atomic837

Yup. Dimension PS-X rebranded itself to PS Extreme after three issues. The Publisher/Editor (David Winding) mentioned the change in Issue “4” - or the “first” issue of PS Extreme, explaining that their competitor, the Sendai published “PS-X” magazine’s similar name was causing a case of mistaken identity at the newsstand, with some customers thinking they were buying Dimension when they were actually purchasing the competition. Whether or not that is the whole truth or just an excuse to move away from the odd “Dimension” moniker is up for debate.

Love the issue, and I remember picking it off the display rack at my local EB back in the day. PSExtreme and specifically, Mr. Winding, is famous (infamous) for his polarizing positive coverage and review of Bubsy 3D. The number of advertisements and coverage of the game are suspect in hindsight. Come to think of it, is this the only magazine that featured the game on its cover?

Definitely concur. The 32-bit era came in at a perfect time in my life, and the constant experimentation, innovation, and anticipation of new gaming experiences was off the charts. While refinement and the occasional surprise still occur from time to time, they are nowhere near the frequency of that era - and I don't think we should expect that to change. The dawn of the 3D era, while crude as heck, was exciting to be a part of. Every new E3 show was like a holiday-wrapped box of surprises.

Fun fact about the cover feature, Blasto. Before the game came out, I was a rather bored teenager and decided to come up with a half decent drawing of the character that I had gleaned from magazine previews. I'm not quite sure where I sent it to, but believe it was to some sort of magazine contest. Strangely, the piece of art made it to the Blasto's development team, and I was sent a very large poster of the title signed by the members. The poster was personalized with positive comments and small drawings. A very cool response from Playstation that was certainly not expected at the time.

Not me. The nostalgia is strong with this one.

I was a subscriber back in the day. Always enjoyed the more personal vibe the writers had versus most of the other magazines of the day. I followed Dave, Gregg, Zach and the rest of the crew during my formative years in a way that felt like a kid hanging out with a group of older friends who taught me a great deal about the hobby and industry.

Electronics Boutique, Software Etc, and Babbages were my go-to game stores in the 90s. Each had their own vibe, with Software Etc feeling the most like a "high-end" software store (with the highest prices that I recall), Babbages with their unique brightly-lit accordion style shelf layout, and EB feeling the most hardcore at the time, with its dimly lit interiors. When Gamestop swallowed them up, a little piece of my childhood died.

I can still remember the day that I picked this issue up at Electronics Boutique when I was a kid. Lots of interesting content in this one, including reviews of Tekken 2 and Crash Bandicoot (both eagerly awaited at the time), and it was the largest issue to date with a noticeably glossier/thicker cover stock.

Agree with your post. Although I've been gaming since the Atari days, my exposure during the 16-bit era was rather limited (I owned a Turbografx 16 and nothing else). The Playstation was my first mainstream gaming system, which I received as a gift right around its launch. In addition to the system, I became ravenous for all news and coverage related to it (pre-Internet days), and the first issue of Dimension PSX was the first Playstation magazine I ever read. For all of the drama surrounding some of the editorial opinions on unpopular games (i.e. Bubsy 3D), I always enjoyed the tight-knit camaraderie that seemed to exist with the small staff. And you're right... for my money, the 1995-1997 era of gaming is still my most cherished. Games were becoming increasingly modern and complex but were still raw and experimental at the same time. Everything felt fresh. Great time to be alive.

Wholeheartedly agree with the last comment. I own this issue and grew up with the Dimension PS-X and PS Extreme magazine throughout its entire lifespan, where it eventually changed to PSE2 with the launch of the PS2 and continued on nearly to the launch of the PS3. The core group of Dave Winding, Gregg Off, and Zach Meston stayed together for much of the run, and the magazine had a strong sense of personality and cohesion that others sometimes lacked. Dave Winding eventually went on to work for Sony Computer Entertainment as a marketing director, so I imagine that has something to do with the conclusion of the magazine. I own every issue of Dimension PS-X, PS Extreme, and PSE2. Strong nostalgia here.

Great info. As a kid, I picked up the first issue of Dimension-PSX at a local EB and then never missed an issue (Dimension-PSX actually published 3 issues before changing names). I became a subscriber throughout their PS Extreme days and through the mid-2000s when it morphed into PSE2. PSE2 was a relaunch of the mag to reflect the move to PlayStation 2 coverage and it bizarrely switched to a large/oversized paper format, with lower quality paper and versus the thicker, glossy stock of PS Extreme. It also debuted at a lower price point than its predecessor. I believe that PS Extreme reaped some early success when it first launched, but the arrival of PSM and OPM magazines in the late 90s slowly eat their market share to the point where they attempted to better differentiate themselves in the PS2 era (to limited success perhaps). I’ll have to dig them up, but the magazine would eventually revert to the standard paper size and then quietly cease publishing without notice in 2005/2006. The primary staff of Dave, Gregg, and Zach Meston remained for the entirety of the magazine’s 10+ year run. Their personal, creative, and up-front personalities gave the magazine a very cohesive tilt that always connected better to me than the more mainstream magazines. Every article was labeled by its writer, and the whole thing felt like it was sort of a family/group of friends that I took a journey with during the 90s/2000s. This and Gamefan were my favorite gaming magazines and I’ll always remember the joy of cracking open a new issue. It was a great surprise to read through the Dimension-3 issues posted here and find the same staff and layouts as PS Extreme. Like a lost treasure found. I still have all of my old issues and I have no plans to ever part with them.

This magazine and its staff went on to start Dimension PS-X in November 1995, which changed its name to PSExtreme a few months later, and that carried the same design philosophy and vibe as Dimension-3. I was a subscriber to this magazine back in the day and always looked forward to their light-hearted but authentic editorial style and approach to covering the industry. I guess once the Playstation launched, they bet it all on that horse and closed shop on Dimension-3, achieving some success during the next 7 or 8 years as one of a handful of North American magazines dedicated to the console. Fun fact is that many of the magazine staff were a part of the original Gamefan magazine crew, and a bit of that style follows through in Dimension-3 and PSExtreme.

Just found the answer to my previous question. In the mail section of Issue 6, they discuss putting the Sega Saturn magazine on hold to evaluate the market situation. I'll assume that the situation never changed and they would end up putting 100% of their efforts into Dimension PS-X, later renamed to PS Extreme.

If you look at the advertisement in this issue (page 46), they mention launching both Dimension PS-X and Dimension Saturn in the upcoming month. Same crew (Dave Winding, Gregg Off, Tim Lindquist, Zach Meston) who went on with Dimension PS-X and some of which were part of the original Gamefan magazine staff. Looks like Dimension-3 was their attempt to go independent before settling in with the long-running Playstation publication. Quite the surprise as a was a regular subscriber to Dimension PS-X/PS Extreme. Does anyone know if Dimension Saturn ever happened? I remember a short-lived N64 spinoff in 1996/97 called "Q64" I believe. Don't think it lasted more than a few issues, and I never picked it up myself.

Fondly remembered magazine made by some of the original Gamefan staff.