http://www.specialreserve.co.uk/
This is a veteran UK games retail business.
They've been around for a 20 years.
Sniff.
This is a veteran UK games retail business.
They've been around for a 20 years.
Sniff.
Special Reserve - dead - gone - that's it
Miscellaneous Forums/General Discussion/Special Reserve - dead - gone - that's it Never heard of them
Yeah i found out a coupla weeks ago. I used to get amiga games from them and stuff, was a member, used to et that little mag though the post every month.
I'm surprised they lasted this long. I used to buy stuff from them yonks ago.
They picked a hell of a time to go tits-up. All those people that must have placed Xmas orders are now stiffed! :/
They picked a hell of a time to go tits-up. All those people that must have placed Xmas orders are now stiffed! :/
I feel sad - they were part of the UK home computer scene.
It may be because I have bought computer magazines for 20+ years, so I have always been aware of them through adverts.
I'm getting concerned - Tiny went earlier - I hope Evesham Micros and Mesh don't follow suite.
I'd hate to see Evesham die - they are veterans from the beginning of the UK home computer scene.
It may be because I have bought computer magazines for 20+ years, so I have always been aware of them through adverts.
I'm getting concerned - Tiny went earlier - I hope Evesham Micros and Mesh don't follow suite.
I'd hate to see Evesham die - they are veterans from the beginning of the UK home computer scene.
Blimey, are Evesham Micros still going!? Their PC's 'quality control' used to be abysmal. A mate bought a unit from them years ago and the monitor that came with it had a broken on/off button and was covered in dust. :P
As a former employee i'm quite sad to see them go too, that's one less reference on my CV :(.
I got a good one there too, I was promoted to minor skivvy and everything.
It gets me thinking though, Tony Rainbird (the MD) was previously behind Rainbird Soft and the BT Publishing company Firebird, with Mastertronic making a comeback, and with people like Tony not being the sort of people to drive about without a Lotus Elise for long, I wonder if Firebird or Rainbirdsoft will make a comeback too?
In an abstract way, this could actually be very good for indi coders like us.
I got a good one there too, I was promoted to minor skivvy and everything.
It gets me thinking though, Tony Rainbird (the MD) was previously behind Rainbird Soft and the BT Publishing company Firebird, with Mastertronic making a comeback, and with people like Tony not being the sort of people to drive about without a Lotus Elise for long, I wonder if Firebird or Rainbirdsoft will make a comeback too?
In an abstract way, this could actually be very good for indi coders like us.
yeah well the games industry put in a poor showing this year, with 0 growth
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1773&Itemid=2
and the last couple of months have been 20% down on last year. No surprise really when most of the big games are a load of rubbish.
COD2 was pant's, as was quake 4. Allthough some might argue that my favourite games aren't any good either. So far in the last few months the games I enjoyed were.
AOE3
X3: Reunion
FEAR
And thats about it. Havent really seen much on the console side that interested me at all really.
I bought my Amiga ram expansion from Evesham micro's and my first PC. THe PC was fine but playing games was a royal pain back in the DOS days lol.
My next computer was a dual Pentium pro 200 from Carrera which was pretty cool. They went kind of mainstream and cheap soon after I bought mine though.
I think I bought some stuff from special reserve too, not 100% sure though :)
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1773&Itemid=2
and the last couple of months have been 20% down on last year. No surprise really when most of the big games are a load of rubbish.
COD2 was pant's, as was quake 4. Allthough some might argue that my favourite games aren't any good either. So far in the last few months the games I enjoyed were.
AOE3
X3: Reunion
FEAR
And thats about it. Havent really seen much on the console side that interested me at all really.
I bought my Amiga ram expansion from Evesham micro's and my first PC. THe PC was fine but playing games was a royal pain back in the DOS days lol.
My next computer was a dual Pentium pro 200 from Carrera which was pretty cool. They went kind of mainstream and cheap soon after I bought mine though.
I think I bought some stuff from special reserve too, not 100% sure though :)
I hated evesham ever since I got a freeze frame as a 12 year old and it didn't work properly. I sent it back and they send another one, this had the same fault, I marked the second one with a pen and sent it back, surprise surprise I got the same one back. I finally got a refund and got one from good ole special reserve and it worked fine. This gave me my first real insight into the crapness of companies.
=O turning into a slate Evesham Micros thread?
Bought my first PC from ...Evesham Micros! in MK.
Graphics card had to be replaced because it didn't actually work!
Friend who also bought one and found several applications already loaded and someone elses word documents on the hard disk!
I wouldn't be sad to see Evesham die, in fact give me a hammer and a stake and I'll do it myself ;P
As for special reserve, maybe they didn't advertise enough..I certainly have never heard of them until now.
Bought my first PC from ...Evesham Micros! in MK.
Graphics card had to be replaced because it didn't actually work!
Friend who also bought one and found several applications already loaded and someone elses word documents on the hard disk!
I wouldn't be sad to see Evesham die, in fact give me a hammer and a stake and I'll do it myself ;P
As for special reserve, maybe they didn't advertise enough..I certainly have never heard of them until now.
Never had access to Special Reserve, but I always liked daydreaming my way through the huge double-page advertisements in Amiga Format month after month.
Frankly, I was surprised to hear they were still around... until they weren't.
Frankly, I was surprised to hear they were still around... until they weren't.
Special Reserve were cheap but they would not send the game for THREE MONTHS, I think they were keeping the money to accumulate interest to justify the cheap prices.
I suspect it had more to do with "cashflow problems" if it was recent, or "admin error" if a while ago. It could also be a case of ordering a pre-release item as they often advertised items before they went on sale.
The interest earned by banking cash from game sales would not serve to lower prices in a firm that has cash investors as the interest rewarded will never be as high as the interest paid to the investors (else investors would stick their money in a bank account).
Anyway those sort of delays could reasonably expect to involve a refund, which doesn't do either party any good.
The interest earned by banking cash from game sales would not serve to lower prices in a firm that has cash investors as the interest rewarded will never be as high as the interest paid to the investors (else investors would stick their money in a bank account).
Anyway those sort of delays could reasonably expect to involve a refund, which doesn't do either party any good.
Back in 'miggy days, you would always see complaints about Special Reserve being ungodly slow in sending out the games. I've never bought anything from them but I used to check their website frequently for release dates. Until I realised that using a site like the now-almost-dead ISONews was far more reliable for release dates since the pirates nearly always have the games before the stores do.
Cant believe I spent 3 months waiting for Roadblasters for the Spectrum
They went bust because the market changed. They were once the king of double page mail order, then something called the Internet meant they weren't as important. Also how much did those mags cost every month to 250,000 members?
Wow, that is sad news I was a member for about 10 years although haven't been one for a few years now since stuff like Amazon and EBAY came along.
I used them since owning an Amiga up until just last month and never had any complaints. It is very sad for me to see them go :( They will be missed!
Jason.
Jason.