Revolution is our Name: the history of the C64 scene disk mag

RECOLLECTION issue 3

eZine lover (@eZine)

Published in 

Recollection

 · 1 year ago

By Jazzcat

The media in the scene has a profound power to be a huge influence with its service-minded articles. The disk magazine concept has spun an interesting tale over the past two decades, a tale which has not been looked at in detail previously. This article hopes to achieve an enhanced timeline of how the concept has evolved and along the way treat you to some interesting trivia; with no reservation. I will also include some examples of disk magazines that I feel left their indelible mark on the C64 underground community.

The scene has two main elements of expression. Demos and cracks. As these two sides of the scene worked their magic the disk mag operated in the background; documenting news, creating charts (to stimulate productive competitiveness further) and becoming a binary channel to express opinion. This collective package of living history was pushed out regularly to the scene in many guises. Different sceners approached the matter in a different way, some wanted to focus on the BBS/HP/Crack scene, others on the MAIL/DEMO scene, then there were the rare magazines that could write about something totally different and were in a league of their own. Essentially, the concept of 'disk mag' was to report the scene in a structured manner, here is how it all unfolded...

1. Early Times

The C64 magazine scene on the 5"25 disk began with Sex'n'Crime way back in February 1989. 'SNC' was a one-file mag, which was quite common in those early days. By today's standards one or two chapters could make up an entire magazine from back then. The magazine electrified the scene with a new concept and a powerful weapon to sway people's opinions or to impose the editor's will. The main editor of Sex'n'Crime was Antichrist (aka OMG/Amok), he delivered some very controversial text which really stirred the community. Sceners wanted to reply to his somewhat biased accusations and opinions but found that BBS posts and 'note-makers' were too limited compared to his powerful disk mag invention. It was only a matter of weeks before other magazines started coming out. What better way to fight fire than with fire? Those arriving hot on the heels of Sex'n'Crime were titles such as Coococ from Shape (Norway), Magnetic Dreams by Magnetix (Austria), The Times (Germany), Excessive by Excess (UK), Influx by FBR (USA) and Atomic News by Savage (Germany).

Arriving in the latter half of 1989 were titles such as Econovan by Tera (Australia), Mamba by Crazy (Germany), Relax by Alpha Flight (Germany), Endemic by Genesis*Project (Germany), Fatal News by Censor Design (Sweden), Smooth Criminal by Paragon/Light (Sweden) and ViNews by Vision/Triad (Germany/Sweden). During these early days, the C64 scene sold some of their publications through commercial institutions such as CP Verlag. Some examples of these were Magic News (later renaming to Scene Press), Mamba and Propaganda. Apart from the financial benefit of this, the guys behind the magazines were able to get advanced copies of budget games that were being sold during that time; this would help their groups advance in the 'first release' cracking competition.

These magazines were the main ones released in 1989; they were the ones who started the C64 mag craze that choked the scene until it was blue in the face. There were so many magazines back then that a small uproar took place. People were fed up that it seemed that every group had one or two magazines. The argument had two sides - firstly, people believed that too many disk mags choked the scene with below standard productions. Second; other people believed the disk mag was a great way for groups to express themselves and provoke competition, they also believed that the extra 'disk filling' assisted the swappers in having something to spread (as the dying game market was not filling the disks like before). Who was right and who was wrong? A lot of groups started to think - "do we need a disk mag?" or "A way of voicing our opinion and imposing our will?" The new disk mags seemed to be copies of copies without any original concepts, but then something interesting happened - people had some bright ideas and decided to try something different.

2. Mag Type: The Elite

A way for the cracking scene to show off the size of its penis was through the 'first release' game crack. When you were first, the red carpet of fame rolled out before you and everyone shut their mouths as you did a little dance. The magazines that reported this spectacle were classed as the 'elite'. These gods exclusively reported and entertained the BBS scene (a magical kingdom that was a nirvana of the scene). Pondering on this style of mag for a few seconds and I can conclude in my mind the one who conquered all was without a doubt the Shock magazine by Censor/Legend. It appeared on paper first in 1990 but soon came out on disk in mid-1991. The magazine had a killer outfit, hot music by Danko and beautiful graphics by Mirage and Dragon. The text was second to none, exclusive news and submissions from a whole range of people from different groups which propelled it to a somewhat neutral status, giving it an unbiased balance that other magazines lacked. Another important bit of trivia is the fact that the magazine pioneered the usage of the proportional font routine, as opposed to the standard character font; this assisted in giving Shock the professional edge over its competition.

