Resource centre for ZX Spectrum games
using Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy game engines
JODI's Jet Set Willy Variations
Selected quotes from various internet sources presented below offer information about JODI and their Jet Set Willy Variations project.
"Joan Heemskerk (Dutch, born 1968) and Dirk Paesmans (Belgium, born 1965) together form JODI, an artistic duo living and working in the Netherlands" (source of quote). JODI "is considered one of the most influential artist groups working on the Web and they are important pioneers in the artistic manipulation of videogames. Their contributions to digital, avant-garde art have inspired many artists and cultural thinkers." (source of quote)
"Jet Set Willy Variations consists of modifications of the 1984 video game Jet Set Willy. (...) These versions of Jet Set Willy... become increasingly more abstract, finding inspiration in the non-narrative parts of the game." (source of quote) "The code has been modified in such a way that although the basic functions of the game are the same, the on-screen graphics are often reminiscent of the abstract paintings of such artists as Mondrian or Peter Halley. Other variations incorporate elements of the computer code." (source of quote)
"JODI created different versions of one of the most popular videogames for the ZX Spectrum, in a process – that of modifications based on the 'Do It Yourself' approach – that has been embedded in the game culture since its very beginnings and was particularly evident in the 80s. Deconstructed in their various elements, the games show their aporias and paradoxes, not without irony and societal and political criticism." (source of quote)
"JODI's artworks appear in constant change and evolution, free to adapt to different technologies and media, to be restaged and be developed in different forms. They seem to be in constant dialogue with the technology, the viewer, the visual arts communities as well as the geek-sphere." (source of quote)
"One of the intriguing aspects of JODI's working process is their continuous re-presentation or restaging of their works, a strategy through which they revisit older projects by letting them adapt to new technological environments and transferring them to different mediums – from videogames and websites to user-instructions, videos and maps. JODI's critical strategies of reformatting existing works shows how their art is variable and transforms over time." (source of quote)
"JODI's contribution to retro-computing uncovers the hidden, yet retrospectively ironic modernism of low-resolution screen graphics and formal constraints of software due to the limited hardware resources of the computer." (source of quote)
"JODI's work is characterized by a deconstructive aesthetic. This approach, based on the ideas of French philosopher Jacques Derrida, dismantles the system into different elements and analyzes the relationships between them. As such we get a better understanding of how the whole is constructed and, instead of jumping to conclusions, are able to question the meanings perceived at first sight. In Jet Set Willy Variations we see how JODI disassembles game culture into elements that constitute its foundation, but that are less obvious and in need of recovering, like the resolution, the sprites, the story, and copyrights. It zooms in on these elements that are in danger of being forgotten." (source of quote)
"Jet Set Willy is also JODI's homage to the culture of hobby game programmers in the eighties, when it was mainly teenagers developing games, including all the music and graphics, single-handedly on the first home computers, a development that is one of the best examples of the libertarian do-it-yourself ethic of the early computer subculture, a mainstay of JODI's work." (source of quote)
A 2004 interview with JODI is also available online (go to "jodi", then to "interview").
Six variations of JSW are currently (as of February 2021) hosted on JODI's website. They are: jsw011, jsw012, jsw013, COPYCARD, SPRITES and STORY. Most of the files have time stamps from July 2016, except for COPYCARD.sna, which was last modified in November 2010.
The Wayback Machine makes it possible to download older versions of the Jet Set Willy Variations set, which used to be hosted on JODI's website in the past. Among them are the March 2004 variants of jsw011, jsw012, COPYCARD, GRAPHICS (later called SPRITES) and KEYWORDS, an April 2004 variant of STORY and November 2010 variants of jsw011, jsw012 and STORY.
Andrew Broad used to host a different set of JODI's variations of JSW on his website. That ZIP package is still (as of February 2021) available for download on an archived version of his website and it includes March 2003 versions of: jsw011, jsw012, jsw013, L1, STORY and SURBITON.
The various versions of jsw011, jsw012 and jsw13 are discussed on JSW Central among the Versions and minor mods of the original Jet Set Willy, as their character corresponds to this category (the titles are spelled in lower case, reflecting their current spelling on JODI's website):
COPYCARD (in Andrew Broad's ZIP called L1), KEYWORDS, SPRITES (earlier known as GRAPHICS), STORY and SURBITON are listed in subcategory C, created especially for them - "Artistic modifications of the original JSW" - of the list of JSW48 games:
Some websites mention 10 or approximately 10 JSW variations created by JODI. It is not clear whether the files discussed on JSW Central embrace all variants that have ever been made public. If more versions are discovered, they will certainly be analysed and discussed on these pages. If you know of/have any other versions than the ones discussed on JSW Central, please let me know/send them to me.