Z*Magazine: 9-Dec-86

Article #33 (214 is last):
From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.product.8bit.zmag
Subject: Z*Magazine: 9-Dec-86
Reply-To: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Date: Mon Jul 5 09:48:20 1993


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* Zmag/A\zine *
* HOT Atari News and Reviews *
* December 9,1986 *
* Editor:Clinton Smith *
* Asst.Editor:Jim Dobleski *
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Publisher:Clinton Smith
Asst.Publishers:Jim Dobleski
Rune Master
Ron Kovacs
The Wizard

Columnists:Clinton Smith
Rune Master
Jeff Williams
Gerry Feid

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* In This Issue *
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*Editor's Notes
*Magbytes-Points of interest from Antic and Atari Explorer.
*Elbow-Deep in the Bargain Basement from NJ Zmag
*Sundog from FTL-a review by Clinton Smith
*Zmag Christmas Survey Question
*Zmag BBS List

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* Editor's Notes *
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Welcome to the December 9th Issue of Zmag

In this issue,Zmag takes a look at the recent issues of Antic and Atari
Explorer to pick out items of interest to pass onto you,the readers.Are you
the type who likes to find bargains.If you are,I'm sure that you'll enjoy an
interesting tale of bargain hunting from NJ Zmag.Looking for a strategy
adventure game that uses the ST to it's fullest.Check out my review of Sundog
-Frozen Legacy.

Sysops!! Is your board carrying Zmag but you're not on the Zmag BBS list?
Let me know about it.Leave the name and number of your board to me in a message
on one of the Zmag Boards or send the info to:
Zmag-a-zineept U
2104 North Kostner
Chicago,Il 60639

Zmag is looking for support from user groups(articles and software reviews).
If you are a user group that would like to support Zmag drop me a line at:
Zmag-a-zineept S
2104 North Kostner
Chicago,IL 60639

Got a question or comment about Zmag? Leave a message to me(Clinton Smith)on
one of the Zmag Boards or write to:
Zmag-a-zine:ATTN Editor
2104 North Kostner
Chicago,IL 60639

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* Magbytes-a look *
* at recent issues of Atari Mags *
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Antic's feature project in the Jan 87 issue of Antic,is something that should
make your computer(8-bit or ST)cheer(or at least say some numbers or letters.
The talking typewriter circuit,that uses a radio shack speech chip,works with
both the 8-bit and the ST via the joystick port.The typewriter program(8-bit
and ST)repeats what you type in.Two 8-bit programs in the issue,Door Prize and
Math Attack,can also use the device.

Zobian Controls has just introduced a gem-like program for the 8-bits that
uses their Rat or SuperRats.RAOS,Rat Accuated Operating System,costs $50
,or $100(comes with the SuperRat).

Would you like a drawing program for your 8-bit that has advanced features
like airbrush painting and cutste.Then Blazing Paddles is for you.Check out
the review for more info on it.

Flight Simulator 2 is out for the St and Antic gives a shining review.Also
some tidbits on the upcoming ST Jet were given.Lightning,Jet trails,explosions,
sunsets,music,and other sound effects will be some of it's features.

Degas Elite has some exciting new features that will knock your socks off.
Check out the review for more details.

Are you a fan of the public domain Star Trek games? The St Basic version looks
to be the best yet.

Atari Explorer

This month's(Nov/Dec) issue has 2 articles of great interest to 8-bit and St
game players.The year's best 8-bit games article is especially interesting
since the writers,Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel,were the original men behind
Electronic
Games.The top 8-bit games of 86 were Alternate Reality-The City,Ultima 4,
Wizard's Crown,Spy vs. Spy 2,Zorro, Goonies,Battle of Antietam,Gettysburgh,
Panzer Grenadier,U.S.A.A.F.,NAM,Lords of Conquest,the Racing Destruction Set
,World Karate Championship,Fight Night,Hardball,Super Boulderdash,Koronis Rift
,CrossCheck,and Fooblitzky.

