- THE CHARTS VN#53 -

Today's hosts are Jonatan "Macx" FG & David "Jazzcat" Simmons.


The VN Staff decided it was time for a li'l pause in THE AWARDS to bring an old friend back. We will give it a few attempts and then decide on where we go from there.

24 votesheets were filled out, 17 of these are counted in the charts as they arrived in time. A result not entirely bad as the ASCII sheets was sent out just a week prior to deadline. Next time a tad more time will be given, two weeks perhaps. Expect votesheets out for #54 soon(ish) and to make sure you receive one, send an email to macx64*nospam*gmail. Remember to stick to the deadline unless you fancy being disqualified. Some of the chart categories may be different from issue to issue.

Only demos receiving more than one vote are presented. Otherwise it is pretty straight forward, so here we go.


TOP DEMOS PAST YEAR (Since June 1st 2009)

Andropolis              118 pts
Snapshot                 98 pts
Still Ready              46 pts
Black Spark 100% 36 pts
One Little Wish       34 pts
3DEH                     26 pts
Cute Overdose       22 pts
Unsigned                18 pts
White                     14 pts
Patterns                  12 pts
Artillery 85%          10 pts
Agiel                       8 pts

Runner-ups: Chase That Feeling, Crest Slide Story, C64MP3 and BluREU.

Nordic nerds, Turks, Hungarians, Germans and Poles are dominating the demo charts of the past year. It does not look that much different from how it was fifteen years ago, but the demos do indeed. Will we see more experiments like BluREU in the runner-up which needs a REU or a 1541 Ultimate to run, and will that change the conditions for the progress of the demo scene on the C64? If that is the case a new category will definitely be needed in future demo charts: C64+ DEMOS.


TOP DEMOS PAST FIVE YEARS (Since January 1st 2005)

Edge of Disgrace     112 pts
Andropolis              62 pts
Desert Dreams        52 pts
Pearls for Pigs         42 pts
Natural Wonders 2  30 pts
The Wild Bunch       26 pts
Natural Wonders     16 pts
Error 23                  12 pts
Boogie Factor         10 pts
Snapshot                 10 pts
Hello:FRIEND        10 pts

Runner-ups: Vicious SID, Still Ready, Sharp, Tristate, Unicorn, Tsunami, Cauldron, Krestage 3 and My Beauty.

Sweden nicked both silver and gold and what has been achieved by the Swedes during the past decade, morally boosted by an active party- and meeting culture, is astonishing. 


TOP DEMOS OF ALL TIME

Edge of Disgrace     72 pts
Deus Ex Machina    48 pts
Dutch Breeze          34 pts
Altered States 50% 28 pts
Desert Dream          24 pts
Insomnia                  24 pts
Pearls for Pigs          18 pts
Mathematica            18 pts
Andropolis               18 pts
Tower Power           16 pts
Dawnfall                   14 pts
Ice Cream Castle     14 pts
+H2K                      10 pts
Coma Light 12         8 pts
Cycle                       6 pts

Runner-ups: Mentallic, One-Der, Unsound Minds, Red Hot Chilli Pepper, Nothing but Code, Radio Napalm, Wonderland IX, Soiled Legacy and Road of Excess.

Edge of Disgrace won at X'2008 and it wins both in the category of best demo of all time and the past five years. Will Booze Design be able to live up to those expectations at X'2010 in October? With Dane, HCL and JB in charge it would not be that surprising.


TOP 5 DEMOGROUPS:

Booze Design  126 pts
Crest               104 pts
Oxyron            72 pts
Fairlight           40 pts
Resource         36 pts

Runner-ups: Instinct, Triad, Plush and Chorus.

Worthy to mention is that Panoramic Designs received a few votes. Newbies not familiar with them should definitely check out the mind-boggling demos of these Norwegian demi-gods, and try to persuade them into crusading again.

 

TOP 5 CODERS:

HCL          102 pts
Crossbow  78 pts
Graham      74 pts
JackAsser  32 pts
Krill           30 pts

Runner-ups: Oswald, Clarence, WVL and Edhellon.

The demos coming out at X2010 - no doubt they will influence this chart. We are hoping to see more from Crossbow, Skate (thanks for Snapshot!) and maybe some more from the guys in Byterapers or the return of the Norwegian based Offence?

 

TOP 5 MUSICIANS:

Drax           82 pts
Dane          64 pts
Jeff             46 pts
Linus          46 pts
Jeroen Tel  32 pts
6R6           26 pts

Runner-ups: Geir Tjelta, Randall, Jammer, Fanta and Jan Harries.

If more people released quality music collections rather than individual pieces spammed onto CSDb these charts would most certainly look very different. There are quite a few brilliant musicians active out there that should receive more attention. The votesheets for VN#54 might come with a music group category.


TOP 5 GRAPHICIANS:

Mirage       62 pts
Veto          58 pts
Archmage  54 pts
Carrion      44 pts
DeeKay     42 pts
Mermaid    42 pts

Runner-ups: Leon, Jailbird, Electric and Oys.

Joe should have made it into the top 5, but as he is part of the staff he was left out - making DeeKay and Mermaid stay in.
Did Antichrist really invent the word "graphician"?


TOP 5 CRACKERGROUPS:

Triad               72 pts
Nostalgia         44 pts
Hokuto Force  38 pts
Neophytes       34 pts
Remember       28 pts
Eagle Soft Inc. 28 pts

Runner-ups: Avatar and FairLight.

It is just and fair to see that the bias of longing to the past in the cracker charts is only visible through ESI and FLT this time. The other groups listed are all somewhat active with quality cracking for the contemporary C64 scene. Respect the elders, but a new generation will have to carry the torch if it shall remain lit up.


Summary:
Looking at an honest chart is quite refreshing, whilst The Awards are rich in detailed debate there is something charming when reading over these calculated tables. Is it the allure of the old way? A snapshot of the current state of affairs? Regardless, we do indeed wish to see more support for this segment, the more votes received the better the chart, that is a fact. Instead of whining about downvoting on CSDb or that something or someone is underrated. Get your voice heard through a votesheet here in a real C64 production - preserved through digital ink in the pages of Vandalism News.

Until next edition!