New ezine - ZX Spectrum gamer

[_Paul]

/zxspectrumgamerforumima.png

I've just finished issue 1 of my new Speccy fanzine/ezine.

There's probably not that many Spec-chums on this forum, but if you are interested, you can read it here.

[Nazi NecroPhile]

Linky no worky.

I don't know much about the speccy, but I'm sure it'll be an entertaining read.  Downloading now. 

[_Paul]

Link fixed!

[JoshTurboTrollX]

I know very little about spectrums, 'cept what I've seen at retro gaming conventions and read about in retro gamer, but you're mags are always top quality!  So I'll be sure to take a look!

Can we request ezine topics/consoles to cover?  If so, how about some Tandy CoCo love?  ;)

[_Paul]

I know very little about spectrums, 'cept what I've seen at retro gaming conventions and read about in retro gamer, but you're mags are always top quality!  So I'll be sure to take a look!

Can we request ezine topics/consoles to cover?  If so, how about some Tandy CoCo love?  ;)

Heh. If I decide to do any more, it will be Sega Master System, then Mega Drive. But I'd need to become unemployed to find the time.

[Arkhan Asylum]

I hate most spectrum games, but I love the hardware itself.  If that makes any sense.  There are some good ones though.  Shadow of the Beast for Spectrum was pretty good even if the graphics were wonky.

Speaking of, I need a spectrum again. 

[_Paul]

I hate most spectrum games, but I love the hardware itself.  If that makes any sense.  There are some good ones though.  Shadow of the Beast for Spectrum was pretty good even if the graphics were wonky.

Speaking of, I need a spectrum again. 

I'm trying to find a good condition rubber-keyed one. I want it cheap and I don't care if it works. I want to mount it side by side in a frame with a ZX80 and ZX81.

[Arkhan Asylum]

I hate most spectrum games, but I love the hardware itself.  If that makes any sense.  There are some good ones though.  Shadow of the Beast for Spectrum was pretty good even if the graphics were wonky.

Speaking of, I need a spectrum again. 

I'm trying to find a good condition rubber-keyed one. I want it cheap and I don't care if it works. I want to mount it side by side in a frame with a ZX80 and ZX81.

That's basically what I wanted it for... I want a Spectrum + or a 128.  Just because the hardware looks cool as hell.

[SuperPlay]

Wow I was not expecting this release, nice surprise.  Ollie & Lisa I remember that one, top title :-)  

A couple of my friends still develop home-brew spectrum games:

http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0024820

http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0025290

Another great piece of work Paul

[_Paul]

Oh dear. Looks like my Steve Jobs comment didn't go down well with the Youtube crowd  I was 50/50 on leaving it in tbh.

[Nazi NecroPhile]

Sheesh, talk about an innocuous comment.... who are these twats and why are they so quick to defend Steve Jobs's honor?

[Arkhan Asylum]

RESPONDED.

[Mishran]

Sheesh, talk about an innocuous comment.... who are these twats and why are they so quick to defend Steve Jobs's honor?

He had honor???

[_Paul]

Some people are afraid of death and it scares them when people respond to it with humour. I wonder if anything would have been said if I made a comment while Jobs was still alive...I doubt it.

[Arkhan Asylum]

lol...he blocked and ignored me.  I am a shining example of the YouTube community! \o/.  Its ok, I have 4 more accounts.  TIME TO WAGE WAR. (on a different video. Im sure I can find more places the guy commented)

What a polesmoker.  He was probably sipping tea and touching himself to photos of the queen with Steve Jobs head photoshopped onto her.

I vote you put more Jobs comments in your spectrum magazines.  After all, it's not an Apple II magazine, so screw em.

[_Paul]

Lol, I'm glad I'm on your side!

[Arkhan Asylum]

I really hate all those smug "im so mature, look at my mature posts!" people on YouTube.

I cut them down when possible. lol

[Nazi NecroPhile]

I really hate all those smug "im so mature, look at my mature posts!" people on YouTube.

I cut them down when possible. lol

Thus proving your utter lack of maturity.  THIS MEANS WAR!!!

[Arkhan Asylum]

THIS MEANS WAR!!!

MATURA WARS.

[OldRover]

Screw the Jobs fanboys.

[Arkhan Asylum]

what I like most is that the iPod is so innovative, but that stupid touchy wheel is about as precise as a cannon ball.

[_Paul]

I wonder how long it takes iPad purchasers to look at it and go 'Why?'

