I don’t own a copy of this issue; the only way I was able to see it was by downloading the PDF version from Game Reactor’s website. This article was, apparently, titled “This is a Call” in English, so I have no idea where they got “Når Først Toneren af Musikken Lyder” from. I see they also entirely replaced the sidebar I wrote, too. Meh. It happens.

The article is a potted history of game cover bands, really; mostly written so I could gush about the Tanguy Ukelele Orchestra. Tanguy hasn’t put up any new music now for over a year, but it doesn’t matter. If you haven’t heard his stuff I suggest you rush over there and download it all at once. Perhaps start with Mario Land City Spleen. I call it “the sound of sunlight glowing in the LCD of my brand new Gameboy on a warm summer evening in 1990” in the article, such is its power over me.

This may or may not be a really boring, cliché title for an article (in English, “The Revolution will not be Televised”) but it is related to what I was writing about, at least. The controller of the system we now know as the Wii had just been revealed, and everyone was freaking out, so I decided to briefly discuss it (“yeah it’s interesting but what about the games” basically) and get back to talking about dojin games again. Yes, this is another article largely about ABA games. Why not? That dude should get as much coverage as possible.

The article starts with some English, actually; a quote from “Remote Control” by the Beastie Boys. I had been listening to it at the time, or something. You can download a PDF version of this issue at the Game Reactor website.

Or, as it was originally titled in English, “A Nice Cup of Coffee”. My personal tribute to “A Nice Cup of Tea“, by one of my favourite writers, George Orwell. Of course, Orwell’s piece was about, quite obviously, how to make a nice cup of tea, but my article was about the Hot Coffee scandal that was (back then) burning up the temple. Oh, also about how much I love coffee, naturally.

There was one good thing about the Hot Coffee scandal, really. Jack Thompson’s all time greatest quote. “There are sociopaths everywhere. Some of them are in government. Some of them are at Take Two. In fact, we’ve got a bunch of sociopaths in Edinburgh, Scotland, sitting around in their kilts, sipping single malt whiskey, spreading racial, hurtful stereotypes in this country.“ Genius!

You might actually be wondering more about Game Reactor. I have to say that while it’s a free magazine in Denmark, I really don’t consider that the main reason it’s the biggest games magazine there; I’d argue because it’s so bloody nice. It’s a really well designed magazine; great big images and clear fonts. I don’t want to talk it up too much, or Kevin Gifford will probably come round my flat and steal them. I imagine copies are pretty rare outside of Denmark. You can however download a PDF copy of the issue from Game Reactor’s website.

First of all, if you want to know what the title of this article is, I can’t tell you exactly. According to the first Danish/English translator I’ve found it is, literally, “Grip known teach and survive”, which seems close enough to my original English language title, “Learn to Adapt”.

This is, of course, my first article for Game Reactor, Denmark’s biggest games magazine that (somehow) I write a column for, a column that usually includes a massive, ego-stroking image of me. It’s also published in Norway and Sweden but I don’t think I’m in those versions. Ahem! Anyway! My articles for this magazine have never been published in English; at least not in the exact form they’re published in Game Reactor (but occasionally there’s been some overlap) I’m quite happy, frankly, to let them stay that way, as in English none of these articles have been given a polish by an editor, something I’m rather paranoid about.

Anyway, this article was about the Godfather game, and how much it was going to suck. And it did! It’s worth noting, however, that the two games I talk about in the sidebar (the third was a joke) haven’t been released; Scarface and Taxi Driver. Although, apparently, Scarface is on the cusp.