kitsunebi

Scanned by the wonderful J of Oz (he of over 1,000 scans at OGM) who came to my rescue when I purchased a bunch of these before realizing they wouldn't fit in my A4 scanner.  Sadly, these UK mags aren't printed on the highest grade of paper, so there was quite a bit of yellowing, especially around the edges of the pages, so I Photoshopped the living bejeezus out of them until you would swear this mag was new. 😆
 
 

This one time, at band camp...
The CD-ROM included with this issue can be downloaded HERE.

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

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. 🤔

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.

244 pages

Improved kitsunebi edition!
(forgive the copy/paste of this description) This is my own scan of this issue.  I'm uploading it as an alternate download option - not a replacement - for the version of this mag already available here.  The other version is also a nice scan, so I had no desire to replace someone else's hard work.  That said, this version has some advantages that may or may not be important to you, which are outlined below should you need to decide which version is best for you.
1. This scan is higher resolution - it is saved at 3200px height vs the other version's 2200px.
2. This scan was debound using a heat gun vs. the other scan's guillotine cutting.  This means that this version scanned the entire page from edge to edge, while the other version had a small portion of every page cut away before it ever entered the scanner.
3. Related to #2, this version has made efforts to have facing pages joined as seamlessly as possible when viewed in 2-page view mode.  The other version really had no possibility of doing so, since both facing pages had part of the gutter side of the page cut off during debinding, leaving a portion of the center of a 2-page join missing, and thus unable to be seamlessly joined.
In my opinion, the increase in resolution is of minimal importance for most users (and may even be undesirable, as it will of course increase the filesize.)  The main advantages of this version are mostly apparent only when viewing in 2-page mode.  When viewing in two page mode, this version is clearly superior as it shows the complete image across both pages, but if you only ever view a single page at a time, you will be unlikely to notice the fact that the other version's pages have been slightly cropped.  
Comparisons (note the center portion of the two page spreads)
(In all comparisons, this scan is shown on top)


 


 

Improved kitsunebi edition!
(forgive the copy/paste of this description) This is my own scan of this issue.  I'm uploading it as an alternate download option - not a replacement - for the version of this mag already available here.  The other version is also a nice scan, so I had no desire to replace someone else's hard work.  That said, this version has some advantages that may or may not be important to you, which are outlined below should you need to decide which version is best for you.
1. This scan is higher resolution - it is saved at 3200px height vs the other version's 2200px.
2. This scan was debound using a heat gun vs. the other scan's guillotine cutting.  This means that this version scanned the entire page from edge to edge, while the other version had a small portion of every page cut away before it ever entered the scanner.
3. Related to #2, this version has made efforts to have facing pages joined as seamlessly as possible when viewed in 2-page view mode.  The other version really had no possibility of doing so, since both facing pages had part of the gutter side of the page cut off during debinding, leaving a portion of the center of a 2-page join missing, and thus unable to be seamlessly joined.
In my opinion, the increase in resolution is of minimal importance for most users (and may even be undesirable, as it will of course increase the filesize.)  The main advantages of this version are mostly apparent only when viewing in 2-page mode.  When viewing in two page mode, this version is clearly superior as it shows the complete image across both pages, but if you only ever view a single page at a time, you will be unlikely to notice the fact that the other version's pages have been slightly cropped.  
Comparisons (note the center portion of the two page spreads)
(In all comparisons, this scan is shown on top)


 


 

Improved kitsunebi edition!
This is my own scan of this issue.  I'm uploading it as an alternate download option - not a replacement - for the version of this mag already available here.  The other version is also a nice scan, so I had no desire to replace someone else's hard work.  That said, this version has some advantages that may or may not be important to you, which are outlined below should you need to decide which version is best for you.
1. This scan is higher resolution - it is saved at 3200px height vs the other version's 2200px.
2. This scan was debound using a heat gun vs. the other scan's guillotine cutting.  This means that this version scanned the entire page from edge to edge, while the other version had a small portion of every page cut away before it ever entered the scanner.
3. Related to #2, this version has made efforts to have facing pages joined as seamlessly as possible when viewed in 2-page view mode.  The other version really had no possibility of doing so, since both facing pages had part of the gutter side of the page cut off during debinding, leaving a portion of the center of a 2-page join missing, and thus unable to be seamlessly joined.
In my opinion, the increase in resolution is of minimal importance for most users (and may even be undesirable, as it will of course increase the filesize.)  The main advantages of this version are mostly apparent only when viewing in 2-page mode.  When viewing in two page mode, this version is clearly superior as it shows the complete image across both pages, but if you only ever view a single page at a time, you will be unlikely to notice the fact that the other version's pages have been slightly cropped.  
Comparisons (note the center portion of the two page spreads)
(In all comparisons, this scan is shown on top)
 


