¢8-BIT NEWS¢by Stuart Murray, NOSAUG.¢¢¢* AMS8¢¢ Yes, it's almost that time of year when Atari 8-bitters from all over the UK and Europe travel to Stafford, England for the All Micro Show (AMS). AMS8 will be held at The Bingley Hall, Staffordshire Showground on Saturday 12th November, 1994. For more details telephone SS Promotions on 0473-272002.¢¢ Will there be a NOSAUG stand at the show? After the disappointment of not being able to make it to the Spring All Micro Show (SAMS) in April, I had hoped to set up a stand at AMS8. However, due to moving house this summer and the subsequent drop in orders, I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that the trip to AMS looks unlikely this year. I wish everyone a wonderful show! Let me know how you get on.¢¢¢* BaPAUG R.I.P.¢¢ Back in January I received a refund cheque from the Bournemouth & Poole Atari User's Group (BaPAUG) for the outstanding issues due from my subscription to their quarterly newsletter '8:16'.¢¢ Also included was a letter notifying me of the demise of 8:16 due to "a lack of articles for publication being contributed, and various other demands on our editor's time".¢¢ Since that time, things seem to have gone from bad to worse for BaPAUG culminating in the demise of the group. This is sad news for the British Atari 8-bit community!¢¢ Kevin Cooke has recently contacted BaPAUG. Over to you Kevin...¢¢ "I recently wrote to BaPAUG asking about their PD library and received a letter back from Mike Hosking (the ex-Secretary of BaPAUG) telling me of the club's demise. As the letter said:¢¢ "We had to wind the user group down owing to a fall in membership. The 'rot' started at the beginning of last year [1993] when several prominent members sold their Atari gear and went 'PC'. The PD library was also wound-up in December. Several of us remain loyal to our ST's [what about the 8-bit Mike?!], although, with Atari's seeming lack of interest in the computer market, I feel we may be an endangered species!".¢¢ I did contact Mr Hosking with regards to, perhaps, sending the PD disks to another library so that they are not lost forever, but they were apparently disposed of when the PD library was stopped. It is sad to hear of the club's demise, but we must thank them for supporting the Atari for so long."¢¢ Thanks Kevin. This is indeed sad news for the British Atari 8-bit community. It also shows the importance of actively supporting the user groups which remain.¢¢¢* AC R.I.P.¢¢ Another sad piece of news is the demise this summer of the wonderful Atari Classics magazine published by Unicorn Publications in the USA. Our thanks go to Ben and the lads for trying their best! Again, the support of the 8-bit community just wasn't there.¢¢¢* AC - THE RETURN!¢¢ Just when you thought it was all over, Atari Classics is set to return this winter. Jim Hood, an American Atari 8-bit enthusiast, has taken over publication of AC. Alex Pignato of OHAUG has written with some news on the situation...¢¢ "I understand that Jim Hood is a professional graphics artist, is President of the San Leandro Computer Club, and publishes a hobby magazine with around 6000 subscribers. Where will he find the time for AC? He is already late, because he said the first issue was to go out around the first week of September. The new AC has over 200 subscribers and I understand he has a publishing facility that will permit very low cost production of the mag, this means he can survive with a small user base."¢¢ Thanks Alex! All of us at NOSAUG wish Jim the best of luck! Look out for more details of the new Atari Classics soon.¢¢¢* CLUB CENACLE¢¢ This summer I received permission from Remi Gallopin, President of Club Cenacle (France) to place the excellent Cenacle News issue disks in the NOSAUG PD Library. Look out for these quality disks soon. There are twelve in total. Thanks Remi! Club Cenacle will be selling Futura back issues to their members.¢¢ Remi also sent me back issues of Cenacle News, Special-Quick and the Cenacle Newsletter. They are all in French and are excellent publications. If you read French then contact: Club Cenacle, B.P.49, 95110 Sannois, France.¢¢¢* JURASSIC¢¢ Kevin Cooke has news of a new XL/XE game currently under development. Over to you again Kevin...¢¢ "John Foskett, who has already written two PD adventure games is soon to release his first commercial adventure. The adventure will be called "Jurassic" in which you will have to pit your wits to survive - will you be able to contend with dinosaurs and learn about their habits and lifestyle?¢¢ Jurassic will be personalised for each purchaser, i.e. it will communicate with you by a name of your choice. As John described to me,¢¢ "Jurassic will consist of a double sided disk, with the adventure on side 1. On side 2 will be a document reader with many small text files about dinosaurs which may lead to further study of this fascinating subject... A provisional price for Jurassic may be something around 4.95 for which you will probably receive the disk itself, printed instructions and two smaller sealed envelopes, one containing a map and the other containing a hints sheet. Because of the high costs of packaging, Jurassic may be supplied in a cardboard backed envelope, but at the moment, I'm still considering it".¢¢ John goes on to describe how the possibility of him writing any more adventures will depend on the response he gets for Jurassic. Jurassic should be very good if his two PD efforts are anything to go by, so I'd certainly recommend you look at it if you like adventure games."¢¢ Thanks Kevin! Now that's certainly good news! All the best with your project John from all at NOSAUG.¢¢¢¢COMPUTER NEWS IN BRIEF:¢¢¢* Classic 8-bit games seem to be making a comeback in the current world of 16-bit consoles. Look out for Donkey Kong Country on the SNES at the end of the year. Also, Archer MacLean's Dropzone is out now on the Game Gear! Go on, boot up Dropzone on your XL/XE and laugh at the Game Gear owners who are forking out almost 30 pounds for the title! A classic is always a classic!¢¢¢¢That's all the news for now!¢
