I just had to post it ... for those of us with very slow dial-up etc, etc ... (OK, fine , I've been tinkering with OCR software and just wanted to learn how to use it so I OCR anything I can get my grubby little hands on)
GamesTM Retro - Interview with Martijn van der Heide of WorldOfSpectrum.org
UNSUNG HEROES
As retro gaming gets more popular, it's high time that the unsung heroes who have worked so tirelessly to share their passion with others finally receive some credit. This month we find out why one man has so tirelessly championed the Spectrum and all that it stands for...
Ever since he was 13 years old Martijn van der Heide has adored all things related to Clive Sinclairs wonderful range of home computers. Ten years ago he set up the remarkably popular World of Spectrum website and it's become a haven for everything relating to the legendary 8-bit machine. It's also one of the few places on the internet that has gained permission from many companies to carry legal downloads and many old games. Retro managed to track down Martijn in order to find out more about his extraordinarily comprehensive site, which you can find at www.worldofspectrum.org
gamesTM: Why do you like the Spectrum so much?
Martijn van der Heide: Its appeal for me was mostly being able to learn about computers on their lowest level (hardware and assembly language). I began experimenting with networking and learnt as much as I could from other programmers. Games and scene demos are also great learning material, as you can look at the code and see how their programmers pushed the limits of the hardware. An 8-bit machine might seem rather inadequate at hosting smooth arcade games, but we've often been proved wrong.
gTM: What made you start up World of Spectrum?
MvdH: I first toyed with the idea in 1994 while I was at university. I'd just
discovered Spectrum Forever (now Planet Sinclair) and comp.sys.Sinclair and was amazed that my beloved machine still had such an active following. Being from The Netherlands, I really believed it had been forgotten about when the last magazine had closed its doors. Anyway, I had just started programming SGD [Spectrum Games Database], so I was thrilled at the opportunity to increase the database and find new games to dissect. The web didn't really exist as of yet, and it took another year for the web servers to mature enough to allow me to take that first plunge - I'm glad I did, though.
gTM: Do you have many people working on the website?
MvdH: The World of Spectrum team is a tight group of dedicated fans and continues to grow. The core maintenance crew consists of seven people: Andy Barker, Steve Brown, Tony Barnett, Juan Pablo L?pez-Grao, Philip Kendall, Gerard Sweeney and myself, although we have several additional members on various projects.
The Preservation Team (Andy Barker, Steve Brown, Tony Barnett, Paul Hurd and Juan Pablo Lopez-Grao) provide nearly all of the perfect tape and disk images (out of their own pocket, I should add!), and many of our beloved visitors provide inlay scans, maps, instructions, magazine scans, database corrections and other material.
gTM: Can our readers help?
MvdH: Database corrections and additions are always welcome, as are instructions for games. Ideally we're after preserved tape and disk images for the games featured in the Missing In Action list and the Spectrum Tape Preservation and Spectrum Disk Preservation lists. We're also always looking out for hardware, books and magazines that aren't available on the site.
GTM: What's been the best thing about running the website?
MvdH: I'm wondering whether it's the group effort or the great support we get from the industry. The copyrights project is one of the things I'm most proud of, as getting to talk to the original programmers and software houses and then working with them is a very pleasurable experience. The Spectrum community is such a lovely crowd to be in.
gTM: How much of your time do you have to devote to World of Spectrum?
MvdH: I must spend an average of 30 hours per week on World of Spectrum. It can be hard work sometimes, but to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way.
gTM: Your site is famous for making many Spectrum titles free to download or play. What problems has this caused?
MvdH: I'm glad to say that there have been none so far, and we're now in our tenth year. I strongly believe this is due to the fact we're actively trying to find all copyright holders and ask them for official permission (and, of course,
promptly removing files if this is denied). Combine this with the fact that no commerce is involved in any way (advertisements, pop-ups, sales or requests for monetary donations) and it makes us very different to most other emulation sites. All we want to do is completely and accurately preserve the Spectrum's legacy and its industry.
gTM: Activision titles were available on your site for some time before recently being taken down. Any idea why the company changed its mind?
