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Netmonkey Weekly Report Issue 46
Netmonkey Weekly Report
Issue XLVI
May 5th, 1999
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`Y$ [ n ] ETMONKEY [ W ] EEKLY [ R ] EPORT
Well we are late again as usual. We hoped to get our webpage up, but
fucking Golden is a flake!@#!)@# So everybody yell at him for it not
being up. <g> Anyways, we have *2* Games reports this week baby. Blitz
is back to redeem himself for the shitty showing last time. Along with
good old Prozac and his report. Tdpriest's Journal #2 is not going to
be released until the webpage is up. It will be posted there. So look
forward to it.
-Lester [Co-Editor/Head Writer]
Hey... better late than.... ah, fuck it... being late sucks..
Decent issue this week... we are missing prozac, bud, and ryche, and
weren't even gonna bother with putting out an issue, but.. here it
is!... check out blitz's substitute game report, and his interview
with both ][ce of OGN, and [grind] of TPC... some good reading.
Prozac graced us with an interview with tk4 of OGN and also a
few quickie reviews of VCD's....
Our good friend alkivar was kind enough to give us an nwr exclusive
picture of mr pumpkin's girlfriend!! check out that leet pic, mrpgirl.jpg
mgd wanted me to mention his pr0n site, www.xxxparadiso.com this week, so
as a favor, here is your free advertising... go check the site out.. its
basically a lot of good thumbnailed shit with a bit of advertising.. one of
the better porn sites i've been to... i mean.. not like i've been to a lot..
I mean... i've been to porn pages, but.. FUCK OFF, OK, I DIDN'T UPLOAD THOSE
PRETEEN PICS TO USENET, YOU CAN'T PROVE IT WAS ME.. FUCK OFF AND DIE.. I ONLY
LIKE BOYS... i mean.. GIRLS... i mean... ah fuck....
No webpage yet, but it will be up next week, for sure *cough*.. email us
at nwr@netmonkey.org..
Ok.. this shit's done.
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
VI.) Scene News - All the news that's fit to print
VII.) Rumors!
VIII.) Closing
---------------------[ Quotes of the Week! ]---------------------
-<CAS0RPMS> [cQOTD] <mgoh> i think seeing lester naked would be one of the
highpoints of my day
<mgoh> when did i say that?
-<mandraked> this gay guy tried to pick me up yesterday!
-[-V-] -05-06- (sitez/MNM) I_AM_LAME_AND_I_USE_PFTP
-<mgd> you couldn't tell the difference between me and some somali kid
-<glen> my isp just fucking stopped working
<glen> i should call and complain but aht defeats the purpose of using stolen
accounts
-<duranged> mnm can merge into my ass
<duranged> :D
<[siitez]> duranged...we dont want the STD's stored in your ass
-<[siitez]> someone in their grp, I have good reason to belive, is commiting acts
against courier humanity
<Evel> courier humanity?
<Evel> oh god
<[siitez]> er sorry
<[siitez]> courier inhumanity
<Evel> u make it sound like we are in kosovo
-<glen> FUCK
<glen> ONE MORE HARRASSING STATEMENT AND I AM JOINGING WLW
-<SLiP--> can someone send me MNM script
<SLiP--> i need it please.
<sitezz> MnM Script?
<||Fire||> yes
-sitezz- [Ops/#mnm] plz dont talk about that we got someone from anohter grp
in here
-SLiP--- °(WallOP/#mnm)° Someone please dcc me that MNM script.
-<[3at]> Roses are straight
<[3at]> Violets are twisted
<[3at]> Bend over my love
<[3at]> you're about to get fisted....
-<marbitoz> he wants an interview with you POiZ
<poison_> doesnt everybody ;/
<poison_> wait inline.. rolling stone is first.. then nwr.. then playgirl.. ..
-<Horde> i need to think of something funny
<Horde> so i can get quoted
-----------[ ndetroit's sites and stats section ]-----------
Hey hey hey... lets learn about sites and shit.. ;p
E is still not back, but i guess that it will be back as soon
as they find a link for it... Some new HW to go with that new link,
so thats cool, but same affils?... E used to be ogn whq, but that
honor has fallen to atx.. so i guess E will be looking for a new
games affil...*cough*tpc*cough*... hahahah...
Ok.. so all i keep hearing about is "Firefox is the next FS.. FX
is the next FS, blah, blah, blah"... guess what? it ain't.
Firesite is the #1 site in the world right now, and you ain't gonna
get close to that overnight, girls.. don't believe the hype.
