Source: Info – Issue Number 29 – November/December 1989
Info was a magazine that covered Commodore computers, primarily the Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and Amiga. It wasn’t as popular as a few others but still had a significant presence. The November/December 1989 issue includes:
Features
- Info Top Ten – Info’s first annual top ten game list. The top 10 games of all time as selected by the editors of Info in a variety of categories. Top Arcade Games: Arkanoid (Amiga), The Sentry (C64). Top Simulations Games: Starglider II (Amiga), Pinball Construction Set (C64). Top Adventure Games: Dungeon Master (Amiga), Zork Series (C64). Top Traditional Games: Blockout (Amiga), Risk (C64). Plus each of the editors pick their own personal top 10.
- Interview: Chris Crawford – Chris Crawford developed a number of influential games such as Balance of Power. It’s interesting to read some of his predictions here. Some were spot on while others were way off.
- Adventure Road – The best adventure games of 1989 are discussed including The Magic Candle, Might and Magic II, Tangled Tales, Neuromancer, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, King’s Quest IV, Space Quest III, and more. Adventure Road was a regular column published in Commodore Magazine but they ceased publication it moved over to Info. RUN magazine received much of Commodore Magazine’s other Commodore 64 content.
Departments
- INFOtorial – A look at European game development philosophy vs. U.S. game development philosophy.
- Reader Mail – Readers write in about the C64 vs. NES, reviews of application software, Amiga sales, rumors of the “64GS”, Project: Firestart, QLink and Club Caribe, and more.
- New Products – A brief look at 5100 C128 Questions: Answered (book), The Diamond Text and Diamond BASIC Editors, Fortran-80 (C-128 CP/M), MIDI Delay Processor, Digitalker 128, Fractal Navigator, Icon Magic 1.0, and lots more.
- News & Views – Software sales for the Commodore 64 drop 26% in the second quarter of 1989 from the previous year (to $15 million), Commodore adds more dealers for MS-DOS machines and Amigas, Epyx reorganizes to become software developer an will no longer be a publisher and will concentrate on games for the NES and Lynx, Apple opens television studio called Apple TV, and more.
- Games for Amiga – Reviews of Amiga games including The Jetsons, Blockout, Space Quest III, Jigsaw (preview), Beyond Dark Castle (preview), Space Ace (preview), Shufflepuck Cafe (preview), The Kristal, Planet of Lust, Times of Lore, Spherical, Sim City Terrain Editor (unrated), Jinks, Axe of Rage, Mickey Mouse, Tom & Jerry, Balance of Power: 1990 Edition, The President is Missing, Red Lightning, Project Neptune, Wayne Gretzky Hockey, F40 Pursuit Simulator, Dr. Doom’s revenge, Shoot ‘Em Up Construction Kit, War In Middle Earth, and Omega.
- Games for C64 – Dr. Doom’s Revenge, Shoot ‘Em Up Construction Kit, War In Middle Earth, Omega, Speedball, Metal Blocks, Gauntlet II, Arkanoid II, Dark Side, Revenge of Defender, Might & Magic II, Presumed Guilty, Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego, AD&D Curse of the Azure Bonds, Eliminator, Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade, Rambo III, Chessmaster 2100, Kings of the Beach, Snow Strike, Apache Strike, Shinobi, Afterburner (preview), Fire King, Jordan Vs. Bird: One On One, and Omni-Play Basketball.
- Public Domain – A look at recent public domain titles including a bunch of Commodore 64 and Commodore 128 software available via Quantum Link and both Commodore 8-bit and Amiga software available via PeopleLink.
Reviews
- SFX Sound Expander – A plug-in cartridge for the Commodore 64 than includes a nine-voice FM synthesizer chip and an interface for an optional 61-key keyboard from Philips.
- The Write Stuff 128 – An excellent word processor for the Commodore 128.
- The Amiga Companion – A book with tons of useful information on the Amiga.
- Toshiba ExpressWriter 301 – A portable thermal printer for $489.
- RawCopy – A disk copy program for the Amiga that can reproduce copy protection schemes.
- Mac-2-Dos – Software that can convert Macintosh text and graphic files for use with Amiga programs and vice versa.
Etc.
- INFO Update – A look at recent software (and other) updates including Sim City 1.1, Muscle Cars and European Challenge add-ons for Test Drive II, an updated version of Pen Pal, an updated support disk for the Super Snapshot cartridge, Professional page 1.3, PixelScript 1.1, and more.
- BRYCE – Bryce’s 3D Adventure comic.
- INFO Mania – Tips from readers for tons of games including Batman, Robbeary, Aaargh!, Sinbad, Double Dragon, Crystal Hammer, Mindroll, Marble Madness, Dragon’s Lair, Pacmania, Karnov, Neuromancer, Ghosts ‘N Goblins, Guerrilla War, Heavy Metal, Robocop, John Elway’s Quarterback, Pirates, and Zak McKracken.
- Show Reports – An overview of AmiEXPO in Chicago. New products shown their for the Amiga include Elan Performer, Interactor, TV*SHOW, Mideo System, Mac-2-DOS, Professional Page 1.3, Space Ace, Fiendish Freddy’s Big Top O’ Fun, Gauntlet II, Tom and Jerry, the SupraModem 2400zi, 150 MB Streaming Tape Backup and 32 MHz 68030 card from GVP, A1000 Rejuvinator, and much more.
- Real World – Lamenting the fact that standalone electronic spell checkers seem to be better than what you can get in software.
…and more!
