StrykerOfEnyo

This is made by the editors of EGM, so it has an honest look at a bunch of games from E3 1997, and it's not just an ad. There is a great map of the exhibition floor showing were the top 10 companies are, like Sony, Sega, Nintendo, Konami, Acclaim, EA, and a few more. They show you a pie graph with a breakdown of what percentage of games were shown for each system. A lot of this is written by Dan Hsu, with other parts from Ed Semrad, Shawn Smith, and Crispin Boyer. There’s even a small interview with Bruce Willis. This is a nicely written 15-page look at lots of new games at E3 that probably just didn’t fit in the proper EGM issue. Many games only have one sentence about them (like 10-12 words) but the point was looking at every little screenshot square to see if it might be a game that you were interested in. This is a great guide to the show.

This 20-page supplement comes from Mindscape, giving you a quick look at a few games planned for the PlayStation and PC. This is one of those that tries to mimic the look of a magazine layout so you don’t notice it’s basically an ad. It shows off Pool Champion, Chessmaster 5000, Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure, The Raven Project, Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat, Angel Devoid, and Al Unser Jr. Arcade Racing. I remembered this one. It showed off some good-looking games but I thought it was odd I never saw EGM talk about these games, but that’s because most of them were PC games and EGM didn’t really cover them. The Aliens game looked good, but it never came to consoles. It also looks weird when an article has a quote from the head programmer, and not a magazine editor. It does read more like an advertisement than someone’s honest opinion on these games, but all these years later, I am still curious if they ended up being any good.

This is a 16-page supplement on the Neo Geo system, showing a comparison against the SNES, Genesis, and Sega CD, and giving you a preview of Fatal Fury and Crossed Swords. This is part of their “Bigger, Badder, Better” campaign, so it really feels more like an advertisement, and it is. The writing and the lingo reads like a “cool dude” telling kids about the most powerful home console – which happens to be $650. You can also buy a double-reinforced padded bag for your expensive console and up to 3 games. Or buy a t-shirt, or a $15 Neo Geo poster and frame it for your living room (because you NEED to be making big money and own your own house to buy our console). You get a small look at other games, but it's not much.

A 16-page preview of 36 different games covering, baseball, basketball, football, tennis, golf, hockey, boxing racing and miscellaneous. This is much better content than the other supplements from 1992. At a minimum, each game has one screenshot and around 60-word descriptions, which defiantly gives the editors more room to explain a game, than just two sentences in some other supplements. Other games have two screenshots, and about 120-words, with a few having even more content. This is a nice-sized preview for those big on sports games. You got a good look at Mutant League Football (genesis), Bill Walsh College Football (genesis), PGA Tour Golf 2 (genesis, and some interesting games you maybe didn’t see before like, Football Fury (snes), Chi Chi’s Pro Challenge Golf (genesis), and Devil’s Course (snes). Even Road Rash 3DO shows up! A nice look that will take you a few minutes to read the whole thing.

This is a very basic 32-page look at around 100 games and accessories across the NES, SNES, Genesis, and TurboGrafx-16. This contains very short 25-word descriptions for most games, but a few use slightly bigger text boxes that have around 35-60 words. Most games have at least two screenshots, and some accessories are covered like the SNES Advantage, and Game Boy Game Genie. Each system has a full column of text that covers the latest news in the last year. This has some info from the 1992 Summer Consumer Electronics Show, and it mentions the Aladden Deck Enhancer, but mostly this is a very plain looking supplement that gives you very basic info on a number of games, usually only two sentences long (which is about 25 words). It’s a nice little thing to look through and possibly find a game you might be interested in.

Highlights From this Issue: We lead with a 5-page interview of Bing Gorden, president of Electronic Arts. In News they cover the launch of the PlayStation, the M2 technology and a little more on the 32-bit wars. We get a look at the Tokyo Toy Expo, and Amiga’s future. We get a 10-page special on Virtual Reality: The Miracle Technology. There’s a 6-page look at the Saturn hardware and chipset. The Previews have some big coverage on Destruction Derby, ThunderHawk and Twisted Metal on PS1.Urban Decay, The Darkening, and Rebel Assault 2 on PC. Solar Eclipse (sat), Virtua Cop (sat), Yoshi’s Island (snes), and several sports games. We don’t see much for Reviews, this is the lull before the big holiday season. Only one PS1 game, CyberSled. 6 for Saturn, a few for 3DO, but nothing worth mentioning. 5 reviews for the Virtual Boy, 2 for Neo Geo CD, and some PC (like BC Racers and FX Fighter). Chrono Trigger is worth a look and Killer Instinct (snes). You also get reviews of arcade games, notably Tekken 2. Back up to 124-pages this time, good issue, but not many recognizable games reviewed.

