
                   The PC Warez Magazine Review

                          (c) 1996  IPggi
                        19th November  1996

              Email me at ipggi@newton.dialix.com.au
               http://www.geocities.com/athens/5526
                You can find TMR in colour in RCN.


                        Welcome to Issue #6


       What is this newsletter, The PC Warez Magazine Review?

This is a newsletter  for the  warez scene.  This will not be about warez,
groups, couriers or releasing but about the magazines that cover the scene
in general.  Currently  there are four  magazines in the  scene  including
Affinity, RCN, SSM and WAVE.  My goal  will be to give you, the  readers a
review on  each  magazine that comes out.  I will be covering the good and
bad points of each  magazine issue as  well as giving  details of what you
can  find  inside these  magazines.  My reviews will cover the  magazine's
quality, quantity of reading material, presentation and weather I actually
enjoy  reading it. As part of the  review there will a section telling you
the  magazine's contact  email address, web page address  etc., as well as
where you will be obtain the latest issues.

               Whom is this person reviewing these magazines?

My nick is  IPggi.  I once was the  editor of a magazine  called  Defacto. 
Defacto  lasted nine issues  before we  decided to call it quits.  Defacto 
gave  myself some  experience and  incite to the electronic magazine scene
(yes I call it a scene of it's own.) These  reviews are of my  opinion and
are no-way bias towards any  particular  magazine. If you don't agree with
me well  good for you, go  and do your own  review if you care  that much.


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                             News and updates!

Affinity  8 has  been  delayed  as  MrMister  (Affinity  Editor/Coder)  is
currently sitting his exams.

RCN is now released every two weeks again.

Rebel Chicken has changed his nick back. His reason being that someone who
was applying to RCN was using his new, now old nick.

A new  newsletter  has  started  up to  fill  the  position of  Ionizer's
departed The Games Review. This new newsletter called TFW is quite similar
to TGR  though it does  contain a more in-depth reviewing system.  This new
newsletter is quite  respectable if you  ignore those  lame/immature paki
and whore  comments and  issues  can be  found on a your  local ftp or bbs
site.

Starting from TMR 7, I will be including TFW in my review section.  Though
fortunately for them I will only be  listing the games they review  (like I
did with TGR).

Hybrid  is making  a Christmas  emag  special. Not many  details have been
released yet, but if  hybrid's  coding talent is  anything  to go  by this
should be something special.  Prestige  in an  odd move have  pledged full
support for this emag.

Defacto is  apparently making a comeback.  Due out in a few weeks the new
Defacto will be using it's new  operating system version 2.0 that was ment
to be used in Defacto issue 10 but never saw the light of day. Some of the
old members coming back include Tok,  Dizzident,  Entropy but unfortunately
not myself.  Will Defacto reach and  surpass it's former glory?  Only time
can tell.

Two newsletters  where released,  both  reviewing  the games  scene in the
month of October.  Both are well written, worth a read and can be found on
any major FTP site. Unfortunately by the time you read this they would have
both been archived/deleted. Here are their FILE_ID.DIZ maybe you get
lucky.

*******************************************
      The Ware Report -- October 1996
    by The Renegade Chemist of Prestige
*******************************************

-----------------------------
THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
          OF PAKIS

          presents

 THE THIRD WORLD PAKI REPORT
    MONTHLY GROUP CHARTS
-----------------------------

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                CHECK OUT THE NEW TMR WORLD WIDE WEB PAGE

    To find out the latest in the warez emag scene and the warez scene
         Links too warez group pages and links to warez magazines
     Not to forget this is the only place you can find all the issues
                   of The PC Electronic Magazine Review

                   http://www.geocities.com/athens/5526

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  [AFt]  Affinity Electronic Magazine #7   [AFt]
            (November 5th, 1996)
  ߲ ۲  ۲ 
   ۲۲    ۲
  ۰     ۲ 
   ۲۲۲  ۲ ۲۲ ۲۲۲  ۲
         ۲
             ߲    
  -e.m!                                
  [*] --   YOUR #1 ALTERNATIVE MAGAZINE   -- [*]

* Affinity 7 is out at last.  Unfortunately it was  delayed for a week but
  now we  can all  sit back  and enjoy.  This issue  contains  a  pinch of
  interviews,  a gallop of articles,  a big batch of insanity and a little
  pinch of News in Brief for those who like to be in the know.