Another elite mag that left a skid mark on the scene soul was Mamba by Crazy (and later by Ikari+Talent and Enigma). People happily wasted their calling cards or blue boxing on downloading this one with even more enthusiasm than the games on which it was reporting. This magazine reigned the mag world in late 1989 and into 1990 with excellent news and a memorable scene comic pixelled by Gotcha. The magazine was the first to show the use of graphics and animation in the pages. Those animations of people doing turds, grinning faces and creatures doing weird things really helped give Mamba the character that made it so special.

Corruption was another elite-style mag that inspired many after it. The first seven issues came out every month under the Actual Trading Generation (ATG) label starting in March 1990. The mag changed label a few times, usually because main editors Jack Daniels and 3DK (Three Dimensional King) joined new groups. The other crews producing this mag were in chronological order: Paramount, Genesis*Project and The Dominators. Interestingly, when the magazine was released under Genesis it used the same outfit as the Genesis magazine Propaganda used. During this time, Antichrist/G*P wanted to have influence over Corruption (including linking the anti-Mamba intro to it); Jack Daniels and 3DK disagreed as they wanted the magazine to remain neutral and objective. The result was that JD and 3DK were kicked out of G*P. The Dominators seized the chance and recruited the editors and the mag was released under that label until its final days. Trivia: when Peter (Mamba) and Jack Daniels (Corruption) both joined Avantgarde in 1993, the group, whose leader Deff also helped with some of the old issues, discussed the possibility of releasing their own magazine. An idea of joining the names together and calling it Corramba was born. Unfortunately this production never eventuated. Despite this, I have located a logo and music made for Corramba and for the first time they will be shown (put together by enthusi/Onslaught) and spread with this issue of Recollection.

In 1991 the German crew Genesis*Project gave birth to their new media child called Propaganda (I recall it was released with the fake name of Mamba #21 to fool people). Propaganda was a modern version of Sex'n'Crime with Antichrist once again at the helm. It demonstrated how to compete in the world of magazines, their main adversary being Mamba. Who could forget those anti-Mamba intro sequences coded by S.E.S and the cool shoot 'em up game you played whilst chapters were loaded - brilliant stuff. I felt the magazine really came into its own when Newscopy took over as editor in 1993. He analysed, debated and angled news for the reader in a much different way than other people during that time. Not only that, he turned the magazine into an independent production, allowing the focus to be more about the magazine than the group behind it. People either loved or hated this one; there was no middle-ground. I fondly remember Newscopy's editorials far more than Antichrist's, Newscopy had a more intelligent and free-thinking style of editing that had a sense of elegance about it.

The elite magazine used another reality in the scene to appear more important than the rest; this was the subject matter that they reported on. The US board/first release scene was only reachable by people who were connected or who had skill, meaning only a minority ascended to the so-called 'elite' status. This made the elite-style mag seem like something special, as it involved a limited few who were also reporting about a limited few. Surprisingly, the home of the elite scene in North America did not have that many magazines. The playground of the disk mag concept was predominately in Europe. However, there were two publications that should be mentioned from the NTSC scene, these were Influx and Chaos Chronicle.

Influx by Fucked Beyond Repair (FBR) was the first real disk magazine to come out in North America and appeared at the beginning of 1989. Unlike the usual design that was common in Europe, Influx used a sequential format (.SEQ) so that it could be viewed inside your terminal program (a program that created a visual interface between you and your modem and allowed you to visit the boards), the sequential format also allowed it to be printed easily. The magazine focused solely on the BBS scene and the import/cracking groups during that time. Just like Shock, it had many different people writing for it, making it a nice balance of opinions and views. Guys like Candyman, Oahawhool, The Shark, Pudwerx, Jimmy Z, Warewolf, The Hell Hacker and more, all coming from different groups.

The Shark was part of the editing staff of Influx but eventually left after he had some disagreements with some of the FBR members over the chart system and how it was put together. The Shark created his own magazine called Chaos Chronicle, released under his own group International Network of Chaos (INC) and together with Master Kracker; they exacted their own justice in the NTSC world of mass media. The magazine, like Influx, was in sequential format and covered the first release and importing scene of 1989/1990 superbly.

Other magazines that may fit into this category but possibly overlap predominately into other categories and are worthy to note were Relax, Domination, Vandalism News, The Pulse, The Crest and Reformation (Emanuelle/World News merger).

