I'll be blunt, the last Amiga game to put a smile on my face was Alien Breed 3D II, it was that long ago. Ever since I got onto the Internet, I have lived my life using the wealth of Shareware available on Aminet. I'm sorry to any Aminet games programmers who might be reading this, but I'm unemployed and if you're asking a registration fee, it will be paid just as soon as I can afford it.

Flyin' High, Pro Tour Golf, I think the last game I saw getting high ratings was Nemac IV - The Directors Cut. Now, it is approaching a time where I can pick up my copy of Amiga Format or CU Amiga and flick through the reviews to see more than your average number of AF Golds or CU Amiga Super Stars. It's about time they got out of the utilities section, after all, didn't we have a bit of a reputation as a games machine?

Look at the prospects. Not only do we have the Phase 5 PowerUp project to bring the best of the PowerPC world of games to the Amiga (say you'll be playing Duke Nukem' on a 68k and you'd be laughed at, believe me, I've tried) , but people are sitting there, and putting the effort in again. They may sit by themselves, or they may be sitting in huge rooms full of musicians, artists, coders and maybe even the odd motion capture studio or two, but by God they are putting in the effort. People like Paul Burkey (who as if you didn't know was alone in the quest on Foundation), and Chris Page (who was thinking about Explorer 2260 LONG before his dream started becoming a reality) are true Amigans with the Amiga spirit, and they are spending the time and making the effort proving the Amiga is as good a games machine as always. Games like Myst coming out on the PowerPC, and Alive Mediasoft's ideas on transparent Macintosh emulation are dragging the Amiga in closer than anyone would have thought possible a year ago. Let's keep up the effort, we aren't reputed for our utilities any more.

Peter Price, Editor (agima@agima.demon.co.uk)