Domination 07 Mag Reviews
From C64 Diskmag Wiki
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* Magazine Reviews *
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Welcome once again to the scrutinization of the media.
Here we take careful observation of magazines on the
inside and out and make our own conclusion on what
level of pleasure the magazine gives the reader.
Examined this issue is:
Driven Edition #13
Relax Magazine Edition #16
Firstly we will examine the new edition of Driven from
Style. If you feel as if you need your magazine
reviewed just leave feedback on any bbs to one in
the Domination staff.
Enjoy..
Jazzcat/ONSLAUGHT
Driven Edition #13 by Style
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General;
This great and VERY informative single file magazine
released by Style is once again out and about.
This issue is probably one of the best yet, with
obvious expansions in the PAL european coverage.
Lets take a close examination of the contents:
A) Ntsc scenery
B) Pal scenery
C) Commercial Scenery
D) Demolysis
E) Miscellaneous debris
F) Caught in the net
Each chapter is divided into sub chapters.
NTSC SCENERY: Month in review, Scene at a glance,
4k demo compo, Comeback mania, Interview: WrongWay
of Foe.
Pal scenery: news & rumours, scenest'96 report,
Australian scene history.
Commercial Scenery: 1541 - dos package
Demolysis: Redrum,Temple of Boom, Subliminal, C.a.t,
Dreamland.
Miscellaneous debris: The past & future of the scene,
Ntsc & Pal cooperation, addies and adverts.
Caught in the net: More about irc (pt 1), More about irc
(pt 2), Email addies.
The magazine staff comprises of some very capable
people:
Elwix/Style - main editor
Coolhand/Scs*Trc - coeditor, reviews
Dokken - reviews
Cybernoid/Dmx - reviews
Countzero/Scs*Trc - pal correspondant
Tao/Triad - contributing writer
IceBall/Motiv8 - contributing writer
Macx/Onslaught - western pal scene release list
Dr Soft/Albion - eastern pal scene release list
Skyclad/Threshold Prod. - postal subscriptions
Outfit description:
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The magazine is very straight forward and quite easy
to use, and because the magazine is in one file, there
is no loading and just decrunching of text.
By pressing keys "A-F" you can change between
different title names and then choose the different
chapters available.
Incase anything wrong occurs you can tap the Restore
ket twice to reset.
In the outfit itself you can press the F1 key to go
to the start of the text, pressing F5 or cursor up
will page up and F7 or cursor down is page down.
To return to the previous menu just press the return
key.
Infact whilst not too many magazines use keyboard
driven functions these days, this magazine is
delightful to use.
The logo has been done by Wile Coyote/Angry and
the nice eerie music is performed by Zyron/F4cg.
THE TEXT:
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As you would have expected, the english is superb
throughout and Elwix would have to be considered a
very capable and organized editor.
Text ranges from the usual editorial sections, to news,
interview, news, party reports, five demo reviews,
addies and adverts.
But apart from your usual there is also specials on
Australian scene history, hardware review, The past
and future of the scene, ntsc and pal cooperation
and two seperate chapters on how to use IRC on the
internet with a supporting email address section.
The news section is quite astonishing in the fact that
it's so uptodate and with each issue a greater
coverage of the pal scene and a general expansion
in the entire magazine itself occurs.
Overall
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Driven edition 13 is one cool magazine, a mag that i
could say i wait for with each edition.
The overall simplicity of it all gives greater light on
the text which is always to the point and covering the
interesting topics readers want to see.
The staff get a thumbs up from me and i wait with
eager anticipation for the next edition, 87/100.
The following magazine has been seen before in the
Domination pages, presenting to you..
Relax magazine edition #16 by Phuture
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General;
This magazine, unlike Driven, is a multi filed one. Being
one of the oldest magazines in the scene and one of
the few remaining board/mail based magazines.
Lets examine the contents..
Intro:
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Upon first loading the magazine we are entertained
with the usual Phuture logo and screen introduction.
This disperses and a full screen picture by RRR
appears in its place.
The picture depicts four females infront of a sunken
sun in the background. The lower right females is
enveloped by a demon like creature. But the main
female is the one in the upper portion of the screen,
she has wings, unlike the others, and appears to
be ascending upwards infront of the sun.
To the bottom left is the "Relax 16" small logo.
Music begins by Fanta and the introduction and
greetings appear in various corners of the picture.
By pressing space it gives a nice fade out effect and
then you are brought to the magazine itself.
Outfit description:
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Once inside the main magazine i am confronted by a
very stylish looking 'Relax magazine' logo by Cruise
of Taboo. Below this is an information line stating:
RELAX MAGAZINE MAY EDITION (issue 16)
Further down is the table of contents, the chapters
are highlighted by two arrows pointing inwards to
the chapter name.
They can be chosen by moving the joystick up or down.
Pressing fire irq loads the chapter with the Fanta
soundtrack playing along in style. Over the top of the
Relax logo at the top of the screen, a small "Loading"
text bounces/arcs from left to right as the text is
loaded into memory.
Once loaded the table of contents first fades out and
then the logo and the text comes up from the bottom
of the screen to appear infront of the reader.
The text itself is in proportional font in a easy to read
light grey color with a black background.
It can be controlled by using the joystick up and down
and for speed scrolling, left and right.
It is quite easy to control the up/down scrolling text
and to return to the main menu, you just press fire.
The text and production stuff:
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Programming is performed by FUBEN/OXYRON.
Soundtrack is performed by FANTA/BASS/OXYRON.
Bitmap graphics by RRR/OXYRON and CRUISE/TABOO.
Characterset by SKIDROW/ex-ALPHAFLIGHT.
Additional done by IGNORANCE/ALPHAFLIGHT.
Main Editor - RRR/OXYRON.
Main Editor - MARC/ALPHAFLIGHT.
Main Editor - MAX/ALPHAFLIGHT.
Co-Editor - FUBEN/OXYRON.
Co-Editor - PRI/TIA/OXYRON.
THE TEXT:
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The magazine is mostly written by Rrr and Marc who
both have a good english skill, but in my own opinion,
Rrr is the best editor in the whole magazine.
The magazine contains 11 chapters, an editorial,
news section, release chart, Yearly release chart,
board and mail charts, interview with Mms.Taboo,
demo reviews, advertisment section and an X-96
party report which is divided into two chapters.
The text is written in an interesting way and doesn'
fail in pleasing the c64 enthusiast.
Overall:
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The Relax magazine is a MUST for any true fanatic and
is easily one of the top five magazines in the world.
It has been quite consistant with size, quality and
in not delaying its own release.
Maybe some more chapters are needed and the staff
needs to expand slightly, but they are a very capable
and talented bunch, which makes the magazine worth
a deserved 90/100.
Keep up the good work Relax staff!
General Editor
