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Genius
Added on November 19th, 2003 (3390 views)
www.c64.com?type=3&id=64
Give us some information about yourself.
Name: John Bruin. Born: 9-9-1970 (yes I am almost ancient!) in Leiden, The Netherlands. Residence: The Hague, The Netherlands. Job: Software Engineer and MCSD (Microsoft Certified Solution Developer). Interests: music, movies, the Internet, draughts, gadget toys (PDA, Tablet PC, Playstation 2, GSM, Wifi). Girlfriend: Annemieke.
What handle(s) did you have and how did you come up with it/them?
Genius.
What group(s) were you in?
Paradize.
What tasks did you have?
I was an artist.
Between what years were you active?
From 1988 to 1993.
Tell us about those years and how you got into the scene in the first place.
Paradize was started by Dennis Admiraal, Reyn Ouwehand (Yes - the famous musician!) and me. Reyn and I met Dennis at the local TNT computer club and we wanted to crack games and make cool demos together like groups as Triad, 1001 Crew, The Judges etc. We discovered soon that we were better at making demos than at cracking games. We even developed our own game Arena. We showed our work at the Venlo meeting and started to make nice friends in the scene like: Shez of House Design, the guys from Mega Industries, Panoramic Design, Powers of Pain and The Sixth Sense. Of course Reyn was much more productive and owned great musical skills and he spread out his wings to The Ruling Company (and a little later Scoop and Maniacs of Noise). Dennis and I formed a strong team and after the demo Wet Dreams, the scene started to know Paradize. With the arrival of two highly productive and engaging swappers Moron and Silco we got more and more famous. In our glory days we released Paradance and Wet Dreams 2.
How could a typical day in front of the computer look like?
Programming at the office. Surfing the net and sometimes emulating the C64 on my Tablet PC. Playing with my Playstation 2 and the Eye Toy (it is so much fun!).
Did you invent any special techniques or tools to make things easier for you?
No, not really.
If you take a look at what you did back then, what are you most proud of?
1. The demo Wet Dreams from Paradize where I did most of the graphics myself. 2. Being asked to contribute to the game Puzzle Shuffle.
Who were your scene heroes and why?
Ash & Dave for their stylish demos, Martin Galway for his great music, Maniacs of Noise for their revolutionary music-routine and use of it, Hein, for his superb (FLI) pictures, Black Mail for making Dutch Breeze and of course Reyn for his fantastic music and being my best friend.
What was the coolest thing someone invented on the C64?
Black Mail with their FLI graphic routine.
Did you go to copy-parties, meetings or tradeshows?
I visited a few Venlo meetings and the Silicon and X-Parties were great fun!
What was the scene all about in your opinion?
It was all about fun and fame.
What were the highlights?
Best demo: Dutch Breeze/Black Mail. Best games: Last Ninja 3 and Lemmings! Best event: Silicon Party in 1991. Best musician: Reyn Ouwehand.
Any cool stories to share with us?
It was always great fun and honour to get (and hard not to spread) previews from Reyn with productions from Scoop Designs, Black Mail, System 3, Maniacs of Noise like screens and tunes from Flimbo's Quest, Last Ninja 3 and Dutch Breeze.
Are you in contact with old C64 people today?
Yes, Reyn Ouwehand is my best friend. Youth, Michel de Bree, is my colleague. Sander/Focus, I meet him on parties or on the Internet every now and then. Silco, he owns big Chinese restaurants these days.
When did you get your C64 and do you still have it lying around somewhere?
I got a Commodore VIC-20 in 1982 and 4 years later I (finally) got my C64 and yes it is lying around somewhere in the attic.
Was the C64 really that special that we like to think it was?
No doubt!
When can we expect to see a new C64 production from you? :)
Not very likely.
Do you have a message to your old contacts and everyone else reading this?
Some special greets for some friends from the past and present: Dennis - how is life? Shez - I work in Gouda now. Wonder where you live now? Youth - be a good colleague! Reyn - become world famous! Remi Ebus - see you at the next X-Party. Silco - I will visit your restaurant soon! Moron - in case I need a good lawyer... Wilfred Stijger - also my best friend and founder of TNT computer club. Deek - I always liked your mail. Dub 1 - Lemmings on C64 was legendary.
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