 


 

Covers PS1, Saturn, & PC games (and a PC-FX game 😲)
I'm not a furry, but I like these early Dengeki G's covers with animal characters a lot more than the later ones when they switched to generic anime girls.
 
 

Coincidentally, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was released during same time period as this mag's cover date.  Twenty-five years later, not a single person has ever gone on record accusing Dengeki PlayStation #106 of destroying their childhood, however.

Supplement included at end of archive

Improved kitsunebi edition!
This is a step up from marktrade's scan/edit (uploaded by dablais) which is already available here.  While it was a good scan, this one is better edited and I've taken care to more faithfully bring out the correct colors.   I don't really see any advantages to the previous scan, to be honest, and would advise anyone who has already downloaded this mag to consider replacing it with this version.
Here are a few comparisons.  Old scan on top, my scan on bottom:






 

Speculation on what the American redesign of the Super Famicom might look like LOL:

 
Though to be fair, who would have ever guessed they'd decide that purple and lavender were the way to go to appeal to Americans?

Supplement included with the March 9, 1990 issue of Family Computer Magazine. The title, Ultech Shinbun, means "ultimate technique newspaper," and it was printed in newspaper format and featured strategies for several games (mainly Dragon Quest IV).
Due to the oversized newspaper-style pages, the files in this archive are saved at 5000px high to allow higher fidelity and larger zoom.
UPDATED FILE: Old vs new:

There was apparently a SaGa Frontier 2 supplement which came with this issue, but my copy didn't include it.  It DID include the second supplement...a sticker sheet of memory card stickers.  Thank god for that LOL.  A scan of some memory card stickers is even less useful than actual memory card stickers, but it's preserved for prosperity now anyway.  Well, except for the few that the previous owner removed.  I guess someone out there uses memory card stickers, after all. 🙃

Adults only, the manga section is read right to left, the CD-ROM included with this issue can be downloaded HERE, yadda yadda yadda.
TLDR: B(｡)(｡)BS.

Does anyone remember wax lips? 

You know, from back before kids had smartphones and had to entertain themselves with gags sold in the backs of comic books, like joy buzzers, fake vomit, and whoopee cushions?  You'd put these things on and walk around hoping to get a laugh, till you got bored and just ate them.
Dunno why I was thinking of those just now...
 

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Oh dear, I've poked the bear known as Horseface Croft, and Silver Edition @Areala is not amused...
            

Lots of reviews this issue.  Indeed, the review section is also the cover story, which is possibly a first?

Family Computer Magazine is read R-L, so you must set your CBR reader to Japanese/manga mode in order for facing pages to be displayed correctly.
 

Family Computer Magazine is read R-L, so you must set your CBR reader to Japanese/manga mode in order for facing pages to be displayed correctly.
So many two-page joins of game screen maps make me long for modern 3D games that can't be mapped on a screen-by-screen basis in magazines.
And speaking of maps, there are a couple of fold out poster maps at the end of the archive.  The size of these is quite large - I haven't shrunk them down to the size of the rest of the pages in case anyone wants to zoom in to see them in greater detail.

I've uploaded the included CD-ROM as an ISO file HERE.

I don't have much to say about these issues, as I stopped gaming around 2005, so I don't really know anything about the games within.  But hey, there's an article on interactive fiction, and I at least know what a grue is.
- You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here.
> open mailbox
-  Opening the small mailbox reveals a magazine.
> take magazine
- Taken.
> read magazine
- It's (rather anachronistically) Games for Windows #13!

It's so weird reading reviews of PC games during this era and hearing people complain about how the PC graphics pale compared to the console version.  I've been out of the gaming scene for...most of this millennium, but it it still like that now?  I remember when the PC was the system to beat...

The Magazine Formerly Know As Computer Gaming World