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                            UCM SURFTIP - PACIGAME
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url ............. http://brumescl.free.fr/
................. http://pacigame.atari.org/
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webmaster ....... Brume
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kind ............ rare game compilations collection and download site

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The idea to review this site  came up short  after it was set online, at first I
wanted  to review  PACIDEMO, but in fact  PACIGAME is much more  interesting, at
least for me, and since  there is  still a  lot to do on  this page I thought it
could help BRUME a bit to drag this project into the spotlights.

Before I will start the review here are a few words from BRUME...

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The project named PaCigame is born in august 2001. Someone from Belgium sent his
list of Atari disks because he had many demos for my other website (PaCidemo)...
and when I received this list, I just said "Wow!"
Of course it  contained  a lot of demos, but he mentioned many more compilations
of games. A lot  of crews were totally unknown to me, I was simply interested in
FOFT and BBC disks. But I asked  the belgian mate (who  became a good friend) to
send all disks he'd agree to post. I must admit I was really curious about crews
such as Criminal Disguise, New Order, X-Static, G-Force and Now5.
He was really  friendly and he  accepted to  post all that disks, and I began to
archive  them. A few  days after, I wrote  list gs  and converted  them to html.
PaCigame was born.

With that website, I'd like  to gather all  compilation disks of games ever done
on Atari ST (commercial and PD). I  know that's  a crazy  project, I don't think
I'll manage  to have  all missing  disks  in the  next  months/years, but... who
knows?

The aim of  the site isn't  to collect  disks only. I like  very much to receive
mails from people  of the old scene. I want  the site  to become the place about
short chronicles, information  and interviews  with famous or unknown crews. I'm
in contact  with many persons who  were members  of bands  such as Euroswap, The
Lemmings,  Pure  Energy,  Awesome,  Evil Force,  Serenade,  Impact,  Mad Vision,
Adrenalin UK, The Syndicate, ... but a lot of crews seem to have disappeared.
That's a pity because there was decent coders an crackers.

Most of the  people remember  Automation, TMB and  Pompey Pirates. I agree, they
coded  good intros and  released good cracks. I'm not  sure about  Automation, I
heard they  cracked too  fast and  some games  doesn't  work very  well  at some
points, but  I'm no expert  about that crew and I admit they cracked most of the
games of the ST history, so their productions can't be perfect. I'd just want to
say  that  crews such  as BBC, The Lemmings, Supremacy, Adrenalin-UK or  Pulsion
were great, too. Just take a look at their intros and/or their cracks.

The deterioration  of floppy disks is  another problem: if we don't archive them
now, it  will be  probably  too late  in three  years. Many  disks  are  already
damaged, and  it's a long  and boring work to repair them (I do that almost each
week).

A lot of persons have already helped me. I'd like to mention the names of Ricky,
Skinkhead, MoodST, Marcus, Jake, Jason Elite, Laurenzo, Teknic, Mike D., Grazey,
MC Laser, Reservoir Gods, Pugsy, and Alex Holland... I  guess I  forget  most of
the people who contributed  to the project, sorry. I need to find more contacts,
any help is welcome. So, if  you know someone  with some old disks in his attic,
please contact me: pacidemo@planet-d.net

Last note: The aim  isn't to do benefit with CD-ROMs sold at high prices. That's
a pure "free" project. I'll  try to  release one  first CD-Rom before the end of
the year, but just some collections are totally complete at the moment. I'll add
more  compilations on  the site (more  than 300 disks are online at the moment),
too. I don't  know if I managed to  convince you  about  that  project. The site
doesn't look as beautiful  as I'd like it  should. But  there were so many crews
(more than 120 bands  at the moment), that I wasn't able to find a better way to
display all them on the first page.

