IS THE AMIGA "DOOMED"?

These are very trying times for AMIGA users. Living in the post- apocalyptic/Commodore era can be as frustrating as trying to cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring. The once bountiful supply of AMIGA "stuff" (for lack of a better word) is slowly dwindling down, 'till only the most steadfast of companies are left. Sometimes in my continual quest for new "stuff", I feel like Mad Max, constantly hoping the next uncovered rock will produce the much needed, yet increasingly difficult to find, gallon of gasoline. A constant struggle for survival in a world gone insane.

Take a good look at the ever increasing number of computer/video machines there are on the market today. How can CD32 hope to carve out a niche for itself (without a company behind it) when it seems like everyone from Sony to Kentucky Fried Chicken has a CD-ROM machine on the market? How can the newer AMIGA models hope to find their way into peoples homes when the constant advertising bombardment of other machines gets into these homes ahead of them? Even Macintosh's new ads,(you know, that real obnoxious and perturbing Mickey Roarke-ish reject who knocks on your TV screen and screams at you like you're an idiot if you don't have a Mac) though annoying as they are, get the machine's name into people's ears and consequently, into their minds. While the AMIGA sinks faster and faster into the "where are they now?" file.

So where am I going with all this? Is there a point to today's lesson? Well, possibly not. But all this is just a lead-in to a little complaint I have about the present (let alone the future) state of the AMIGA. If there is anything out there that you can judge something's success by, it's the strength of the magazines that follow it. Compare the amount of "Star Trek" Magazines there are out there to the amount of "Misfits Of Science" publications and you get a good idea of which Sci/Fi series has stood the test of time. Computer magazines are a good indication of what machines are being used. Read any good Atari ST magazines lately? I didn't think so. You'll notice that there is no COLECOVISION WORLD either.

OK, maybe you're still not sure where all this foolish prattle is headed (heck, I'm not sure myself), so I'll cut to the chase. For years now I have been a loyal subscriber to AMIGA WORLD, and although I must admit never being 100% satisfied with the magazine as a whole (I still say an old copy of .info is better than a new copy of AMIGA WORLD), I have continued to support them so that they would continue to support the AMIGA. Now they are entitled to ups and downs just like the next guy, but their latest issue (December '94) ticked me off just a little too much to let go.

AMIGA WORLD's December issue has always been my favorite because they spotlight all the nifty new AMIGA games for the Christmas season, and when I picked up the latest issue I thought it would be true to form, what with the words "GAMES BASH!" inscribed in large, friendly letters on the cover. Yet when I opened up this stinker of an issue and turned to the "Game Preserve" section, what I saw there made my AMIGA loving heart wince. The main article starts out (and I quote), "Imagine the best 3-D game you've ever played on the Amiga. Well, chances are, it can't touch DOOM for the IBM." Boy AMIGA WORLD, that's a real pat on the back for the machine you love so much (sarcasm). The article then goes on to describe in detail several AMIGA "demos" (NOT finished games, mind you) that are ALMOST as good as the omnipotent DOOM. Well AMIGA WORLD, DOOM may be the greatest thing since 2-ply toilet paper on the IBM platform, but I don't think you should devote 90% of a game section to how the AMIGA community is tripping over itself to play catch up with IBM. The fact that we can't run WINDOWS never bothered any of us, so why start panicing just because we can't run DOOM.

Now don't get me wrong here. I certainly realize that issues are getting smaller and there are not as many new AMIGA products to report on as in the "good old days" (ouch, I HATE when I'm forced to use that term), but allow me to babble and drone on about this a little more. I also recently received the newest issue of AMIGA GAME ZONE (issue #3 Oct/Nov). THEY say (and once again, I quote), "This Christmas season is looking to be one of the best yet, with blockbuster games ready to hit our shores by early November." They then go on to list 150 new and upcoming games for the AMIGA! How many of these games did AMIGA WORLD see fit to tell us about in their "GAMES BASH!" issue? Not too many, kids. Not too many.

Now normally I don't like it when something is "compared" to something else. I try to look at things in their own light. I rarely say that "the movie" stunk because "the book" had this, and this, and this, and so on. And I realize that AMIGA GAME ZONE is an all games (for AMIGA) magazine, where AMIGA WORLD tries to cover the entire universe of AMIGA computing. But this blatant and obvious case of "IBM Envy" is NOT, I repeat NOT the thing AMIGA owners should have thrown in their face in these trying times. AMIGA WORLD should be trying to keep up the morale, otherwise their troops may start defecting to the other side.

WOW! I've really gone on, haven't I? Look kids, I really didn't intend for this to turn into some long-winded soap box sermon, but once again I've dragged a simple, little thought out to well over 1000 words. Let me wrap this nonsense up by just saying this, I love the AMIGA. I have loved it since the first time my fingers lovingly skipped across it's keyboard. I want to see her reach her well deserved place at the lead of the home computer market. AMIGA WORLD, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for hanging in there and not going the way of the dodo bird. I'll keep subscribing even if you drop down to a one page newsletter. But don't start dwelling in the "IBM WORLD", when us here in the "AMIGA WORLD" need you, now more than ever. Keep the faith!

