Worst C64 Magazine?

Commodore Format, Your Commodore, Commodore User etc.
CraigGrannell
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Post by CraigGrannell »

I bought one CCI issue for a joysticks feature... never again, as the magazine was pretty ropey. That issue did at least have a few saving graces, though, such as an interview of sorts with Chris Butler regarding Mega Apocalypse.

Another odd mag was CDU, which had a penchant for putting the worst stuff possible on to its cover disc. There was one "reasonable" Christmas disc, though, which had Logic (which crashed after you completed it), Microdot (an odd platform game with, erm, an orange ball) and Runaway, which was by far the worst adventure I have ever played, by virtue of not being able to get out of the opening location. I hacked it to see whether there were any other rooms, and there were, but I never worked out how to get to them.
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PeeknPoke
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Post by PeeknPoke »

Commodore user (before Zzap days) was crap. C+VG will always be crap (in the c64 days they always mixed screenshots up every month), Commodore force was like a sickbag after zzap, Commodore Format was quite good in the early days (Gordon, you and Kati did right for that didnt you?) and there was one called Commodore something...Gave away Nexus on the first issue and halfway through turned into a pop magazine (with..The Soup Dragons next month folks) now that was mega crap.

I think c64 and the general mags turned sour when they put tapes on the covers. The content went low after this free game giveaways......


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PeeknPoke
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Post by PeeknPoke »

CraigGrannell wrote:I bought one CCI issue for a joysticks feature... never again, as the magazine was pretty ropey. That issue did at least have a few saving graces, though, such as an interview of sorts with Chris Butler regarding Mega Apocalypse.

Another odd mag was CDU, which had a penchant for putting the worst stuff possible on to its cover disc. There was one "reasonable" Christmas disc, though, which had Logic (which crashed after you completed it), Microdot (an odd platform game with, erm, an orange ball) and Runaway, which was by far the worst adventure I have ever played, by virtue of not being able to get out of the opening location. I hacked it to see whether there were any other rooms, and there were, but I never worked out how to get to them.
oh god! I forgot about CDU! did they ever give a good game away? it was all basic and lots of disk crunchers for the kids.

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CraigGrannell
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Post by CraigGrannell »

I always thought CU was okay, especially pre-Zzap!64, as it didn't resort to spitting venom at its competition all the time. When Zzap!64 arrived on the scene, CU held its own for maybe two years, but then went downhill very fast, not least because of the Amiga coverage in place of C64 stuff (unlike Zzap!64, which struck a balance).

Again, I thought C&VG pretty good for the occasional buy, especially when JR was editing it. it had the same free-spirited feel as Zzap!64 in many ways, and always had plenty of editorial.

Commodore Force... well, it tried, although I reckon it should have focussed more on the underground scene, as there were plenty of games coming out - CF just didn't know about them. Under its closing format, I don't see how it could have survived anyway.

Commodore Format was good right up until the point that all the ex-Zzap!64 people buggered off. By about issue 16, it was pretty poor, and near the end, it was awful.
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Fiery Phoenix
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Post by Fiery Phoenix »

Although I did buy c&VG I always found it very biased towards the console scene at the time, the market was heading that way, but they did neglect the other formats without a doubt.

I do agree that CU was a good rival to Zzap! and you do need good competition to keep you on your toe`s. I used to like the artwork from that guy who did the TankGirl comic strips. But it did fade when it started with the Amiga coverage and like the previous message most of the mag scene DID die when free games were given away ( which were mostly shite ) Remember those shit mags, well I call them mags....they were called Rampage and Amiga Fun and were just a front page of a mag with a free full game on it - still got mine, think it was Licence to Kill and Crazy Sue on the other.. Near the end it was like, hey! we`ve got this free game on our mag, sod the contents!