I guess 20 minutes tops.

[Arkhan Asylum]

Some chucklefuck, right when iPads were brand effin' new, had one in my Algorithm Analysis of DOOM class.  He was like ITS GOING TO BE GREAT FOR NOTES IN CLASSES LIKE THIS.

I said "funny, this 30 cent notebook and pencil I found in a drawer does fine."

class began.

He kept saying hold on, hold on

and I said WHAT IS THE HOLDUP.

and he goes "Its hard to do all that math notation on this thing" and I said "FUNNY, MY 30 CENT NOTEBOOK AND FREE PENCIL DO IT FINE. THROW YOUR IPAD OUT THE WINDOW AND JOIN REALITY"

he made ._. face.
 
I made \o/ face.

[thrush]

I have no real Spectrum experience, so I am psyched to check out this magazine & begin the quest.  ^_^  Thanks!

[Arkhan Asylum]

I am doing the same.

duhnuhnuh!

[thrush]

Just read through the whole thing -- very entertaining!  Some of those games look quite cool.  I also absolutely loved the sentiments in the introduction, especially about how better graphics & sound can mean less imaginative engagement: "With today's games we are spoonfed with complete, realistic worlds. There is no room for the imagination any more".  Almost as if the publishing world had refused to sell novels that don't have illustrations on every page.

[_Paul]

Just read through the whole thing -- very entertaining!  Some of those games look quite cool.  I also absolutely loved the sentiments in the introduction, especially about how better graphics & sound can mean less imaginative engagement: "With today's games we are spoonfed with complete, realistic worlds. There is no room for the imagination any more".  Almost as if the publishing world had refused to sell novels that don't have illustrations on every page.

Yeah, that's the weird thing when I play games like Starglider. They look so basic, but somewhere in my head I am seeing a cool sci-fi world.

[Mathius]

Just read through the whole thing -- very entertaining!  Some of those games look quite cool.  I also absolutely loved the sentiments in the introduction, especially about how better graphics & sound can mean less imaginative engagement: "With today's games we are spoonfed with complete, realistic worlds. There is no room for the imagination any more".  Almost as if the publishing world had refused to sell novels that don't have illustrations on every page.

Yeah, that's the weird thing when I play games like Starglider. They look so basic, but somewhere in my head I am seeing a cool sci-fi world.

Retro gaming is one of the few things that pushes my immagination. The original Legend of Zelda is a prime example.

[Arkhan Asylum]

The original LOZ just pushes my "this isn't as good as everyone says".

I get bored by the 3rd dungeon and just walk around aimlessly until I turn it off.

[Mathius]

The original LOZ just pushes my "this isn't as good as everyone says".

I get bored by the 3rd dungeon and just walk around aimlessly until I turn it off.

It helped to be eight years old at the time. There was just nothing else on consoles quite like it.

[thrush]

The original LOZ just pushes my "this isn't as good as everyone says".

I get bored by the 3rd dungeon and just walk around aimlessly until I turn it off.

It helped to be eight years old at the time. There was just nothing else on consoles quite like it.

I'll go further than that and say "there was nothing else on any platform quite like it".  But I think you are both right: it's one of those games that you kinda had to be in just exactly the right age/historical moment to get why it was such a big deal.  (Sort of like FF7 in that respect.)  I recall there was one summer that I evenly divided between playing NES and wandering around the woods in my hometown and for me whenever I see/play tLoZ nowadays I feel like I'm back in those woods; similarly, the few times I've been back to my old town even though almost everything else has changed those woods still feel like Hyrule to me.  It helped that I grew up in New Mexico where we have lots of dry tan dust and small, round bushes.  ^_-

  Gameplay may not be all that hot these days, but I still do appreciate the icon-like art style: it's not so much showing you a picture of one particular tree as it is suggesting that there is some tree in this place, inviting you to imagine it for yourself.

Yeah, that's the weird thing when I play games like Starglider. They look so basic, but somewhere in my head I am seeing a cool sci-fi world.

For me, some Atari games have that quality to them, too, but the next best example I can think of is the 8-bit Dragon Quest titles.  Whenever I play those I don't see the boxy grey mountains or identically tiled castles.  Something in my mind fills in valleys & rivers, the feel of the wind, the sounds of the grass crunching under the travellers' feet, all sorts of small organic details that aren't there in the picture.  Few newer games have ever done that for me.