MvdH: I'm not convinced Activision did change its mind. We've been contacting Activision for years without ever getting any replies. We recently acquired a direct legal contact within Activision, and got 'no' for an answer, so of course everything has been taken down. Maybe it now has plans for its back catalogue. I don't really know, but the choice is Activision's to make and I am not in any position to question its decision, although I have no hard feelings about what has happened.
gTM: Paul McKenna of Odin Computer Graphics recently asked for his games to be taken off World of Spectrum and it caused outrage on your forums. Has this all been cleared up?
MvdH: Yes, we're on good terms now. The reason people got upset is due to the way the 'no' was delivered. I had contacted all the individual programmers and artists (who believed the rights had gone back to them) and all were eager to allow free distribution of their older games. I never realised Mr McKenna held the rights, but working with him solved the issue amicably.
gTM. Obtaining the use of game images is a legal minefield, especially when an artist gives you access to a game they don't own. How do you solve this problem?
MvdH: My policy is to accept any 'no' as definitive, whether it's from the publisher or one of the authors. We're not here to hurt the industry and we respect everyone who cares to answer our permission questions. We've contacted quite a lot of people and software houses who were thrilled to find their software preserved in the archive, several of them [had] lost all of their own copies and were able to get perfect images thanks to our preservation projects. The number of allowances far outweighs the number of refusals, otherwise we probably wouldn't be here any more. You can observe several hundred permission messages we have received in the Copyrights section of the site.
gTM: Do you think retro gaming is a passing trend or will it continue to prosper?
MvdH: Retro has been here for a long time now, and I can't imagine it ever going away. People who know X will always want to preserve its heritage, whether it's an older system such as the 8-bits, a more recent system or something else entirely. However, if no one cares about X, it's likely to be forgotten at some point in time. The current rage for 8-bit technology might be because we helped preserve it, but its also easy to use on current systems due to its relative simplicity and addictive gameplay. As modern systems grow in power, more recent retro games may appear on them. Also, seeing that the current youth is brought up to enjoy our humble machines, the legacy lives on. After all, did we forget our forefathers who created important art, books or games?
Nah, it was the drummer Dinky Diamond that hanged himself, and he was only with the band for about three years in the '70s (see here if you can read French).
Sparks are Ron Mael (with the 'tache and keyboards) and brother Russell (vocals), and they are still going strong today. Check out the official Sparks website for The Moustache Game! :D
Maybe the 'tache is a european thing? Mind you the times I've been to Amsterdam I always got the impression that the Nederlanders and the Deutche weren't on the friendliest of terms :)
Did sail past the Skipol love club but couldn't convince anyone to stop. Sigh wasted opportunities.
Perhaps it's just me, but isn't it odd to show a screenshot of Codemaster's Grand Prix Simulator with the comment: "Martijn has ensured that every game on the website has the blessing of its copyright owner. Nice and legal." This game is denied and not available on WOS at all!
And it's a pity that the interview is printed in black & white. This is purely a stylistic decision and a bad one in my opinion.
[ This Message was edited by: Paul van der Laan on 2005-06-29 11:26 ]
On 2005-06-29 11:25, Paul van der Laan wrote:
Yes, congratulations to Martijn!
And it's a pity that the interview is printed in black & white. This is purely a stylistic decision and a bad one in my opinion.
I imagine that the retro section is only allocated so many colour pages, therefore an interview would be prioritised as being printed in B&W (as the interviews with Kim Lemon and Frank Gasking have also been).
On 2005-06-29 00:18, dekh wrote:
Maybe the 'tache is a european thing?
It definately is, the 'tache is growing a death in the UK, the goatee has taken over and even the beard has made a comeback but anyone with a moustache under the age of 40 normally gets a strange look
When i go on holiday i'm stunned people still wear speedos. Then again i'm even more stunned that David Hasselhoff was huge in the 90's music wise. Those crazy guys yah ?!
I love american football and Germany have 5 teams in a proper Spring league. The fans there really are crazy, all have whistles, make a ton of noise and chuck a ton of paper strands etc all round the place.
