Source: Info – Issue Number 17 – November/December 1987
Info is a magazine that was dedicated to Commodore computers and was produced using home computer equipment (the Commodore 64/128 and later the Amiga) and was remarkably successful for an independent publication. The first issue was published in 1983 using a Commodore 64 and dot matrix printer and the final issue was published in 1992.
This issue is the November/December 1987 issue and is the annual games issue. Contents include:
Departments
- 16-Bit Gallery – Brief reviews, previews and screen shots of recent and upcoming Amiga games including Deep Space, Fire Power, Barbarian, Alien Fires, Arazok’s Tomb, Leisure Suit Larry, Blackjack Academy, Strip Poker, World Games, Arena, Hardball, Grand Slam, The Surgeon, Land of Legends, Guild of Thieves, Dark Castle, and Crossword Creator.
- 8-bit Gallery – Brief reviews, previews and screen shots of recent and upcoming Commodore 64 games including Diablo, Into the Eagle’s Nest, Sub Battle Simulator, Top Fuel Eliminator, Top Gun, and Deep Space.
- Reader Mail – Letters from readers about Commodore 128 coverage, the Amiga 1000 vs. the Amiga 500, Len Lindsay, Compute!, Compute!’s Gazette and Speedscript, and more.
- Magazine Index – A list of other magazines that cover Commodore computers and a summary of what is in the latest issues. Magazines listed include The Transactor, Twin Cities 128, COMAL Today, Family Computing, Compute!, Ahoy!, Compute!’s Gazette, and Commodore.
- News/Views/Rumors – Activision takes over publication of MicroIllusions software; Mindscape signs deal with Atari to port Atari coin-op games to personal computers, including Paperboy, Gauntlet, Rolling Thunder 720, Road Runner, Road Blasters and Gauntlet II; details on upcoming computer shows including the World of Commodore, COMDEX and Ami Expo; Activision offers book of coupons; Commodore, Apple, Atari and IBM all report a profitable quarter; and more.
- New Products – A list of upcoming products for the Commodore 64/128 and Amiga. Stuff on the way for the Commodore 64 includes: Test Drive, Apollo 18, and Mini-Putt from Accolade; Dark Horse, Macbeth, and Wooden Ships & Iron Men from Avalon Hill; Gunsmoke, Side Arms, Speed Rumbler and Trojan from Capom; Chernobyl, Grand Slam Baseball, Inside Trader, and Top Fuel Challenger from Cosmi; Breakthru from Data East; Dark Lord, Force 7, Tomahawk, Bismarck, Tobruk, Old Scores, and Swords & Sorcery from Datasoft; Rommel at Tobruk from Electronic Arts; Street Sports Basketball, Boulder Dash Construction Kit, Rad Warrior, Spy vs. Spy 3, and Sub Battle Simulator from Epyx; Golden path, Cholo, Druid I, Heartland, Jewels of Darkness, Revs Plus, Silicon Dreams, Hyperball, Kinetic, Pandora plus a bunch of budget titles from Firebird; Beyond Zork from Infocom; Circus Charlie, Gradius, Iron Horse, Jailbreak, and Super Basketball from Konami; King of Chicago, Sinbad, SDI, and Three Stooges from MDS; Airborne Ranger, Destroyer Escort, and Project Stealth Fighter from Microprose; Paperboy and Gauntlet from Mindscape; Frank & Earnest’s Adventure from Polarware; and War in the South Pacific from SSI. Specifically for the Commodore 128, Guild of Thieves from Firebird. Stuff on the way for the Amiga includes Test Drive from Accolade; GFL Championship Football and Championship Baseball from Activision; Ferrari Formula One and Return to Atlantis from Electronic Arts; Universal Military Simulator, Jewels of Darkness, Knight Orc, Silicon Dreams from Firebird; Beyond Zork from Infocom; King of Chicago and Three Stooges from MDS; Silent Service and Gunship from Microprose; Indoor Sports and Into the Eagle’s Nest from Mindscape; Frank & Ernest’s Adventure from Polarware; Terrorpods from Psygnosis; Leisure Suit Larry, Thexder, Black Cauldron and Police Quest from Sierra; GATO and Orbiter from Spectrum; and Kampfgruppe, Phantasie and Phantasie II from SSI. A variety of other hardware and software items are also listed for both platforms.
- Midnight Software Gazette – An overview of early Star Trek inspired games on various machines, including the Commodore PET and Commodore 64.
- Info Update – The Commodore 128D ships with more video RAM; trade in your Amiga 1000 for an Amiga 2000; FCC considers surcharge for modem usage; shortage of SX-64s; and more.
- Real World – News outside the world of computers including a positive review of Robocop; a new Star Trek series coming soon (this would be Star Trek: The Next Generation); a new book on Tesla; and the debut of The Dark Knight Returns.
- Best of Public Domain – The best recent public domain software and where to get it. Titles include Relfile Coper, a copy utilitiy for RELative files which are typically used by databases; BASIC 4.0, a BASIC upgrade for the C64; Xeropus, an arcade shooter for the C64; Omicron, an action game for the C64; Cslide, a slide show program for various C64 graphics formats; WXModem64, a terminal program that uses Xmodem; DiskDoctor128 V2, a set of disk utilities that includes disk repair options; Ultraterm V2.00, a high quality terminal program for the C128; Compression128 V3.0, a file compression program; and 1750Sidplayer, a music player thatmakes use of RAM expansion on the C128.
Features
- Interview: Paul Montgomery – An interview with the vice president of Newtek, maker of graphics hardware and software for the Amiga, including DigiView.
- 16-bit Computers Compared – A detailed look at the features, technical capabilities and prices of the Amiga 1000, Amiga 500, Amiga 2000, IBM PS/2 Model 50, IBM PS/2 Model 80, Apple Macintosh Plus, Macintosh SE, Mac II, Atari 520ST, and Atari 1040ST.
- Info Looks at Games – A history of games on the Commodore 64 and Amiga.
- GEOS Update – A look at the 1764 RAM Expander for the Commodore 64 and using it with GEOS.
- Amiga 500 Contest Winner – A look at the winner of a recent Info contest in which an Amiga 500 package was given away.
Reviews
- CCSZ Clock/Calendar – A cartridge that gives you a battery-backed clock/calendar for your Commodore 64.
- Word Writer 3 – The latest version of this Word Processor series for the Commodore 64.
- C128 and 1571 ROM Upgrade – New ROM chips available for the Commodore 128 and 1571 disk drive that fix some bugs and speed up disk access.
- B.E.S.T. Accounting – An accounting/bookkeeping package for the Amiga.
- Diga! – A full-featured terminal program for the Amiga.
- Starboard II RAM Expander – A RAM expansion for the Amiga 1000 that adds up to 2 MB (also available in 512K and 1 MB versions).
…and more!