Once again, it is just done for the memory of people who wrote intros, drew gfx,
composed tunes of  cracked and packed games. Feel free to drop me a few lines if
you like it... or if you hate it, of course.
Thanks for reading,

Brume

http://pacigame.atari.org
http://pacidemo.atari.org

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Uiuui... do I have  more to add  here? Yes, I have since  BRUME's lines are pure
understatemend ;) and I don't accept  his views about the design of the page and
I have to say that I like the  current one, it is clear  and nice looking, quite
easy to navigate and the included features are a mess.

Alone the intro  screen is  quite impressive, showing  a lot  of menu screens in
dark colours  as background and if  you were a illegal  games player, you surely
remember the one or  other menu title  you can see  there. After all it is quite
unique to have all those  bands on one  screen since  as you maybe  can remember
they were often laying  in war (my  compiles are better  packed, my compiles are
more actual, we  have the  better crackers  blablabla...) but in the end I doubt
that the  normal gamblers were interested in this as  long as they  were able to
get the latest menus and games as fast as possible.

The site  lists  over  1oo game  menu crews  so far, sometimes  bands  that  had
spreaded their disx only  very limited  or created  just a  hand full of menues,
bands from the very  first days in games  compiling are here  like AUTOMATION as
well as  from the  last days, like TUMULT or ANCIENT CELTS. Those  crews are all
listed on the left side  on the screen, if  possible even mentioning the country
they were coming from.

A little line between  the two big windows  features the main menu, were you can
choose  between the  single parts of  the site. So there  is a news corner where
BRUME announces  all new  disx he  got and who  gave them and  so on, what  disx
series are completed now and which series are set online.

Atm, about 3oo disx  are downloadable  but I have to  admit that a few downloads
are disabled because of some unknown reasons. Not all  as downloadable mentioned
disx are  online. At the moment  only a few and  not as big  collections are set
online, such as the menues by THE LEMMINGS, ADRENALIN UK, PULSION or ZUUL.
And here I  have to remind  you to another  article written in this issue, about
the PDL's! As you  know the  later compiles  makers started  to gather PD and SW
games and there were a bigger bunch of UK compact  makers. So my hope is to find
the one or other rare PDL distributed game  on those compiles and so I'm waiting
anxiously to see more disx online.

Furthermore BRUME offers  a look into his  huge list  of disx he already got and
he's searching for. So take a sneak look into it, even not so big crack swappers
as me could find the one or other rarity in his disx cases, and so I was able to
bring in a completely unknown band, CELL, for example.

Another cool feature of the site is the interviews area. Here he makes some very
detailed  interviews  with  former  crackers and  compiles makers. Atm, the most
interesting one is done  with FRAZER  of REANIMATORS and  SYNDICATE, furthermore
there are a bunch of interviews with UK second  row cracking/compiles gangs like
LEMMING, AWESOME, ADRENALINE UK and so on, and here they're  revealing that they
often consisted of the same members under other nicks... arf.
Those interviews are very in depth written, coming along with a lot of logos and
screenshots of menues by those bands. This is very well done in my eyes.

Another feature of the site is the small links area, unfortunately it isn't that
big and does not  link to any cracked  games compiles  storing sites. So you can
follow links to ATARI FORCE, FOFT, the FUZION shrine or ATARI.GAMES.

Yeps... hmmm... I hope that I  could wake up  your interest in this sites if you
haven't checked them up so far! Apart from PACIDEMO BRUME started  with PACIGAME
a project where he needs urgent the help of collectors but even simple gamblers,
since such huge projects are a bit too big for a stand-alone-fighter.

Ofcourse he stepped  as far as  maybe nobody else  would have  ever made it, but
only with  the help of  so many people. And  this shows that this scene is still
able to  support such big projects  and we have  to work  hand in hand, BRUME is
working on  a monument  for the ST GAMES COMPACT DISX SCENE, and  we should help
him as much  as possible, since  this is a monument  for a part of our own roots
and history.

So move your ass, dig out your old disx and see what you can do! This project is
surely worth being  supported in any way, in fact it is a site that digs deep in
our memories, back into  times as we were just moving our joysticks and were day
by day on  the hunt for new stuff, times  as many of us started computing, times
without them we wouldn't be here today!

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