- The Charts VN#56 -
Hosted by Jonatan "Macx" FG.
Welcome to another chapter of The Charts. A section of the magazine that craves user participation in order to be valid and interesting. The Charts in a disk magazine reflects the minds of the sceners in a much more dynamic sense than the toplists of aggregating votes at CSDb. However, in order for The Charts to be a sound and contemporary comment it is necessary that the readers fill out the ascii votesheets that are sent out prior to the voting deadline. The sheetcount for this issue was 20.
In order to secure you receive a votesheet for the upcoming issues of VN, please send an email to macx64(*)gmail. The ascii votesheet is usually combined with questions for the Opinion Poll.
Let me remind the participating reader that you are not allowed to lay a vote on yourself, your own release, your groups release or other members of your group or groups.
Only what or whom has received more than one vote is presented in The Charts. Otherwise it is pretty straight forward, so here we go.
This edition of The Charts starts out with a toplist of recent gadgets, which reflects the topic in the Opinion Poll-chapter entitled "Hardware Evolutions".
TOP RECENT HARDWARE GADGETS:
Ultimate 1541 mk2 216
Ultimate 1541 168
Chameleon 108
EasyFlash 68
ZoomFloppy 64
IDE64 (all versions) 48
Retro Replay 48
RR-Net 44
AlienFlash 32
MMC64 32
MMC Replay 24
DC2N 16
The biggest success for the c64 of late is the Ultimate 1541. As old 5,25" disks deteriorate it is an inevitable evolution, and has for many become the new standard. On most demoparties these days a .d64 is as accepted as a physical disk. The Chameleon may come to rise and shine, but as the version out is still Beta not many has yet chosen to invest in this small blue and yellow monster. The EasyFlash and AlienFlash votes should perhaps have been merged as they offer the same thing, although the AlienFlash does it a few times more. The EasyFlash structure is doubtlessly a path for c64 gaming renaissance and the number of games adapted to it can be expected to rise.
Runner-ups are GeoAction, HardSID, KeyRah and the DTV. Ultimate 1541 with ethernet is included in the votes for Ultimate 1541.
TOP DEMOS OF THE PAST YEAR (since May 1st 2010):
Another Beginning by Offence & Prosonix 296
We Are New by Fairlight 186
Mekanix by Booze Design 164
Lash by Fairlight 56
Cubase64 by Mahoney 48
Frighthof by Arsenic 40
Portal by Lepsi & Miracles 36
Black Spark by Black Sun 32
Princess in the Kingdom of Subpixels by Mahoney 28
Algodancer 2 by Algotech 24
Artillery 100% by Shape 20
Flexxible by Fatzone 20
Connected by G*P & Vision 16
Colony by Ancients Pledge Inc. 12
Schizarrion by Miracles 12
Industrial Dusk by Artstate 8
Black Spark 100% was released on May 10th 2010 and just makes it into the list for this reason. One Little Wish was voted for and does not make it for the same reason. Sonder Bar Redux is left out because of obvious facts, although it would sometimes have been fun to include our releases in our own magazine (*grin*).
This very contemporary list is perhaps a bit more demanding for the voter, but it lets the smaller beauties come to their right. As has been stated in the Mini-Awards many a time by the same author as writes here: Less is More. The smaller and often more pure pieces of gold are sometimes worthy more appreciation than the bigger ones.
Productions having received only one vote and thus not included are XoX Goes to Datastorm, Snapshot by Glance, Wallflower, Exotic Excitement and Quadrant
TOP DEMOS OF THE PAST FIVE YEARS (since May 1st 2006):
Edge of Disgrace by Booze Design 196
Andropolis by Booze Design & Instinct 144
Another Beginning by Offence & Prosonix 100
Pearls for Pigs by Xenon 84
Desert Dream by Resource & Chorus 56
Mekanix by Booze Design & Instinct 56
We are New by Fairlight 52
Natural Wonders 2 by Oxyron 40
Sharp by Fairlight & Instinct 36
Snapshot by Glance 36
Still Ready by Resource & The Dreams 32
The Wild Bunch by Focus/Horizon/Instinct/Triad 16
BluREU by Crest 16
Princess in the Kingdom of Subpixels by Mahoney 16
Empirion by Bauknecht 16
Artillery 100% by Shape 12
Cubase64 by Mahoney 8
Unicorn by Chorus received several votes but is left out as it was released on April 15th 2006. When looking at this top list it is evident that the demoscene on this old machine is alive and kicking as it is not a dubious argument for any of the releases mentioned to be present. The same goes for few of the runner-ups: Krestage 3, Cauldron, Exotic Excitement, Portal and XoX Goes to Datastorm.
