Apologies if this has already been mentioned, but there's a great article in the latest issue of Retro Gamer (Issue 207) dedicated to Amstrad homebrew games, might be of interest to people. They feature homebrew games each month but this month they've dedicated that entire section to the Amstrad CPC, obviously Pinball Dreams is featured but also things like Orion Prime, The Shadows of Sergoth, Operation Alexandra and others, also talks about things such as CPCRetroDev which sees some great entries each year.
It's a decent article tbh, but main thing I like about it is just that they acknowledge just how underrated the CPC was, I know there's a tendency with some poople to see the Amstrad as playing second fiddle to the C64 and the Spectrum but it's great to see a magazine like Retro Gamer acknowledging just what the Amstrad is actually capable of and what potential it could have had. There's a couple of points in the article where it's described as being "like an 8 bit PC" or "pushing towards 16 bit capabilities" and while most of us realise the machine is capable of far more than it's given credit for it's nice to see this now being recognised in a leading retro publication tbh.
It's in Issue 207 anyway, subscribers should be receiving that on their doorsteps anytime now, if not I think it'll be available from the MyFavouriteMagazines website as obviously at the moment they're not supplying retailers with it. They're also offering the 5 issues for £5 subscription deal atm which isn't bad :)
I kind of recall RG saying on twitter they're not doing retailers because of the COVID-19 situation and it'll be subscription (and digital) only for a while.
I was subscriber for many years, but now I buy the odd number (may be 2-3 issues a year). I think I was mainly reading the homebrew section and then *may be* some of the features; so I guess I got bored.
I was considering subscribing to digital, this looks like a good excuse. It would be a shame if the magazine disappeared because of this crisis...
EDIT: oh, dear. Looks like you have to read the mag in an app or their website; and is not 100% clear what happens when the subscription ends. £2.77 per issue is not expensive at all, but there's a collectable component here and this doesn't look like owning the paper edition (on my shelf, nobody can't prevent me from reading it any time).
Yeah, it's subscription, digital and online orders only at the moment, although you can buy invididual issues from MyFavouriteMagazines for £4.99 each still, print copy and includes delivery, which isn't a bad option (although for a penny more you can get a five month subscription now). Digital, yeah I'd probably not want that either given the possibility of losing access if you cancel, I'm not sure how that works but it's often a risk. Retro Gamer mag is also available digitally on Readly, along with loads of other mags, Readly is £7.99 a month but you can get a month free trial and they have the latest issue I think, so that's also an option, there's a few ways you can check it out even with the situation at the moment.
Looks like is not a full feature, it replaces the homebrew section :(
It is a full feature - four pages looking entirely at the CPC homebrew scene. I know because I wrote it. ;) Such great fun exploring the amazing games being created on a superb computer.
Quote from: CrookieMonster on 19:57, 14 May 20
It is a full feature - four pages looking entirely at the CPC homebrew scene. I know because I wrote it. ;) Such great fun exploring the amazing games being created on a superb computer.
I haven't read it, I'm sure it is great!
I like the homebrew section to cover recent games; and then we could have had 4 extra pages of CPC :D
I'll check this article out.
By the way, thought I'd mention I'll be doing that using the magazine App "Readly" - like Spotify but for magazines. £8 a month, 100s of magazines on there of various interests. Better than a subscription these days... ;)
Cool stuff. I think so that certain branches of the CPC community are not well represented by such efforts. It would be nice if publications such as this could be a bit more fair and less biased.
Quote from: VintageAdvantage on 20:49, 22 May 20I think so that certain branches of the CPC community are not well represented by such efforts.
There is "only" four pages dedicated to the CPC Homebrew. So, imagine that is not enough to speak about everything related to that subject and only major releases and incoming projects was approached.
Quote from: VintageAdvantage on 20:49, 22 May 20It would be nice if publications such as this could be a bit more fair and less biased.
May be you can take your time to let us know what are the other CPC Homebrew branches that you are speaking and need to be known by everyone. On my side, I go around the Europe to meet kind peoples sharing their passion for the CPC so I can't speak for you about the CPC in USA.
Quote from: TotO on 09:39, 23 May 20
May be you can take your time to let us know what are the other CPC Homebrew branches that you are speaking and need to be known by everyone. On my side, I go around the Europe to meet kind peoples sharing their passion for the CPC so I can't speak for you about the CPC in USA.
The original post seemed (what an understatement!) to contain a lot of annoyance, not to say anger. Then it was edited 3 times (maybe more :P )
It can annoy to feel ignored but we have to keep in mind that people who write are amateurs. Amateurs with friends, acquaintances...
Yes, it's biased, partial but hey, it's also for people who want to share their work to communicate a little!