PSM Issue 12

Features:

• Cover Story: Final Fantasy VIII - Interview with Jun Iwasaki, president of Square EA LLC, along with a picture-packed preview.
• E3: The Greatest Show on Earth - PSM spent three days ensconced in Atlanta for the 1998 Electronic Entertainment Expo, and squeezed in so much coverage that they squeezed out this month's 'Strategy Central' column. But when you see all the screenshots, it'll totally be worth it.
• The PSM Ultimate E3 Games List - Every single PlayStation game shown at E3 gets its own screenshot and 1-paragraph write-up. Remember, not every game shown got a release, and ones that did were not always released under the same name, so I'm presenting these as printed in PSM in the interest of historical preservation:
  • Sports:
    • 3 Lions Soccer (released in NA as Alexi Lalas International Soccer)
    • All Star Tennis '99
    • Backstreet Billiards
    • Bass Landing 2 (Japan only release)
    • Bass Masters Classic (never released?)
    • Big Air Snowboarding (released as Big Air)
    • Black Bass / Blue Marlin
    • Bottom of the Ninth '99
    • Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowl
    • ESPN Digital Games: National Hockey Night
    • ESPN Digital Games: NBA Tonight
    • ESPN Digital Games: X Games Pro Boarder
    • Fox Sports Hockey '99
    • Fox Sports Tennis '99
    • FreeStyle Boarding '99
    • HardBall 6 (released as Hardball '99)
    • High Heat 2000
    • Knockout Kings
    • Madden '99
    • NBA Live '99
    • NCAA Football '99
    • NCAA GameBreaker '99
    • NFL Blitz
    • NFL Gameday '99
    • NFL Xtreme
    • NHL FaceOff '99
    • Pro 18 World Tour Golf
    • Puma Street Soccer (Europe only release)
    • Tiger Woods '99
    • Viva Soccer
  • RPG:
    • Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
    • Parasite Eve
    • Shadow Madness
    • Tales of Destiny
    • Xenogears
  • Action:
    • Akuji the Heartless
    • Alien Resurrection
    • Apocalypse
    • Armored Core: Phantasma
    • Army Men 3D
    • Assault
    • Asteroids
    • Attack of the Saucerman (Europe only release)
    • Batman and Robin
    • Blast Radius
    • Bloodshot (never released)
    • Brave Fencer Musashi
    • Capcom Generations: 1943
    • Capcom Generations: Ghosts n' Goblins
    • Centipede
    • Clocktower 2
    • Colony Wars: Vengeance
    • Contra Adventure
    • Contract, The (never released)
    • Cool Boarders 3
    • Crash Bandicoot: Warped
    • Crime Killer
    • Croc II
    • Dead in the Water
    • Dead Unity (never released)
    • Duke Nukem: A Time to Kill
    • Earthworm Jim 3D
    • Eliminator
    • Fifth Element, The
    • G Shock (Japan/Europe only release as Dolphin's Dream)
    • G. Darious 
    • Gex 3
    • Grand Theft Auto
    • Diabolical Adventures of Tobu, The (never released)
    • Heart of Darkness
    • Jackie Chan's Stuntmaster
    • Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
    • Lander
    • LAPD 2100 AD (released as Future Cop: L.A.P.D.)
    • MediEvil
    • Mega Man Legends
    • Men In Black
    • Messiah
    • Metal Gear Solid
    • Monkey Hero
    • Ninja
    • Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus
    • O.D.T.
    • Omikron: The Nomad Soul
    • Pac Man 3-D
    • Quake II
    • Rayman 2
    • Resident Evil 2 (Dual Shock)
    • Resident Evil: Director's Cut (Dual Shock)
    • Rogue Trip
    • Rosco McQueen: Fire Fighter
    • Rugrats
    • Shadow Gunner (Europe only release as Shadow Gunner: The Robot Wars) 
    • Silent Hill
    • Silhouette Mirage
    • Slip Groove
    • Small Soldiers
    • Spyro the Dragon
    • Star Trek: Klingon Academy
    • Starcon (never released)
    • Streak (released as Streak: Hoverboard Racing)
    • Superman (never released)
    • Syphon Filter
    • Tai-Fu
    • Tenchu
    • Thunder Force V: Perfect System
    • Tiny Tank
    • Tomb Raider III
    • Tomorrow Never Dies
    • Trap Gunner (released as Trap Gunner: Countdown to Oblivion)
    • Twisted Metal 3
    • Uprising X
    • Viper (Europe only release)
    • Wargames: Def Con 1
    • Wild 9
  • Fighting:
    • Bushido Blade 2
    • Darkstalkers 3
    • Destrega
    • Ehrgeiz
    • Kensei
    • Pocket Fighter
    • Rival Schools
    • Shao Lin
    • Soul Calibur
    • Street Fighter Collection 2
    • Street Fighter EX2
    • ThrillKill (never released)
    • WCW/NWO Live
    • WWF Warzone
    • X-Men
  • Strategy:
    • Age of Empires
    • Brigandine
    • C&C Red Alert: Retaliation
    • Global Domination (Europe only release)
    • Kartia
    • Master of Monsters: Disciples of Gaia
    • Populous 3
    • Soldnershild (Japan only release as Soldnerschild Special) 
    • Unholy War, The
    • Warzone 2100
  • Racing:
    • Formula 1 '98
    • International Rally Championship
    • Moto Racer 2
    • MotoCross Madness
    • Motorhead
    • NASCAR '99
    • Professional Sports Car Racing
    • Psybadek
    • Rally Cross 2
    • Rush Down
    • SCARS
    • Team LOCI RC Racing
    • Test Drive 5
    • Test Drive Off Road 2
    • TOCA Racing
• Update: Video Game Movies - Where are things at with the forthcoming Tomb Raider and Resident Evil films?
• News: The New Sony PDA! - What would eventually be known as the Sony PocketStation is coming, but what will it do and why do you want one?

