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Commodore Zone USB Tape Collection

Commodore Zone

Back in the 1990’s when most of the Commodore 64 magazines had withered away and died, or were in the process of doing so, a small fanzine appeared in the UK. Called ‘Commodore Zone’ it was only available by mail (obviously) and was printed entirely in black and white except for the cover which was still monochrome but printed on a different colour of card each issue.

 

Box cover art

 

We take it for granted these days, but colour printing was an expensive luxury back then – it certainly was for me at any rate. I made do with a black and white Canon Bubble Jet (a BJ10 – I think) which I used with my Amiga 4000 right up until the millennium when I finally moved over to the Dark Side and bought a Windows 98 PC and an Epson Colour Inkjet to go with it.

 

Back of the box

 

Anyhooo, getting back to the original Commodore Zone mag – the highlight of each issue for me used to be the 5.25″ floppy ‘coverdisk’ it came with that contained all manner of entertaining stuff including games, demos, music and so on.

 

Commodore Zone

An original Commodore Zone coverdisk alongside the issue it came with.

 

I’ve still got all my original issues along with the cover disks but I couldn’t resist picking this ‘complete collection’ up. It was just too good to pass up as it contains digital versions of all the disks, enhanced colour editions of each magazine and a whole raft of other Commodore Zone goodies, all packaged up in a luxuriously glossy box.

 

Commodore Zone

What you see when you open the box up

 

The main event is the USB ‘cassette’ tape which is tucked safely away within a foam inlay at the bottom of the box.

 

Commodore Zone

Commodore Zone ‘Cassette’

 

It certainly looks like a cassette tape when you first get your hands on it.

 

Commodore Zone

Could be any old C64 action game on cassette at first glance….

 

The jewel case looks just like any other…

 

Something missing there…

 

As does the J card inlay…

 

USB Flash drive

 

It’s only when you get the cassette out of the box that you can see what it really is with a little flip-out USB flash drive where the tape would normally be!

 

Loads of goodies

 

But what about all those extras? Well there’s a Commodore Zone badge and keyring along with a bunch of cool Ferris stickers (the little guy with the propeller hat) plus an awesome sticker featuring the Star Wars: A New Hope artwork taken from the Spring 1998 cover.

 

Enhanced colour covers

 

There’s also a fantastic little 16 page booklet that contains all of the past front covers of the magazine, tastefully enhanced in glorious colour, as we’ve never seen them before.

 

Enhanced colour cover vs original B&W cover.

 

As you can see in the comparison photo above, the enhanced cover is very similar to the original, just shifted around a little to make way for a slightly flashier and more modern Masthead and Cover Lines.

 

My edition is number 11 out of a grand total of 200 copies. Noice!

 

As this collection is limited each box has been numbered out of 200. Sadly I didn’t get the first box to roll off the Psytronik production line but number 11 is still a pretty low number. 🙂

 

Commodore Zone Sampler CD

 

The Commodore Zone ‘Sampler CD’ is pretty awesome too and is presented as a vinyl record. Not really sure why I keep calling them that nowadays as we always used to just call them records back then.

 

Groovy!

 

The record grooves are just for show of course as the data side of the disc is smooth, just like a PS1 CD, but it looks really cool and successfully triggered the old nostalgia receptors in my brain.

 

Track listing

 

There’s loads of great tracks on this disc and it’s well worth a listen if you are a fan of C64 music.

 

Contents of the USB ‘Cassette’

 

The USB flash drive is packed with an impressive 11.4GB of content for you to rummage through.

 

11.4GB of Commodore Zone Goodness

 

All the stuff is sorted neatly into directories so you can go straight to the material that interests you.

 

Contents of the USB

 

Included are:

  • D64 images of all the past coverdisks.
  • Digital copies of both the ‘classic’, ‘enhanced’ and the one-off ‘anniversary’ editions of the magazine in both PDF and JPEG format.

 

Commodore Zone

Enhanced (right) and Classic (left) digital versions of the mag covers.

 

  • If that isn’t enough Commodore Zone goodness for you there’s even scans of each and every mag included too as JPEG images.
  • Digital version of the sampler CD in MP3 and FLAC format.
  • Bunch of other great SID music CD’s in both MP3 and FLAC format.

 

Commodore Zone

Enhanced (left) and Classic (right) digital versions of the mag.

 

  • Loads of D64 images of PD demos
  • Directory full of retro music videos accompanied by some stonking SID music tacks.
  • Web Book version of the ‘restored’ Issue 1 edition of the magazine that you can explore on your desktop.