* Cover Story: The Death of Lightning Couriers.
  Speedman  covers this story,  unfortunately for  him he  doesn't get the
  exclusive scoop  on this as RCN did an  interview with Manic about LGT a
  week before Affinity 7 was released. In this cover story you will find a
  brief introduction by Speedball, a letter Manic (LGT High Council) wrote
  to the members just before he quit,  an interview with T800 who was once
  a High Council of Lightning and finally two LGT NFOs, one dated the 15th
  of September, other dated the 30th of the same month.

* 4 interviews in Affinity 7.
  Zima Man - Pinnacle
  Big_W - SHTP
  Typhoon_Z - Damaged Cybernetics
  EFX - Damaged Cybernetics

  Want to  find out what is the  smallest group  in the scene today?  Read
  RebNex's interview with Big_W. Big_W is in a extremely small group based
  in the  UK called Shit  Hot Trading Posse.  SHTP has only 2 members!  My
  only problem is aren't two people called a couple, not a group?

* 16 articles in Affinity 7.
  Poor Rips.
  ISP System Administration and Warez.
  Computer Class.
  Carding in Australia.
  Another Perspective of the MP3 Scene.
  The Scene in No Fun Anymore.
  Magic Cards?
  Offer Channels.
  Eliteness.
  Random Bitching.
  NFO Files.
  New Groups have No Chance.
  Takeovers: Cool or Not?
  Shell and PPP Accounts.
  What Does it Really Mean to be Lame?

  Bvark gives  us an insight  into  official ISP  policies on  hacking and
  warez on ISP's. Bvark is more then qualified to write this article as he
  left his job as a system administrator. All those people who are worried
  about their hacked account they are using or getting caught  downloading
  all those warez into their ISP's /TMP directory show read this article.

* Overall this  is a fine product,  two negative points though.  Only four
  interviews  and some dull articles.  How many times have  we read topics
  like "Eliteness", "Poor Rips", "Offer Channels", "NFO Files", "Lameness"
  need I say more?
  
  Percentage Score:  60%

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   ۲  ۲۲ ۲  
    ۲  ۲ ۲ ۲  
   ۲ݰ۲۲     ݰ 
   ۲       ۲ݰ۲ 
   ۲   ޲۲ݰ 
   ۰ ۲۰ 
   ݰܰܰ߰  ݰ 
   ۰ܲ۲  
                 
    REALITY CHECK NETWORK [29]  
      
           26 OCTOBER 1996          
       COVER : Orion's New PWA!     
  

        RCN is designed for DOS
         MadRCN P/W: ARCH-VILE

* RCN has gotten its feet back on the ground and is now back for business.
  I was told this was  going to be the best issue yet,  well lets find out
  if this is the case.

* This weeks  cover story  involves the leaving of  Orion from PWA to form
  his new group LND.  With only one interview, one LND NFO and a log there
  is enough  to inform the reader  on what is  going on.  I do think Rebel
  Chicken starts loosing the plot though when he starts comparing PWA to a
  Sim City.

* Six  interviews in RCN 29,  slightly less then the usual eight plus, but
  allot  better than last issues  pitiful attempt.  Unfortunately there is
  not too much to excite here.
  
  I talk to Sternone, leader of  Parasite Cracking. For an example of what
  to will find check out this quotation.
  "Kill TSR (The Speed Racer) and Razor is dead.. Razor is now a spaghetti
  to me. Take one spaghetti, pull hard on it, and your spaghetti is gone."

