- The Charts #58 -

Edited by Jonatan "Macx" FG.


“Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”
- Winston Churchill


Welcome to another edition of The Charts. A section of this offline magazine that craves user participation in order to be valid and interesting. The Charts in a diskmag reflects the minds of the sceners in a much more dynamic sense than the top lists of aggregated votes over time at CSDb. However, in order for The Charts to be a sound and contemporary comment it is necessary that the readers fill out the votesheets that are sent out prior to the voting deadline. The sheet count for this issue was 23. One interpretation of the fewer sheets handed in this time could be that four times a year is a bit too often for the audience be motivated enought to lay their votes.

To secure you receive a votesheet for the upcoming issues of VN, send an email to macx64(*)gmail. The 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 who has received more than one vote is presented in The Charts. Otherwise it is pretty straight forward, so here we go. First up are the Top Lists associated with the Opinion Poll in this issue ("Cracked Broken").


TOP ALL-TIME CRACKER GROUPS:  
 
Eagle Soft Inc.    148
Triad      136
Ikari      104
Fairlight     84
Ikari+Talent     48
Legend      44
2000 AD     36
Hotline     36
The Papillons Inc.    36
Chromance     28
Danish Crackers    28
Dominators     24
Avantgarde     20
A Touch of Class    16
Danish Gold     16
Dynamic Duo     16
Genesis Project    16
JEDI 2001     16
Talent      12

Many legends of the past are presented here and we can all recall the crackintros of these groups. It is our youth, history and part of who we are. If the votes for the cooperation of Ikari+Talent were to be included in the votes for Ikari in this toplist they would have beaten Eagle Soft Inc. off their number one spot. Both the commiekillers in Fairlight and the commies in Triad are part of the legendary legacy and receives good positions in this category. They are both active to this day, only the socialists are still active in the cracking business though. My old crew Chromance is presented, as is Genesis Project whom recently has become a returning star rising on the clear winter night sky.

Just missing out are Red Sector Inc., F4CG, Hitmen, Fusion, FBR and Nostalgia.

 
 
TOP CURRENT CRACKER GROUPS (including quality groups):  
 
Nostalgia     176
Genesis Project    116
Hokuto Force     108
Triad      96
Avatar      48
Remember     28
Laxity      12
WOW      8

Nostalgia is a typical "quality group", competing with superior versions of old games rather than on the limited first release scene. It is well liked it seems. Onslaught has been removed. Genesis Project nicks number two and is definitely part of the current elite, causing both Sturm und Drang. Triad lags behind. Will they be able to withstand the rise of the hungry new?

Three groups were close enough only to be left out: Armageddon, Creators, Excess.  

 
 
TOP CRACKERS:  
 
Fungus      72
Mr. Z      72
GRG      68
S!R      40
Mason      36
Snacky      32
Antitrack     28
Sailor      28
Kaizen      24
Zyron      24
LA Style     12

The return of the old guards! Many have been voting for the original pirate material as The Charts this time included all-time cracking groups. However, also contemporary hardcore crackers are in the top intermingling with the heroes from the past. Slator received a good position but is left out as he is an Onslaughter.

Others not included are enthusi, PMK, Softtech, Jack Alien, Mitch, Burglar, Darksoft, Goat, Popey, Count Zero, Sunny, Weasel, King Fisher, Rough and Stormfront.

 
 
TOP DEMO GROUPS:  
 
Booze Design     256
Fairlight     124
Offence     120
Crest      96
Oxyron      88
Arsenic     48
Camelot     48
Mahoney     44
Genesis Project    28
Triad      28
Horizon     24
Resource     24
Censor Design     16
Chorus      16
Plush      12

Booze Design remains far above everyone else, watching the stars from the clouds rather than the gutters. Arsenic, Fairlight and Offence is climbing. A warm welcome to Genesis Project. Mahoney is receiving votes both as a person and as a group.

Demogroups left out: The Supply Team, Wize 2005, Wrath Designs, 1001 Crew, Spirit, Focus, Hoaxers, Starion, Super Swap Sweden, Beyond Force, Bonzai, Hack N Trade, Samar, Smash.

 
 
TOP CODERS:  
 
HCL      252
Cruzer      88
Crossbow     76
JackAsser     76
Graham      64
Mahoney     64
Axis      44
Pantaloon     44
Clarence     32
Kribust     24
Mr.SID      24
Ninja      24
MagerValp     16
Oswald      16
GRG      12
Krill      12

HCL has been the king of the hill in this category during all of 2011. Will he defend his position in the year to come? A lot of expectation is also put on JackAsser, Mahoney, Pantaloon and Cruzer from whom we expect the good stuff in 2012. Why are Crossbow and Graham still in the top five? It is nice to see Mr.SID receiving recognition for his great conversion of Prince of Persia in this chart. As it seems it is likely that more quality game programmers will gain positive status in the Top Coders category in the future.

C64 programmers receiving too few votes this round are Glasnost, Kaze, King Fisher, Firehawk, Hollowman, Maduplec, AEG, Ian Coog, Skurk and FMan.

 
 
TOP GRAPHICIANS:  
 
Archmage     164
Mermaid     128
Veto      88
Mirage      72
PAL      48
Carrion     44
STE'86      40
Duce      28
Jailbird     28
hedning     24
Sander      24
Yazoo      24
Leon      12
Ptoing      12
DeeKay      8

The top four consists of the same top four as last time. Joe received plenty of votes but is left out as he is part of the staff. PAL is climbing the charts as expected. hedning of Genesis Project is another rising star becoming famous, reaching the top list for graphic artists for his effort.

Left-outs are Blitz, Dane, Frost, Valsary, Biz Kid and RRR. THE RRR, that is. The vote which remains anonymous came with a smiley.

 
 
TOP MUSICIANS:  
 
Jeff      100
Drax      72
Dane      68
SIDwave     40 
GRG      36
Jeroen Tel     36
Laxity      36
Geir Tjelta     28
Linus      28
Randall     24
Stein Pedersen     24
Tim Follin     24
Wiklund     20
Zabutom     16

Jeff, Drax and Dane in the top three just as in the last issue. Their internal order is different though, with Jeff being the legible winner in this round. SIDwave keeps climbing and Tim Follin oddly enough makes it into this list of currently active musicians. Brilliant as Mr.Follin's music is, he has not composed SID sounds for two decades and does not really fit into the picture above.
 
Voted for but not included are numerous: Agemixer, Charles Deenen, Ed, Johannes Bjerregaard, A-Man, Deetsay, Hein, Rob Hubbard, Aleksi Eeben, Magnar, Martin Galway, Danko, Fanta, JCH, RadiantX, Sonic, Goto80, Intensity, Jammer, Knatter.


That concludes The Charts for issue 58 of your favourite Commodore 64 disk magazine. These top lists 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.