Quite a lot louder then us english really. Dont get me wrong, i do love Germany when i go there, its not everyday i feel really fashionable ;)
Comments
Congratulations indeed.
http://www.sinclair-heaven.net/p2.jpg
GamesTM Retro - Interview with Martijn van der Heide of WorldOfSpectrum.org
UNSUNG HEROES
As retro gaming gets more popular, it's high time that the unsung heroes who have worked so tirelessly to share their passion with others finally receive some credit. This month we find out why one man has so tirelessly championed the Spectrum and all that it stands for...
Ever since he was 13 years old Martijn van der Heide has adored all things related to Clive Sinclairs wonderful range of home computers. Ten years ago he set up the remarkably popular World of Spectrum website and it's become a haven for everything relating to the legendary 8-bit machine. It's also one of the few places on the internet that has gained permission from many companies to carry legal downloads and many old games. Retro managed to track down Martijn in order to find out more about his extraordinarily comprehensive site, which you can find at www.worldofspectrum.org
gamesTM: Why do you like the Spectrum so much?
Martijn van der Heide: Its appeal for me was mostly being able to learn about computers on their lowest level (hardware and assembly language). I began experimenting with networking and learnt as much as I could from other programmers. Games and scene demos are also great learning material, as you can look at the code and see how their programmers pushed the limits of the hardware. An 8-bit machine might seem rather inadequate at hosting smooth arcade games, but we've often been proved wrong.
gTM: What made you start up World of Spectrum?
MvdH: I first toyed with the idea in 1994 while I was at university. I'd just
discovered Spectrum Forever (now Planet Sinclair) and comp.sys.Sinclair and was amazed that my beloved machine still had such an active following. Being from The Netherlands, I really believed it had been forgotten about when the last magazine had closed its doors. Anyway, I had just started programming SGD [Spectrum Games Database], so I was thrilled at the opportunity to increase the database and find new games to dissect. The web didn't really exist as of yet, and it took another year for the web servers to mature enough to allow me to take that first plunge - I'm glad I did, though.
gTM: Do you have many people working on the website?
MvdH: The World of Spectrum team is a tight group of dedicated fans and continues to grow. The core maintenance crew consists of seven people: Andy Barker, Steve Brown, Tony Barnett, Juan Pablo L?pez-Grao, Philip Kendall, Gerard Sweeney and myself, although we have several additional members on various projects.
The Preservation Team (Andy Barker, Steve Brown, Tony Barnett, Paul Hurd and Juan Pablo Lopez-Grao) provide nearly all of the perfect tape and disk images (out of their own pocket, I should add!), and many of our beloved visitors provide inlay scans, maps, instructions, magazine scans, database corrections and other material.
gTM: Can our readers help?
MvdH: Database corrections and additions are always welcome, as are instructions for games. Ideally we're after preserved tape and disk images for the games featured in the Missing In Action list and the Spectrum Tape Preservation and Spectrum Disk Preservation lists. We're also always looking out for hardware, books and magazines that aren't available on the site.
GTM: What's been the best thing about running the website?
MvdH: I'm wondering whether it's the group effort or the great support we get from the industry. The copyrights project is one of the things I'm most proud of, as getting to talk to the original programmers and software houses and then working with them is a very pleasurable experience. The Spectrum community is such a lovely crowd to be in.
gTM: How much of your time do you have to devote to World of Spectrum?
MvdH: I must spend an average of 30 hours per week on World of Spectrum. It can be hard work sometimes, but to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way.
gTM: Your site is famous for making many Spectrum titles free to download or play. What problems has this caused?
MvdH: I'm glad to say that there have been none so far, and we're now in our tenth year. I strongly believe this is due to the fact we're actively trying to find all copyright holders and ask them for official permission (and, of course,
promptly removing files if this is denied). Combine this with the fact that no commerce is involved in any way (advertisements, pop-ups, sales or requests for monetary donations) and it makes us very different to most other emulation sites. All we want to do is completely and accurately preserve the Spectrum's legacy and its industry.
gTM: Activision titles were available on your site for some time before recently being taken down. Any idea why the company changed its mind?
MvdH: I'm not convinced Activision did change its mind. We've been contacting Activision for years without ever getting any replies. We recently acquired a direct legal contact within Activision, and got 'no' for an answer, so of course everything has been taken down. Maybe it now has plans for its back catalogue. I don't really know, but the choice is Activision's to make and I am not in any position to question its decision, although I have no hard feelings about what has happened.
gTM: Paul McKenna of Odin Computer Graphics recently asked for his games to be taken off World of Spectrum and it caused outrage on your forums. Has this all been cleared up?