Monitor (News, gossip, rants, etc...):

• PlayStation to Come Bundled with DualShock
• Peripheral Review: MadCatz Dual Force - 4.5/5.
• Psygnosis Signs Pact with Microsoft
• For "Mature" Audiences, Only... - The white Asian import release of the PlayStation plays pornographic video CDs, if you're into that.
• PS Price Drop Coming?
• Prince 3-D for Playstation!
• PlayStation Chips To Get DVD Treatment?
• Spider Senses are Tingling - Spider-Man is on his way to PS1.
• Namco Hiding New Ridge Racer?
• Square Racer Gets Second Life
• Checkpoint! The PSM Release Schedule - Release dates subject to change...
• PlayStation Charts - The best-selling software in the US
• PSM's Most Wanted - What the editors are looking forward to playing the most.
• Nihon Game Otaku - Bill Paris-san and his Robert DeJesus-illustrated mate Banzai Chibi-chan walk you through the world of Japanese gaming, with import news, notes, and other goodies:
  • Parappa Toys
  • Macross Digital Mission VF-X 2 Update
  • Puzzle Bobble 4
  • Top 10 Sellers in Japan - World Stadium 2 tops the charts, with Tekken 3, Parasite Eve, and Gran Turismo hot on its heels.
  • August Japanese Releases - For all you would-be importers.
  • Chibi's Top August Picks - The little dude is most interested in Takara's Abara Baan and Jaleco's Dragon Seeds.
  • Chibi's Terms - Gather 'round for your lesson, class. This time we're looking at kanji you can expect to see while playing KOEI's historical Three Kingdoms era simulations.
  • Capcom Generation Update
  • Brave Saga
  • GepP-X
  • Gun Dreams: Memories of Mars
  • PSM Otaku Game of the Month: Gunbarl (aka: Point Blank 2) will give your GunCon trigger finger quite the workout.
• Q&A - The aforementioned two-page interview with Jun Iwata appears here.

Reviews:

• Mortal Kombat 4 (3.5/5)
• Elemental Gearbolt (3/5)
• Road Rash 3-D (3/5)
• Turbo Prop Racing (4/5)
• Adidas Power Soccer '98 (2/5)
• Kartia (4/5)
• International Superstar Soccer '98 (4/5)
• Circuit Breakers (4/5)
• Fox Sports Soccer '99 (1.5/5)
• NFL Xtreme (2.5/5)
• Pocket Fighter (3.5/5)

Backlog (Reviews for games released in the last few months):

• Alundra (4/5)
• Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2 (3.5/5)
• Auto Destruct (3.5/5)
• Azure Dreams (3.5/5)
• Bio F.R.E.A.K.S. (3/5)
• Blasto (3/5)
• Bloody Roar (4/5)
• Breath of Fire III (4.5/5)
• Broken Sword (2.5/5)
• Cardinal Syn (2/5)
• Cool Boarders 2 (3.5/5)
• Courier Crisis (1.5/5)
• Crash Bandicoot 2 (5/5)
• Dead or Alive (4.5/5)
• Deathtrap Dungeon (2/5)
• Diablo (4.5/5)
• Dragon Ball GT Final Bout (1/5)
• Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown (4/5)
• Einhänder (4.5/5)
• FIFA '98 (3.5/5)
• Final Fantasy Tactics (4/5)
• Forsaken (4/5)
• Frogger (1/5)
• Gex: Enter the Gecko (4/5)
• Granstream Saga, The (3.5/5)
• Gran Turismo (5/5)
• HotShots Golf (4/5)
• Jersey Devil (3.5/5)
• Jet Moto 2 (3.5/5)
• Judge Dredd (1.5/5)
• Lode Runner (2.5/5)
• Mega Man Legends (4/5)
• Micro Machines V3 (3.5/5)
• MLB '99 (3/5)
• Monopoly (1.5/5)
• Monster Rancher (4.5/5)
• N2O (2.5/5)
• Nagano Winter Olympics '98 (3.5/5)
• NBA: In The Zone '98 (3/5)
• NCAA GameBreaker '98 (5/5)
• Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit (4.5/5)
• Pitfall 3-D (4/5)
• Red Asphalt (3/5)
• Resident Evil 2 (5/5)
• Riven (3/5)
• Saga Frontier (2.5/5)
• San Francisco Rush (2/5)
• Sentinel Returns (1.5/5)
• Shadow Master (2.5/5)
• Spawn: The Eternal (1.5/5)
• Speed Racer (2/5)
• Tekken 3 (5/5)
• Test Drive 4 (4/5)
• Theme Hospital (4/5)
• Tomba! (4/5)
• Tomb Raider 2 (5/5)
• Triple Play '99 (3/5)
• Vigilante 8 (4.5/5)
• VR Baseball '99 (3.5/5)
• VR Sports Powerboat Racing (3.5/5)
• World Cup '98 (3.5/5)
• X-Men vs. Street Fighter (3/5)