The top St games of 86 were Sundog,Universe 2,StarFleet 1,Breakers,Leather
Goddesses of Phobos,Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,Borrowed Time,Brattacus,
Hacker 2,Kings Quest 2,Phantasie,Rogue,Time Bandits,Gato,Silent Service,Word
for Word,Bridge 4.0,Winter Games,Mean 18,Leader Board,Hole in one Golf,Strip
Poker,Major Motion,Temple of Asphai Trilogy,and The Pawn.
**************************************
* Elbow-Deep in the Computer Bargain *
* Basement *
* by Ken White From NJ Zmag *
**************************************
We've all read the stories about the person who lucked into the "deal of a
lifetime" in the eternal search to add that one last piece of equipment to his
or her Atari collection. I've read the stories myself with a bit of envy and
some small amount of skepticism as well.I'm not saying these people were
exactly...lying,you understand,but their luck seemed a bit of a fluke, not the
kind of thing that happens to the average person.On the other hand, I'm
beginning to think that I just may have miscalculated the effects of good
fortune....
About a month ago, I was wandering through a local Sears store and, as is
my custom, I swung through the computer section; there's always the possibility
of running into an "unadvertised special" (okay, so I don't read the Sears ad
flyers...so shoot me...) on disks, or maybe some discontinued piece of
software at an unbelievably low price. And Sears generally features one of the
best bits of free entertainment in town - endless demonstrations of the
Commodore 64 and 128. You can stand there and watch, sneering in an -oh-so-
superior way. Pretty funny way to kill ten or fifteen minutes, if you know
what I mean.Anyway, there I was in Sears, watching the endless Commodore demos
on the screens, when I spotted a familiar box out of the corner of my eye.
Since I'd rather watch an inanimate Atari than a Commodore doing an Irish jig
with twelve naked dancing girls (though thirteen naked dancing girls just...
might...sway me...), I headed over to check out what they had in the way of
Atari hardware.It was the usual hardware package, the one that's been
advertised by all the big mail-order companies in Antic, Analog, Computer,
etc. etc etc. A 130XE, a 1050 disk drive, and a 1027 printer.The big price tag
taped to the side said $349.99. No surprises there, either. That's about the
price the package can be purchased for at all the mail-order houses.
Sure, those three pieces of Atari hardware looked kind of lonely sitting there
, surrounded by the Commodore hordes.Sad? Oh, yeah. Pathetic? Oh, maybe a
little bit. Was I going to take it home? Not on your life. I already have two
800's, three 5 and 1/4 inch drives, two printers, a 1040ST, and three modems.
The last thing I need in my life is more computer hardware.So I left the store
, hoping that somebody would find these three items and decide to enter the
world of Atari computing. Unfortunatelythat person wasn't going to be me.
Fast forward to about a week ago. There I am, back in the same Sears store,
picking up a sale-pack of video tapes (yes, I'd taken up reading the Sears ad
flyers.. especially when it saved me a long trip for something I needed quick)
.Since the audio/video section is right next to the computer section, I decided
to pay the Atari package a visit, to see if somebody had picked them up yet.
The three pieces of equipment were still there, in their little corner. Only
one thing had changed: the price.Like on those video call-in-and-buy-this-right
-now-or -we-kill-your-dog shows, it wasn't $350. Not $300. Not $250. Not even
$225. The price taped to the top of the three stacked boxes was $199.95.I
stopped. I licked my lips a couple of times. I pulled my wallet out and
ruffled through the thick wad of one dollar bills I carry around to feel like
I've got money in my pocket. Nope. Don't have a hundred and ninety-nine one
dollar bills in there. My heart was, as they say, filled with regret.Then I
started thinking....Yes, I did have a couple of hundred spare dollars floating
around that I could use if I had to.Yes, Christmas IS coming, and a complete
Atari system would make a GREAT Christmas present for that special somebody
(hey, you have to get them into Atari computing one way or another).So, back I
went to Sears a day or so later, my...uh...regretful heart in my mouth. Had
somebody else seen this "deal of a lifetime" and snapped it up? Had the
