| From: | Conor Kerr |
| Date: | 6 Oct 99 at 01:21:29 |
| Subject: | First Impressions... (Basically a big "Yay!" :) ) |
From: "Conor Kerr" <ck@mystcorp.com>
Hi all!
Okay, I know that this is a bit late but I did get the first issue on the
first day of release (it was sehr cool finding a new Amiga magazine on
display in the shops, I'm sure it generated a lot of interest!), I've only
just managed to find time to actually make some comments about the mag.
First of all, sadly and somewhat unexpectedly, the cover was really, really
bad. I always loved the CU covers, they were so professional, good-looking
and different from the other magazines' covers that they really stood out.
Unfortunately that first cover stood out also, but for being crap and out of
place more than anything else (it looked a bit simple, corny and cartoony)
:(
Still, it's only a minor gripe, I really liked the internal format of the
magazine. It's funny that you've used the same image throughout the mag and
just changed the colour, but it certainly does work well and still looks
professional.
The font used for the body I'm not so keen on. While it seems to allow for
more content in less space, it is almost identical to the font used in the
very old CUs (if my memory serves me right!). The later CUs actually look a
lot more professional, more pleasing to the eye, and are more readable
simply because they use a font that's not so tight.
The paper feels really good (no, really,I'm not bringing this down to the
level of toilet roll ads, I'm not! :) ) but it seems to soak up black ink
MUCH too readily resulting in very contrasty and dark pictures. I think
you'll need to sort this out with your printer (I'm sure you've already
covered that, but these are just my views :) ).
I've spoken a lot about the physical side of things thus far but then if you
had just released a website and I had some ideas on how to make the format
better for it then you'd be hearing from me about that also. :)
The actual content of the mag?... Excellent, very interesting and very
enjoyable to read!
It really is sooo much better than Amiga Format, I buy at most 3 issues a
year of AF now :(
I'm not quite sure why it is but despite AF being physically larger, AA
seems much more desirable to me, there just seems to be so much more to read
in it. I suppose it could be in part due to the layout of the mag and the
wonderful presentation but it's probably due more to the fact that the
articles and reviews themselves are all on interesting topics. For some
reason AF only ever seems to be 30% appealing to me and for £5, that's just
not enough. AA on the other hand really does feel "worth it".
I haven't had a chance to try the CDROM yet, I've still got CDROMs from
magazines 3 months agao that I have to try out first (my lifestyle's getting
a bit mad me thinks! :) ).
The article on the future of the Amiga was as inspiring as always Andrew,
well done! I just wish that I hadn't heard the announcement (executive
update) from the new president as this slightly ruined the good feel the
article gave me. :( If it wasn't for the sheer calibre of the development
team at Amiga I think that this would have been my fairwell to the Amiga
community. If someone (Andrew? ;) ) has any great RELIABLE news about the
future I look forward to hearing it or even reading it in the next issue of
AA :)
All the other articles I've read have also been very interesting and well
written, congrasts to all the staff!
What else can I say? I'll be subscribing as soon as I can clear a bit of
space on my credit card (damn things :) ).
Oh yeah, and the paper smells really nice (just like all thos technology
magazines I buy, bizarrely this gives the mag a more future-focussed feel.
Well, in my mind anyway. :) ).
All the best...
Conor
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