Pelit

The influence of the magazine appears to have boosted the local popularity of such games as the X-COM and Jagged Alliance series, and Finnish sales of little-known classics like King of Dragon Pass can be disproportionate. For a list of Melbourne Cup winning horses see List of Melbourne Cup winners. Original and less mass-marketed games such as adventures, turn-based strategies and independently published ones are much respected. In 2000 it was estimated that 80 percent of the adult Australian population placed a bet on the race that year [2]. This can of course be seen as just a way to back up their image as "independent" and "above the rest of gaming magazines". In Melbourne and surrounding areas, the race day is a public holiday, but around the country a majority of people watch the race on television and gamble, either through direct betting or participating in workplace cup "sweeps". However, any and all deals that would restrict the staff's freedom to write what they wish are steadfastly refused, often as bribery. Raceday fashion has occasionally drawn almost as much attention as the race itself, The miniskirt received worldwide publicity when model Jean Shrimpton wore one on Derby Day during Melbourne Cup week in 1965.

Multiple previews and reviews of pre-final versions of games are numerous today. The requirement for elegant hats almost single-handedly keeps Melbourne's milliners in business. Pelit have always frowned upon hype but have themselves succumbed to it in last few years. 'Fashions On The Field' is a major focus of the day, with substantial prizes awarded for the best-dressed male and female racegoers. Recently the quality has decreased in some respect, as the magazine has started to extensively use screenshots from official press kits as opposed to their own screenshots of actual gameplay situations. For which in 2005 Makybe Diva truly left her mark in history by winning the Cox Plate only 9 days before going on to win the Melbourne Cup. Game reviews are by far the most important part. They regard the Cox Plate, a 2,040 metre Weight for Age race, as a true indication of the best horses in Australia.

It prides itself on providing quality content for its readers and intends to keep things that way. Racing purists and "serious" betters dislike the Cup, as the unusually long distance and handicap rules make the result highly unpredictable and allows mediocre horses to win. The magazine's characteristic feature is its somewhat idealistic outlook, which can seem self-righteous to some. In the past, such weightings were in theory established to give each horse an equal chance of winning the cup, but in recent years the rules have been adjusted to that of a "quality handicap" where superior horses are given less severe weight penalties than would be the case under pure handicap rules. Jyrki Kasvi has spent several years as a game reviewer, as well as a columnist under the pseudonym of Wexteen the Wizard. Older horses are given more weight than younger ones, and weightings are further adjusted according to the horse's previous results. Its staff includes the accidental gaming icon Niko Nirvi and the cartoonist Wallu. The Melbourne Cup is run as a "handicap", in which the weight of the jockey, and riding gear is adjusted with ballast to a nominated figure.

Pelit's editor-in-chief is Tuija Lindén. A large rose bowl trophy was presented 1915-1918 and the current loving cup design was introduced in 1919. The most notable changes were the 1998 founding of its sister magazine, the PlayStation-based Peliasema, and the later merging of the two as a practical necessity with the growth of the console market and the weakening of the PC games market. It was a chalice centred on a long base which had a horse at each end. While the magazine started with four computer platforms, coverage for the Amiga, Commodore 64 and Atari ST vanished along with the computers. The last Melbourne Cup trophy manufactured in England was made for the 1914 event. A comic, KyöPelit, was started in 1993 and has since successfully avoided making sense. A silver plated base sporting three silver horses was added in 1888, but in 1891 the prize changed to being a 15 inch high, 24 inch long trophy showing a Victory figure offering an olive wreath to a jockey There were no races 1894-1898 because of a depression, and on resumption the trophy was in the form of silver galloping horse embossed on a 3 foot long plaque, although it was said to look like a greyhound by some people.

