hybrid were to have official couriers who would it be?
Hoson : RiSC
INQ : Any big releases from HYBRID in the near future?
Hoson : Yeah, I've got a few aces up my sleeve. A few big titles we're getting
inside, but I'm not gonna reveal the names coz it would look bad if I
said we were gonna release a specific game and then perhaps Razor or
TDU would release it.
INQ : Why does HYBRID's realses tend to have virii?
Hoson : VIRUS? Hmmm... They don't. I know Caesar II had a virus in the
VESA.EXE file, but it wasn't in all versions. I heard something
about a virus in Fatal Racing as well. I have no virii on my
computer, so I doubt it contains one. It might be my encryption of
some .EXE files that some virus killers identifies as possible
viruses.
INQ : Do you guys have or planning to have a web page?
Hoson : Yep, check the pre-web page out at: www.tripnet.se/~electro/home out.
INQ : What about the DYNAMIX MERGE. What are your feeelings show?
Hoson : Well, without that merge we would probably not have released ANY of
the US releases that BlueWater, ChainSaw M., and Celestial Wizard put
out on regular basis, so that merge was a big leap for us.
INQ : Didn't Chainsaw M. leave RAZOR for HYBRID?
Hoson : No, he didn't. I don't think he ever was in Razor. :)
INQ : What is the WHQ?
Hoson : Park Central is our WHQ.
INQ : We're going to name off a few things - I want ya to give me your
opinion on the topics we name off.
INQ : Razor 1911/Razor CD
Hoson : I'm sceptical; they don't deserve that name, but they do release alot
of good games.
INQ : TDUJam
Hoson : Very ugly NFO file, really cool intro, terrible installer, way too
many non-working releases.
INQ : Utils Scene
Hoson : Lame. NTA always release cool stuff though. DOD are kinda cool, but
they put out to much SHIT that no one downloads anyway, it just files
for traders so they can earn their credz... bah!
INQ : The GEcko
Hoson : The Gecko? He is a nice guy! I was in NEXUS together with him for
one month or two.
INQ : Eclipse
Hoson : Cool! Good style, good release if not to many lately.
INQ : Courier Scene
Hoson : Don't know too much about it. What's so fun with a courier group?
Getting famous for pumping meggage here and there. Nah, I'd say
they're excessive, but RiSC's cool. Good FTP sites and stuff.
INQ : FanFan
Hoson : Don't know him personally. He might be a nice guy, but he's probably
one of those who doesn't stand being defeated.
INQ : Well we don't want to name off all your competitors. :) So I would
like to thank thee for your time and efforts to INQUiSITION.
This interview was conducted by GFK and Riot on Sunday, October 29, 1995.
/** Park Central was the Hybrid WHQ at the time, and most considered it the
best board in the world.. RiSC was still dominating the scene, a phenonmenon
that would not stop until amnesia unseated them several long months later..
Hybrid went idle for a while after this interview, and Rzr1911 more than
picked up the slack.. **/
.....
...
(several months pass)
... ...
/** The scenario: It is early 1996, and the BBS is dying, if not dead.
Razor 1911 was still dominating the games scene, and CLASS/PARADiGM weren't
even ideas yet... Hybrid was in a downward spiral, tho they would have one
last gasp at greatness before finally succumbing to complete idleness
(remember xmas of 96/97, when they kicked some major ass, releasing, among
other things, that amazing DIABLO rip....?). TSR talks about Razor 1911's
domination, and where he sees the group heading......... **/
-editors
Judge DRedd Interview With: The Speed Racer [Razor 1911]
INQ : Do you think that now as Cyber Angel and Tyranny are retired the floppy
scene is dead?
TSR : As far as the floppy scene goes it does look dead.
INQ : As for Hybrid?
TSR : Hybrid, I don't see releases from them in over 2 weeks, I know they owe
some suppliers, including Zeus money for his phone bill. :)
INQ : Well we CAN NOT assume; it is not official is what you're saying, right
TSR : I havent seen anything from them in over 2-3 weeks let us assume they
are.
INQ : So now as TDU is gone and so is Hybrid, do you and the Razor crew see
any more serious competition?