 

Basically there’s a mountain of stuff on here  for you to browse through – enough to keep you entertained for many hours, days even. Takes me back to the days when I used to order a bunch of PD disks without really knowing exactly what would be on them and then spending a Sunday afternoon just exploring everything that was on them, listening to SID tunes, watching demos. playing PD games or whatever. Good times.

The first batch of 200 units are sold out now but if you fancy getting yourself a copy then Psytronik will have another batch of them over on their website https://www.psytronik.net at the beginning of February 2025.

APoV – A Brand new Amiga Mag for 2025!

Amiga Point of View

It’s been too long since I’ve come across a new Amiga print magazine so I was over the moon when I was made aware of a new kid on the block in the guise of ‘Amiga Point of View’ magazine or ‘APoV‘ for short.

 

APoV

APoV – Amiga Point of View Magazine

 

Technically it isn’t completely new as it existed for a few issues as an entirely digital PDF publication; starting out in December 2003 and ending in 2010 having produced a total of 4 issues over that 7 year period. After issue 4 it went into deep hibernation until recently when the team behind it (the guys behind abime.net no less) kicked things into top gear and brought out a full blown printed magazine.

 

APoV

APoV Issue 5 Contents Pages

 

So whilst this is the very first printed edition of APoV it is in reality issue 5. The previous 4 back issues can be found and viewed over at the rather splendid Amiga Magazine Rack should you wish to read them. Incidentally this is a terrific resource if you aren’t already aware of it – it contains hundreds of complete scans of past Amiga magazines for your reading pleasure.

 

Naughty Ones Review

Naughty Ones Review

 

Comprising seventy full colour glossy pages and retailing for just £5 this is a very welcome addition to the, once again, thriving Amiga print magazine arena.

 

Putty Squad Review

Putty Squad Review

 

The magazine is packed with reviews of past Amiga games for both ECS and AGA Amiga’s – including the CD32 console.

 

APoV News

News

 

The magazine is unashamedly game oriented with gaming news, reviews and features galore.

 

If only…

 

The reviews are where I feel APoV really shines. They feature plenty of colourful screenshots and are very in-depth covering all aspects of the games. The writing style, at least to my mind, is very reminiscent of the classic ‘Amiga Power’ magazine with irreverent jokes, sarcasm and funny anecdotes littering the pages. Make no mistake – this is a good thing and ensured my time spent reading the magazine was as enjoyable as it was informative.

 

APoV

One of my favourite racing games on the Amiga

 

APoV includes some really great articles with the Magnetic Fields feature being a particular stand-out for me as I love the Lotus Trilogy on the Amiga. ‘Games from Dimension X’ was a fun read too as it imagined a bunch of games that never existed but would have been absolutely awesome if they had.

 

Emulating the C64 on the Amiga

 

Another really interesting feature was the Amiga emulation scene and I’m not talking about FS-UAE here either. No, this article covers emulators that run on the Amiga enabling it to emulate various 8-bit machines such as the Commodore 64 and VIC20 computers.

 

APoV

Emulating the VIC too!

 

It even goes as far as including the likes of the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and even the MSX. Although I was an avid emulator of the Mac (using ShapeShifter) and PC (using PC Task) on my A4000 back in the day, I never tried emulating old machines on it so this was a fascinating read and has given me plenty of new ‘tinkering’ ideas for future rainy days!

 

If only it was 1996 for real…

 

In keeping with the irreverent theme I loved the little ‘adverts’ that pop up here and there that take the mickey and made me chuckle. The letters page was also suitably oddball!

 

Interphase

This looks like a game I need to add to my collection!

 

This issue had a big focus on classic Amiga games but the next issue promises to cover more contemporary titles such as Aquabyss, Tenebra and modern hardware such as the PiStorm and A500 mini.

 

Coming in the next issue…

 

I had a blast reading through APoV. The game reviews are excellent and the articles interesting and well written (in fact the whole magazine is well written). It seems to have a good balance of news, reviews and features with a writing style that is informal and entertaining. Needless to say I’m really looking forward to the next issue – I just hope I don’t have to wait until I’m drawing my pension to see it!

 

Where to purchase a copy from?

Until the team knock up their own website from which to sell the magazine, you can buy a print copy of ‘APoV’ magazine for the bargain price of £5 plus postage from their itch.io page. There’s less than a hundred copies available at the time of writing this so if you fancy a copy and would like to support the team and encourage them to work on the next issue then go and grab a copy now!

If you are happy to relinquish the pleasure of owning a real, physical copy of the magazine that you can hold in your hand then there’s also a PDF version available for £2.50.