Dr. Torgo

The following is a follow up to the previous article-

BEATING A "DOOMED" HORSE!

"Ignorance breeds imitation" -Neil Peart (1989)

We are all human beings, therefore none of us are flawless. "To err is human", the old saying goes, and I couldn't agree more. Heck, we've all made some mistakes. Why I myself have been known to pull off a whopper of a screw-up now and then. But the thing that separates human beings from the animals and the Commodore Executives is the ability to TAKE STOCK of our mistakes and (here it comes, kids), to LEARN from our mistakes. Now I'll even go as far as to say that it's human to REPEAT mistakes. How many times have we said "Never again" only to go skipping joyously down the winding road of bone-headed ignorance with our heads up our.......

But anyway. If I haven't made anyone angry yet, and if anyone is still not bored enough to continue reading my petty little complaints, I'll push onward to the matter at hand. As some of you may remember, I wrote a little article in December '94 entitled, "Is the AMIGA DOOMED?". This article (in case y'all forgot it), was my personal opinion of something that AMIGA WORLD magazine did that really cheesed me off. I went on to state how they had WASTED the entire gaming section of their (usually) fine magazine on a mindless collection of DOOM style shoot-em-up clones (all of which were WORKS IN PROGRESS, mind you, NOT full blown games), ignoring a massive assortment of AMIGA gaming releases for the Christmas season. I went on and on and on about it until I felt I had beaten the whole issue into the ground with my redundant catterwalling.

So what the Sam Scratch am I doing here wasting my precious time (and yours) going on about it again. Well class, I'm glad you brought it up. It seems that the mighty AMIGA WORLD has surpassed itself and done it again. If you happen across their April '95 issue and flip to the GAME PRESERVE section, you will find...(insert drumroll here)..., ANOTHER HUGE REPORT ON "DOOM" STYLE GAMES!!!!!!! With the exception of a review of Team 17's, Tower Assault and some mini reviews (their review of the long awaited Rise of the Robots is a mere 17 words, no lie, no exaggeration), Amiga World has wasted away another issue. "Oh Magoo, you've done it again". They refer to it as the "3-D Free- Scrolling Update". Does this mean that we will have an all out "stop the presses" update every time some basement, shareware hacker works up another batch of code trying to imitate "DOOM", Lord of the 3-D jungle, Emperor of the Citadel of computer gaming, Sovereign throne- squatter of the mighty kingdom of video fun ?

I sure hope not. Now I'm sure there are some of you out there this very moment saying to yourself,"Rob, let it go man, let it go!". Well loyal, stick-to-your-guns AMIGA user, I can't. I don't know WHY this annoying little issue grinds my gears the way it does, BUT IT DOES! The amount of AMIGA games out there is certainly not as grand as it was 5 years or so ago, but one look at any mail order software distributor worth it's weight in kitty litter (not to mention the pile of AMIGA EuroMags), will show you that, without a doubt, the AMIGA is far from dead. Look at how many "Grand Designs" were swept under the carpet, even WITH a company to back it up, let alone WITHOUT one! The AMIGA is floundering in a heartless sea, alone and afraid, with only it's LOYAL USERS to toss it an occasional life saver.

At first I thought that maybe it was ME! Maybe all these "DOOM" clones are the golden key to the AMIGA's future and I was just too blind or un-evolved as an erect primate to see it! But as my friend and colleague Gary Lee pointed out in his article "DOOM, or dumb?" [see ICFTB,February issue], I am not the only person to feel strong enough about this to put his feelings down on paper for the entire world to read and ridicule. Gary agrees with me on this increasingly annoying subject (I LOVE it when that happens) and I hope others do to. So I think the only fair question left to bring up about this whipped and beaten topic is; Will this be my last harrumph about this subject? Will AMIGA WORLD continue spiraling down into it's stinking vortex of "IBM-envy"? Will I be sitting here months from now, dragging this fetid, infested subject kicking and screaming into the spotlight yet ANOTHER time?

Well, I think I know my answer. Maybe. Hope always springs eternal in the old Sedler household. I don't know if this latest "crab" session will make it into the hands of some AMIGA WORLD personnel, but if it should, here is a nickels worth of free advice for AMIGA WORLD. Forget DOOM. Don't write reviews the size of a postage stamp of current AMIGA releases, reviews that are shorter than most of my run-on sentences. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. Let us know about quality games, not just any old hastily slapped together tidbit-in- the-making that has a DOOMish look about it. We are big boys and girls, we don't need a running score card on IBM to know what's happening over there. We get IBM and DOOM crammed rudely down our throat enough these days.

Ok, you talked me into it, I'll shut up. But I guess the days when my eyes would light up with child-like wonder upon discovering a crisp, new issue of AMIGA WORLD in my mailbox are over. AMIGA WORLD has worked me over again. And, as my 91 year old Grandmother has told me time and time again... "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Dr. Torgo