TSR : At this moment, we see no visible competition but who is to say what
lies in the future. I am not really worried about other groups coming
out.
INQ : Yes, I have to admit myself I think Razor's member list grows day by
day? Any new patential suppliers?
TSR : We are always on the lookout for potential suppliers and people who can
contribute to the group in a positive way.
INQ : What do you think about some new groups like LEGACy, ENERGY, NAPALM,
et cetera? Do you think there will be any competition?
TSR : Energy is a group that supplies sporadically mainly because they are
only German; they have no contacts in the US or UK which is where most
games come from.
TSR : We have a diverse group of suppliers and talents managed along with
great resources at our hands that makes us a force to be reckoned ith
INQ : There was a rumour that you were gonna quit the scene after 1995; you
did not what are your plans now?
TSR : OK, what I did do however is distribute a lot of my duties around to
other members giving them some added chores which would help the group
out, so that nothing would be lost since I dont have the time to do so
much.
INQ : Now back to Hybrid, what do you think was the major reason they're
dead?
TSR : Well they don't have to many "decent" suppliers and financially they are
BANKRUPT. I heard that they were going to file a petition to Chapter
13; I'm still waiting on the final word on that subject; fortunately
under my guidance we have successfully maintaned a great budget, due to
creative financing at RAZOR Industries. We find that we are in the
positive side financially with money saved. :)
INQ : Yes, that's a very important aspect. Well good luck to you and Razor in
the future. It's not that often we can find you on IRC anything you'd
like to add to our readers?
TSR : Yes, actually.
INQ : Please.
TSR : I would like to especially thank the fans who worldwide download our
games and play them, as we enjoy putting out these games for them. :)
INQ : OK, I'm sure there are a lot of people who do play the games you put
out, and before I let you go, I have one more question.
INQ : A lot of readers are wondering, now as it's 1996 and things change who
is the REAL leader of RAZOR 1911? As a leader I mean a person making
the most importanat decisions, now that EOS is gone who's left? You
and...
TSR : Well we don't look at it as a single leader, because it is a group
effort, and we are a team where we draw from each other's stregnths and
patch each others weaknesses, but if you wanted to look at it that way it
would be Pharaoh, Third Son, The GEcko, and myself. :)
INQ : OK, we wish you luck in 1996. Thanks for your time!
TSR : Thank you very much :) We enjoy getting every issue of yours since
Druidkin ALWAYS puts out your issue on email to all the RAZOR guys on
the net
INQ : And as always RAZOR 1911 is on the top of the scene. This was an
interview taken on the IRC with The Speed Racer. We all wish him good
luck and health in 1996 and I guess we'll finish it right here. Thanks
for you time.
TSR : My pleasure.
* This was conducted by by Judge DRedd on January 7, 1996 *
/** Of course CLASS started up soon after, claiming several good razor and hybrid
members. ZEUS ended up leaving hybrid, to start his own group.... i think that he
ended up calling it... .... PARADiGM?... ;) Razor Floppy and RazorCD ended up
merging into one group (just razor1911), and TDU-Jam did not make its intended
comeback under the infamous Fanfan La Tulipe... (though some say that Hybrid
was re-incarnated-- as the limey power, ORiGiN!!!!) **/
-editors
=----------------------------------=-------------------------------------=
-----------[The Scene News]-----------
All the news thats fit to print...
and then some...
-Did you know that they are thinking of turning Tom Sawyer's island at
disneyland into "riven/myst" island??... now THAT is a fucking tragedy..
old walt must be rolling in his grave... ;p
-Grad officially almost retired... God save the queen.
-Some sites you can check out:
tca.phatchicks.com : blackacid's news page... best fucking news page in the
scene...
union.jaded.net : unions's goddamn page.. used to be good.. now it sucks,
never fucking updated..
www.defacto2.net : fucking AMAZING archives maintained by the founders of
the old defacto mags.. an *almost* perfect archive..
almost, i said... you know what they're missing.. ;p
www.socalsys.com : need shells, bounces, vhosts, web space?... these dudes
are scene-friendly, and got some decent deals... only
reason why i mention is cause the dude was fat enough
to hook up nd up with some action... *cough*... HAHAHAH!
www.orm.nu : wtf do i know about ISO's?... this guy has a nice page
with a decent layout... check that shit out...
www.xxxparadiso.com : uhh.... heh...heh... uhh... heh... free porn... mgd and
tc run the site.... heh... free porn... i like to look
at naked girls.. they have nice boobies.
