Amstrad Action Magazine

Discussion of the Zzap special by Mr. ZzapBack

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Post by gravy »

So Long Ago wrote:Had that not happened then AMTIX may possibly never have happened. Jeremy Spencer was the only person originally involved with Amtix that was particularly keen on the Amstrad.
That's not quite right, Jeremy actually brought me into Newsfield exclusively for Amtix and the computer I owned at the time was a much loved CPC 464. I met him when he came down to Domark to have a look at A View To A Kill for Crash.

I did a couple of months on the mag before moving permanently onto Zzap. I can't remember the exact reason's for the swirtch but it could be to do with me being a lazy swine who Jeremy once tried to strangle (I'm not joking) for dicking about when I should have been working :D
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Post by LeeT »

Jeremy Spencer was one of the very few Newsfield people to avoid the camera - Was he really that ugly? :lol:

(There was a photo of him from behind with his dog but no face shot).

Apologies if you are Jeremy Spencer, So Long Ago! :wink:
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Post by Professor Brian Strain »

There is a REAL difference between putting together a fanzine, and putting together something of the standard of the ZZAP tribute/fan issues. The YS tribute in Retro Gamer is another example of how high you have to aim - not just a few pages, but serious hard work, former staff getting involved, getting the look and feel right...

And Craig, issue 108...

As Mrs Doyle would say, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, :wink:

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Post by Lloyd Mangram »

LeeT wrote:
Apologies if you are Jeremy Spencer, So Long Ago! :wink:
He isn't, hehe. At least, he said so. 8)
I think there is a clear picture of Jeremy Spencer somewhere, I think in Amtix!
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Post by CraigGrannell »

Iain wrote:Well I guess the one thing about issue 108, but that it should be easier to do than 107 since you have a lot of the design stuff available and the experience of it all.
Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

I'm sorry Iain—that was rude of me. It's just—

Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

*bonk*
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Post by So Long Ago »

gravy wrote:That's not quite right, Jeremy actually brought me into Newsfield exclusively for Amtix and the computer I owned at the time was a much loved CPC 464. I met him when he came down to Domark to have a look at A View To A Kill for Crash.

I did a couple of months on the mag before moving permanently onto Zzap. I can't remember the exact reason's for the swirtch but it could be to do with me being a lazy swine who Jeremy once tried to strangle (I'm not joking) for dicking about when I should have been working :D
I knew my memory was faulty it was, afterall, so long ago. My memory (failing) was that Amtix was originally put together from existing staff. Certainly a lot of the content in issue 0 was put together without the benefit of playing the games on an Amstrad. However, I do clearly remember Amtix coming about as a direct result of Chris starting up AA. To the best of my knowledge prior to that there had been no firm plans to do an amstrad mag. The split between RK, OF & AA hadn't been amicable.
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Post by Iain »

CraigGrannell wrote: Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

*bonk*
Oh dear, I set something off there!

But at least it should reduce the amount of work you'd have to do by 20%?.. (as regards the design stuff)
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Post by CraigGrannell »

But at least it should reduce the amount of work you'd have to do by 20%?.. (as regards the design stuff)
OK, seriously: BANANAS!!!

*slap!*

OK, really, really seriously...

(bananas)

*slap!*

OK, really, truly and utterly seriously, in a sort of BBC News "it's all a bit grim" sort of way... Yes. Sort of. It would reduce me having to do certain things, like draw the logos, and also I wouldn't have to figure out fonts and stuff. However, I'd say that at least this would reduce the workload by a tenth. Most of the problem last time was in contributors saying things like "well, so what if I give in my 100-word comment three weeks late"—(because, hey, 100 words would take aaaages to write)—"you scummy designer person can surely just design the page and just past in my words later", when, as anyone who's ever designed anything will tell you, you can't do a damn thing until you have everything sitting in front of you.

Still, I am tempted to do 108. (And it's not just the Guinness talking.) However, first, I am going to get married, go on honeymoon, and finish my next book. Once the dust has settled and the winter nights are drawing in, and if enough others are interested, including the likes of Gordon and other ex-Newsfield staff, then maybe.

That said, if a certain other project that's been rumoured on WoS (World of Stuart, not World of Speccy) happens, my time will be taken there instead.
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Post by Iain »

CraigGrannell wrote:I am going to get married, go on honeymoon, and finish my next book. Once the dust has settled and the winter nights are drawing in,
You're planning to do all fo that within the next 6 months? :-o

What's the next book going to be about then?
CraigGrannell wrote: That said, if a certain other project that's been rumoured on WoS (World of Stuart, not World of Speccy) happens, my time will be taken there instead.
And what project would that be? Must have a look at this World of Stuart, been hearing a bit about it recently. What's its area?
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Post by Lloyd Mangram »

Iain wrote:
CraigGrannell wrote: That said, if a certain other project that's been rumoured on WoS (World of Stuart, not World of Speccy) happens, my time will be taken there instead.
And what project would that be? Must have a look at this World of Stuart, been hearing a bit about it recently. What's its area?
They're planning The DEF Tribute to Banana Monthly over there.
But shhhhh, it's supposed to be a secret! :)
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Post by CraigGrannell »

You're planning to do all fo that within the next 6 months? :-o
Well, getting married doesn't take that long, and a honeymoon is hardly three months (more's the pity); as for the book, it's a couple of months' work.
What's the next book going to be about then?
Dreamweaver.
And what project would that be? Must have a look at this World of Stuart, been hearing a bit about it recently. What's its area?
World of Stuart? It's Stuart Campbell's website, where he writes articles and stuff. The forum is... a forum, much the same as this one, really. However, quite a few of the people on the forum are journos and gaming people, and there's a possibility of this happening at some point... (And, yes, that's just a holding page that Andy threw together.)
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Post by Lloyd Mangram »

Aha, no DEF Tribute to Banana Monthly then? :wink:

Kill!Kill!Gaming?

I would have gone for 'Wallop!' :D
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Post by CraigGrannell »

Amusingly, we've already had a few people hear "Kill! Kill! Gaming" and immediately say "that's all I needed to hear—I'm sold". Now, if only another 5000 people will say the same...
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Post by Iain »

Looks kinda interesting alright, they'll need to sell quite a few issues to cover their costs though.

Hopefully after a couple of issues it may be distributed to the "high street".

I like the fact there's no CD/DVD on the cover, I never look at them and get pissed off paying extra for them.
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Post by CraigGrannell »

If this happens (and, frankly, it is a bit of a big IF), it could really shake things up. Imagine, if you will, a multi-platform magazine that actually gives a shit about its readers, that actually acknowledges that the news/previews/reviews system has had its day (and therefore concentrates on features), that actually understands that magazines are supposed to be entertainment... That is K!K!G. If it's done right, this could be like a multi-platform Zzap!/AP, with more of a focus on features—like the anti-Edge.
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