PRAISE:

I have just received your latest edition of IE and am impressed. I work for a MAJOR (Best Buy) electronics store in the software department. I would like you to know that your magazine has made my job soooooo much easier.

Customers will invariably want to know what a game is about and I just don't have the time or money to play all of them. Your magazine gives me a much needed overview of the ones to recommend as well as the ones to avoid.

I guarantee, nobody will buy Creature Shock from me without being warned. (I wondered why it wasn't moving.) We pride ourselves in trying to give the consumer as much info as humanly possible so they can make an INFORMED choice of product. Until your review, all I had heard about Creature Shock was great graphics.

Of course we also sell IE. I recommend it often to customers who really do not know what they want in the way of games. The variety you offer in reviews is fantastic. I find that new users are not even aware of basic differences in gameplay, i.e., arcade, menu driven, fantasy adventure, sim, etc. This lets them get a taste of different formats before they dump a ton of money into software they won't even like. Even longtime gamers have told me they found it very useful. I have often suggested subscriptions to IE if they try it and like it. (Only if the boss isn't close enough to hear).<bg>	

We carry over 2500 titles, a good part of them games. My favorite question is usually from a brand new user who (as his PC is being loaded into his car) asks "What's your best game?" Yeh, right. That's like walking into a library and asking a librarian for the "best book". These folks are really lost.

PROBLEM:

I do have a concern on this latest edition. Several times I received a General Protection Fault. Got through everything I needed on a couple of tries, but what gives?

SUGGESTIONS:
#1
I don't know how your staff picks software to review but I would like to nominate a piece from Maxis for consideration. It is fairly new and a little hard to classify. It's not really a game, and its not really a program tool. We have placed it next to the SIM games in our software.

Klik & Play is a gamemaker. I purchased it right before Christmas and am enjoying it very much. No programming knowledge is required, the software acts as an interface for you and is almost totally icon based.

From my own experience, and talking about it to customers, I believe a fairly large portion of your subscribers would enjoy a crack at making their own games. It might be worth investigating for a review.

Maxis maintains a forum on CServe through GAMBPUB. There is a demo version in their library, as well as some demo games to give you an idea of the power this software has.

#2
Have you ever considered a directory of the major companies with their tech support #'s, CServe address, etc. I believe this would be a great benefit to many gamers. Yes, they should be able to get this from the manual, however, if they want to check a game out with the company BEFORE purchase (yes, this has happened) they don't know where to call. We try to keep a list at the store – but it is far from complete. Might be a nice touch as a "public service".

Thank you for providing a much needed source of information.

P. P.
(via CompuServe)