As the board scene and to some extent, the cracking scene faded away due to the discontinued commercial viability of the C64, so too did the 'elite magazine'. This situation meant that the focus for mag editors shifted. Differentiate or die was the order of the day.

Important aspects of being an 'elite mag':

1. Release Charts otherwise known as 'The List'.
2. Exclusive news and the publishing of rumours even though it may cause controversy.
3. Subject matter should be 'A-list' only.
4. Big names behind the outfit and exclusive music.
5. Not afraid to use the magazine as an uber-weapon!
6. Specialise in a few things, not a "jack of all trades, master of none".

3. Mag Type: Mail Scene

The biggest disk mag audience was the 'mail scene' and to accommodate this, the 'mail scene mag' was born; made by swappers, for swappers. This type of 'diskzine' was mostly about the legal scene, it contains heaps of interviews, huge news and address sections and generally had a greater variety of articles as opposed to the elite mag. Just because the mail scene was focused mainly on the demos did not mean it excluded the cracking scene either, as quality cracks (made after the initial 'first release') were spread in the mail scene exclusively.

At one point in the early nineties some of the mail scene mags clashed with the BBS elite mags. The elitist proclaiming how cool they were and how lame the mail scene was, whilst the swapper mags demonstrated about how aristocratic and egotistical the elite mags seemed to be. One such publication, The Tribune, was quite upset with the elite mags and really tried to make some points to the staff behind The Pulse, Relax, Vandalism News and even my very own Domination magazine (their regular chapter 'Nasty and Mean' would never look right without yours truly appearing in every issue for some reason or another). Looking back on it all now, it does seem a bit immature but at the same time it was a natural result of a clash of fundamentalisms.

There is a lot of magazines that would fit this 'mail scene' category, so like the elite mags, the following list is kept to a minimum, reflecting the publications that truly left an imprint and shaped the C64 magazine market.

Brutal Recall was perhaps the first real big mail based magazine to break through the charts and become a favourite of the masses. It had huge news sections and was spread well by the Brutal members who mega swapped. Not only was it the first magazine to really get famous from the mail scene but also one of the first big magazines to get caught for cheating the charts by manipulating the votes. It was closely followed by Script; another big magazine that was well received. Originally it was known as Cemetery News but renamed at issue five and started to become a bigger and bolder mail based mag from that point onwards. The main editor Remix was a well liked, friendly character that swapped with many guys, also he was one of the few famous sceners from Turkiye. One thing about the mail magazines, they loved displaying who was the biggest in terms of text amount. The Script magazine was the first magazine of any kind on the C64 to surpass 1000 blocks and eventually the 2000 blocks of text milestones (unpacked). The mag eventually died due to the size and work requirement, burning out the once bright flame of the editorial staff.

Over the years the number one ranking mag changed regularly. Skyhigh by Biz Kid rocked the chart, particularly with its coverage of the legal scene. I really enjoyed the huge variety of text and the massive address sections it offered. The editors were amongst the most friendly and helpful in the scene and got along with almost everyone making them a popular magazine 'for the people'. This was one of the mega mail mags that grew through increasing popularity to have huge amounts of text, reaching a climax at issue #20 becoming the first disk mag to have three disk sides of text. Not only that, Skyhigh was the first magazine to have proportional text in up-scroll-mode driven by its windows-styled outfit. The mag was also known as one of the few publications having a lot of extras selectable from within its main menu. Exclusive graphics and music or even small demos or games were some of the treats available. After 21 issues it went down the same path as Script.

Another big magazine that was a favourite of mine was the Splash magazine. Starting off under the name of Garfield News in late 1990, the magazine changed direction from a mediocre rag to an important pillar-stone in the mail scene. This change of attitude in early 1992 resulted in a name change. The Splash was a friendly mag and had a similar influence like the Script, partly because both mags were based in Turkiye and competed against each other. I liked the scene puzzle game-extras that were released inside the magazine and their outfit was quite nice and fairly different to the normal style displayer during that time. The main editor was Falcon, he eventually left the scene and handed the magazine over to Mr.Brain and Digahole in 1994. A few issues later and the magazine died, their final issue #19 promised a new outfit and some big changes. All of this never eventuated and the never released anniversary edition #20 is possibly rotting away on some disks somewhere. The death of one mag meant the birth of another. Swappers continued swapping, the task to fill disks and wrap in an envelope with cheated stamps (lacquering) just never seemed to end. During this time a lot of mail swappers put huge amounts of work into spreading the votesheets of the humble disk magazine. Once the votesheet was filled in and returned to the sender, it was then forwarded on to the magazine editor who would collate all the information that compiled the chart. I remember entering the information of hundreds of votesheets, it was hard work and the result would be a compilation of the scene's will.

