- "Give yourselves a big pat on the back - you're the owner of the first ever Robot Wars Magazine! Here it is at last, and we hope you agree it was worth the wait! Whether you're mad for Matilda, crazy for Sir Killalot or potty about Plunderbird, there's something for you in these pages. ... A word of warning, though - DON'T lend it to your mates - or you'll never get it back. That's enough from us - let the wars begin!"
- — Message from The Editors, Page 3
Issue 1 of Robot Wars Magazine was the first ever Robot Wars Magazine, and was released on 24 March 2000. It contained interviews with the Plunderbird team, Jonathan Pearce and Chris Reynolds, and a close look at Matilda.
Features[]
- Robot Report - The latest Robot Wars news that month, along with other stories about robots. This month’s top stories; that a robot referee would be introduced for the next series, Pitbull being put up for sale online, and that the first ever Robot Wars live event would happen later that year.
- Birth of the Beast: Iron Maiden – The first of a regular feature looking at the House Robots, their inner workings and how they were created. This issue looks at Matilda; her design, construction, best moments and an interview with operator James Davies.
- Team Profile: We Don't Do Interviews! – An interview with the International Wreck Crew. Contains the full lyrics to the "Plunderbird Rap".
- Robot Wars Club - News for club members, including information on how to join and the start of a monthly competition for club members – with an exclusive Robot Wars goody bag being sent to 20 members, after their club numbers were randomly drawn. Includes the start of the A to Z of Contestant Robots.
- Star Interview: Yeeeeess! - A 2-page interview with Robot Wars commentator Jonathan Pearce.
- Czech Mate - An illustrated summary of the fight between Chaos 2 and Killerhurtz from The First World Championship, with photo highlights.
- Fantasy Fight: C-3PO v R2-D2 - A battle between two Star Wars robotic characters, as opposed to future instalments containing Robot Wars competitors.
- Hugh Manoid - The Man Who Loves To Hate Robot Wars - The first of a series of comedic rants by the fictional character "Hugh Manoid", who hated Robot Wars and like to complain about it.
- Real Robots – Resistance is Useless! - A look at some of the most advance robots being created at the time, such as incredibly small robots and swarm robots.
- Brain Scan: Chris Reynolds – Chris Reynolds, the head of the BBC visual effects department and the man responsible for the creation of the House Robots, is interviewed.
- Static - Letters from fans, puzzles and a cartoon.
Comic[]
The Origin of Dead Metal – The first in a series of comics showing the fictional backstories of the House Robots. In this issue, Dead Metal was shown to be a deadly killing machine from the year 16000 AD. After attacking a person, it was brought back in time along with its latest victim to the year 1995 by an electrodynamic time machine developed by the Technical Advanced Research Projects Agency (TARPA). The team tried to keep the robot under control while they worked on its victim, but it escaped from its bindings.
In part 2, with its victim having succumbed to his injuries, Dead Metal begins to tear up cars. TARPA employee Adam Molloy, arriving late on his motorcycle, is told to bring the robot under control using a pacifying chip. By catching up with it on his motorcycle and jumping on top of it to install the chip, he was narrowly able to get it under control before it is destroyed by the army, lead by General McCarthy. Adam informs McCarthy that is has been disabled, to which he tells his soldiers “It’s nothing but Dead Metal! Put down your weapons”, giving the robot its new name.
Competitions[]
- A competition for 100 free copies of the new Robot Wars video The First World Championship, the question being "Which House Robot has a flame-thrower?", to which the answer was Sgt Bash.
- As part of the Plunderbird team interview, a competition was held for the bomb prop the team had in Series 2, with the question being “Who is the Wreck Crew team captain?”, to which the answer was Mike Onslow.
Subscription Offer[]
Free Meccano 7 model sets were offered to readers who subscribed.
Posters[]
- Sir Killalot (2 pages)
- Robot Rage! (1 page)
Free Gift[]
An interactive CD was included free with this issue, containing exclusive games, screensavers, commentaries and videos, along with House Robot profiles and statistics.[1] The videos consisted entirely of clips from The First World Championship, the CD being made to promote its original video release.
The clips showed footage from the following battles:
- Razer vs All Torque
- Mortis vs Terror Australis
- Chaos 2 vs Killerhurtz
- Diotoir vs Cerberus
- Behemoth vs Diotoir
- Razer vs 101
The CD contained the following two games:
- Total Chaos, where players had to guide a robot through a Gauntlet-style 'assault course' within a short time limit (6 minutes, 30 seconds). Hazardous obstacles included flame jets, crushers, laser gates and a large arm in the centre of the course with a circular saw. To clear the course, solid gates could also be activated by driving over 'colour coded pads' in red, green and blue.[1]
- Virtual Training, an Asteroids-style game, where players had to shoot incoming mines through a series of levels using a near-identical robot to that from 'Total Chaos'.[1]
Adverts[]
- Giant Killers CD-Rom (Page 13)
- FBX Magazine (Page 21)
Gallery[]
Credits[]
- Editor: Mike Collier
- Art: Peter Fickling
- Sub-Editor/Writer - David Hayles
- Designer: Simon Oliver
- Picture Researcher: Emma Peel
- Editorial Assistant: Kelly Austin
- Advertising: David Gibson
- Marketing Executive: Marion Slaughter
- Marketing Manager: Helen Northard
- Marketing Assistant: Mike Riddell
- Production: Morag Gillet, Jo Beattie
- Circulation Manager: Simon Young
- Associate Publisher: Alfie Lewis
- Publisher: Lindsaye Fox
- Editor, Boys' Magazines: Jason Loborik
- Editorial Director, Family Group: Nicky Smith
- Director, Family Group [UK Region]: Gillian Lasker
- Managing Director, BBC Worldwide [UK Region]: Peter Teague
- Contributors: Peter Collier, Nathan Martin, Paul Chamberlain, Sam Bailey, Ben Lewis
- Photography: Chris Capstick, Sharron Price, Richard Open
- Thanks: Steve Carsey, Tom Gutteridge, David Leach, Chris Reynolds, IWC, Jonathan Pearce, Bill Hobbins
- Cover: Chris Capstick
Errors and Omissions[]
- In the Czech Mate section, the photo of Chaos 2 is incorrectly cropped, removing the silver plate at the bottom of the flipper.
- The Czech Mate section also claims that Killerhurtz had the "You have a hairy tummy button" slogan written on the front of the robot, when it was actually written on the top and rear.
References[]
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