Why are we reading K&A Plus issue 9?
As you may have seen from our reviews of previous K&A editions, we love this magazine. The articles are fresh and the flashbacks capture the vibe of the era. There are so many elements missing in today's computing that it has lost its soul. People cared in the old days, passionately sharing disks, cracking software and creating digital freeform art. It is only now that people have realised that this needs to be saved and enjoyed in later years. I talk more about the current Digital Dark Age and the urgent need to save our digital heritage. K&A is one of the best magazines to bring you the best 8-bit and 16-bit news, straight to your hands (or screen). Please, please, please consider ordering the print of the magazine to help keep this community going. The commercial grade print quality really brings the articles to life and makes it enjoyable to read in your favourite room, sometimes known as the smallest room in the house. We think that Commodore and Amiga Plus magazine is one of the best retrogaming publications being published today. Our list of Best Retro Magazines available today consistently ranks Commodore and Amiga Plus in the top 3.
The reason for reading K&A Plus issue 9 is that it provides fresh articles that capture the essence of the retro computing era, which is missing in today's computing. The magazine brings the best 8-bit and 16-bit news straight to the reader's hands or screen. It is considered one of the best retrogaming publications being published today, and its commercial grade print quality brings the articles to life. By ordering the print version, readers can help keep this community going and enjoy reading it in their favorite room. Additionally, the magazine contributes to the preservation of digital heritage, which is becoming increasingly important in today's digital age.
Magazine Highlights
Editorial - could Commodore have become the greatest computer company in the world? Well it was, back in the day, but so few people saw how frail the company really was. Even though the company was an innovator and brought many companies to market, it was an easy target for spurious law suits. The law just doesn't care about innovation. Although Commodore couldn't keep up with the page of its own innovation, one could only imagine where AmigaOS would be now. The running theory in some groups is that Intels 386, and especially the Intel 486DX-33, destoryed every other home computer architecture . The personal computer world has found itself in a funk, and it really needs a modern-day Commodore to show us a new future at an appropriately aggressive price point
Featured Artist - Jonathan Eggelton shows off his loading screens that could have been. The screenshots look great and I find it hard to believe that these did not appear in the original release. Daley Thumpson's Decathalon and Red Head is right on the money. There really needs to be a way to bring back these old releases and modernize the graphics and sound. This is a missed opportunity. The screen that stands at the winner's podium is Phantoms of the Asteroid from Mastertronics. The loading screens make me want to play these games. Actually, scratch that! We just look on YouTube and the games look pretty average. They may need more than a new loading screen to make the games great again.
It is claimed that these loading screens were drawn on Multipaint. Multipaint is written in the Processing language. Some of Jonathan's screens have been featured on the gallery page (wayback).
New Release Programs
The magazine is worth reading just for the Fresh News section just to keep up to date with all of the new software that is being released. The news section opens with FIST, the entertaining singalong Karaoke game released at Bunker Party 2017. Another gem we discovered was the full-version of Vortex Crystals, released by the prolific The New Dimension. This is a platform game where you run around collecting power crystals and shooting aliens. Classic 8-bit gameplay.