Now the Saturn gets its turn on the cover with the lead story. Highlights From this Issue: We start with a 5-page interview with Howard Lincoln, president of Nintendo of America. He makes a lot of sense, smart man. Virtual Boy gets closer to release. We get a 6-page special on Played in Japan, the next wave of Japanese RPGs, like Arc the Lad (ps1), Ringlord Saga (sat), Seiken Densetsu 3 (sfam), and more. We have Previews of Duke Nukem 3D, Terminal Velocity, and Warcraft II on PC. With Air Combat (ps1), Wing Arms (sat), the game that would become Shinobi Legends (sat), and games from Bullfrog. We got more Reviews of PlayStation and Saturn games, but nothing note-worthy. 4 more for 3DO, 2 for the 32X. PC has a few, like Cannon Fodder and Lost Eden. 8 more reviews for Genesis and 6 for SNES. The last few issues have only been around 100-pages, but the content has been good. There are some good ads here as well – very nostalgic and with good color.

I like how they stagger the 6-page interviews with the big 10-page history of the companies – doing both from the same console might be boring if you don’t care about 3DO or Jaguar. Highlights From this Issue: We start with a 7-page interview with Sam Tramiel, president of Atari. This is the famous interview you may have heard about. “We plan for Jaguar to be here for a long time. We’re working on a Jaguar 2 right now, downstairs, as we speak.” Remember, there would be massive layoffs in Nov 1995, only five months away. Production would cease, and they had 100,000 consoles in inventory that never sold. Lots of great quotes. In News we find out the Saturn stealth launched early on May 11, at $399 and with six games (the first day of E3). It took everybody by surprise, and Sega thought it was a win for them, but the reality is that retailers hated it, because customers didn’t have knowledge it was coming, they didn’t make ANY money on the hardware, and six games was a small selection. We have a look at all current consoles, Hasbro ‘s Home VR was shown but would ultimately be cancelled. Intel shows a chipset “twice as fast as Intel,” and we have the main feature, “3DO: Past, Present, and Future” a 10-page article. Lots of info, with a look at the Top 10 Best 3DO Games so far. The Previews cover WipeOut, Gunner’s Heaven, Destruction Derby, and Krazy Ivan for PS1. We also see Highlander (jaguar cd), Virtua Racing (sat), Ray Force (sat) and a few more. The Reviews see 5 PS1 games, 3 Saturn games, 7 for 3DO, with other consoles only having 1 or 2 releases. Don’t get too excited, several are imports since the PS and Saturn weren't out yet by time of the reviews. So you have stuff like Cosmic Race (PS1), Crime Crackers (PS1), King’s Field (PS1, but this will be the original one that never made it to the US), Deadalus (sat), Gotha (sat), and Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S (3do). The 32X gets reviews for Fahrenheit, RBI 95, Zaxxon’s Motherbase 2000, and Slam City with Scotty Pippin. And PC has several like XCOM and BioForge. They try to make it seem like 3DO was close to making it work, but the reality is that both the Saturn and PlayStation surpassed the installed base of the 3DO by the next year. During the second quarter of 1996 several software supporters for 3DO, including the software division of The 3DO Company themselves, announced they were no longer making games for the system. Console manufacturing would stop by the end of the year.

This 16-page supplement covers original GameBoy and Game Gear, but this is VERY early in EGMs life (1992). It covers about 100 games -- only 20 from Game Gear and the rest with GB. Eash entry is made up of less than 25 words, and it only describes what the game is about, these aren't reviews. Like for Speedy Gonzales (gb) it reads, "The fastest mouse in all of Mexico now stars in his greatest adventure. Take on stages like ice lands complete with loops." And it tells you who published it, you get a single screenshot, and that's about it. There are a few nice full-color ads for the portable systems that like very good. The ads are the best part.

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.

Even just going through these issues again, I’m getting excited as we near the PlayStation and Saturn US launches. And I know how things turn out! But it's still fun reliving these moments. Highlights From this Issue: We have the usual 6-page interview, this time with Steve Race the CEO of Sony. The news section has info on the Saturn for its intended Sept launch (which would change), and Nintendo announces their Satelleview add-on for the Super Famicom in Japan, letting gamers download free games during certain times of the day. The main feature, “Ultra 64: The Story So Far” is 12-pages of content, with a timeline to follow. Then there’s an 8-page look at the history of Apple and how they’ve grown in the last 20 years. This is a fascinating look, well-worth looking at for Apple fans. The previews section often is one of my favorites, with looks at Daytona USA (sat), Prisoner of Ice, Panzer Dragoon, Kingdom, Jumping Flash, Secret of Evermore, Chrono Trigger, MechLords, and Cyber Commando (arcade). Several of these are 3-4 pages. We have more reviews for PS1 and 3DO, with three big ones on PC -- Descent, Dark Forces, and Heretic. And we still get at least 8 reviews each for Genesis and SNES still. Lots of great interviews and research on the Nintendo 64 and the history of Apple. Having 6-page interviews has been really nice. You didn’t see that much around this time.

