Interview
Handle: Wizz / Wize -/- Homepage
How did you come up with your alias ?
Actually, it came off 'The Computer Wizard', but I didn't really like that name. Besides, it was mighty impractical as TCW didn't really make any sense (always hated those 3 letter abbrevations) and the name was too long to be made in separate sprites ;-) 'Wizz' seemed the better choice.
City / Country:
Odense, Denmark. The home of Hans Christian Andersen ;-)
Born year:
1971
What was your first computer, and when did you get it?
My first was my beloved C64, which I got for christmas 1983.
How did you get into the scene and what groups have you been a member of ?
Well Well.... I guess that the 'break', so to speak, where I left 'never-never-land' and entered the 'scene' must have been somewhere around the beginning of '85. Back then, I had pretty well 'mastered' poking screen colours and setting up sprites ;-) As there were really not much competition around me, that made me quite a respectable little dude at the local computer club. It was also around then I started messing around in Macro Assembler, a heavy dude of a program I hung onto ever since. Anyways, one of the dudes in the club, a fella named Morten who was ALWAYS the one who brought the new stuff, started swapping with some people from abroad and later pulled in some other dude named Allan to help finance the stuff. They later became known as Danish Gold, a group I also joined for a shorter period of time.
A complete chronological group history would be (I hope I get this right ;-))
The Master Team
Danish Gold
The Terminators
Wizax 2004
The Supply Team
Zetrex 2005
Wizax 2004
Zetrex 2005
Wize
2000 AD (Actually, the Wize group continued existence from here on, the whole group concept moved around a bit)
Wize
The Supply Team (Amiga now)
Wize
Wize actually exists even today!
What was the proudest moment in your career ?
Phew, that's a difficult one. Anyway, I must admit that being remembered years later in an Amiga demo by Mahoney & Kaktus must take the prime spot. I mean, here are 2 dudes whose demos I always loved, and years later they comment on a scroll-text I wrote years before!
For what specific reason(s) do you think that you are remembered ?
My big mouth probably ;-) I was always a loudmouth back then in the times of scrollers and MESSAGES and a MEANINGFUL TEXT for a demo ;-)
What would you like to be remembered for ?
Just that ;-)
What made you stop the scene activity ? (and do you remember when?)
I do remember ;-) The 'Cool as Wize' demo, which was supposed to set an end-marker to my C64 career and set me off on my (then) brand new Amiga, sort of went off the tip. The demo was made and re-made and re-made and re-... in a way that it got IMPOSSIBLE to finish ;-) It was my hope to create THE, and I DO mean THE, C64 demo which TRULY would be remembered all-time. Alas, my interest in the Amiga grew too strong and I sort of gave up hope on the C64... The demo was never (officially) finished. On the Amiga, I never really catched up. The whole demo scene changed into some 3D competition and (for me) really lost it's whole appeal. I miss those 'old-style' demos which were maybe not masters of art in terms of coding, but had a point to them which rested far deeper.
The last release I ever did was on the 2000 AD party in Esbjerg. Can't remember the year, but I DO remember it was around the same time I started dating one particular bitchy girl who is pretty well known in TST-regie ;-) Must have been around July '89 I think.
Thinking back on the good old days, is there anything you regret?
Wasting time on computer-piracy. It really took control with cracking the games first, making the shortest versions, the best trainers etc... No glory in that ;-) And glory, in a way, was what it was all about for me ;-)
What was your favorite
GAME(S)
Battle of Tobruk (or Tobruk I think it was called)
DEMO(S)
The 'letters' from 1001 and the Scoopex demos.
PROGRAMMER(S) (OR PROGRAMMING TEAM(S))
In the early days, The 1001 Crew. Later on I think I shifted more towards the 'fresh meat' like Mahoney & Kaktus and Finnish Gold ;-)
CRACKER(S) (OR CRACKING GROUP(S))
Triad were definately the best, but Fairlight the coolest ;-)
OVERALL GROUPS :
Nada... I was always one to admire individuals, not groups ;-)
COMPOSER(S)
Rob Hubbard, without hesitation. NOTHING in my opinion ever matched what he was doing. Man!, the hours spent on listening to 'Wiz', 'Kentilla', 'Zoids'..... ;-)))) It wouldn't be fair not to mention Charles Deenen, Jeroen Tel, Martin Galway and IMHO Laxity, too! However, Rob ruled!
BEST COMPOSED TRACK(S)
Zoids
BEST GRAPHICS
That dude from Triad who drew like a million koala-pics ;-) Shame, but I cannot remember his name right now.
EVENT(S) (E.G. COPYPARTY)
The Triad party where I first met Yip ;-) Man! Never have I seen a dude act like that and take things so relaxed. Now, I KNOW that saying 'the Triad party' isn't all that specific, but I truly cannot remember when it was. I DO remember spending like 10 hours on a Swedish train, only to arrive and having Strider / FLT arrogantly comment that he was bored during his 30 minute flight there ;-))) But then again, who could forget Strider? ;-)
DRINK ?
Ginball! Or if unavailable, I'll settle for a Bacardi with a shot of Coke!
What are you doing nowadays ?
Selling computers. Imagine that! I remember how I used to enter a computer-store and completely wiping out the poor dude behind the counter on his lack of knowledge on how to program border sprites ;-) Now, young punks come in and look at me like I'm some ancient relic of the past which, I cannot deny, is partially true ;-)
What are you doing on your spare time?
Mostly messing around with some of todays monster CD-multimedia releases :-) However, I do find time to do some VGA tweaking. It MIGHT just be that y'all haven't heard the last of me. You never know... :-)
Is there anything you'd like to say to the public (read: admires)
C'mon man! Earlier, we all knew eachother in a way. I mean, you read each other's scroll-texts and through that you learned something about the person at the other end. Am I the only one left who would like to see atleast SOME of that spirit enter back into the computer scene? Or maybe it's just me who's gettin' too old ;-)
What is the meaning of life?
To survive!

    CONTACT ME!
    	Mark Cassidy
    	Nyborgvej 79
    	DK-5000  Odense C