Issue 96 Official feedback

[Alfred Henchcock]

Just remembered:

No C64 screen shots of Wanted: Monty Mole. Struck me as a bit odd, seeing as it was so different to every other game in the series (which was mentioned in the article).

[jdanddiet]

To the best of my knowledge What is your favourite Doctor Who hasn't been asked for over a year now.

I always found this quite amusing, to ask developers completely random questions, but that's probably just me...

[TMR]

To the best of my knowledge What is your favourite Doctor Who hasn't been asked for over a year now.

I always found this quite amusing, to ask developers completely random questions, but that's probably just me...

i liked it too, then Darran told me off so i had to start asking serious questions!! =-)

[joefish]

You could ask them which is their favourite Pokémon game.

[Szczepaniak]

To the best of my knowledge What is your favourite Doctor Who hasn't been asked for over a year now.

I always found this quite amusing, to ask developers completely random questions, but that's probably just me...

i liked it too, then Darran told me off so i had to start asking serious questions!! =-)

I also like reading the answers to odd questions - it can unsettle/relax an interviewee, in a good way. I've actually recently taken to asking interviewees if they can remember what they saw outside their office window when working on a specific game. It might sound silly, but when you think about it, whatever their view was, would be the thing they saw every single day when making said game.

Maybe Daz should have the top 100 weirdest interview questions in issue 100. I know EDGE for its 200th issue featured a single quote from each of its previous issues - and some of them were mind-blowing (in showing EDGE's ineptitude).

There's an idea! RG is a significant publication, right? There's only a handful of magazines which cover retro in a meaningful way, and only some of those are in English (GameSide would be the Japanese equivalent). Surely it'd be pretty easy to go through every back issue and find at least one major world-first, or breakthrough, that it's documented? Yes, I'm sure there's been at least 100 major historical firsts or significant landmarks which can be attributed to RG. Off the top of my head, the in-depth Konix coverage and videos, the Panzer Dragoon Saga Making Of, and an interview with the guy behind the CDi Zelda games (not that I'm looking for an excuse to talk about myself with that last one ).

Obviously such an article would basically be like a mutual congratulations party, but when you're 100 issues old you can be a bit self-indulgent, right? The cover line could be: 100 reasons why we're the censored best.

[DRS]

To the best of my knowledge What is your favourite Doctor Who hasn't been asked for over a year now.

I always found this quite amusing, to ask developers completely random questions, but that's probably just me...

i liked it too, then Darran told me off so i had to start asking serious questions!! =-)

I also used to like asking the Dr Who question and almost invariably hearing the response Tom Baker ;] I only stop asking it because The Master stopped posting it in the questions thread (in fact, i think i actually carried on for a while, even when he hadn't posted it... like an invented tradition... but then all traditions are invented...)

When DID was revamped in issue 63 (Kevin Toms), the word count for readers questions was reduced by about 250 words (it used to have its own page not just a column). It did mean that the whole feature went up by one page (from 5 to 6) and the word count for the whole feature went up from 1700 to 2400, so i tried to incorporate what readers had asked (and the responses) into the main article or boxouts... though i know it's nice for readers to see their names in the mag - and i'm glad that DID has readers names with the questions, unlike In the Chair... give credit where credit is due!

Paul

[Szczepaniak]

give credit where credit is due!

Hear hear! Unlike GamesTM and EDGE which don't even credit article authors.

[ncf1]

give credit where credit is due!

Hear hear! Unlike GamesTM and EDGE which don't even credit article authors.

Perhaps Bushnell is behind it all?

[kelp7]

Really great article on Monty Mole, loved it.

BUT

how can there be no mention of the Nintendo Monty Mole? I was eager to find out how that name conflict could have happened, how it was sorted out, whether it provides any obstacles to the MOTR re-make for mobile-devices?..... but nothing in the article....

[Rory Milne]

It’s been a madly busy month, but I’ve finally finished reading issue 96 and I thought some feedback was due.

The highlights for me this month were:

From the Archives: Domark – A great piece this, I remember Domark being one of those companies that had their moments, without really setting the gaming world on fire. But the story behind the label made for a fascinating read.

Classic Game: Toobin’ – Another perfect choice for Classic Game, the six-screenshot layout really gives you a flavour of the game in action, and the enthusiastic accompanying text strongly motivates you to go and play the game.

Making of Radiant Silvergun – I personally can’t get enough of Treasure, so I was looking forward to this. Thankfully, it didn’t disappoint on any level. This was a great piece of writing, with beautiful backgrounds, and screenshots that illustrated just exactly why the game is one of the all time greats.

History of Jetman – Full points for visual design here, this was a really nice looking spread. The various developers’ opinions of Jetpac were of particular interest, but the article, as a whole, worked really well.

Retrorevials – Two intriguing games I’d never heard of this month, there’s not much more I could ask for from a Retrorevial. They look great and read well every month, but the dive into lesser known titles was a very pleasant surprise.

Top 25 C64 Games – I was a bit wary about this, to be honest I’m not big on top 25 this, or top 100 that, but I now count myself as a convert. I think it’s down to the word count per game, much shorter and the write-ups wouldn’t have had room to breathe, much longer and they would have turned into something too in depth for a feature of this sort. As it was, the article was just nicely balanced.

Making of Kid Chameleon – More behind the scenes magic here, it was really interesting to hear the lead developer reminisce about the game’s various obscure influences.

Story of Monty Mole – This delivered everything you could possibly ask for in a Monty Mole feature. Aside from its comprehensive nature, clever writing and striking visuals really made this the stand out feature, for me, this month.

Obscura Machina: Sharp X68000 – One cheer for the return of Obscura Machina, another for the choice of Sharp X68000 as featured system! The research that must have gone into putting this piece together could only be described as a labour of love, but the end result speaks for itself.

Making of Revenge of Shinobi – More fascinating revelations from the Far East and another really enjoyable read.

The Unconverted – Interesting game choices as always this month - it’s just a format that never gets tired. I’ll have to award extra points for the main pic of Osman, apart from looking stunning, hitting the pause button at just the right split second to get the shot must have required either a great deal of skill, patience or just sheer jammy luck!

Desert Island Disks: David Leitch - Hilarious and uplifting by turn, an excellent choice for the always interesting D.I.D.

It probably goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, this was yet another superb issue.

[CraigGrannell]

No C64 screen shots of Wanted: Monty Mole. Struck me as a bit odd, seeing as it was so different to every other game in the series (which was mentioned in the article).

One was submitted, but I guess the designer didn't like the look of it. (Typically, contributors file about twice as many screen grabs/captions as get used for the articles, so the designer and editors have a choice regarding what looks best.)