Week In Warez Issue #4 - August 20th, 1995

Welcome to The Week in Warez Newsletter issue #4. This issue is jam-packed with new articles, interviews, announcements, and a special edition of The Week in Games report by Ionizer - supplemental to Bishop's regular Weekly Warez Report. Each week we h ere at WWN will continue to provide you, the reader, with info on the weekly happenings in the scene. In this particular issue, we provide you with an interview with Razor 1911's Current leader, The Speed Racer. Also featuring articles/announcements by Ji mmy Jamez, Ionizer, and a special interview with Rambone of PWA regarding the merger between SCuM/PWA. Enjoy!
-Mercury [WWN Editor At Large :)]

Top Utils Rating.........Jimmy Jamez

Top Games Rating.........Ionizer

Top 10 BBS Rating........StudSter

Interview................Mercury - "Rambone : SCuM/PWA Merge?"

Interview................Mercury - "New PWA.NFO - What's Hot And Who's Not"

Rumors...................Mercury - "RiSC Losing Status on Major BBS?"

Closing..................Mercury

This week was one of the worst of the past few months. What did we see? Shitloads of fakes, dupes, shareware/demos and German crap! That all looks very lame. No big group activity. No big words to say here. Of course the only interesting news of t he week was the SCuM/PWA merge. SCuM gave up the competition and successfully died. Lets see what PWA will do after this merger. DOD released *FINAL* Windows 95 FLOPPY Version. Windows 95 activity is just starting to take shape this week. Next week will b e very active because of shitloads of Windows 95 applications in stores after the 24th of August. Lets look on this week's stats and scores.

PWA - not a good job at all. Just a few small releases as DBartistian 2.0 and some other unknown stuff. A Group with such potential must release much more. Hope that this SCUM merge will help veterans to take over the scene again. We all know that they can do it.

Week Score : 4/10 Total Score : 11/20

PiNNACLE - We see less releases from these dudes this week but, anyway they showed activity and stuff. No dupes or fakes happened from this group. That gives a better score to PNC. There were no big titles from them but all stuff was quality and full. Week started with network tool - Air Access for Windows, Combyte DoublePlay and Da Vinci E-Mail... all programs were small except a 12 disker called Real World 7.0 for DOS. Also, we saw some AutoCAD addons + Visual Automation NewsDisk. Not a perfect week for this team but can't complain. They worked as hard as always and its not their fault that there were no major titles out on this week. Looks like that this posse won this week in release numbers and quality. Keep it going, buds.

Week Score : 8/10 Total Score : 17/20

DOD - My group took a vacation this past week. 50% of the leaders/seniors decided to give up the scene for some time to enjoy the end of the summer. 3 fuckups happened also and that gives DOD less points. OmniPage 6.0 contained protection and we didn' t test it fully before releasing it, also we forgot to mention in the DOD.NFO about the serial number in Win95 Setup Advisor (it's simply 123-456), and the final fuckup was a dupe of PLUS PACK. We got our copy from the box in the store but nobody used to compare it with previous SCUM releases. Anyways DOD released final FLOPPY version of Windows95 on 13 disks and long-awaited Norton Navigator 1.0 for Windows95. Also you could see a new beta of MS Access 7.0 (beta 3a) and a fine release from England - Pag e Magic 2.0 for Windows. Also noticed a shitload of fakes and dupes of DOD... somebody released Crystal Topas demo under the fine DOD label :), SCSI duped RayMan 1.0, MAYHAM released a dupe of Delphi RAD Pack on 12 disks and also we saw some YOST IPAS fro m 1992 faked by DOD.

Week Score : 7/10 Total Score : 17/20

SCUM - looks like that this is the last report about SCUM ever. You all must already know that leader retired and the best SCUM people joined PWA. Anyway there were few titles from this group on last week. Like Adaptec Family Manager and sinle server i n the beginning of the week and Smart CD releases for DOS and Windows in the end. Not the best finish of a career but at least we saw something. Good luck to those dudes in PWA.

Week Score : 5/10 Total Score : 9/20

PROPHECY - this half-dead group showed that it still has 1-2 working suppliers. We saw only 1 OS/2 release and it was a beta - LiveWire 3.0 beta Cracked on 2 disks. I write about them here just because they are the only group that cracks OS/2 releases . We all cannot see the future potential of this team but who knows what will happen.

Week Score : 2/10 Total Score : 2/20

NTA - grandpa and grandma of warez took a vacation. We saw noreleases from them after previous busy week. Count on getting new stuff from this alliance this week.

Week Score : 0/10 Total Score : 6/20

That is the end of this report. Sorry if you found it biased or bad. I just want to tell you my personal opinion. If you have any questions or interesting information - contact me via email or on IRC.

contact me via e-mail at: dod@ns.extech.msk.su

Farewell, Jimmy Jamez [DOD boss]

This new edition to the WWN magazine is dedicated to a quick review of what game's are hot and whats not...and comments about them. The games were played on a P75 with 16 megs of ram.