Amiga Future #168 – May/June edition out now

The latest issue of Amiga Future (Amiga Future #168) for subscribers arrived a few days ago. Excitingly the cover features a brand new Amiga computer – the AmigaOne A1222 Plus which I can’t wait to read about. No doubt it will be outlandishly expensive but one can dream!

 

Amiga Future #168

Front Cover.

 

The Coverdisk

The main event on this months cover CD is ‘Photofolio 2.6’ which appears to be some sort of Amiga ‘Lightroom’. Regardless, I’m looking forward to investigating it!

 

Amiga Future #168

Cover CD.

 

What’s in Amiga Future #168

Here’s a quick snap of the contents page to give you an idea of what is in this issue. There’s plenty of both game and software reviews this issue and some interesting hardware gets covered too.

 

Amiga Future #168

Contents Page

 

Below is a little peek at some of the stuff inside Amiga Future #168. If you’d like to purchase a copy then do please take a look here. – Incidentally I don’t get any commission or anything if you buy a copy, I’m merely trying to spread the word and ensure our little community continues to thrive. 🙂

 

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Never come across Amiga Future magazine before? Perhaps you’d care to take a look at some of my other Amiga Future magazine previews here.

Freeze 64 Issue #67 Fanzine

Freeze 64 Issue #67

I’m not sure if the passage of time is accelerating or Vinny has cranked up production of Freeze 64 but either way I was happy to receive the latest edition of Freeze 64 in the post yesterday. It’s  now up to issue #67 and this edition features artwork from the brand new game ‘Good Kniight’ on the front cover.

 

Freeze 64 Issue #67

Issue #67 Cover featuring artwork from ‘Good Kniight’

 

Here’s a shot of the contents page so you can get an idea of what’s in this issue.

 

Freeze 64 Issue #67

Freeze64 Issue 67 Contents Page.

 

If you would like to find out how you can get hold of your own copy then head over to the Freeze64 website and take a look.

Finally, here’s a link to some of my previews of earlier editions of Freeze64.

Zzap! 64 Issue 19 out now

Here’s a slightly more in depth (than usual) look at my copy of Zzap! 64, Issue 19, that arrived in the post a few days ago. As well as the usual quick preview of what’s in the mag I run through what’s on this months digital coverdisk too.

 

Zzap! 64 Issue 19 Cover Image

 

As always the magazine is packed with content spanning 60 pages, including news, game reviews and insightful articles about the past, present and future Commodore 64 scene.

 

A Peek Inside

Here’s a quick look at the contents page giving an overview of what’s inside this issue.

 

Contents Page

 

The now familiar digital covermount page gives a preview of what’s on this editions disk.

 

Digital ‘covermount’ content page.

 

There’s plenty of goodies waiting to be loaded up on this months coverdisk, accessible via a slick menu screen accompanied by some great SID music as always.

 

Issue 19’s Covermount Menu screen

 

First up on the menu we have Alpacalypse – a side scrolling infinite runner style game where you have to dodge falling enemies, jump across gaps and collect fruit to increase your score. Vibrant, smooth-scrolling graphics and an excellent music track help to make this a fun game that is great for a quick blast of Alpaca action. High scores are saved to disk too which is a great feature all games should have and really fuels that ‘just one more go’ impulse.

 

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Next up is Metal Mayhem which is a tank battle game for two players or a single player vs the computer. The AI enemy tanks are brutally efficient at destroying you so I guess it was more intended to be played with a friend.

 

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Next we have ‘Spinning Image’ – probably my favourite game on this months disk. You are presented with two pictures – the one on the right is the ‘target’ picture whilst the one on the left has some bits missing. The game has you moving your avatar (Milly and Molly) left and right in order to line up and ‘fire’ a limited number of squares up onto the players picture to make it match the one on the right. The kicker is that the squares will only ‘stick’ if they bump up against an existing square.

You will quickly encounter areas where you seemingly have to get a quare to be suspended in mid air which is where the puzzle element comes into play. Some squares can be pulled back down allowing you to reposition them elsewhere to build a temporary framework to build on. A very challenging game on later levels yet still very relaxing to play as there’s no time limit in effect. The menu music is a bit annoying and shrill but the game music is thankfully understated and complements it quite nicely. You can save your progress too – essential for a game like this.

 

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The fourth game this month is a demo of ‘Phantomas 3 – The Return of Brok’ which is a neat little platform game that utilises the C64’s hires graphics mode to produce some very nice, detailed graphics.

