Where the assembled throng finds that Minson’s Body doesn’t
Lots of fitting coincidences in that Bodyworks is the first program from Genesis. It could also be the first coffee table program; certainly they’d invited journalists from every sort of publication imaginable (even Reader’s Digest) to the launch party. There, amidst the throng, was Dr Jonathan Miller, media-personality and one of the devisers of the program — which might be seen as the computer equivalent of his highly popular pop-up biology books.
At £14.95, complete with book and wall-chart, the package is a seven part, fun introduction to the workings of the human body. It culminates in a marathon sequence, in which the user tries to run the fastest race possible while monitoring the screen athlete’s status — a sort of Track and Field with blood and guts. Perhaps the representatives of the computer press felt slighted by having to mix with so many other hacks — and they immediately induced a heart attack in their little runner.
Meanwhile I quizzed some representatives of the medical world who thought Bodyworks most suitable for pre-O Level students. Then all that remained was to conduct an experiment of my own, conceming the sudden intake of as many Bucks Fizzes as I could before my own body got to work, demonstrating that what goes down, all too easily comes back up! (Please, not another Angus Ryall correspondent... what’s the CRASH Christmas party going to be like ? — Ed).
John Minson
Argus Specialist Publications, (the people behind many computer titles), seem to have been having a bit of bad luck with their Exclusive-peppered trade comic, Computer and Software Retailing of late.
In the last two issues they have named Firebird’s latest Gold Range release as ‘Cyron’ (sic), and attributed the programming on Micromega’s latest release A Day in the Life, to our very own Derek Brewster. This, despite their representative attending the launch, it seems, and the fact that full-page ads have been taken in other computer magazines which clearly state that Stephen Redman is the author.
In a news piece about their sister company’s release Give my Regards to Broad Street, the CSR team witter on about Paul McCartney signing albums as prizes for competitions in the consumer press, and apparently haven’t got the bottle to mention CRASH and ZZAP! 64 by name — and then go on to quote Game Lord Peter Holme from Argus Press Software as saying the game has been met with a ‘phenomenol’ (sic) reaction. As opposed to a paracetemol reaction, one presumes; just who’s got the headache then or is Holmesy a closet chemist?
The transmission of software programs on the air waves has been growing in popularity of late, although this has mostly occurred on television. But the London Broadcasting Company (LBC) has a regular Sunday slot which is reaching more people as they turn on to the idea and recognise that it’s there. We don’t know whether to call Clive Bait (who fronts the show) a DJ (disk jockey?) or a tape cassette jockey, but Clive is pleased at the reaction they are receiving from listeners in the LBC area (Greater London).
CRASH readers in London will hear an item of interest on Sunday 5th May, when Clive will be talking about New Generation’s graphic utility WHITE MAGIC, and transmitting a piece of the program over the air. So you will be able to sit with CRASH on knee, open to the Tech Niche pages containing the White Magic review and compare notes with Clive, as well as receive a test piece of program to evaluate.
TV lights and a dash of glamour came to the CRASH offices yet again the other day. Central TV sent their camera crew to Ludlow to film the opening of Oliver Frey’s exhibition at the Silk Top Hat Gallery. The exhibition will have closed by the time you read this, but any unsold pieces of art work will no doubt be for sale on a private treaty basis, all proceeds going to Oli’s Martini fund — so don’t be shy and give Oli a bell!
Following the demise of Prism, the VTX5000 modem which is ideal for connecting your Spectrum up to Micronet, is currently available in some shops for under £50 — or direct from Modem House in Devon. A few shops may still be selling it at the slightly higher price of £99-odd, so look around before buying.
Existing micronet users might like to know that the CRASH mailbox number should be active by now. Drop us an electronic line folks.
More details about Micronet are scheduled for Tech Niche quite soon....
A couple more games have recently passed the 100,000 sales mark. Addictive broke the barrier with Kevin Toms’ Football Manager, after three years in the Software League. Firebird, rather more quickly, cracked the problem with their Budget game Booty. There’s some sort of moral in there somewhere, but we’re not quite sure what.
We’re not desperate for news to fill these pages, so won’t mention the pre-launch publicity (freely available at the LET Show in February) which a few magazines have recently picked up on. Something to do with the launch of an Adrian Mole adventure due out in the Autumn. It’s not Spring yet, in Ludlow!
Robert Reiff must have the most pampered Spectrum in the land. He’s built this wonderful bedroom for it to live in, which is complete with electronically controlled curtains, quadrophonic stereo (a little excessive for BEEP commands, surely), built in tea, coffee and video machines and a pop-up toaster.
Robert, a London estate agent, spent four years constructing this amazing boudoir in which he cossets his Speccy... can any of you lot out there send us a picture of your specially-treated Spectrum and its pampered peripherals to beat this one? There’s probably a T-shirt or two in it...
The tale surrounding the collapse of Fuller Keyboards — the two companies involved being Fuller Designs and Fuller Micro Systems — gets more complicated by the day.
Nordic Keyboards have taken over the product, and are alive and well up on Merseyside, proud to be able to supply and service the FDS keyboards which were first brought to light due to the efforts of Mr Roy Backhouse.
Acrimony still surrounds the collapse of the two Fuller companies — which went down owing around £200,000, which included deposits lost by nearly 350 individual mail order customers. A nasty business all round, with the liquidators, Thornton Baker apparently issuing a writ for non-payment for goods received by Mr Backhouse, who purchased £3,000 worth of components and equipment on credit, following the collapse of the two Fuller companies named above.