In related news: 2kad dropped FX due to the TRIPLE GROUPING of crack
affils that the site took.. lame...
This double-grouping shit getting out of hand... ;p
I saw on bacid's page that there is something called "the scenenukers"
that has started up... good... about bloody time... good luck to them.
Sketch wanted me to mention a new (new to me!) THD affiled (remember
THD? they're still around!) site... The site is called "Prosperity",
and its up on a nice umu.se link. Its affils are THD WHQ, Blizzard,
Rebels, and TRSi!!...
Slow week in the scene... not a lot going on... yours truly was even
active on a few sites.. (i might even weektop somewhere! shocking!)
Hog is back up. FH is back up. MG is back up. I'm not wearing any pants.
If i had enough weektops to do the list this week, then DF3 and ATX would
join TOS as US sites... if you are a siteop, please give me your weektops,
or send them to nwr@netmonkey.org
thanks!
=--------------------------------------------------------------------------=
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 -*- DLS -*- CAT
x2 HOG -*- TOS -*- ATX -*- MG -*- DF3
* = no weektop this week.
=--------------------------------=--------------------------------------=
-----------[ Lester's Biased Courier Section ]-----------
Biased Report
See now, everytime I let someone else partake in the biased courier report
I get bombarded with msgs about how much it sucks. yes sorry Jess and Marbz..
you've been canned. Back to the OG style. Yes that's right even though I didn't
pay attention this week. I will still review!#@*)
AOD: Nothing new happened, we came, we went, we saw. Cedric and company continue
to roll along. the dominance of old is not really there. But still a stable
group as long as Cedric doesn't get too bored.
Devotion: Going strong the big boys are. Word is godbless can't use his trust
turk for more than 10 screens now though so we'll see if that has any effect
on them. You'd think if they have so many boxes Garoto and GB wouldn't be
sharing a SIEGE box..but hey who am I to say.
Dimension: Well this group is idler than MNM if that's possible. A late in the
week mass cut of like 14 people appears to be an attempt to wake the group up
and get things shaped up. Word from their camp is that a continued overhaul of
the group will make it the lean fighting machine it once was. Will it? who knows
DSC: Well they are once again rocking the US. They can't branch out to euro
though, so their presence remains minimal and unnoticed by the big boys for
the most part.
AV: Well how much longer the big merger hype will last for them is unknown,
but for now it's more life than either group has seen in a long time. Could
we have ourselves a successful merge? Well why the fuck not.
Risc: Psst, Brain sucks.
MNM: Sitez is trading...if that's what we call it still.
The report is short, and it sucks, but you know what?
=----------------------------------=--------------------------------------=
-----------[ Articles ]-----------
=----------------------------------=--------------------------------------=
-----------[ Prozac's Kinda Biased Gaming Report]-----------
Prozac was busy preparing for his travels to E3 this week, for NWR's exclusive
coverage of the biggest show of the gaming year.. Blitz graciously offered to
step in this week, and so we bring you "The Blitz Report"...
-editors
THE BLITZ REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF 04/25/99 - 05/02/99
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well I thought Prozac was away at his nerd convention, nut that's not until
next week, so I wrote this up. Prozac turned up later, but looks like mine
got in anyway. Seems like my last issue wasn't up to his standards, I guess
that's what happens when you do one in ten minutes. I'll try to be a little
more thorough this week, since I have a bit of time today.
______ /| ___ /\______ /\______
/ \/ | / _ \ / _____/ _____>
/ |_ / |/ | \\____ \ \____ \
< | < / | / | \/ | \
\ _____\_<____|___\_____ /\_____ /
+=\/======================\/=======\/==+
Well at first sight, Class looked to have a great week. Operational Art of War
was one I had been waiting for, it's one of the better in the TBS/Wargame genre.
The game is good, especially for a sequal, but users were screaming for a fix.
It seems that you couldn't load and save games properly. Paradigm finally did a
fix for it on Wedenesday of the next week, even though Class surely had enough
time to do it themselves. For totally ignoring the need to fix one of their games
yet again, no points for Class at all on this major title. What a waste. Guardian
of Darkness is a solid, but unspectacular RPG. Unfortunately this too required a
fix, but to their credit CLS put one out promptly.
On the bright side, Class did put out the new Starsiege Tribes patch. SST
usually has mean protection on these, and the game is quite popular so kudos
there. The NT fix for CM3 really can't be helped, as no game group can afford
the time to test with NT. Not a bad week for Class, even with their fixes, but
how good it could have been. They still pull off first place, but they get to
share it with our next group... a bit of a shocker.