  Maybe I'm a little crazy for getting that carried away by it, but reading the reviews in the ezine for games like Trashman or Olli & Lissa I can see myself having the same sort of experience.  Although, maybe a bit less poetic in the case of Trashman.  ^m^

[Arkhan Asylum]

The original LOZ just pushes my "this isn't as good as everyone says".

I get bored by the 3rd dungeon and just walk around aimlessly until I turn it off.

It helped to be eight years old at the time. There was just nothing else on consoles quite like it.

I'll go further than that and say "there was nothing else on any platform quite like it".  But I think you are both right: it's one of those games that you kinda had to be in just exactly the right age/historical moment to get why it was such a big deal.  (Sort of like FF7 in that respect.)  I recall there was one summer that I evenly divided between playing NES and wandering around the woods in my hometown and for me whenever I see/play tLoZ nowadays I feel like I'm back in those woods; similarly, the few times I've been back to my old town even though almost everything else has changed those woods still feel like Hyrule to me.  It helped that I grew up in New Mexico where we have lots of dry tan dust and small, round bushes.  ^_-

  Gameplay may not be all that hot these days, but I still do appreciate the icon-like art style: it's not so much showing you a picture of one particular tree as it is suggesting that there is some tree in this place, inviting you to imagine it for yourself.

I played it when I was like 2.5 years old through today.  I used to play it alot and never really liked it.  I definitely liked Zelda II when I was 4, thats for sure.  and Link to the Past.

Maybe it's because we always had computers in the house with RPGs, and maybe because by the time I was playing it, (1990-->) , there were other games to play.

But hey, I like Hydlide, so don't listen to me, lol

[Mathius]

I LOVE Zelda II! I was so excited when it came out. Ah memories...

[Arkhan Asylum]

The first Zelda really just needed a town or something to make it feel more like how Zelda was presented in the instruction book even.. Instead it was random dudes in caves.  I was playing Times of Lore instead..  From what I've been told, people with Commodore 64s, etc. around here weren't impressed with Zelda when it came out, because there were better options out already for the computers. :-/

I can see it being amazing if you didn't already play stuff like the Apshai games, Questron or Ultima.

The first Ultima was more adventurous to me.  There were first person dungeons, towns with some communication!, alot of space to explore, and... space itself to explore!

Zelda 1 isn't bad, but it isn't good, to me at least.  They really did better with the second game.  Wayyyyy better.  It didn't feel like you were just wandering around looking for holes to walk into.

[Mathius]

To give credit to the US version of Zelda they really improved certain sound effects like the monster "roaring" samples, and when you unlock a door. It's weird because Zelda on the Famicom Disk System was supposed to sound superior due to its FM synth. Go figure.

[thrush]

From what I've been told, people with Commodore 64s, etc. around here weren't impressed with Zelda when it came out, because there were better options out already for the computers. :-/

  I can see it being amazing if you didn't already play stuff like the Apshai games, Questron or Ultima.

I would also put the first Zelda in a "good but not great category".  Yet, I feel compelled to point out that Times of Lore came out a year later (at least in the USA) and I would argue that Ultima is a really different kind of game.  I have never played Apshai, but if it is this game (www.mobygames.com/game/dunjonquest-temple-of-apshai) then that seems like a significantly different type of game, too.

  Admittedly I did not play many C=64 games (we only had a ViC-20), but I played a fair amount of MS-DOS and Mac titles only a few years later, and I still feel like most of the computers-vs-consoles comparisons from that era are pretty apples-to-oranges.  Was Ultima better than Zelda?  Arguably.  But I think they were trying to accomplish different things.  I'm not sure if I'd feel comfortable comparing Zelda 2 to Zelda 1 for exactly the same reason.  Still, I do think Zelda 3 >> Zelda 1.

  To me, the bigger question is, which is better: Zelda 2, Castlevania 2, or Faxandu??  ^_^

[Arkhan Asylum]

Faxanadu is the best. Duh.



Anyway, I mentioned Times of Lore since I was born in 1988.  By the time I was playing these games, I had more choices than just Zelda 1, and I'd take Times of Lore of Zelda 1 no questions asked.

The first Ultima is more of an action RPG than the rest of them ever were.  Ultima 1 and 2 are both very action RPG.  Granted, you still "take turns", you are on a timer, so standing there won't get you far.  You control a single hero and go to towns, talk to people, and then go out and stab things.  The dungeons make it different since they are first person.


when you get right down to it though:

Ys did what Zelda tried.