Previews:

• Final Fantasy VIII - Four pages of goodies. This, along with the Q&A in 'Monitor', make up the six-page cover feature.
• Jackie Chan's Stunt Master
• Heart of Darkness
• Test Drive 5
• Deception II (released as Kagero: Deception II)
• Bushido Blade 2
• Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
• Parasite Eve
• Spyro the Dragon
• Metal Gear Solid
• Darkstalkers III
• Trap Gunner
• Command & Conquer Red Alert: Retaliation
• Dead In the Water
• Brave Fencer Musashi

Code Junkies (Cheats and more!):

• Pocket Fighter
• X-Men Vs. Street Fighter
• Tekken 3
• Theme Hospital
• Thunder Truck Rally
• Tennis Arena
• WCW Nitro
• Game Shark Codes:
  • Atari Collection, Vol. 2
  • Blasto
  • Breath of Fire III
  • Dead or Alive
  • Deathtrap Dungeon
  • Diablo
  • Forsaken
  • Gran Turismo
  • Hot Shots Golf
  • MLB '99
  • Point Blank
  • Tactics Ogre
  • Warhammer: Dark Omen

Letters (The 'interactive' portion of the magazine):

• Letters - You write 'em, we answer 'em.
• Link-Up - Looking for a pen pal? Look no further!
• Pause - This month's topic: PS Gamers Aren't Dumb. Last month's topic: Videogame Sequels.
• Fan Art - Draw on the envelope, stuff it in the envelope, e-mail it digitally, just get it to us, OK?!
• Winners! - Who won the previous challenges for Tekken 3, Diablo, Blasto, and HotShots Golf? These guys!
• Smart Bomb - The PSM in-house comic continues.
• Top This! - If you can beat these challenges, you'll win some nifty swag.
  • Challenge #1: Get 100% in Single Player in Circuit Breakers
  • Challenge #2: Achieve the top lap time in Time Trial Mode for Turbo Prop Racing.
  • Challenge #3: Find all 12 hidden chalices in Elemental Gearbolt.
• PS - A few 'parting shots', aka: pics of E3 we couldn't fit anywhere else in the magazine.
• Marketplace - Buying? Selling? Looking for goodies? Look no further than PSM's own marketplace to connect you with the right buyer or seller.
• Reset - Coming next issue: PSM's One-Year Anniversary celebration, a first look at Tomb Raider 3, a revision of PSM's "Top 25 PlayStation Games" article from issue #1, and all the usual fun and nonsense.

Ads (in order of appearance):

• Thrill Kill (cancelled)
• Next Generation Online website
• Ninja: Shadow of Darkness
• Jersey Devil
• Heart of Darkness
• Deathtrap Dungeon
• S.C.A.R.S
• Dead Or Alive
• Azure Dreams
• NFL Xtreme
• WWF War Zone
• Wild 9
• PSM $1/issue subscription card
• Thunder Force V: Perfect System
• Elemental Gearbolt
• Turbo Prop Racing
• The Granstream Saga
• Capcom Fighters Edge rewards program
• The Unholy War
• Earthworm Jim 3D
• www.theden.com website
• Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling
• Sears NFL Xtreme $10 off coupon
• Eidos Games - Ninja: Shadow of Darkness / Tomb Raider II / Omikron: The Nomad Soul
• Pocket Fighter
• Command & Conquer Red Alert: Retaliation
• PC Accelerator magazine
• PSM magazine
• www.imaginegames.com website
• PSM 1-900 tips line
• Uprising X
• Newman/Haas Racing

Notable Stuff:

• Features a two-sided, tear-out poster for Ninja: Shadow of Darkness between pages 34 and 35.
• As always, Chibi's Terms remain useful for gamers even today. Learn the kanji for battlefield, strategy, war, soldier, cavalry, and more!
• Fire the proofreader! The 'Backlog' review presents Judge Dredd with a score that appears as though it is 1-star out of 2. Whoops!
• The screenshot from Alien Resurrection in the E3 game previews section shows the game as it was originally conceived, as a third-person action game instead of the first-person shooter it wound up as.
• Professional artist Robert DeJesus gets a piece of Tomb Raider 2 artwork printed in the Fan Art section. Not sure how fair that is, since he's also a freelancer for the magazine itself, but hey...