Next Generation Issue 006 (June 1995)

I haven't mentioned it yet, but even the monthly editorial column that is always written the editor-in-chief doesn’t have a name attributed to it. I understand why a magazine might not have bylines, but ultimately I rather have the author names on articles and reviews. This is how I find the reviewers and personalities that I like, and its how we can follow people from one job to the next. I was surprised when Frank O’Conner took the lead on the Halo series while at 343 Industries, because I remember him from his time on Ultra Game Players magazine. 

Highlights From this Issue: We have a 5-page interview with the legendary Peter Molyneux, who almost always has memorable lines during these. The news section has info of DVDs trying to make their way to us, and the delayed Jaguar CD has a launch date. We get to see AOU, where arcade companies show off their products at Japan’s premier coin-op event, including Namco’s innovative Alpine Racer setup. The “Arcadia” column mentions a few bike-inspired racers and more. We get our first look at the M2 technology from 3DO, with 6-pages of coverage and an interview with Trip Hawkings. There’s a more in-depth view for the PlayStation and its planned approach to gaming, with an 9-page dive into the hardware and chips themselves, with a short interview with Ken Kutaragi. We have previews for Killing Time, BladeForce and PO’ed on 3DO. Crossfire (aka Fade to Black), MechWarrior 2, and Heat of Darkness on PC. Astal, Daedalus, Virtual Hydlide and Minnesota Fats on the Saturn. With a few more.

For reviews we have only Panzer Dragoon for Saturn, then 5 more for 3DO (Space Hulk, Syndicate, Quarantine, Myst, Seal of the Pharoh). Jaguar got a decent review for Cannon Fodder, then we see Brutal (sega cd) and the 32X gets 36 Great Holes, Quarterback Club, and Knuckles Chaotix. The PC see a few, like Braindead 13 and Dragon Lore. While Mac got Alone in the Dark and Flashback. Sega CD see reviews for Flink, Road Rash, and Shining Force CD. And Genesis has 7 more reviews, and SNES has 10.

This 142-page issue has a lot, defiantly worth looking at. 3DO seems to be hitting the advertising hard in this issue, with a few several-page ads, namely their “Best Game System of 1994” quote from the Miami Herald. 1995 still saw a number of releases for 3DO, but that would end by the second quarter of 1996.