 

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Finally there’s another demo, this time of a game called ‘Spy Agent’ which sees you trying to kill an enemy spy before he does the same to you. The game takes place within a single screen platform scenario with lifts and stairs to get around. You need a friend for this one as it’s two player only. It’s not much fun on your own as the enemy spy just stands there waiting for you to kill him before respawning elsewhere and then doing the same. Hopefully, as this is just a demo, they are working on an AI spy for all the solo players out there.

 

C64 Spy Agent

Spy Agent

 

Side 2 of the disk features a scene demo dating back to 1987, ‘Think Twice’ by The Judges featuring some funky scrolling effects and a decent SID music track.

 

Getting hold of a copy of Zzap! 64 Issue 19

This is another great edition of Zzap! 64 and well worth a buy. The magazine is available from Fusion Retro Books priced at £4.99. Make sure you use the code ‘LYONSDENBLOG’ to grab yourself a sweet 15% off the price! This code works for everything you place in your basket too!

Below you can peruse a small gallery of images from the magazine.

 

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You can find other Zzap! 64 related posts here .

Zzap! Amiga Issue #15 is out now

Today I received the latest edition of Zzap! Amiga Issue #15 ‘Micro Action’ in the post. Here’s a little glimpse inside so you can get an idea of what to expect in this issue.

 

Zzap! Amiga Issue #15

Zzap! Amiga Front Cover

 

A Look Inside

 

Here’s the contents page and below it, a handful of the 60 pages within this edition.

 

 

Zzap! Amiga Issue #15

Zzap! Amiga Issue #15 Contents Page

 

 

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At £4.99 plus postage for 60 A5 pages of Amiga goodness this is, as always, another worthy addition to my retro magazine collection. Don’t forget you can get 15% off a copy of your own with code ‘LYONSDENBLOG’ at the checkout!

Head on over to Fusion Retro Books to pick up your own copy of Issue #15.

Some more Zzap! Amiga magazine previews here.

Freeze 64 Issue #66 Fanzine

Issue 66 of Freeze 64 arrived in the post earlier today and features artwork (created by AI Vinny says) for the game ‘Strangeloop’ on the front cover. Why? Because this game is the main feature of this edition. Sadly no cheat card this month though.

 

Freeze 64 Issue #66

AI Generated ‘Strangeloop’ cover

 

Here’s a shot of the contents page so you can get an idea of what’s in this issue.

 

Freeze 64 Issue #66

Freeze64 Issue 66 Contents Page.

 

I’ve been getting Freeze 64 for many years now and have just extended my subscription for another year as Vinny continues to make a fantastic magazine that deserves our support. If you would like to find out how you can get hold of your own copy then head over to the Freeze64 website and take a look.

Finally, here’s a link to some of my previews of earlier editions of Freeze64.

Amiga Addict 28 out now

Behold, the latest issue of Amiga Addict magazine, issue 28, arrived today. This month the cover is devoted to the awesome Scala multimedia software to complement the in-depth six page feature within the magazine itself.

 

Amiga Addict 28

Issue 28 cover

 

Below is a peek at the contents page giving an overview of what’s inside this months issue.

 

Amiga Addict 28

Contents page

 

Here’s the coverdisc page providing details about what you can expect to find on this months disk (whether that be real or virtual). This month brings a collection of 3 PD games; Baldy: The Search For Missing Disks, Mad Bomber and Zerberk.

 

Amiga Addict 28

Coverdisk Capers

 

If you are not familiar with Amiga Addict cover disks, they only provide the labels – you have to supply the floppy disk. The self-adhesive labels are always of a super-high quality in glossy full colour with a peel-off backing. When applied to a suitable floppy they really look the part and provide a good excuse to blow the cobwebs out of your Amiga’s floppy drive.

 

Amiga Addict 28

My Maxell CoverDIsk 🙂

 

 

The magazine consists of 60 A4 full colour pages and features loads of news, reviews, articles, tutorials and more. This issue costs £6.50 (plus P&P) and is available from the Amiga Addict website. Amazingly it is also available in some bricks and mortar newsagents such as WHSmith so you may be able to pick it up there if you’re lucky and save yourself the postage!

 

A Look Inside Amiga Addict Issue 28

 

I’ll leave you with a quick look at just few of the articles that can be found in issue 28.

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Finally, here’s a link to some of my previews of other, earlier editions of Amiga Addict magazine.

Amiga Future #167 – March/April edition out now

The latest issue of Amiga Future (Amiga Future #167) for subscribers arrived a few days ago. This time around the front cover features the A1200 PiStorm Lite Adapter along with some nice artwork from the ‘Stuntman Seymour’ and ‘Super Delivery Boy’ games that are reviewed in this issue.