Points Release Title
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3.0 Guardian_Of_Darkness-CLS (42F/119.0M)
-1.0 Guardian_of_Darkness_Fix-CLS (1F/0.4M)
1.0 Guardian_Of_Darkness_Speech_Addon-CLS (13F/34.2M)
0.0 Operational_Art_of_War_2-CLS (23F/66.8M)
1.0 Operational_Art_of_War_2_Music_Addon-CLS (8F/20.9M)
0.5 Starsiege_Tribes_v1.41_Patch-CLS (7F/18.5M)
0.0 Championship_Manager_3_NT_Fix-CLS (1F/2.3M)
---
5.0
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
Þßß
Pigs are flying, and it's snowing in hell. TPC finishes tied with Class for the
week. Thrust Twist and Turn is probably TPC's best release ever. Razor loses on
one game and now Origin on another? How long before TPC is racing PDM and CLS
on USA store titles? Although Extreme Mountain Biking isn't exactly Quake 3,
it's a hell of a lot better than card games. Was it a fluke? Time will tell,
but for now TPC is playing with the big boys. Check the interview with Grind
for more details on TPC's big week.
Points Release Title
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3.0 THRUST.TWIST.N.TURN-TPC (25F/59.6M)
2.0 EXTREME_MOUNTAIN_BIKING-TPC (15F/41.5M)
---
5.0
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
Paradigm seemed to keep busy in a bit of a slow week by poking around for
patches and trainers. They put out Formula One, which didn't really live up
to my expectations. It's still a solid game, but I won't be burning the ISO
any time soon. PDM took their fix knocks this week as well, Formula One had a
multitude of problems. Firstly, the game was mispackaged with the Tribond nfo
file. There was a direct3d regfix that didn't seem to do much, and there were
TWO official fixes from PDM as well. Take this all into consideration and PDM
must be a little embrassed. Their track record on doing things properly the
first time is probably the best of anyone, but lately they have really slipped.
Since PDM did manage to fix their own mistakes, they only lose half their points.
There's something to be said for admitting you messed up and fixing it.
Other than that, we saw a new Gangsters patch (which are never a walk in the
park), a major Heretic 2 patch, and the new update for Resident Evil 2. The
trainer team pitched in one for a bad game (Bubble Bobble Hero 2), and cheat
for Midtown Madness which will be appreciated. Paradigm made the best of what
they got this week, and ended up just behind CLS/TPC in third place.
Points Release Title
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1.5 Official_Formula_1_Racing-PARADiGM (20F/57.8M)
1.0 Heretic_2_v1.05_Enhancement_Pack-PARADiGM (5F/11.4M)
0.5 Bubble_Bobble_Hero_2_Trainer-PARADiGM (1F/0.0M)
0.5 Gangsters_US_UK_Update_3-PARADIGM (1F/1.6M)
0.5 Midtown_Madness_All_Tracks_And_Cars_Patch-PARADiGM (1F/0.0M)
0.5 Resident.Evil.2.v1.04.Update-PARADiGM (1F/1.2M)
---
4.5
__ ______ ______ ____ _____ ____ _____
\// _ \ _ \_\__/ _ \_\__/_\_ \
/ / / / /. / / / / / /
\______/ \____|_/\___ /___/___/ /
--------|___|---------/____\------/____\-
Origin didn't seem to get much in the way of supply this week. The UK was
quiet, and they weren't able to win on any USA store titles either. Most
of Origin's crackers feel they are above patches, so that leaves them pretty
high and dry when the UK team is quiet. TK4 busied himself with a pair though,
one finalizing his own beta release. The Railroad Tycoon patch went nicely
with their major from last week, but it wasn't the best of times for Origin.
Points Release Title
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
0.5 Railroad.Tycoon.2.V.1.05.Patch.Cracked-ORIGIN (1F/0.6M)
0.5 Warzone.2100.V.1.01.Patch.Final.Cracked-ORIGIN (1F/0.7M)
---
1.0
/\______ /\______ ____/\______ __
\____ \/ \__ \/ _ \____ \ __/ \____
/ _/ _/ \/ / / / _/ _// / / / / /
/ \ \ /\ / /\ / / \ \/ /\ / / /
\__/\ \/ \______\___/\__/\ \/ / /_/_/
======\___)===\__)============\___)=\/=======
A pair of nukes released by Razor this week. Someone over there needs to
check their releases a little more carefully. The Championship Manager patch
was a nice one. CDilla patches are usually pretty tough, and this one was a
major update for a big game. A full point there breaks them even for the week.