MvdH: Yes, we're on good terms now. The reason people got upset is due to the way the 'no' was delivered. I had contacted all the individual programmers and artists (who believed the rights had gone back to them) and all were eager to allow free distribution of their older games. I never realised Mr McKenna held the rights, but working with him solved the issue amicably.
gTM. Obtaining the use of game images is a legal minefield, especially when an artist gives you access to a game they don't own. How do you solve this problem?
MvdH: My policy is to accept any 'no' as definitive, whether it's from the publisher or one of the authors. We're not here to hurt the industry and we respect everyone who cares to answer our permission questions. We've contacted quite a lot of people and software houses who were thrilled to find their software preserved in the archive, several of them [had] lost all of their own copies and were able to get perfect images thanks to our preservation projects. The number of allowances far outweighs the number of refusals, otherwise we probably wouldn't be here any more. You can observe several hundred permission messages we have received in the Copyrights section of the site.
gTM: Do you think retro gaming is a passing trend or will it continue to prosper?
MvdH: Retro has been here for a long time now, and I can't imagine it ever going away. People who know X will always want to preserve its heritage, whether it's an older system such as the 8-bits, a more recent system or something else entirely. However, if no one cares about X, it's likely to be forgotten at some point in time. The current rage for 8-bit technology might be because we helped preserve it, but its also easy to use on current systems due to its relative simplicity and addictive gameplay. As modern systems grow in power, more recent retro games may appear on them. Also, seeing that the current youth is brought up to enjoy our humble machines, the legacy lives on. After all, did we forget our forefathers who created important art, books or games?
But he will look fairly respectacle around 60 and upwards ;)
Skarpo
:)
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
Skarpo
:)
*looks for general mayonaise*
Ooooh ... General Mayonaise ... don't bring him up now ... The General has thwarted me too many times!!!
Skarpo
:)
I was going to post the very same comment...
Not only famous for creating the best Speccy site on the net, but also for creating the most un-nerving appearance on Top of the pops!
http://www.photofeatures.com/sparks/images/prevs/s36007a.jpg
Hey ... that's whashisface from the 70's ... Music, music everywhere.
Skarpo
:)
"This town ain't big enough for the both of us!" :D
https://discordapp.com/invite/cZt59EQ
Well he was recently on "Never Mind the Buzzcocks".
Unfortunately he hung himself earlier this year after his council failed to take action against a noisy neighbour-from-hell.
http://tinyurl.com/drnnu
R.I.P.
Sparks are Ron Mael (with the 'tache and keyboards) and brother Russell (vocals), and they are still going strong today. Check out the official Sparks website for The Moustache Game! :D
BTW: Geinig stukkie Martijn, jammer dat de pagina's geheel in stijl waren, dus zwart/wit, ook da's lekker retro.
Thanks for the correction and apologies for my misinformation.
Did sail past the Skipol love club but couldn't convince anyone to stop. Sigh wasted opportunities.
Perhaps it's just me, but isn't it odd to show a screenshot of Codemaster's Grand Prix Simulator with the comment: "Martijn has ensured that every game on the website has the blessing of its copyright owner. Nice and legal." This game is denied and not available on WOS at all!
And it's a pity that the interview is printed in black & white. This is purely a stylistic decision and a bad one in my opinion.
[ This Message was edited by: Paul van der Laan on 2005-06-29 11:26 ]
I imagine that the retro section is only allocated so many colour pages, therefore an interview would be prioritised as being printed in B&W (as the interviews with Kim Lemon and Frank Gasking have also been).
It definately is, the 'tache is growing a death in the UK, the goatee has taken over and even the beard has made a comeback but anyone with a moustache under the age of 40 normally gets a strange look
When i go on holiday i'm stunned people still wear speedos. Then again i'm even more stunned that David Hasselhoff was huge in the 90's music wise. Those crazy guys yah ?!
Quite a lot louder then us english really. Dont get me wrong, i do love Germany when i go there, its not everyday i feel really fashionable ;)