Talk:Knight Lore

Chart History

As Retro Gamer and Martyn Carroll are falsely claiming that Knight Lore was the best selling game in January 1985, these are the actual chart positions:

Personal Computer News (compiled by RAM/C):

#1, week to 22 Nov (https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerNews/PersonalComputerNews089-01Dec1984/page/n5/mode/2up)

#2, week to 28 Nov (https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerNews/PersonalComputerNews090-08Dec1984/page/n5/mode/2up)

#1, week to 5 Dec (https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerNews/PersonalComputerNews091-15Dec1984/page/n5/mode/2up)

#1, week to 12 Dec (https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerNews/PersonalComputerNews092-22Dec1984/page/n5/mode/2up)

#4, week to 3 Jan (https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerNews/PersonalComputerNews094-12Jan1985/page/n5/mode/2up)

#7, week to 10 Jan (https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerNews/PersonalComputerNews095-19Jan1985/page/n5/mode/2up)

#5, week to 17 Jan (https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerNews/PersonalComputerNews096-26Jan1985/page/n7/mode/2up)

#4, week to 24 Jan (https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerNews/PersonalComputerNews097-02Feb1985/page/n5/mode/2up)

#11, week to 31 Jan (https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerNews/PersonalComputerNews098-09Feb1985/page/n5/mode/2up)

Home Computing Weekly (compiled by Gallup):

#7, week to 12 Dec (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=2659&page=8)

#7, week to 31 Dec (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=2661&page=43)

#13, week to 8 Jan (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=2662&page=8)

#13, week to 15 Jan (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=2663&page=45)

not in Top 20, week to 23 Jan (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=2664&page=4)

not in Top 20, week to 30 Jan (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=2665&page=4)

In both the RAM/C and Gallup charts, Ghostbusters is the number one game for every week in January 1985. Stooob (talk) 08:30, 9 March 2023 (UTC)

For posterity, here is the source quote we're discussing:

Knight Lore unsurprisingly topped the UK all-format charts in January 1985 (knocking down Ultimate's own Underwurlde down to second place) and it was just a matter of time before similar games started to appear.
— Carroll 2014, p. 22

Thanks for that research. My only question is whether the author might have been referring to another software all-format chart, given that the two you've shared also differ in conclusion. czar 20:35, 11 March 2023 (UTC)

The RAM/C and Gallup charts are slightly different but the conclusion is exactly the same - Knight Lore was number one in late November/early December.

The author has most likely simply failed to take into account the time difference between the charts being compiled and the date on the front of a magazine. As an example, the chart where Knight Lore knocks Underwurlde down to 2 is the RAM/C chart printed in Personal Computer News on 1st December 1984. Now, if you look at the Personal Computer Games monthly chart where Knight Lore knocks Underwurlde off (https://archive.org/details/Personal_Computer_Games_Issue15/page/n12/mode/2up), that has February 1985 as a cover date, it was published in January 1985, but the chart is from weeks before that.

Here's a modern source showing all the Christmas Number Ones since 1984:

https://metro.co.uk/2022/12/21/39-years-of-uk-video-game-christmas-charts-what-was-your-number-one-17977882/

confirming Ghostbusters was already at the top before January.

and finally, if you check the Activision article in Retro Gamer 29, page 57, it states the Spectrum version of Ghostbusters was released in 1985. Retro Gamer is not a reliable source!

Stooob (talk) 15:00, 12 March 2023 (UTC)

That seems plausible. For other discussion on reliable sources, best suited for elsewhere but just for the record, Metro is an unreliable source on Wikipedia and WT:VG/RS is the best place to have a formal discussion on the general reliability of Retro Gamer. A publication getting a fact wrong is different from being altogether unreliable. czar 17:56, 12 March 2023 (UTC)

Family Computer Magazine preview

Jaleco is following the trend of the times and finally releasing Disk System versions of their games. This strange game from England was already pretty popular on personal computers here in Japan. In this 3D RPG Action Adventure, what's interesting is the protagonist turns into a werewolf at night. In order to rid yourself of this curse, you must collect 14 different items and bring them to an old wizard. Explore the maze quickly and become human again! Right panel: Release date / price TBD. Caption 1: This is a 3D maze. You need to use your head to get to the top. The protagonist is a soldier during the day and turns to a werewolf at night. Caption 2: The protagonist turns into a werewolf. They call it a werewolf but it looks more like a pig. If you can't meet with the wizard in 30 days, the curse will never disappear. (photos are the PC version)
— Article; translation

czar 06:58, 12 March 2023 (UTC)

French reviews

• Jeux & Stratégie #32[1]
• Jeux & Stratégie HS #3[2]

207.229.139.154 (talk) 02:31, 28 March 2023 (UTC)

Thanks. Is there anything from these reviews that warrants inclusion that isn't already covered in the article? czar 04:52, 27 April 2023 (UTC)