Points Release Title
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-0.5 STARSIEGE_TRIBES_v1.4to1.4.1_PATCH-RAZOR *NUKED*
-0.5 HERETIC_2_V1.05_PATCH_CRACKED-RAZOR *NUKED*
1.0 Championship.Manager.v3.03.Patch-RAZOR (5F/11.4M)
---
0.0
=-----------------------------=
Well I had a little time before we went to press, and decided to talk to my old
friend ][ce from Origin. ][ce is always an interesting character, so we sat down
and chatted a little about his past and Origin present. For those of you who are
not used to seeing ][ce speak in complete sentances and use punctuation, I admit
this article was edited into more a more readable format. All words inserted for
clarity are encased in square brackets.
<NWR> Hello ][ce, 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.
<][cE> my full nick is ][cE. Past affils are... god that will take forever.
Lets just go from when i started supplying. Reflux, PDM, RZR, CLS, BLH, DOD.
Current affils OGN, DVNISO, and DEV.
<NWR> That's quite a few. Is there any reason why you seemed to bounce around a l
ot before taking over the leadership role in Origin with Cypher?
<][cE> Yes, [I] got fucked over. RLX was good, but it was just a starting point,
no real support. [I] put out 2 games back then, Darklight Conflict and
Kick-off 97. [I] had little to no support. Then rlx kept putting out betas and
i was already talking to rzr and pdm. In the end i joined pdm after lots of
Zeus licking my ringpiece. He wanted me to be his new mag guy in the uk, so
I joined. I waited and waited, supplied a title and lost because of their
lack of crackers and then left. At this time the now retired Cyberphreak and
Shadowmaster were irc sexing me on a regular basis, and i finally sucame to
their charms and joined Class.
<][cE> First title i picked up for them i lost but it was now that i started
to work with cypher. Class didnt work out many reasons main reason is i got
fucked over pretty bad. They didnt think I was worth shit so they treated me
like shit. I kept trying to supply, but many times Madturnip beat me. So
after lots of shit in class, me and Cypher joined BLH. BLH was all good till
they fucked us over hard because madturnip put out a few titles after we did
3 in a row.
<][cE> after BLH was RZR, which was good until lots of unpleasentness. It was
here mine and cypher grew together and met dajackal. Me and a few other key
people in RZR re-built RZR to being what it once was. But for reasons this
didnt work out in the end, and we moved to OGN.
<NWR> Your relationship with cypher seems to be a very productive one. Why do
you think the two of you have worked so well together?
<][cE> We think alike a lot. In many ways cypher has taught me a lot of stuff.
He's been around a long, long time and has a great many ideas. Not all work out,
but many do. We spend a lot of time working on stuff, and we need each other.
One without the other wouldnt be as good. We both do differnt things. There are
times when i do a great deal of leadership and he concentrates on supply, and
times when we swap roles.
<NWR> Origin has taken great strides to reach the place in the scene where it
now stands. It seems however, that the group has reached a plateau in recent
months. You pretty well own the UK, but your USA side is not yet developed.
Why do you think Origin hasn't quite made it to the level where PDM and CLS
now stand?
<][cE> We havent been around 2 or 3 years, the USA is a hard market to get
into, but we'll get there. Our USA is in developement i ain't gonna say expect
great things but i am gonna say watch this space. we have a good speedy crackng
team and with the movement of iso protection to the usa should be intresting
to see how it changes
<NWR> Other groups would say that the UK scene is much harder to break into,
yet you feel the reverse is true. Why is it easier for Origin to break into
the UK than the USA, and not for PDM or CLS?
<][cE> Well oh thats simple. The UK is very hard, but thats because we are
here. If we werent here these days it would be easy. The UK is totally toally
different from the USA. The USA is alot less quality minded. Plus we havent
really had to break in to the UK scene. Back in the day, Cypher used to do
a lot of UK, and i had already made my foothold... so for us the UK was a
simply a step.
<NWR> Origin has been known to take chances on new members, while the
established groups tend to have a more closed-door policy. How has this
policy helped Origin, and now that you are established, do you see that
policy changing?
<][cE> No, we are an open group. If you can help us we will help you. Closed
door closes out potential avenues.