  Rebel Chicken  interviews  Manic who is claiming that  Hardwire Couriers
  have returned and a here to stay.

  Roundman talks with Lord Byte who is a cracker with 12 years  experience
  (that's older than most of the people in the scene these days.)  This is
  a well-conducted interview and worth a read.

* Only four articles?!  That's the same amount as last issue.  And just as
  disappointing.

  Manic writes about the  unfortunate demise of Lightning.  This group has
  was around for a while but where never the most successful. Another
  group fails another one will pop up in its place.

* I've been saying for a long time that RCN's Hacker's Corner are articles
  ripped  sometimes exactly copied from other peoples work.  Many of these
  are years old, maybe RCN should give credit where credit is due.  Not to
  the people who steal these articles but to the original writers.

* Disappointing  Reviews  section for  issue 29.  The Top  Games and Utils
  Groups  reviews are both missing group comments that  premiered in issue
  27.  I know allot of  people  enjoyed  reading  these  small  paragraphs
  including  myself.  No  BBS  Courier  Reviews  could  be  found  either.

* Is there a need for the  Voting Booth,  I haven't  seen any results from
  this section for a long time. Maybe it's here just to fill space?

* Well claims  that this was  going to be the best  issue  yet have been a
  major over statement.  Look at  issue 27 then compare it  issue 29,  you
  will that there are allot of missing features ect.
  
  Percentage Score:  55%

**************************************************************************

  
 ۲  ۲۲ ۲  
  ۲  ۲ ۲ ۲  
 ۲ݰ۲۲     ݰ 
 ۲       ۲ݰ۲ 
 ۲   ޲۲ݰ 
 ۰ ۲۰ 
 ݰܰܰ߰  ݰ 
 ۰ܲ۲  
               
  REALITY CHECK NETWORK [30]  
    
         12 NOVEMBER 1996         
   COVER : Razor Busts Supplier   


      RCN is designed for DOS
         MadRCN P/W:  KIKI

* Looks like RCN has got it's act  together and are now living up to their
  pre-issue 28 standards.  This issue is filled to the brim with articles,
  interviews, reviews and many other features. Is the so-called Number One
  magazine better than the Alternative Magazine? Read on to find out.

* Cover Story: Razor Busts Supplier.
  Roundman  gets this issues soup, an  interview with Karrade.  Karrade is
  the supplier  Razor apparently threatened to bust if he left for another
  group.  This is  a well  conducted  interview and  Karrade backs up  his
  claims with a log of the  happenings in #RAZOR,  this log is included in
  the Cover Story Section.

* 8 interviews in RCN 30.
  Anarchist - Royal Canadian Mounted Police Raid.
  Emmanual Goldstein - 2600 Editor in Chief.
  Corps - Amnesia Kills Dreamland.
  Mercury - LND Stomps DOD?
  The Renegade Chemist - Prestige's Super October.
  The Dude - PC Surpasses UCF!
  Moo - The Scene's Future.
  Manic - HWC Returns! (This same interview is contained in RCN issue 29)
  
  Rebel Chicken's  interview with Anarchist is well worth the read.  It is
  a depressing tale about a sysop who is narced on by a once fellow friend.
  Unfortunately  Anarchist is  facing jail terms now,  it really does make
  you wonder about the assholes who are part of this scene.
 
  Roundman  manages  to  convince  The  Renegade  Chemist  into  doing  an
  interview.  TRC and RCN  have had  clashes in  previous issues  with RCN
  being annoying TRC being plain  uncooperative.  This interview  involves
  TRC boasting about his group's  latest  achievement,  a new world record
  for  quantity  of  releases  in  a  month  (I  wonder  if Guinness  will 
  recognize this?).

