Official U.S. Playstation Magazine Issue 19

Features:

Editorial: Can Life Be Measured in Hit Points? (Ken Kujawa offers a handy chart of turn-based combat and HP modifiers to real life...with amusing results)
Letters (Mail, e-mail, abuse, rants, and the occasional word of praise from readers)
g.e.a.r. (Gadgets, Electronics, Arts and Recreations - game-related merchandise)
Demo Disc (This month's CD freebies)
Next Month (It's all about Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, baby!)

News (Industry news and, you know, news...):

Playstation 2 A Reality (Like we didn't see that one coming.)
Sony Sues Connectix (The creators of Virtual Game Station for the Mac are goin' to court.)
Top 10 (What Japanese and UK gamers are buying)
Madden Bowl a Hit on South Beach (NFL players take on their digital counterparts in the pre-Super Bowl festivities)
Top 20 (What US gamers are buying)
Coming Soon (Release dates, subject to change at any time without notice, void where prohibited, etc...)

Previews:

International Previews (Stuff Japan has that we don't):

The Year of the RPG (OPM turns critical eyes on the coming wave of big-time RPGs):

The PlayStation Role-Player's Guide (Check these already-released bundles of joy):

Reviews:

More Than A Feeling (Joe Rybicki editorializes about what actually goes into the game review process at OPM)
Rollcage
Blast Radius
NBA In The Zone '99
Invasion From Beyond
T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger
Bust-A-Move 99
Bomberman Fantasy Race
Street Sk8er
Rushdown
Pro 18 World Tour Golf
Review Recap (recently reviewed games and their scores for those who missed them)

Strategy (Kickin' ass and takin' games):

Tricks of the Trade (Cheating your way to victory):

Notable Stuff:

Readers really take the mag to task in the letter column over their stance on emulator-related issues.
According to a videogames.com poll, gamers are more excited about Final Fantasy VIII (80%) than they are about Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (14%), Legend of Legaia (3%), Shadow Madness (2%) and Guardian's Crusade (1%) combined. To the surprise of absolutely no one in the world.
WTF, Japan? You have access to some of the best games around, and you're letting the likes of Beatmania, Bass Landing, and Sound Novel Evolution 3 run roughshod over Tales of Phantasia, Crash Bandicoot 3, and Street Fighter Zero 3 in terms of sales? That's it: all Japanese gamers from February 1999, turn in your Gamer Cards.
WTF, US? You have Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, and Crash Bandicoot: Warped in your top 5, and you let them all get pantsed by the universally-panned WCW/nWo Thunder? That's it: all US gamers from January 1999, turn in your Gamer Cards.
Syrox Developments is listed as the developer of X-Men: Mutant Academy, but they were only responsible for the cancelled N64 version. Paradox Development handled the PS1 version.
Joe Rybicki's editorial that starts the reviews section is a valuable guide to understanding what people who review games for a living actually look for when deciding on how good (or awful) a certain game is, and the difference between objective opinion (the way things are) and subjective opinion (the way the reviewer him/herself feels).

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