<NWR> I think we can agree that you and Cypher are not on many people's 10
most favorite people list. Do you think that just comes with the territory
(running a games group), or does it go past that?
<][cE> We show people for what they are we wont take shit. We wont be fucked
over, like others let themselves be, and we are quick to point to other people
being fucked. We hit people with the issues and dont pussy foot around.
<NWR> TPC put out a game last week, Thrust, Twist, and Turn. This game is
arguably the first really good title for this group, and sources tell NWR
that Origin felt they should have had it. What is your opinion on TPC, and
do you see them getting better in time, or slipping back into their
shareware/bad game role?
<][cE> Thats a hard one. I'd say they got lucky, very lucky. They are gonna
get a shock when they see some real iso protections. As for tpc as a group
i have no real view i wish them all the best but i think they will get titles
that others give to them. I dont see them as real competition yet but only
time will tell.
<NWR> Class and Paradigm have both had trouble with fixes in the last week or
so. Origin has not been immune to this in the past either. Why do you feel we
are seeing so many fixes, and do you see it changing?
<][cE> Fixes are due to lack of quality and rushing. PDM has all in all been
good, but Class has really let itself slip. OGN however has improved. The more
people rush and the less control a cracker has the more chance of a fix.
<NWR> It's no secret anymore that Origin and DVNISO have a very close
relationship. All Origin senior members are members in DVNISO, and vice versa.
However, it does not seem that this working partnership has helped either
group lately. We see Origin games released by other ISO groups, and Origin
has not done many USA games lately either. Is the partnership as strong as
ever, and why don't we see more Origin titles being released by DVNISO?
<][cE> Yes, if not stronger. With isos theres are certain considerations,
namely uploading the iso. Also last few dvniso's losses [were due to] lack
of communication. As for the usa side, DVNISO does its job.
<NWR> At times, the relationship between Origin and Razor has been strained.
Some of the older RZR members have passed through origin, and there seems to
still be some bad blood about 1994. You weren't around back then, but you've
seen Razor decline a little in late 1998 and 1999. Since this downturn seemed
to coincide with you and Cypher leaving, what take do you have on the state
of the oldest and best known release group?
<][cE> Its dying. It had its chance. Razor could be good, but interall
organization just isn't at the level it should be.
<NWR> Well that about wraps it up, I'd like to thank you again ][ce for taking
the time to speak to NWR. Any final comments or greets?
<][cE> well greets to all of Origin and I mean all, you all do your bit.
Special greets of course to cypher butcher dajackal tk4 zip and genesis p
fuck in fact all of OGN. Outside of OGN greets to doggy, ofd, beep, manny,
horde and a few others which im bound to have forgot.
=---------------------------------=
After talking to ][ce I was still bored, and decided to get a reaction on The
Thrust, Twist, and Turn comments ][ce made. With TPC having their best week to
date, what better time to speak to Grind, the founder of TPC?
<NWR> Hello Grind, 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
<[grind]> Well, my full nick is grind, not Grinder, we are 2 different people
completely, Grinder is a friend of mine though.
<[grind]> My Current affils are Millennium trader, and Founder/Leader of The
Players Club. My past courier Affils are EMPiRE Senior Courier, RTS Trader,
RSS Trader, Concord Trader, and I think thats it. My past utils affils, were
GRS Senior, Premiere Supplier, Mortality and Pinnacle. My past gaming affils
were, DESTiNY (DTY) , MiRAGE (MRG) and now, just TPC.
<NWR> The Player's Club seems to be everyone's favorite underdog. You guys have
a history of doing shareware and games that the major groups probably wouldn't
touch, but lately you've picked up some mainstram titles. Why the recent
success, and is this a fluke, or will we be seeing more of TPC in the weeks
to come?
<[grind]> Oh the recent success is no fluke. In the past few weeks, I've been
scouting people that I know have potential. And as soon as these people came
to TPC, they delivered. I expect them to deliver again, and on a consistent
basis. As for the history of shareware games, there is a reason why it is
history, it is in the past, and any shareware title is in the past for TPC.
I'm sure you will see a lot more from TPC in the weeks to come :)
<NWR> Personally I feel that the best test of a group's organization is how
many patches, trainers, and store games they do. These are available to all
groups at the same time, and reflect how well the team can work together.
TPC has not yet done a lot of work in these areas. Do you see yourselves
working on these more in the future?
<[grind]> Our first priority is the store titles, We aren't going to dive
into doing patches and trainers until our store team has built itself up and
we can count on it to be consistent. Once we tackle that, TPC will surely go
after patches, and have our guys making trainers as well.