Magazines had not really taken full advantage of inserting graphics into the pages; if they did, it would certainly compliment or even enhance the properties of the text. This all changed in 1993 when the German group Equinoxe gave the scene a new magazine called Ingenious Brain. This magazine was a fine example of a good mail mag, huge amounts of text supported by cute graphics through the pages. It was the first magazine to have a photo album chapter, containing digitized photos of various sceners. Ingenious Brain was also the first disk mag using the Interactive Flexible File Linking loader, more commonly known as IFFL. Main editors Mr.Warp and Antifan really ramped up the outfit issue by issue with the magazine getting bigger and bigger before hitting two disk sides in issue #5 which was to be their last. The reason the magazine died was that the guys behind Ingenious Brain embarked upon a big adventure with Swedish legends FairLight. The guys in Equinoxe merged their Ingenious Brain with FairLight's magazine Reformation, the merger was called Shout. Issue #1 of Shout came out in early 1995 and continued the same theme as Ingenious Brain. It also created another world first in the disk magazine scene, being the first to display 'super hires' graphics through the pages. The sequel to shout never eventuated so the guys in Equinoxe split their cooperation with FairLight and moved on to a new magazine called Passion. This venture showed Antifan returning back to the IFFL format he had used earlier, it also allowed Antifan to edit his own production (his partner in crime Mr.Warp had left the scene). Passion had the same fate as Shout and did not get past its debut edition, a common curse for most magazines largely due to the unforseen work required to continue.

Many magazines fitted the 'mail mag' category, too many to be mentioned here. However, the ones I cannot miss are Nitro, Internal, Rock'n'Role, Newspress, The Tribune (formerly Newsletter) and Network (and possibly a lot more). The mail based magazine was doomed to die, the internet destroyed both swapping and BBS scenes. Something new had to be created in order for the disk magazine on C64 to survive.

Important aspects of being a 'mail mag':

1. Ultra-friendly and send stamps back!
2. Main editor(s) should be a decent swapper.
3. Usage of vote-counting program as hundreds of votesheets need to be added up!
4. Big issues with decent 'balance' of subject matter.
5. Do not be concerned by delays in release!
6. Be concerned that magazine named XXXXXXXXX released XXXX blocks of text in their last issue!

4. Mag Type: Super Mag

During the mid-nineties the mail scene mag started to merge with what was left of the elite mag. The hybrid formed created something that some would call a 'super mag', this style of magazine reported all aspects of the scene and strived to analyse and expand more than anything ever before. There were only a few magazines that fitted into this category and they appeared during the peak of the disk mag era on C64 which was in 1995/1996. Some factors that may have created the professional edge known as the 'super mag' were:

• Elite mag in survival mode.
• C64 scene adapting to the Internet.
• Mail mag in survival mode.
• Right editors during the right time.

Because of the adaptive, evolving nature of the 'super mag', a lot of the examples I will now mention had their origin in either 'elite' or 'mail' status. Also, the following examples are the ones that competed the most heavily in the history of C64 disk mags.

The Relax magazine started way back in September 1989 and was released independently but produced mostly by people in Alpha Flight. One of the main reasons the magazine was created was to fight off the propaganda being published by the Sex'n'Crime/OMG/Antichrist monopoly (anyone remember OMG's gas attack on Relax editor Sys/Alpha Flight at the Venlo August 1990 meeting? OMG and Sys had been ragging each other for months. They finally met and Sys punched OMG in the face but a cowardly OMG reacted by using tear gas and following it up with kicking a downed SYS in the stomach: this was the first of many wars between publications, albeit the most physical).

