Play Online

32 files

1. 

   Play Online No.035 (May 2001)

   By kitsunebi

   This is the final issue of Play Online. 
   You can download the CD-ROM included with the issue HERE.
   

   67 downloads

   0 comments

   Submitted September 10, 2024

2. 

   Play Online No.033 (March 2001)

   By kitsunebi

   Here it is y'all.  Unless someone can provide evidence to the contrary, this is the only Japanese magazine EVER with Lara Croft on the cover. 
   Just don't expect any Tomb Raider game coverage anywhere in the issue LOL. 🤔
   

   67 downloads

   2 comments

   Updated September 9, 2024

3. 

   Play Online No.032 (February 2001)

   By kitsunebi

   I know some people probably prefer the chaotic "graphic design by Jackson Pollock" style of Japanese video game magazines, but I'm glad this mag has a more Western aesthetic, particularly as it primarily covers Western games.  It's just a handsome mag, in my opinion - one that lays its info out in a clear, easy to read format suitable for adults, as opposed to the "HEY! LOOK OVER HERE!!" style of the video game mags.
   

   56 downloads

   0 comments

   Submitted September 7, 2024

4. 

   Play Online No.031 (January 2001)

   By kitsunebi

   I've made both of the CD-ROMs included with this issue available to download here:
   Disc 1
   Disc 2
   

   65 downloads

   0 comments

   Submitted July 20, 2024

5. 

   Play Online No.030 (December 2000)

   By kitsunebi

   Fun fact: Digicube, the publisher of Play Online, was actually a subsidiary of game developer Square, before going bankrupt in 2003.
   

   64 downloads

   0 comments

   Submitted June 20, 2024

6. 

   Play Online No.029 (November 2000)

   By kitsunebi

   The CD-ROM included with this issue can be downloaded HERE.
   

   74 downloads

   0 comments

   Submitted May 30, 2024

7. 

   Play Online No.028 (October 2000)

   By kitsunebi

   Non-scanners may not realize that it's required that something be put in this space when submitting a file, even if you have nothing to say, which is why you'll see most people just copy/paste the file name here.  But not me.  I aim to give you more bang for your buck with information you wouldn't get with a mere copy/pasted file name.  Valuable, top-secret insider info you won't get anywhere else.  Like the fact that it's required that something be put in this space when submitting a file.
   You're welcome.
   

   73 downloads

   0 comments

   Submitted May 17, 2024

8. 

   Play Online No.027 (September 2000)

   By kitsunebi

   Though I finished the first one, I never got around to playing Diablo II.  One of countless games I bought back then and never made time for.
   

   78 downloads

   0 comments

   Submitted May 5, 2024

9. 

   Play Online No.026 (August 2000)

   By kitsunebi

   It's late, I've got nothing to say.  Enjoy.
   

   75 downloads

   0 comments

   Submitted April 5, 2024

10. 

    Play Online No.025 (July 2000)

    By kitsunebi

    These issues are full of games I own but have never played.  It's been twenty years since I last bought a game, but from around 1997-2004 or so, I was a game buying machine.  Unfortunately I was also a not-nearly-enough-free-time machine, so most of those purchases went unplayed.  And now that I'm a never-ever-play-games-at-all machine, they will likely forever remain so. 😮‍💨
    

    91 downloads

    1 comment

    Submitted February 15, 2024

11. 

    Play Online No.024 (June 2000)

    By kitsunebi

    First news about the Xbox reveal (still over a year away from launching.)  I imagine the editors of this magazine were some of the only people in Japan looking forward to it.  They might have been the only people in Japan to BUY it as well.  OK, that's an exaggeration.  Play Online only has 4 editors, and I believe there were around 7 or 8 Xboxes sold in Japan.
    

    86 downloads

    2 comments

    Submitted February 6, 2024

12. 

    Play Online No.023 (May 2000)

    By kitsunebi

    I see you down there.
    
    Is this tiny cameo Ms. Croft's first-ever appearance on a Japanese gaming mag cover?  Quite possibly.  Japan was about the only country in the world that never caught Croft Cover Chlamydia.  aHEM. Fever.  I meant, Croft Cover Fever.
    Not that they're really talking about Tomb Raider at all in this issue - it shows up in an article rating how accurate the depiction of guns in various games are.  Poor Lara comes dead last in realism with 2 out of 5 stars.  I'm not sure whose idea it was to include Tomb Raider in any comparative evaluation of REALISM, though.  Have they even played the series?🤔
    

    74 downloads

    4 comments

    Submitted January 24, 2024

13. 

    Play Online No.022 (April 2000)

    By kitsunebi

    Even Japan got fooled into thinking Daikatana was cover-worthy.
    

    94 downloads

    4 comments

    Updated January 21, 2024

14. 

    Play Online No.021 (March 2000)

    By kitsunebi

    Big news: Duke Nukem Forever is going on sale March 2000, y'all!  😀
    It always amuses me to see the USA sales rankings for PC games that month.  It really drives home how important the Wal-Mart shopper was to PC game sales when you see that the top 10 games include Deer Hunter 3, Cabela's Big Game Hunter 3, and Barbie Generation Girl: Gotta Groove. 😅
    

    73 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted January 14, 2024

15. 

    Play Online No.020 (February 2000)

    By kitsunebi

    78 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted December 30, 2023

16. 

    Play Online No.019 (January 2000)

    By kitsunebi

    69 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted December 30, 2023

17. 

    Play Online No.017 (November 1999)

    By kitsunebi

    76 downloads

    4 comments

    Submitted December 21, 2023

18. 

    Play Online No.018 (December 1999)

    By kitsunebi

    79 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted December 21, 2023

19. 

    Play Online No.016 (October 1999)

    By kitsunebi

    Play Online No.016 (October 1999)
    

    83 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted December 14, 2023

20. 

    Play Online No.015 (September 1999)

    By kitsunebi

    Play Online No.015 (September 1999)
    

    84 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted December 14, 2023

21. 

    Play Online No.013 (June 1999)

    By kitsunebi

    Play Online No.013 1999年6月号
    

    83 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted December 9, 2023

22. 

    Play Online No.012 (May 1999)

    By kitsunebi

    This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where you can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!
    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください！もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、そこで「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします！
    PS: Please don't upload this file to the Internet Archive.  K thnx bye!
    

    221 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted April 10, 2020

23. 

    Play Online No.014 (August 1999)

    By kitsunebi

    This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where you can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!
    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください！もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、そこで「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします！
    PS: Please don't upload this file to the Internet Archive.  K thnx bye!
    

    220 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted March 7, 2020

24. 

    Play Online No.011 (April 1999)

    By kitsunebi

    Once again, this is the most hardcore serious gaming mag to ever hit the shelves in Japan.  I'd wager not a single reader of this mag has any plastic figurines of half-naked anime girls on their shelf or so much as a single item of Nintendo-related memorabilia in their possession.  Nope, this mag targets adults, and not the kind that plays x-rated visual novels, either.
    On a side note, this issue was the glue-iest magazine I've ever seen.  There was glue all over the pages, so much so that even after debinding, I had to cut away portions of the page that had glue spilled all over them so it wouldn't damage my scanner and then reconstruct those missing bits in Photoshop.  The end result is just as pretty as always, never fear.
    This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where you can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!
    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください！もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、そこで「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします！
    PS: Please don't upload this file to the Internet Archive.  K thnx bye!
    

    231 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted February 8, 2020

25. 

    Play Online No.010 (March 1999)

    By kitsunebi

    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください！もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこで誰でもでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします！
    *This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where anyone can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!
    

    226 downloads

    1 comment

    Updated July 29, 2019