<NWR> One of the large hurdles for a release group to overcome in breaking
through to the upper ranks is the quality of their crackers. It's not hard
to find someone who lives next to a store with a cablemodem, but getting
that game cracked before another group does it is sometimes a struggle. Do
you feel the crackers in TPC are on par with the major groups?
<[grind]> Well, when you compare TPC's crackers to the big names such as
Beowulf, DaJackal, Devil, or rantnrave, then I'd have to say no. TPC does
have a decent cracking team, some of crackers are a little knowledgable
with the new protections. However, I don't think we are quite up to par
with the big guys yet. Eventually we will make it. Our crackers will become
more experienced with the more games they do, and then we will be able to
contend at 100%.
<NWR> I've just interviewed ][ce for the first part of the interview section,
and I asked him about Thrust, Twist and Turn. I'd like to paste a comment he
made, and get you to comment on it.
"<NWR> TPC put out a game last week, Thrust, Twist, and Turn. This game is
arguably the first really good title for this group, and sources tell me
Origin felt they should have had it.
What is your opinion on TPC, and do you see them getting better in time,
or slipping back into their shareware/bad game role?"
"<][cE> Thats a hard one. I'd say they got lucky, very lucky. They are gonna
get a shock when they see some real iso protections. As for tpc as a group
i have no real view i wish them all the best but i think they will get titles
that others give to them. I dont see them as real competition yet but only
time will tell."
<[grind]> Well, we weren't lucky on Thrust Twist'N Turn at all. The point is,
our limey suppliers were really on the ball that day. They did what they had
to do, and accomplished it before OGN could. Origin is clearly the dominant
UK group at the moment, but we might be able to compete with them as our
crackers become more experienced.
<NWR> Often when a new group starts to show signs of life, their best members
are gobbled up by the larger groups. TPC has so far avoided this, but as you
gain more success, your members will undoubtably become targets for them. Do
you feel the TPC team is in it for the long haul, or is it possible that key
members could be using you as a stepping stone?
<[grind]> Hrm, TPC was in a situation like this before, when a Senior member
of the group jumped to Origin. It seemed the other guys in the group were
really mad at him for his disloyal behavior. I think the guys in TPC now are
in it for the long haul, they want TPC to grow and prosper, just as I do.
I'm sure the larger groups will try to target our guys, but who knows, maybe
we are targeting their guys. It happens all the time. The thing is, I like
to keep the TPC people happy, so they won't want to go elsewhere, and they
won't need to go elsewhere :)
<NWR> In NWR this week, TPC is right up there with CLS for the #1 group of
the week, beating out PDM by a half point. I was talking to a drizzt earlier,
and he said something to the effect that perhaps he won't be giving you guys
any more of his titles. Does TPC get much outside help? Or is that too a thing
of the past now that you are shooting for a higher quality of game?
<[grind]> In the past, notable names like Prozac and drizzt have been very
generous to the TPC team. But once again, TPC will decline any sub-standard
game from now on, We are trying to improve our image, and we cannot do so by
being bottom feeders.
<NWR> Well that about wraps it up, I'd like to thank you again Grind, for
taking the time to speak to NWR. Any final comments or greets?
<[grind]> I'd like to greet all of TPC, for sticking together, and I'd like to
thank all the groups that support us, ie: PDM, CLS, OGN, FLT, and I'd like to
send my love to Prozac and drizzt, two guys that helped TPC to become what it
is today! A potential contender :)
=--------------------------=
Prozac's Interview with TK4 of OGN
This week, I chose TK4 from Origin. Here's how it went:
<Prozac> What was your original intent of what you were going to do for the
scene, and did you ever plan to be a cracker?
<TK4> humm well I started as a courier 3 years ago but as many guys I though
to reach a better place in the scene, so I retired from the courier scene
and started to learn cracking by myself
<TK4> I don't think I am really a cracker, because a cracker most of the time
just crack and do nothing else; I can handle many position, and
that's not for nothing. I am actually a leader of ASP, a new asian game group
and leader of VGC too.
<TK4> perhaps in few month or years I will stop totally cracking and just lead
my groups but actually I have a lot of free time, so I can crack at any time ;)
<TK4> I just crack for the fun of it right now, if one day I am bored I will
stop
<Prozac> Why did you start Independent Game Scene Report (I.G.S.R) ?