Reading the comments about CCI made me dig a few old copies out. The only one`s I could find were from Feb `87, Dec `87, Jan `88 and Feb`88 - 4 issues - that says it all really! The Jan `88 issue has the " CCI Oskars 9 with a K ) " Flicking thru it - they even still had listings in it for prgrammes - in 1988 for Gawds sake! Though all that stopped in 1983! There was a review if the new 1581 drive for the C64, a " technical " letters page ( yawn! ) The reviews are pretty dire with usually only 1 screenshot of the game reviewed. I forgot about the ratings they gave in the corner of the review - Crisp, Awesome, Mega - not exacltlt Sizzlers or Gold Medals are they?

One saving grace, the ad for Anco`s Strip Poker 2 - classy cicks posing in sussies, will we ever see ads like that again?
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alexhighnumber
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Post by alexhighnumber »

Fiery Phoenix wrote: The Jan `88 issue has the " CCI Oskars 9 with a K ?
Was that the one with a 'CCI Burger' on the cover if I recall correctly?
Fiery Phoenix wrote: I forgot about the ratings they gave in the corner of the review - Crisp, Awesome, Mega - not exacltlt Sizzlers or Gold Medals are they?
Yes, looking back those terms do sound wank! At the time though they more just confused me a little, particularly "Crisp"???? and really what was the difference between "awesome" and "mega"?
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LeeT
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Post by LeeT »

Sounds like they were trying ot be 'down wiv the kids' ! :lol:
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alexhighnumber
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Post by alexhighnumber »

Shouldn't that be "Kidz" :-)
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Sixteen Plus
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Post by Sixteen Plus »

PeeknPoke wrote:Commodore user (before Zzap days) was crap
and there was one called Commodore something...
commodore user was a fine mag back when i owned a c16 with good coverage and support for it within it's lifespan. luckily i wisened up eventually and bought a c64
i think zzap should've had a program listing section like CU, CCI, Commodore Horizons and Your Commodore (before regressing to YC) did... especially in the later years when zzap/commodore force were running short on ideas... missed an opportunity to make it more underground fanbase and introduce programming... i reckon the mag would've sold on for a few more issues at least.

lol i once remember spending hours and hours typing in a listing and hours after correcting it... only then for my bro to switch off the c64 by the side-switch in a fit of temper.

TIP: ALWAYS SAVE WORK REGULARLY!

kids eh? :twisted:

baz

ps. what's this commodore something peeknpoke? i know of five regular uk commodore mags... zzap, cu, cci, commodore horizons and yc.
Last edited by Sixteen Plus on Thu May 19, 2005 7:28 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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alexhighnumber
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Post by alexhighnumber »

Commodore Horizons?
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Post by Colm »

I think Commodore Something was Commodore Power (I think I remember getting Nexus on the tape). It replaced YC as I suppose they thought they needed a make-over.

They printed about 3 or 4 issues, then promised a truly great issue with all these great improvements for the next issue, but were never seen again... (by me anyway)

I loved YC, though... the staff were way more personal - always slagging each other off , and you almost felt like you knew them.
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Iain
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Post by Iain »

Em sounds a little familar, was that the magazine that had a disk on the cover but cost something stupid like £6 or more? I remember seeing that in the newsagents towards the end of the C64 life.
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Post by Colm »

No, it was a tape... "Wheels of Steel" they called the relevant section in the magazine....
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Post by Browncat »

Your Commodore sucked, a prime example of this is when it gave Last Ninja a 100% rating, sure it was a great game but 100%! That means no other game would ever be better. Also it gave away the crappiest tapes. After the 100% incident I stopped buying it.
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Paul Chapman
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Post by Paul Chapman »

I remember another mag which I think was called C64 Fun.

The mag was awful and vastly overpriced (£4.99 back in 1993/94). Colour scheme on review pages was a washed-out pastel colour if I remember rightly. Big empty spaces on the pages as well - I wasn't impressed. :(

The games given away were very impressive though. I remember the Op-Wolf style shooter No Mercy was given away on one covertape. Good game which benefited from some excellent music by Markus Schneider (the title tune still my favourite SID)

Paul
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