  Finally  Mercury talks  about  the  re-growth of  Drink or Die  and it's
  position as the  current  number one utils group  in the scene.  Can LND
  cut down this tall poppy?  Will there be a war between these two groups?
  And what does  DOD think  of its old  competition  PWA?  Find out  these
  questions and more in Rebel Chicken's interview.

* 7 articles in RCN 30.
  TRC vs. Holy Beast.
  Prestige Releases Beta.
  lik3 7Hi5 "I could use some work."
  Bleechbox Nukes Reflux!
  Being Elite?
  Quality Lost, or Never Had.
  The Malaysian Scene.

  The  Renegade  Chemist has  discovered  that he  can use  RCN as his own
  personal  propaganda tool,  and has  done so.  This  article  includes a 
  short  introduction with TRC saying he is not as bad as  people make out
  he is.  Then he includes an  extremely long message log between  himself
  and Holy Beast.  Worth the read if you can speed read  or you have allot
  of time on your hands.

  RCN's theme of the  month seems to be  Prestige and Lame.  There are two
  articles  about being  lame.  Nothing talks  about his  short history in
  the scene and Don writes about "Being Elite."  I'm sure Don's report has
  been done  many  times before in both  previous RCN,  Affinity and  even
  Defacto issues.

  Now let's talk about Prestige.  Two articles about this famous group are
  found in this issue,  both talk very negatively about Prestige.  Why are
  they complaining about Prestige,  sure they stuff up big releases.  Sure
  they release  unknown  useless titles,  but they also  release big  game
  releases and they did break the world record  for the number of  working
  releases  released in a month.  At least  Prestige are  releasing unlike
  some other big name groups I can think of.

* RCN 30 Special: Takeover groups.
  Congratulations to  Cyberdoug for his work on these weeks special.  This
  section  contains  three  interviews  with   three  different   takeover
  groups.  Allot of questions about these  mysterious groups are  answered
  here  and it's been a long time  coming from  the e-mags.  The only down
  side to this  special is Cyberdoug's  questions are very  similar if not
  the same in every interview.

* Well, a  very  good  issue  from the  people  at  RCN.  This  is a great
  improvement over issue 28,  but not quite up to the  standards of  issue
  27.  Keep  up  the  good  work  and  congratulations  to  Roundman  with
  his impressive interviews.

  What is the best magazine in the scene today?  I will leave that for you
  to decide.

  Percentage Score:  75%

**************************************************************************

  HOW DO I CONTACT THESE MAGAZINES REVIEWED?
  Affinity:    dante@iinet.com
  RCN:         hitex@netcom.com
  WAVE:        chuglee@ccnux.utm.my
  TGR:         ionizer@ns2.clever.net
  SSM:         SMURF2@Juno.com

  WHAT ARE THE MAGAZINES WWW PAGES?
  Affinity:    http://sun.abac.com/home/teklord/affinity.html
  RCN:         http://www.rcn.org
  WAVE:        http://www.fh-wilhelmshaven.de/~dessi
  TGR:         http://ns2.clever.net/~ionizer
  SSM:         http://www.cris.com/~shadowkn

  WHAT ARE THE MAGAZINES IRC CHANNELS (EFFNET)?
  Affinity:    #AFT  
  RCN:         #RCN 
  WAVE:        #WAVE 
  SSM:         #SSM

  WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GET A MAGAZINE?
  Affinity:    Join #AFT and type !AFT<Issue Number> or try their web page.
  RCN:         Try their web page.
  WAVE:        Try joining #WAVE and asking.
  SSM:         Try the SSM WWW page.

  WHEN ARE THE NEXT ISSUES DUE?
  Affinity is released every second week on early monday morning (GMT).    
  RCN      is release bi-weekly on early monday morning (GMT)
  WAVE     is released every 2nd Saturday of the month.
  TGR      will not be released for the rest of the year.
  SSM      is released every 2nd Saturday of the month.

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Well that's it for this issue. Next issue will come out when I have a few
more magazines to review. Hopefully that wont be too long.

**************************************************************************