<TK4> well the game scene without reports each month has no sense, we need a
motivation for race
<TK4> when I started my report in January, you had just JTF and your report
(PPGR), I respect your report, but for JTF, everyone admits it's just full of
bullshit
<TK4> I know well my mind and I know I can be independant and try to make a non
biased report
<TK4> that's why I decided to start IGSR, if you look at the charts each
month and compare with the charts of your report (PPGR), you will notice we are
really near
<TK4> it shows everyone non-totally biased report made by guys in groups in
competition can be written
<Prozac> You seem to have a thing against Class, making it a crusade to fix
any minor problem.. what's the deal? Have a vendetta against Class?
<TK4> heh well, I have nothing against the members of Class, I respect much
of them but like in all the groups you have some morons; about the fix
problem when I started cracking games, some old friends started a crusade
against me because they were pissed I left them, so I learn only the quality
can close the bitcher's mouth ... So I am very worried about quality of the
releases, I am not in a crusade against Class but I think so we must try to
keep the quality of the release
<TK4> because you are afraid to be raced
<TK4> it is one of our actual problems, we are so mind closed on the
possibility to be raced on a title than we fuck up the rip or the package
<TK4> If noone fixes the problems like in art of war 2 some guys will think ohh
ok so everyone don't care we can do it again
<Prozac> Has racing taken priority over quality then? And do you think it's
just CLS who has this prob?
<TK4> with this ghost of a possibility to be fixed, I think so it could
increase the quality
<TK4> well sure quality have priority, but you must find a good way for being
fast and make quality ones, I think so Drizzt store supply for PDM is a good
example of a good management way found, PDM are very fast on these US store
pickups and the quality is always there
<TK4> sure not only CLS, I said you, I don't blame CLS especially you can
notice I fixed a Razor title last month too for a problem like that; but it
seems that CLS make many mistakes these last weeks, perhaps an internal
management problem, I don't know ...
<TK4> CLS have very good crackers so the problem is more a testing, ripping
one
<TK4> for Razor I think so it's more a lack of crackers problem hehe
<Prozac> Is OGN going to just focus on Euro Games? Is it too early to call
OGN, Hybrid 2?
<TK4> hehe, I saw you often write this word "Hybrid 2", perhaps because
origin handle the UK stores, but Origin is not only on the euro games sides,
we have the potential to race CLS or PDM on US stores or some others way of
supplying
<TK4> Many times we have been beated these last month on us titles, but racing
PDM on US stores for example is not so simple, it takes a very good
organization and I hope everyone will show we can be competitive on US stores
soon
<TK4> Personally, I don't care you can call Origin, "Hybrid 2", Hybrid was
one of the old group I had much respect, same with Razor, so it sounds good in
my mind
<Prozac> Being french, and english being your second language, is it tough for
you to be in the scene?
<TK4> Haha, I awaited this question :) It seems many guys care about my english
skills these last days :)
<TK4> until today, I had no problem in my groups coz of my bad english :)
<TK4> and I wish this lack will be fixed in a few months or years
<TK4> anyway I am proud to speak what cyric call "FROGLISH", heh it gives me
something special :)
Perm. ad for my website, be sure to check out my website at
http://ppgr.webjump.com - Includes weekly & monthly reports in the gaming
scene, and posts most issues of NWR!
A note to the scene: I'm going to be gone for the next couple issues for
personal reasons, and will be letting Blitz do the weekly report, or
maybe someone else will fill the shoes. When I get back, I'll try to do
something special.
=----------------------------------=--------------------------------------=
-----------[ Bud's Biased Utils Section ]-----------
Bud is currently in a habitational transition, and will not be joining us
this week. In his place, we bring you the letter E, repeated many times.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEwww.xxxparadiso.comEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
thank you.
=----------------------------------=-------------------------------------=
=---------[ 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..
Movies and whatnot
Entrapment
Starring: Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones
Rating: 2 1/4 Stars
Well, this movie gets basically 2 of those stars for Ms. Jones in her tight
little outfits. The rest of the movie is basically crap. The story gets way
out of hand by the end and the talented actors have nowhere to go with it.
You'd expect more with Connery and Ving Rhames in there..but I think the
filmmakers just decided they had Ms. Jones and didn't need to work on the
script anymore. So anyways, get the vcd, throw on slow-motion when she
sticks her ass in the air, and then watch the rest if your bored.
------
Idle Hands
Starring: Seth Green, Jessica Alba and some other ppl you recognize.
Rating: 2 3/4 Stars
Ok, this is a good movie in the sense that you will laugh out loud a few times.
