Happy 2009!

Finally, with the MRC crew sober again (and the hangovers long gone) it's time to wish you a very, very happy 2009! Looking back on 2008, one can safely say it was yet another good year for the MSX community. Not only because we could celebrate the 25th anniversary of our beloved MSX computer system, but also because, once again, the combined efforts of the MSX community produced quite a few things that make our shared hobby so worthwhile.

Take Explode, for instance - or Bombaman Extra Ammo and Cow. And what to think of such releases as Montana John and the Templars Treasure, Perfect Fit and Invasion of the Big Pixels. All nice community releases that saw light of day in 2008! As for hardware, we can look forward to VSU, experiment with and enjoy NoWind and Flax. The revival took quite a turn with the MSX trademarks moving to MSX Licensing Corporation and Bazix breaking its relationship with MSX Association. As it looks now, the chances of a Western Edition of the One Chip MSX to be realized look further away than ever and it is difficult to estimate what the MSX Revival has in store for us this year.

The activity of the MRC crew (and yours truly in particular) was a tad on the low side last year, resulting in less news posts and less visits. The overall numbers still look very impressive for a website that primarily focuses on the MSX computer system, though. As you may have noticed by now, the aliens have once again abducted our banner system, which can only mean one thing: a new version of the MRC is in the making. During a meeting held at MRC HQ in Zaanstad last months the first plans were made for what is to be MRC 2k9 and if all goes well a big website makeover will see light of day in 2009! Don't say we didn't warn you! As usual, we end the happy new years post with the year in numbers. Here are some statistics of the activity on our website during 2008 compared to the activity of 2007:

• Visitors: 1.297.104 (1.202.883)
• News posts: 368 (499)
• Forum posts: 13.995 (16.803)
• Reactions: 2.877 (3.088)

The values mentioned in parentheses are the statistics of 2007. In 2008, a grand total of 596 different people - a new record - contributed to the contents of the MSX Resource Center by submitting one or more articles, news posts, forum posts or reactions to news posts. Just like previous years, the most active members of the MSX Resource Center deserve some extra attention as a token of our appreciation. In 2008, the following 10 MRC members were the most active, based on a score of 6 points per news post, 2 per forumpost and 1 per reaction, doubling the score on 'first posts':

1. manuel (1.498)
2. ARTRAG (1.261)
3. DemonSeed (1.039)
4. PingPong (938)
5. dvik (593)
6. Yukio (591)
7. jltursan (590)
8. Huey (538)
9. MäSäXi (489)
10. NYYRIKKI (486)

Prolonging his status as most active MRC member of the year for the second time in a row, manuel will yet again receive a small present from the MRC crew as a token of our appreciation. Our thanks go out to him all the others who contributed to the MRC. Next year we will also reward a prize to the most active member at the MRC. We hope you will keep visiting and enriching the contents of our website for a long time to come!

We would also like to thank all the active MSX developers who keep bringing us new and surprising hardware, software, websites and magazines. Last, but certainly not least, we would like to thank all the people who have sent us a donation by bank or PayPal this year. As the MRC is growing and growing, so are the costs to keep the site online and in movement. Even with small donations, you helped (and are helping) to keep our site online. Respect!

The entire MRC crew would like to wish you a happy, healthy, prosperous 2009 and we're all looking forward to celebrate the 26th anniversary of our beloved MSX computer system in style. To a year loaded with MSX action!