The Relax was a good magazine, covering the usual topics one expected back then. After around seven issues the magazine died by mid-1990. This death was only temporary as the mag came back in November 1994 to fill the void created by the death of The Pulse magazine earlier in that same year (trivia: it seems when the staff returned they forgot that their was seven issues done before them. They thought there was only six issues and released the comeback edition as issue seven. This was never corrected and because of this all issues from that point onwards were off by one number). Eventually RRR took over from Skinhead and Skid Row as the main editor. Incidentally, he was the most used graphician by the magazine market, particularly during the so-called peak of the mag scene. Not only was he editing/pixelling for the Relax magazine but he also had his hand involved with Domination, Vandalism News, The Pulse, Shout, Driven and The Best. Now that is effort! The magazine went through quite a few phases, starting off as mainly a 'mail-based' magazine, then pure 'elite mag' and then finally finding its home in the 'super mag' department, covering all topics with an interesting 'investigative' style of journalism. RRR managed several strategies to make the magazine highly competitive, including investigating controversial matters thoroughly, with what he branded as 'infotainment'. The magazine released 25 issues before folding in May 1998.

The Pulse magazine came out in 1993 by Gridpoint Developments. The mag was very proud and by issue 3 the editorial stated that there was no competition and that the mag was the best monthly released publication available. Some people took this attitude the wrong way, considering the mag as a cheap imitation of Shock. The main editor of Shock, Skater/Legend, even accused it of copying his mag, particularly the proportional font. Also Propaganda felt the heat of the new kid on the block and told its readers that The Pulse based their text on Propaganda's existing abilities. Furthermore, Mr.Warp/Equinoxe accused the magazine of having an unfortunate arrogant nature and superiority complex. This was quite normal for back in the day, I remember when my group Onslaught were born; a new name with some talented members, there was a lot of ragging and general unrest. The Pulse soon settled into a routine and became one of the most prolific publications in the scene ever.

A lot of people do not realise that The Pulse magazine originally started way back in 1990 under the Foxbat label. Main editor Duke was known as Ambre back then. After three issues the mag collapsed. It returned in June 1993 with a fresh attitude and because of that main editor Duke decided to reset the mag issue number to #01. As the mag slogan stated: "We Accept No Delay, Nor Should You", there was a fast pace and for a while there the magazine was the most frequently released publication available on the market. This pace ended when the magazine died in September 1994. However it returned in June 1995 before dying for the final time in April 1996. During this period the magazine competed hard against the Domination, Vandalism News, Propaganda and Relax. It had a very strong 'First Release List', good demo coverage via their "World of Demos" segment and a refreshing satirical chapter that was not as controversial as the one appearing in the Relax magazine. My favourite chapter hosted by Duke was "Special Assignment". It was always interesting, highlighting sensitive issues in the scene or subjects that were the current talk of scene town; Isolated Demo Scene VS Open Cracking Scene, the rules of scene war, scene socialists versus scene liberalists and plenty more were to be found as the subject matter. Because of these qualities I joined the staff at issue 11 as US Correspondent (handling BBS, H/P and 'Monthly Releases').

When The Pulse died Duke and Sun Dancer joined the staff of Propaganda to assist the media world at a slower pace. This did not last too long as The Pulse was reborn in the guise of Scene+, released in Christmas 1997 under the FairLight label. Logically this new magazine with a new name carried some of the old features of The Pulse. The first issue was made in just 10 days, so that it could make the Denmark event called "The Party". The second issue was a real masterpiece that was a bright light during the dark days of 1998 (a less than eventful year in the scene). The staff worked on issue three as an online edition, moving away from the disk format. This never eventuated however and the unreleased articles were used in the Domination Paper Edition instead.

The Domination magazine was my own contribution to this media fist fight in the scene streets. The mag was born out of frustration; at the time I was in the group Legend and I wanted to continue with their magazine called Shock, the main editor Skater was too lazy and I did not want to release it again unless it was with him. Because this did not happen I thought of my own production, released independently it debuted in 1994 surprising a lot of people, particularly because there was only one editor for the entire magazine. The magazine started as an elite BBS style publication, but very soon became a super magazine with demo and game producing sections as well as a very competent coverage of the 'first release' world. The mag was known as a huge competitor delivering BBS and mail scene material sourced by someone involved in both scenes first hand. It was also known for huge delays as I struggled to work for several magazines at the same time, which brings me to... Vandalism News. Vengeance started this one way back in 1991 and it is still going strong today! The magazine went through more changes than any other magazine in the history of the disk mag concept. Firstly it started as a small mail based magazine reporting primarily on the Australasian scene. It ventured further into the European/American markets when I joined the staff during the 8th issue. The mag then changed direction to the BBS scene almost exclusively before it took on all scene subjects, making it a super mag. It was one of those that took off the boxing gloves and showed bare knuckles during the peak of the disk mag scene against the Propaganda and Relax magazines (who could forget the animated anti-Crossfire intro from issue #18?!). The boldest move the mag made was to have Wrath Designs release it as a cooperation. This event took place in 2001 and has continued strongly ever since. Vengeance, Macx and myself have a background in the cracking/hack phreak/BBS scenes and Ed and Joe from Wrath Designs have a background in the demo scene - this creates an interesting mixture of ingredients and allows the production to firmly inform on a variety of topics.