 

Amiga Future #167

Issue #167 Front Cover.

 

The Coverdisk

The main event on this months cover CD is ‘Fatman’ and ‘Wheelspin’ for the gamers and ‘Font Machine 3’ and ‘X-DVE 3.5’ for the tinkerers. Pretty decent disc this issue with something for everyone really.

 

Amiga Future #167

Issue #167’s cover CD.

 

What’s in Amiga Future #167

Here’s a photo of the contents page to give you an idea of what is in this issue. There’s plenty of both game and software reviews this issue and some interesting hardware gets covered too.

 

Amiga Future #167

Contents of Issue #167

 

Below is a little peek at some of the stuff inside Amiga Future #167. If you’d like to purchase a copy then do please take a look here. – Incidentally I don’t get any commission or anything if you buy a copy, I’m merely trying to spread the word and ensure our little community continues to thrive. 🙂

 

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Never come across Amiga Future magazine before? Perhaps you’d care to take a look at some of my other Amiga Future magazine previews here.

Zzap! 64 Issue 18 out now

Here’s a quick look at my copy of Zzap! 64, Issue 18, that arrived in today’s post.

 

Zzap! 64 Issue 18

Zzap! 64 Issue 18 Cover Image

 

As always the magazine is packed with content spanning 60 pages, including news, game reviews and insightful articles about the past, present and future Commodore 64 scene.

 

A Peek Inside

Here’s a quick look at the contents page giving an overview of what’s inside this issue.

 

Zzap! 64 Issue 18

Contents Page

 

The now familiar digital covermount page gives a preview of what’s on this editions ‘disk’. If only someone would start producing 5.25″ floppies again…

 

Zzap! 64 Issue 18

Digital ‘covermount’ content page.

 

There’s half a dozen goodies waiting to be selected on this months covermount, plus an additional full game hidden away in the Zip file – ‘Elasto Mania 64’ which is a very cool (and tricky) physics based  scrambler bike game. Imagine something along the lines of an 8-bit ‘Trials’ game. Impressive stuff for the C64.

 

Zzap! 64 Issue 18

Issue 18’s Covermount Menu screen

 

Getting hold of a copy of Zzap! 64 Issue 18

This is another great edition of Zzap! 64 and well worth a buy. The magazine is available from Fusion Retro Books priced at £4.99. Make sure you use the code ‘LYONSDENBLOG’ to grab yourself a sweet 15% off the price! This code works for everything you place in your basket too!

Below you can peruse a small gallery of images from the magazine.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

You can find other Zzap! 64 related posts here .

Freeze 64 Issue #65 Fanzine

Freeze 64 Issue #65

Issue 65 of Freeze 64 arrived in the post earlier today and features the new ‘Rocky & Co’ game on the front cover. It also includes the latest cheat card; number 41.

 

Freeze 64 Issue #65

This edition comes with cheat cared #41 to add to your collection.

 

Naturally I immediately added this new card to my Pokémon Trading Card Freeze64 Cheat card album. I know they don’t fit perfectly but it does the job and keeps them in pristine condition 🙂

 

The new collectors card in my album.

 

Here’s a shot of the contents page so you can get an idea of what’s in this issue.

 

Freeze 64 Issue #65

Freeze64 Issue 65 Contents Page.

 

I’ve been getting Freeze 64 for many years now and Vinny continues to make a fantastic magazine that deserves our support. If you would like find out how you can get hold of your own copy then head over to the Freeze64 website and take a look.

Finally, here’s a link to some of my previews of earlier editions of Freeze64.

Amiga Addict 27 out now

Amiga Addict 27

Here’s the latest issue of Amiga Addict magazine, issue 27, that arrived today featuring some artwork for the Wolfchild game on the front cover. This months mag includes a six page in-depth look at the story behind the creation of this particular game,

 

Amiga Addict 27

Issue 27 cover

 

Below is a peek at the contents page giving an overview of what’s inside this months issue of Amiga Addict.

 

Amiga Addict 27

Contents page

 

The magazine consists of 60 A4 full colour pages and features loads of news, reviews, articles, tutorials and more. This issue costs £6.50 (plus P&P) and is available from the Amiga Addict website. Amazingly it is also available in some bricks and mortar newsagents such as WHSmith so you may be able to pick it up there if you’re lucky and save yourself the postage!

 

A Look Inside Amiga Addict Issue 27

 

I’ll leave you with a quick look at just few of the articles that can be found in issue 27.

 

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Finally, here’s a link to some of my previews of other, earlier editions of Amiga Addict magazine.