TOP DEMOGROUPS:
Booze Design 320
Fairlight 164
Offence 140
Crest 136
Oxyron 96
Resource 40
TRSI 32
Chorus 28
Triad 28
Plush 20
Censor Design 20
Glance 16
Horizon 16
Booze Design holds the absolute top position and receives almost double the points of Fairlight that comes second. Having attracted the guys in Instinct to join the Booze crew, they definitely have the skills to defend their position. If the motivation is kept up in this mainly Swedish group it will be hard for others to become a new King of the Hill. Offence has risen to a high position and live under high expectations. Will they deliver?
Groups having received only one vote and thus not included in the list are Maniacs of Noise, Miracles, Instinct, Bauknecht and Focus.
TOP CODERS:
HCL 256
Crossbow 184
JackAsser 110
Graham 104
Pantaloon 48
Clarence 40
Krill 36
Hollowman 28
Axis 24
Mahoney 24
Street Tuff 20
Oswald 20
Kribust 20
MagerValp 16
WVL 16
Skate 8
The Swedish Booze Designs coders HCL and JackAsser in the top three, followed by the German hacking elite of Crossbow and Graham on second and fourth. Other programmers are far away, but I see more than one name that could combat for the top spot. Runner-ups are Martin Piper, Ninja, Dane, Iopop, Mr.Sex, Soci, Algorithm, Cruzer, THCM, Norvax and Nitro.
TOP MUSICIANS:
Dane 108
Jeff 108
Drax 88
Jeroen Tel 84
Linus 60
Jan Harries/Rambones 56
GRG 52
Fanta 40
Geir Tjelta 40
Goto80 32
Randall 32
Zabutom 28
Jammer 24
Stein Pedersen 24
Agemixer 24
Asterion 24
Fredrik 8
This chart is the most flat one, reflecting a diverse SID music scene with lots of skillfull participants and few artists that are loved by all. This said, the top three are the same composers as in the last edition with only exchanged positions. They are however not many votes away for those on seventh or tenth position, and in order to stay at the top you will need to be active. The multiple shifts of handles by Jan Harries/Rambones, now SIDwave, has not stopped him from composing great music and he is climbing in the chart. As everyone has voted for either Jan Harries or Rambones those are combined here, as soon as votes for SIDwave are trickling in the votes will be combined under that handle.
Not as many as 41 different SID musicians voted for as in the last issue. But the list of composers having received only one vote is long also this time, confirming my initial comment: DaFunk, Ed, Jucke, Reyn Ouwehand, Hein Holt, Hydrogen, Laxity, Adam Morton, Kribust, RadiantX, The Alien, Dalezy, Magnar, Danko, Mr.Death, MaktOne and Avalon. As the rules are what they are, a few of these would obviously not have made it into the top list anyhow.
TOP GRAPHICIANS:
Mermaid 192
Archmage 132
Carrion 116
Veto 112
Duce 72
Piesiu 40
Mirage 40
DeeKay 32
Leon 28
Oys 28
Louie64 24
Dane 20
Sander 20
Ptoing 8
Will the current debate on originals vs conversions (see the chapter The Wire) have any effect on how votes in this category are laid in the future? If it will, would it have any consequences for those holding the top four?
Joe would have come high in this list, but as he is part of our crew it is fair and according to the rules that he is left out. Runner-ups are Electric, Valsary, Hydrogen, Skurwy, Pal, Jucke, Poison of Singular, Dino and Yazoo.
TOP CRACKERGROUPS:
Nostalgia 156
Triad 124
Avatar 76
Hokuto Force 56
Genesis Project 52
Remember 46
Fairlight 32
Onslaught would have come second in this list but is for obvious reasons left out. If the activities from Genesis Project continues, it should be expected that they reach higher in future editions of The Charts. Groups voted for only once are Eagle Soft Inc., Chromance, WOW and Armageddon.
That concludes The Charts for issue 56 of your favourite Commodore 64 disk magazine. These toplists reflect the current ongoings in the scene and is for this reason something much different than the votes at various online fora. The total amount of votes over a much longer period competing with fever votes for a new release can make the list seem unjust - a problem you will never encounter in The Charts as a reset button is pressed with each new issue. Make sure you sign up for receiving the ascii votesheets in time for the next voting deadline, it is imperative in order to make this chapter valid. See the introductory text for further details.