-Some milestones in the scene this week: mgoh brought up his record 146th site,
xavier started trading again,
-mgoh got promoted to dms shell co-ord, and word has it that caserd is gonna
make a bit of a comeback to help that group get organized... they fucking
need it, that's for sure..
-group moves: cyric leaves rzr, ttol kicked from rzr, gregk joins dms,
dthangel leaves dms, thats about it...
-Some fucking smartass group named -RLT (???) released a bunch of fucking
dupes, including a dupe of TRPS, using an FCN serial... classy!!.. ;p
fucking dumb shits.. Learn to run a group, you lesbians... ;p
-MDK is back!!.. phear that shit, bitches.. you know who to talk to.
-Well... i still don't see bleem out on the market, only further supporting
my claim that bleem = all a hoax... ;p
-"citizen" of RiSC is doing surprising well in the US, #1 on a lot of good
sites... Of course, he's also the #1 restarter on all of them, so... blah
to that shit.. ;p
-I see dthangel/ben left DMS after indignantly protesting the kicking of the
incredibly idle nitro... i remember once when dthangel said to me something
to the effect of "that fucking cock-sucking queer can suck me, cause i'll
never be in another group with him again"... shortly after the first breakup
of gcrack... nice to see those 2 bitches patched shit up.. ;p
-thats all for now.. aye-aye, and goodbye... ;p
-sky masterson
=----------------------------------=----------------------------------------=
--------[Stories from the Watercooler]----------
Ahh yes, rumors. We all love them, even though we love to say how much we
hate them when they are about us- and these are some of the better ones
circulating around this week. Email us or find us on irc if you have a
good rumor you'd like entered, (your name will not be included), and we
do not add rumors like "Tdpriest is having anal sex with Fusion" because
we know that Fusion is only having sex with Xtremist and therefore there
is no hard evidence of that rumor. So, if you have real rumors, let us
know. Let's begin!
-Rumor has it that things got a little out of control the other day when
Caserd went over to play barbies at Lester's house, and lester's mom
gave them both spankings..... uhhh... who gave us this rumor...?!?!?
-Rumor has it that greyline is going to release the full source code to
his much celebrated (maligned?) daemon, GLFTPD.. It will not be an open-
source project however, and the "official" version will be maintained
by greyline. No word on whether or not a certain infamous feature will
be included.... ;p
-Rumor has it that several old RiSC members (now prominent AOD/DEV members)
are getting set to return to the RiSC nest, under the leadership of eagle_1..
yeah... right.... ;p
-Rumor has it that Chinablu is set to have yet ANOTHER child.... but in a
shocking twist, this one is NOT via her husband of several years... no!..
This one is the love-child product of her long-time secret relationship with
bwound of TAW!!!!
=-------------------------------------=--------------------------------------=
Well friends.. Thats about it. If you've read this far, we sincerly thank you.
We like to know this thing gets read, so if you get the time, drop one of us
a quick msg, and tell us what you think, give us suggestions, tell us it sucks,
or just say "hi" to us!....
Greets fly out to: jaydee, mgd, stix, tdp, hr, eci, jamili, raptor, skill,
mandrake, zeus, speedy, subzero, superfly@okcomputer, wu-dave, dee, sj, bud,
prozac, bernis, paledeth, duranged, tech+his crew, Kusa, ssava, CRC 97,
acidapple, and all the rest of you that we love...
Find us on IRC in #nwr, (channel commands: !nwr, !nwr 23 or whatever issue
you want. www.netmonkey.org
Support NWR and email your weektops to:
nwr@netmonkey.org
Thank you!
take care..
peace.
-ndetroit + lester.
NWR 5/11/98