The evolution of 'super mag' was complete, there were very few that fitted the description but there were two late comers that would be included in this category.

The Crest magazine appeared in 1997. Whilst it was quite small in size it made up for this with ambition. The magazine was a very tidy, regularly released package simmering with quality. I remember to start with, people were more focused on the choice of the mag name due to the famous German demo group. Myself being in a similar situation with my handle matching a famous Norwegian cracking group. We both had the same reasoning: we chose it because we liked how it sounded. People soon forgot the name and focused more on the content and with that a readership grew. The guys behind the magazine were Dodger, Hardsequencer and Shokray (aka JBK Design), the latter of the trio always making some very nice pictures and logos for the publication. The trio were also very proud of the fact that they enforced a true 'independently' released publication, meaning that their aim was to report on the scene in a structured, objective fashion. I think they achieved this goal very well, particularly in the way they reported on the cracking scene during that time. I would describe The Crest as a fine example of what a 'super mag' was all about - it had a little bit for everybody.

The most recent addition to this category is without a doubt the Attitude magazine by Cactus. The first issues were shaky, going through a trial and error phase and taking on feedback from their readership to remove non-scene related chapters (which as history shows are a disk mag negative). The magazine grew, firstly released under the Polish group Axelerate, and then Samar Productions before it finally flew the flag of legendary German demo group Oxyron. The whole time this magazine has had huge advantages, as the main editor is also the main coder of the outfit - a combination other mag editors can only envy! Another bonus for the staff was that RRR joined in, not only to help with graphics but lend an experienced hand with the articles. From the very beginning the magazine has been very well-rounded. Cactus has paid close attention to the successes of other magazines and adapted and improvised, covering different topics but also balancing what he covers, not to lean too much in one direction. Because of these reasons, this magazine easily fits into the 'super mag' category.

Summary: elite and mail mags merge, creating the super-mag. This concept still thrives today and continues to report the ongoing struggle for survival of the ancient C64 scene town.

Important aspects of being a 'super mag':

1. Coverage all aspects of these scene showing no favouritism.
2. Employment of specialist roles to cover certain subject fields (e.g. musicians to discuss music)
3. Neutral. Objective. Unbiased.
4. Balance is happiness.

5. Mag Type: Different

So far we have covered a very general evolution of the disk mag concept, but what about the exceptions? The publications that did not follow the general trend? Those that were different... indeed, the ones that stood out, really did indeed stand tall above the rest. They were specialists covering special topics.

My favourite in this category and without a doubt having the most influence on the scene was the Gamers Guide magazine released by Triad. The concept was by Injun Inc (December 1989), code by 801DC (rest in peace) and King Fisher, music by TDM and editing performed by Otto von Bismarck and Jerry. It was the first real game listing-style magazine and the one with the most style. "The Guide" was a magazine dealing with something many people would find very questionable: it reviewed cracked games for the C64, thus encouraging the crackers to improve their cracks: make them better, shorter and add in more trainers (cheat options). Every now and then "The Guide" would make nasty remarks on cracks of low quality (e.g. if the game "crashed") and partly served as a media and public face for Triad. This was viewed both positively and negatively, game cracks improved but then intro quality was reduced. Gamers Guide issue #2 (January 1991) stated: "Most reactions to the Gamers Guide have been positive. People think that it is fine that they too will get to show their cracking abilities to the scene. Speed should not be everything. A supplier with inside connections should not be everything. Like us, those groups think that a few extra hours to make a better quality crack should be rewarded and it is only fair that the efforts are recognized. After all, if we (Triad) foul up, the Gamers Guide will show that too. So it is: behave or be exposed."

The Guide was not just about cracks either, it had a news section, small interviews and a humourous satirical segment called "The Wall" which always stirred up some fun in every issue. The mag was so successful the concept was imitated by mags like Are We The Best (Chromance) and The Best which did a good job but never quite captured the magic of the 'original'. After celebrating 26 issues Jerry decided to put it on the shelf, it left a huge mark on the cracking world and an even bigger impression in the magazine scene.

