Me and Zzap: Im a Newbie :)

Tell us about what Zzap meant to you as a lad
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joem
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Me and Zzap: Im a Newbie :)

Post by joem »

Hi all.

Oooh, just discovered this site........ cool.

Im 35..... I remember when i was about 11 or 12 lusting after a C64, but all i had at the time was an old Atari VCS. Around 1985 i finally got one.

I used to buy PCW magazine (i still have a pile of them), but it was very high-brow and deep for me.... then one day i saw Zzap in the newsagents and bought it and changed my life forever.

Through Zzap i discovered Jeff Minter (and began a lifelong Pink Floyd obsession), making music and Rob Hubbard (and began a lifelong guitar playing obsession), got caught up in the world of the staff, and the little fun bits of the mag, and generally found a new brand of humour and style of writing. Because of Zzap i got into magazine writing at school and changed my look (i got a flat-top like Gaz).

I still have a mountain of old mags (from those very old PCW's to Zzap, Crash, C user, The One, St/Amiga format, ACE, etc.etc.etc.....) and read them from time to time for a bit of retro fun.

The Commie 64 was the best computer i ever owned, as it really drew me in, and Zzap the best magazine because it was like nothing else at the time (umm.... except Crash......... and later i bought an Amstrad and got into Amtix).

I always wondered what happened after it all went belly up (i remember i stopped buying Zzap when the team changed completely and really didn't like the later episodes)... and now, through this forum, i found out lots of little fun facts.

The best games: Paradroid, Uridium, Ghostbusters (i loved this game), Way of the exploding Fist, Mercenary, Attack of the Mutant Camels.... etc.. there were too many to remember.

I did buy one of those 10 in 1 game packs once, and on it was a space trading game like Elite but more fun, cant remember the name... and also a company who produced about half a dozen really great games (which Jeff Minter loved), but cant remember them either.... they had a game on that compilation too... wish i could remember what it was called.

Anyhoo.... i will write much more soon, i need to go refresh my memory and relive all those years wasted on the C64.

Joe
"I stand corrected", said the man with the orthopedic shoes.
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Professor Brian Strain
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Post by Professor Brian Strain »

Welcome to the forum!


Newsfield went bankrupt, a new company called Europress Impact was formed, ZZAP carried on until 1992.. then it re-branded to become "Commodore Force". After just 16 issues it closed its doors.
joem
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Post by joem »

I think i picked up one of the Commodore Force mags, but didn't really like it.
I did like Amtix and Crash too....... and the One was pretty good for a bit...

I think EMAP and Future Publishing started to dominate back then though, due to the blatant "kids" appeal and on the other side the polished professional look. its a shame Newsfield never managed to keep it going :(
"I stand corrected", said the man with the orthopedic shoes.
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Mort
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Post by Mort »

Nice to see you here Joem.

I was gutted when Crash merged with Sinclair User on Issue 98 , if only it could have made the magic 100 sniff, anyhow ZZap did 108 issues if you included the tribute issues so not a bad innings and much better than poor old Amtix.

Anyhow enjoy the site and thanks for visting.

Regards Mort :D
Where`s my screwdriver, need to replace another 6581 Sniff
joem
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Post by joem »

The tribute issue is pretty cool, shame that there couldn't have been a few more.

Reading through a few old mags last night i was reminded how good the Christmas issues were :)
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Ant
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Post by Ant »

Hi Joem and welcome aboard. Always good to see new blood. I absolutely loved Ghostbusters as well and like you, discovered Minter thanks to Zzap and took an instant shine to the guy because he was manic over Floyd. :)
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Ian Osborne
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Post by Ian Osborne »

Mort wrote: I was gutted when Crash merged with Sinclair User on Issue 98 , if only it could have made the magic 100 sniff
I bet Sinclair User were too. They had to deal with all the letters generated by Issue 98's rather ill planned April Fool! :D
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Mort
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Post by Mort »

I did think it was a hoax until the next month arrghh! :D
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Ian Osborne
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Post by Ian Osborne »

Mort wrote:I did think it was a hoax until the next month arrghh! :D
I'm not talking about the 'next month' wisecrack about Crash becoming a cookery magazine. I'm referring to Danny the Duster's Dirty Deeds, the best Spectrum game evah!!! The magazine was sooo popular with the readers, who got all excited about it, then found it didn't exist. Luckily, by then it didn't matter.

Fair point about it being a shame it couldn't reach Issue 100, though. To make matters worse, there was no pressing commercial reason why it had to close. It was swapped for an Atari ST magazine which was doing no better and, because it lacked the history enjoyed by Crash, would probably have gone into decline sooner too. Personally, I think closing Crash was Europress head office's way of letting Impact know who was in charge.
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