Game solutions were dropped as the adventure and old-fashioned role-playing games, the primary subjects, dwindled. It had two handles and an engraving of a horse race set at Flemington. Its layout and contents have occasionally been revised over the years. The first Australian-made and gold trophy was introduced in 1876. In 1992, the staff of the semi-annual computer game book found themselves fed up with the limitations of their format, and thus the proper Pelit magazine was started. From 1867 to 1875, a silver trophy was presented showing "Alexander Taming the Horse" and a figure of a female with wings. Another annual issue was published in 1988, and in 1989 it became semi-annual (two times per year). The first trophy was a gold watch, until a silver bowl manufactured in England, with two ornate handles with a horse and rider on top, was introduced in 1865.

Pelit is an old-timer, originally dating back to 1987, as an annual extra games-only issue of MikroBitti and C=Lehti. The trophy changed in appearance greatly over the years since the first trophy was awarded in 1861, with several of them featuring model horses. Recently some newcomers, mainly Pelaaja and Tilt have started to challenge its position as the sole choice for a serious Finnish gaming magazine. The winning trainer and jockey also receive a miniature replica of the cup and the strapper is awarded the Tommy Woodcock Trophy, named after the strapper of the incomparable Phar Lap. Being by far the largest of its kind in Finland and covering both PCs and consoles, it has for a long time lacked serious competition and is thought by many to be the magazine of its kind, especially on the side of computer games. The trophy currently awarded (since 1919) is a gold loving cup worth $75,000 at 2005 prices. Pelit (meaning "games") is a Finnish video games magazine published 11 times a year by Sanoma Magazines. Trainer Lee Freedman said after the race, "Go and find the youngest child on the course, because that's the only person here who will have a chance of seeing this happen again in their lifetime.".

Makybe Diva made history by becoming the only horse to win three in a row. The 2005 Melbourne Cup was held before a crowd of 106,479. In 2004 Makybe Diva became the first mare to win consecutive cups, and also the first horse to win twice with different trainers, after David Hall moved to Hong Kong and transfered her to the Lee Freedman stables. She also won the Caulfield Cup, a 2400 metre race also held in Melbourne, and therefore has won the "Cups Double".

The 2001 the Melbourne Cup was won by New Zealand mare Ethereal, trained by Sheila Laxon, the first woman to formally train a Melbourne Cup winner. The attraction for foreigners to compete, however, was the far less visible change to the new "quality handicap" weighting system. Most have failed to cope with the conditions, with only Irish trainer Dermott Weld successful in 1993 with Vintage Crop and 2002 with Media Puzzle. The race has undergone several alterations over the past decade, the most visible being the arrival of many foreign horses to contest the race in the last decade (notwithstanding the many winners from New Zealand including the famous Phar Lap.

Many sympathetic owners boycotted the race which started with only seven horses, the smallest number in the history of the cup. Archer won again the following year, but because the owner's nomination form arrived late the next year, Archer was unable to contest a third cup. A crowd of 4000 watched the race, although it has been suggested this was less than expected because of news reaching Melbourne of the death of explorers Burke and Wills. It has been said that the winner, Archer, walked 800km to the course from Nowra, New South Wales, but it is possible he travelled by ship.

Seventeen horses contested the first Melbourne Cup in 1861, racing for a gold watch and 170 pounds cash. In 2005 a total of 383,784 race fans attended the Melbourne Cup Carnival annual event [1]. The event is one of the most popular spectator events in Australia, with over 110,000 people, some dressed in traditional formal raceday wear and others in all manner of exotic and amusing costumes, attending the race. .

The present record holder is the 1990 winner Kingston Rule with a time of 3min 16.3sec. This reduced the distance by 61ft 6in, and Rain Lover's 1968 race record of 3min.19.1sec was accordingly adjusted to 3min.17.9sec. The race was originally held over two miles, about 3,218 metres, but following Australia's adoption of the metric system in 1972 the current distance of 3200 metres was adopted. It is generally regarded as the most prestigious "two-mile" handicap in the world.

The event has been held on the first Tuesday in November since 1861 by the Victoria Racing Club, on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. Billed as The race that stops a nation, it is for three-year-olds and over, and covers a distance of 3200 metres. The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major annual thoroughbred horse race.