The second magazine that I feel can easily be defined in the 'Different' category is the Danish publication authored by Kring called Revealed. This exciting magazine was released just when the European commercial scene was dying (C64 software houses). The well-written publication was directed towards the professional games industry with the mission to fuse it with the demo scene. As a reader it was a pleasure to admire the great articles about the latest company news from the game industry, demo related news, programming tips and quite a bit more.

The publication had a lot of original ideas that made it completely unique, standing truly alone in its field. Furthermore, it was a pioneer in the sense it dared to take on the major software companies to fight for the C64 as a viable platform for continuation of software development. The only negative thing about Revealed was that Profile Entertainment (the legal brand of demo group Camelot) only released four issues; this is really not a big fault of the editors as the game scene was uninspiring and due to the lack of subject matter the magazine closed. Does anyone have contact with Kring? The main editor has disappeared since 1995...

One of the things that makes me smile about this category is the diversity of coverage. Take for example some of the old Australian magazines, like OZ-Round Up, which was made in a note-maker originally but later developed into a real package entertaining only the Aussie scene. Then there was Codemag, based on the hack/phreak side of the scene. Coded by Tektronix (Psycho and Insane) and released under The Force Australia. The concept of putting codes in a magazine was quite stupid really as they died quite fast, but it sure was fun and there was some cool articles regarding conferences, "clickers" and an assortment of hacks. Then there was the weirdest of them all - Weird Crud - made by a guy calling himself Stickman (later known as Stigs). If you want some weird comic/graphics, scene satire with a hint of controversy, then go no further than the weirdest crud there ever was.

Another magazine from Australia had its own unique charm that nothing else came close to, it was called Game Over(view) and is perhaps the most recent magazine to be mentioned in this article. The first issue came out in early 2004 and was the brainchild of A Life in Hell (Alih), who not only edited the production but also provided the code and music! This magazine displayed a raw and honest approach to the gaming community on C64, voicing their opinions without holding back one littlebit. This was so refreshing to me, as the magazine community was striving for political correctness, objectivity, balance, blablabla... This raw editing style by Alih really attracted some attention, a lot of sceners were very interested to read it, even though they may not have played games on C64 and preferred to code demos instead, they still read it due to the open-editing approach. By issue seven the magazine had obtained a large fan base; the refreshing style, the unique subject matter and also the fact it was released on the month, every month. Some of the issues had me laughing so hard their were tears streaming down my cheeks (remembering this magazine gets me thinking of that rawness - dirty fucking cum-ball text fucking fucks me hard and I fucking like it fucked like that - raw fucking text and capitalised paragraphs of game bashing honesty!). After 35 issues the magazine stopped as the main editor began to focus more on demo creation. Quite possibly he will re-enter the magazine market?

The last example I would like to look at in the 'Different' category was the Driven magazine. This magazine was a subject matter expert on the North American demo scene, a tiny bunch of individuals and groups that was quite segregated from their much larger European counterpart. Originally conceived as an NTSC-only magazine, the staff soon realised that isolationism of this kind was not the most productive way to encourage the demo scene and spread information to the entire community. The mag included objective demo reviews, articles on the internet and a wide variety of other C64-related topics. Part of its success as Coolhand, one of the main editors stated "variety, yet consistency; informative, yet entertaining. Balancing these factors must be a big part of the answer".

6. Why So Serious?

Fake groups, fake demos... why not fake disk mags?

Out of comedy or as a tool to wage war, the disk mag has also been used in a non-serious manner. Since its inception on the C64, the humble disk mag has had a comical side. Genesis*Project seemed to be the ridicule of many magazines in this category, perhaps because of their tenacity in the Sex'n'Crime magazine? Or their 'above-all' attitude in the early issues of Propaganda? The first example in this fake-category that comes to mind is the Gossip magazine which was first released back in 1991. The main editors of this King Bud (the stud) and Mr.Slash (aka Bud'n'Slash). This fake magazine was known to be secretly created by Merlin (ex-Epic) and some others. They had a real fist fight with Genesis*Project, this was exclaimed in all their issues, containing fake interviews and the like, quite hilarious stuff. They had an intro where you controlled a sprite and had to "kill G*P members if you want to read the mag". Upon completing this mission the message appears "G*P is dead! Let's party!". Gossip was the longest reigning fake magazine and continued to rag not only on Genesis but also the producers of the Tribune, Ned/Accept and anyone else that stood in their way.