*-* Warlords 2 Deluxe CD *-*

This 26 disk game may either piss you off or satisfy you for a month. I would suggest only major strategic enthusiasts bother with the download. It contains many good animations and a nice midi collection of music. The game is like WarCraft, b ut with much more attention to details. For those who do not like to get involved with these games, it's just another boring SSI strategic game.

RATING: 6/10

*-* Thunderscape *-*

Thanks to Tdu-Jam! we actually have a working version of this game. However the rip has no music or sound effects. You control a bunch of diff. characters on your quest. You can control there movement, actions, fighting, talking, etc. You mee t up with other characters in which you must make the right decisions in fighting or saying the right thing to. The game feels a little empty with the lack of sound or fx, but blast your box and you'll forget all about it. The scenery is that of a doom/ descent cross feeling.

RATING: 7/10

*-* Paddle Battle *-*

Lame Windows game released by VT. It was made by klick-n-play, the stuff you can make yourself. This game is the same thing we all used to play about 8 years ago with those little black machines...you know, PONG!

RATING: 1/10

*-* Depth Dwellers *-*

Not much to say about this one. Another, all too common, Doom wannabe. Contains the same characters over and over. A big bore.

RATING: 2/10

*-* Forgotten Realms Unlimited *-*

Dungeons and Dragons type game in which you can make your own scenes and areas to play in. Very dull and boring. Seems like someone found this one in their late 1980's `pile-o-crap'.

RATING: 2.5/10

*-* Bowl (Bowling) *-*

WOW! For a game that only takes up less than 5 megs this bowling game sure gives you value for the meg. You don't need to know chinese to play this Dragon release, just a little common sense in getting your sound to work. The game is your tra ditional American bowling with characters ranging from Sherlock Holmes to Madonna with pins over her tits to Adolf Hitler. The game has great japanimation that respond to several different actions during the game. This is a game you can actually have FU N playing.
Tip : here's a pw to get you decently far- 2736
RATING: 8/10

*-* Silverball 3.0 *-*

Ok, how many times are we going to see this same game released under a different version or "deluxe". This is the same epic pinball with the really bad boards. The game is so bad it even lists one table twice (same name and same board). Anyw ay, I think we've all outgrown this classic pinball game. Not much else to say 'cept it's dull pinball at its worst.

RATING: (1st time around 6.5/10)
(2nd time around 5.5/10)
(This time around 3.5/10)

*-* Pharaoh Casino *-*

Booooo! DUPE alert! It seems like TDT thinks that just cause they aren't around that they didn't miss any warez being released. I don't have records of who already released this one, but it was released in it's entirety before. All you need to see is that picture of them welcoming you into the casino and you'll recall it (if you played it). But for those of you who missed it the first time: It's another casino. There have been many much better than this one. This one lacks graphics, sou nds, and is very dull.

RATING: (1st time around 4/10)
(This time around 3/10)

*-* Battle Beast *-*

Tdujam! brings yet another release to the scene. The following words were in the nfo: "Win3.1 & MK." Now to me those two just don't go. This game sure is a first of its class. You are a fish, you go in a maze with the computer, you direct yo ur fish to one of the many sites (places to fights). Once their you enter the fighting stage where you can morph your fish into a big hunk of metal fighting machine. Now being this is Winblows, this is where the game lacks the real `fighting' we'd all mu ch rather have. Could keep you entertained for a while. It's a change of pace from the norm.

RATING: 8/10

*-* Ultimate Football '95 *-*

It had the looks of a good game, it even has modem play, but yet they fucked up in the stupidest way possible! This game can only be played using your mouse! I'm sorry but there's something about bone crushing hits and a mouse that just don't go together. There is no way to use the keyboard in this game. You just can't play football using a mouse. Also you'll need a fast computer to play this one or you'll find it taking forever for the next play to start. What a shame, it could have been such a great game.

RATING: 6.5/10

-Warcraft2- Congrats to GNX for packaging the best PREVIEW of this hot awaited game. Shipping is supposed to begin in Dec. so keep an eye out for it. From what the .wav's say in the preview, WC2 seems to be everything WC was, but bigger, better, and more enhanced.

-Quake- What can ya say about this one. We've already had 2 Dooms, and the second one wasn't much different from the first. While the graphics appear to be slightly more enhanced, it's still the same Doom style game we've been accustomed to for so long. So either your a Doom freak and you'll eat it up, or you'll be bored with it in a day.

-Tdujam-
A very good week for them, Battle Beast, Warlords 2 Deluxe, and a working Thunderscape.

-Vendetta & Hoodlum-
Do you have people who test your shit out? If so are they on drugs?

-Razor-
Hellloooooo? Where were you this week?

-Dragon-
Woah, whadya know, they had released something we could actually play and it didn't suck too bad either!