It's more of a young persons kind of flick though. The ACTUAL movie is really
not that good, but did we ever expect it to be? No of course not. We have a
hot chick in skimpy clothes, we have horror type shit, we have comedy, we
have stoners. So we have ourselves a movie worth watching. DEFINATELY get
the vcd and check it out, maybe dont shell at 7.50 for it unless you dig
movies like I do and like that type of comedy. <g>
=----------------------------------=-------------------------------------=
=---------[ 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:
Telesync/TS: Telesync is a procam on a tripod in an empty theater with a
separate audio source. If there's an audience, you hear people coughing,
camera is shaky, etc. It's a CAM. CAM = banned. If you want a movie
extremely early, Telesync is the way it will be.
Workprint: Workprint is a pre-release copy of a movie, stolen copy, etc.
that usually has the film running time on the screen.
Screener: Screener is usually the BEST quality, an actual vcd of the movie,
made from a reviewers copy, etc. Screener's are generally released after
movies have left the theaters.
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quickie VCD Reviews - By Prozac
When people read about a film review in the paper, it's long and boring. We
usually don't give a shit what they thought. We just wish they'd get to the
point and tell us the skinny and let us know if we should bother watching it.
While I'm not exactly involved in the VCD Scene, I'm a big fan of movies,
and I'll watch just about any movie that sounds interesting to me. I just
prefer that I watch it for free, or it only cost me some CD-R media. I
don't bother writing out long extensive reviews. I get straight to the point,
and let you know if you should see it, or if you should pass it up. Here
are the VCD's I saw lately:
Idle Hands- It's about an evil hand going on a killing spree. It's got some
funny moments, but not that good. The workprint quality of this release is
aweful. Only bother if you're bored or curious to see it.
Enemy Action- Be fair warn, this is one of those "must-see-bad-TV" movies. This
is a B-Movie action flick, and was sooooo bad. Do not even bother unless you
are extremely bored.
Evil Dead 2- This was one of the movies that inspired Idle Hands, and is
considered a classic horror flick. This is a must get if you haven't seen
it yet, and like zombie/horror flicks. It might be old, but it's still badass.
A Cool Dry Place- Another processed hollywood movie, it's a typical
drama with a single dad raising a kid. Nothing special, not really worth
seeing unless you have a kid yourself.
=----------------------------------=-------------------------------------=
-----------[The Scene News]-----------
All the news thats fit to print...
and then some...
-i wanna go to disneyland...
-Apparently someone got upset last week that i said that the FS siteops weren't
"nice".. hahahah... chill negros!.. i still love the fs, and yes, dunk, you
are a GOOD siteop... go to www.xxxparadiso.com and reap your reward.. ;p
-Some milestones in the scene this week: nothing.
-The massive db www.dupecheck.com is back.. thats good to hear.
-ILLiCiT, the group that mandrake founded years ago made a small comeback,
and then merged with MnM.. so.. i guess MnM isn't dead, or something?
-group moves: a shitload of people kicked out of DMS.. get their new nfo if
you are wondering who, officedog to dev(!), and not much else
-Darklogic, former risc council member, and one-time "Netmonkey" bot owner got
promoted to M8 council... yay for him.. he's got the motiv8 crew active on the
US sites, and gawajn and o_matador are doing pretty decent, so.... blah!
-Class is not going to release "bleem" because they want to support the 2 little
guys fighting against the big corporation, Sony... On the outside, it looks as
if Class is trying to do the right thing, fighting for the little guy.
In reality, Class knows the truth behind the news i reported last week:
Bleem = all a hoax... ;p HAH!
-Seems DMS finally woke up from their slumber, and did a mass group purge..
Those bitches are hurting right now... 7th on their USHQ, DF3, behind CrC,
and M8!! ... ouch!
-I still don't have a nutty industries warmth sheath..
-Would someone please tell me wtf THIS release is supposed to do:
BabyMasher.v1.0.regged-DSi
Fucking sick DSI bastards... <g>
-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, but we
do not add rumors like that say "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 lester is going over to caserd's house tomorrow to play
barbies, and maybe tdpriest will come over later have some sleepy-time
tea...
-Rumor has it that the former founder of Mortality will be starting a new
big-time utils group..
-Rumor has it that someone out there is paying $300+ for lame releases like
"best of ms arcade pack"... (we had the logs, and decided not to run them
cause it was too embarassing for the parties involved)....
=-------------------------------------=--------------------------------------=
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 5/5/98