Another nice one that I remember was The Real Proof. Only one issue was released anonymously about the BBS scene. It had a little dig at all the BBS regulars and offered some humourous jokes with no intention of offending (well, maybe not much intention). It was later discovered that the perpetrators of this production were none other than CBA/TRC and Scat/RSI.

Stepping back into 1990 there was a Swedish mag produced by the guys in Mute 101 (later to join FairLight) called Dick Almighty. This publication was to express your utter disliking to anyone in the scene you like. A real shame only a couple of issues made it out. Mega-ragging was conducted through the pages, primarily aimed at scene favourite of that time, Aaron/FairLight. An excerpt from the golden pages of the Almighty Dick, erm... Dick Almighty: "We are very tired on lamer Aaron in FLT you tell too many lies bigmouth... We would like to boil your balls lamer!! (cool intro maker, hehehe)". Some interesting trivia: almost every page contains the phone number to the Censor Design BBS Attraction, as a part of a deal to get a copy of their BBS-software (possibly Color64 BBS 7.37).

The bashing against Genesis*Project continued in other publications too. Remi Ebus/Mega Industries made a fake issue #2 of Propaganda. There was also the Popelganda magazine made by Testicle and Fabu of Payday that ragged on a certain Angelpisst/Gum*Penis. So much hatred, so much enthusiasm, so much entertainment... usually the fake magazine would use the fame of another to bounce off. Examples of this were the fake issues of Brutal Recall #13, Relax #1, Earthshake #11 and last but not least the fake Corruption #15 by the fake rebuild of Ikari (Hunter, MasterS and Bigfoot). The magazine were not the only exploit, anonymous villains would use group names also. I remember the fake zine called Brech News released by Dumminators Designs, a parody of The Dominators demo division.

The concept of fake magazines was a fun one that did not last long enough. The idea provided a more detailed platform to attack others, or speak your mind without being disturbed by unwanted repercussion.

7. Mag Type: Native Language Only

This is a tough category for me to discuss, however I do feel it important enough to mention due to historical importance. Whilst the international language of the C64 scene is predominately English, there did exist magazines for certain countries only.

Poland was probably the largest example here. Having publications like Adwarp, Always (trivia: this mag by Elysium started at issue #19 instead of the expected issue number #1. The Always mag started as a merger of two other mags - Highlife, which released 12 issues and Darkside which had 6 issues (18 issues combined, thus Always first issue was #19), Astoria, Inverse, Newspaper, Prawda, Trawnik and many more.

Local language magazines existed in Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Holland and one even came out of Peru - Yes! There did exist a Peruvian scene! In January 1991 Twin Eagles Group (TEG) release the first issue of their mag Smiling Panda in Spanish, the first disk mag to be published in Latin America! The first issue is spread only in Lima but the following issues were distributed to other scenes like Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Costa Rica.

This type of magazine was only really abundant when the scene was extremely active. Disk mag editors could afford to devote their energy to a more local audience. Maybe another reason is that some of these editors could not express themselves efficiently in the English language, so they reverted back to their native tongue. Either way, this concept is dead and buried.

8. Today

The rise of the Internet in the late 1990s assisted in superseding the concept of disk magazines, replacing them with the somewhat soulless "online publication" (which is sometimes still called "disk mags" despite the lack of any physicality). The reason for transition to the internet as the medium of choice is quite obvious; it allows a much wider target audience than the antiquated/limited disk format. However, there are some die-hard editors that are still producing disk mags for the C64 floppy format. They believe the 5"25 disk is far more relevant to the subject matter and a safer medium than a webpage (as far as preservation is concerned), not only that, the disk mag text is enhanced by an assault on the ear (SID music) and to the eyes (C64 graphics) making the publication a REAL 8-bit entertainment package (which also contributes to activity within the scene). Taking a deep breath and ranting aside, the disk magazine concept of today is a huge task. To produce it in disk format requires a huge amount of organising and it is something that should be appreciated and praised. As long as the scene continues to thrive, this concept will continue to exist.

Next issue, the media journey will examine the scene paper magazine, until then!

Regards,

Jazzcat.
(editor of Recollection and Vandalism News)
(former editor of The Pulse, Domination and Driven)