Crappy Prizes
As a chronic 48ker - aged 11 - I once entered an advert based competition in the then popular 'Computer and Video games' magazine (C+VG). You had to identify a 'celebrity' from an artists impression. The prize was always a charted game. I guessed correctly (Ian Macaskill - weatherfreak) and was, quite literally, constipated with excitement when I saw my name in the role of honour the following month. I was led to believe that a Scooby Doo game - early playtest reviews indicated that it would be a groundbreaking feast of 8 colour mayhem - was winging it's way toward me and my Sinclair Spectrum. You don't need to imagine my utter despair as some 6 weeks later ( that's a life time for an 11 yr old) a package turned up from the competition nazi's explaining that the game I had been promised had been shelved/delayed in production, but that they were delighted to send me 2 games in place. The cheeky funts had sent me 2 shite budget titles (some bolox racer and a centipede ripoff) and both were for the commodore funting 64. I had to endure weeks of ridicule from schoolmates (who I had boasted to and agreed pirating rights with ahead of this) and worst of all I got sympathy from the lad with nashers who owned a Dragon 32.
Very nerdy for a first post. Apologies for the length but it lingers.
( Woolworth Smells of festive spices, Sat 6 Aug 2005, 14:04, Reply)