computer center person at Sears (what am I talking about -computer center
person at Sears? That's the guy who was fired from Toys R Us for not having
enough computer knowledge to run THEIR computer center) realized that $199.99
was below dealer cost for those three pieces? Was it all a dream (like the
last season of Dallas)?But no. There it was, sitting in the same place.But
there was no price tag on it. I was beginning to sweat it when I saw a guy
with a tie carrying a couple of boxes wandering around. "Do you work here?" I
asked. He nodded. I jerked my chin at the three pieces of Atari hardware on
the cheesy computer table in the dark corner. "Didn't you have these marked
$199.99 a couple of days ago?" I asked pleasantly. He nodded again. "You want
'em for $199.99?" What a stupid questionI mean, really, why did this guy think
I was asking? Did he think I was a comparison shopper for Consumer Reports or
something? I somehow didn't think he was going to offer to sell it to me for
$49 or something, so what was he asking me here? While he tried to figure out
how to write up the ticket (there were no stock numbers of any of the three
pieces), he informed me that 1) he was a former Commodore user, 2) he now owned
an IBM PC that was too much computer for him, 3) that I should be saving up my
money for the Franklin IBM clone behind me, 4) that he had "read" that the
Amiga is a better machine than the ST, and 5) that he had also "read" that my
ST, though having a full megabyte of memory aboard, could only access 256K of
it at once. It was, as you might imagine, painful to talk to this person.But I
didn't have much choice.On the counter in front of him was my "deal of a
lifetime".So I endured. And I walked out of there with $350 worth of computer
equipment at nearly 50% off.If there's a moral to this story (and after a story
this long, you probably are waiting for a moral), it's that you should always
(A-L-W-A-Y-S) keep your eyes open, wherever you go, for bargains. Atari went
through some hard times in the past, and we Atarians lost a lot of the support
we once had from some merchants. But consider this - on one hand, we've got
the additional support (both hardware and software) of all kinds of new
companies.And out there, in the vast PC wasteland, there are probably hundreds
(yes, hundreds - perhaps thousands) of bargains available at those merchants
who gave up on Atari and don't know about the "Atari Revolution".Selfishly I
say, "Good! Leave 'em in the dark!" Because as long as these unenlightened
folks don't realize that computer or disk drive sitting in the corner is worth
a whole lot more than the price tag they've placed on it, there's more bargains
for us all.Of course, recently I've begun noticing more people lingering in
out-of-the-way computer-type places ...looking over counters...standing on
tip-toe to peer over piles of boxes...muscling me out of the way when I paw
through discontinued software with a terse, "Sorry, I thought I saw my little
boy climb into this bin."Perhaps I'm not the only skulking bargain hunter
around after all....
**************************************
* Editor's Review:Sundog *
* From FTL For Atari St *
* by Clinton Smith *
**************************************
The best compliment you can give an adventure program is that even after
you solve it,you still want to play it.I have solved Sundog,and I still have an
urge to hop into my one man frieghter and warp around the galaxy.
Just before your uncle died he took on a contract to build a colony for a
religious cult on Jonnd.As his sole heir,you must complete this contract,with
the money stored in the various banks in the different systems of the Drahew
Region.I'll let you discover the various tidbits of Sundog,but these are some
of the things you'll encounter.
Muggers,Pirates,stock trading,drug smuggling,gun running,planetary discovery,
price haggling in bars,and much,much,more.Pick up this game and explore another
universe in your computer.
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* Zmag Christmas Survey Question *
***********************************

This survey is in effect till Dec.22.
What computer related products would you most like to see under your tree
this Christmas?
Hardware:?
Software:?
Misc:?

**************************************
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* Zmag-a-zine December 9,1986 *
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