-GNX-
Thanks for the VERY informative WC2 Preview pack.

-TDT-
Hey guys, just cause you weren't around for a long time doesn't mean the scene was totally dead. I think you should ask around before you next release something b/c you seem to be duping more then VND & HLM are releasing shit that don't work.

In the future this review will not include or mention games that do not work. That means VND & HLM better fucking shape up and stop releasing crap that does not work. Also I have not and WILL not install Win95 so unless someone who has wishes to h elp me out in this area, these games will go unreviewed. This was a little under avg. week for games, and I can only review what is out and working. Expect to see many more detailed reviews when I get back from vacation (2 weeks).
-Ionizer (WWN Game Reviewer)

Send opinions, comments to: ionizer@cybercom.com or striker@injersey.com.

This list was compiled from the help of a number of people. These bbs's are the best around the world.

#1 Park CentralFastest bbs in the world
#2 X-FactorThis bbs is getting faster everyday
#3 Gods RealmGreat bbs with friendly sysops
#4 Beyond AkiraFastest bbs in Canada
#5 The WallExcellent bbs with fast files
#6 Southern ComfortFrom what i hear this bbs is very good
#7 2112Fast bbs with lots of files
#8 Dawn of EternityVery private and very good
#9 TDUUsed to be one of the fastest bbs's but still great
#10 Dimention XXXGetting faster by the minute

Special Thanks to The Enforcer for all his help. (thanks bud)
Greetz to all the RiSC and DoD Hommies
Peace Im Out

- StudSter - [RiSC]

My interview with Rambone of PWA (Council) was a short and to the point one. We basically discussed why/how/what happend during and around the merger of PWA/SCuM earlier this week (Thurday). It went a little like this :

WWN : Can you exactly tell the reader what happend during that discreet conference on 08/20/95, and who was involved?

RAMBONE : Ok, well, it was just Me, Orion, Snakee, and Liquidater on the phone that night. We were deciding what to do with SCuM at the time, when Liquidater announced he grew tired of the scene and wanted out. So we took our chance and absorbed all th e good aspects of SCuM. It was really a quick 5 minute discussion, no big deal.

WWN : Do you expect the addition of all SCuM suppliers to help out PWA in it's current lack of activity?

RAMBONE : Well, all good SCuM suppliers are now going to release for us now, under the PWA label. As far as the SCuM people coming into PWA..we were freinds with them anyway..we knew most of them..it was pretty easy to get them aclimated to the group.. and so yes, that should help. Most of them are in our channel anyway..(g)

WWN : Do you expect this merger to Work? And/or do you expect to 'Absorb' any other utils groups in the scene? And does this action of merging not work up to the motif of Orion's 'Unif ied Scene' theory?

RAMBONE : As the unified group spew goes , Orion and I think thesame way with this, we will never be able to get all into one big happy family..not possible.. too many people..too many ego's in too many groups.

WWN : So you think that if PWA continues to absorb all these util groups and maybe games groups, you will reach your 'Zenith' of Unified Scene?

RAMBONE : I sure do hope not that doesnt happen. (g) [Absorbing all groups]

And with that note of hope, ended our conversation. Look below for a sneak peek at PWA's future .nfo file. It contains whose in and whose out since the PWA/SCuM merger.

Since the PWA.NFO Can not be viewed properly online, (Because of high ASCII), please download a copy Here.

In this week's rumor section, we here at WWN have obtained some startling info regarding RiSC and RTS. It goes a little like this. X-Factor, a well known bbs located in the 718 AC, [NYC] is to be considered the #2 bbs in the world right now this week, as our top 10 bbs's this week compilation by StudSter shows, has affiliations such as X-Force WHQ, Tyranny WHQ, Napalm WHQ, and most importantly right now, RiSC Eastern HQ. Now, due to a very discreet source, rumor has it that due to a lack of support fro m RiSC, the sysop of X-Factor might be moving over to Request To Send [RTS Couriers]. As usual, my source is a drunken dumbass who could be full of shit...so...stay tuned for this one!

-Mercury [WWN Editor]

We hope you enjoyed this issue of WWN, and you can still write in with your articles, comments, suggestions, etc, at mercury@escape.com and also at anon341292@anon.penet. fi. If you are a writer capable of writing a steady flow of articles weekly consisting of internet/warez/the scene/warez groups/coding/H/P (only if relating to warez) then write in to us, or find me on iRC as Mercury-.This week's greetz go out to : Ra mbone (eat this :)), Skill, Porter, Cyber Angel, Lester Jimmy Jamez, Asmodeus, Cypress, Dark Angel, Poobis, Pericles, Orion, The Speed Racer, Speed Master, Gumby (the busiest clay figure i know :)) all wwn contributors, Porter, all #DoD/#WaReZ Posse! Werd ! Lates.

-Mercury [WWN Editor]