Highlights From this Issue: This issue is more Atari focus. We have a 6-page interview with Nolan Bushnell, who originally founded Atari but then sold it 4 years later. He has an interesting perspective on the industry. Atari is talked about in the news section, mainly the Jag CD add-on and the Jaguar 2. VideoLogic claims its PowerVR technology has very impressive rendering capabilities. We get to see the chipset of the Saturn and PS1 side by side, and there’s talk about Apple’s Pippen – a PowerPC based CD console. Then we have the main feature, “Atari: From Boom to Bust and Back Again,” an 8-page look at the history of Atari up to this point, and there’s a short interview with Sam Tramiel, president of Atari. This is a great look at how delusional this man was at the time, seeing nothing but success in his future. One year from this issue, they would officially announce leaving the industry, but in Nov of 1995 they had numerous layoffs, signaling the end for most of us. There’s a nice interview with Gumpei Yokoi, the man who created the GameBoy and more. We also see “What’s Wrong With PC, Part Two” an interesting 10-page look at the PC industry at this time. For previews we have a good look at Looking Glass, AM2 and AM3. Along with Command & Conquer, Sim-Isle, Metal Jacket, and Tir na Nog. We finally get to see some reviews for PlayStation and Saturn (Japan versions), more 3DO and Sega CD reviews, and several PC, Genesis, and SNES reviews. The regular columns return as well, they are still the only segments that have author names throughout the magazine. No reviews, articles, or interviews have bylines (names of the writers) and this will continue for a while. Another good issue with many interviews. During an SEC Filing in April 1996, Atari disclosed that they sold approximately 125,000 units of Jaguar (from 1993-1995). And as of December 31, 1995, Atari had approximately 100,000 units of Jaguar still unsold in inventory. This was when then announced merging with JTS Corperation by July 1996, and JTS would sell off the Atari name and all of its properties to Hasbro Interactive by March of 1998.

This cover is for PlayStation, next is for the Jaguar, Ultra 64 would follow that, with PC getting the next, and 3DO after that. For being their first year, they really are trying to be fair and show they covering all the big systems of the time, instead of picking just the biggest games for 1995. Highlights From this Issue: A 6-page interview with Tom Kalinske, the head of Sega of America at the time. We get 8-pages on the PlayStation hardware this time, and coverage from the Winter CES show, where we find the Virtual Boy and some info on the Japanese launch of the PS1. We still don't have bylines (no names are displayed of those that write the previews, reviews, and articles and features), the only items that have names is the recurring columns, which traditionally in newspapers and magazines is meant to be the opinion of an individual. "Joyriding" by Bernard Yee talks about using the internet on a 28.8K modem. "Movers and Shakers" by Selby Bateman is the monthly look at business news in gaming. "Arcadia" by Marcus Web covers coin-op, like Tekken, Virtua Fighter 2 in the USA, and Virtuality machines. And "Generator" by Merk James Ramshaw looks at Apple looking to enter the gaming industry. Sounds familiar, huh? There's 5 pages on Ridge Racer, an article on the art of making music in games, called Making Tracks. Another on "What's Wrong With the PC?" which is a part-one look at the PC industry at the time (8-pages). We have previews for Toh Shin Den (ps1), Dark Forces (pc), Boxer's Road (ps1), Iron Assault (pc), Motor Toon Grand Prix (ps1), and a section and Hudson Soft. I can't mention ALL the reviews -- the 3DO has 12 reviews across 3-pages, the Jaguar had 4, the Sega CD has 6, and there's several for Genesis and SNES, along with some for the Mac. You see why so many enjoyed this magazine back then -- so many articles, columns, news, and previews to read through. Plus, this issue is 117 pages, but there's only 18 pages of ads. Your standard EGM or GamePro would have 40 pages of ads for a 120-page issue (or about, it can vary). As a kid I never minded ads, because they showed you some cool new games that you might like. And as an adult, I seem to like them even more -- but I mention it because you get a great amount of content per issue.

I got this on newsstand back in the day. Boy, did I waste some money on this! It was explained as using "exclusive 3-D technology" but the FREE glasses were attached inside the mag, like a subscription card, so you couldn't try it out beforehand. I don't know if the editor adjusted the colors to make it readable for viewers, because I remember pages that were covered in a blend of colors that I thought was hard to read without the 3-D glasses. I don't have this issue anymore so I'm not sure. I remember there where things in 3D, like some images, the borders, and the edges to the screenshots -- but otherwise it was a pointless effect. It's basically just different layers on top of each other, that's all the 3D effect is (but it's been 20 years since I looked at it last). The download itself looks like just a regular publication, with no need for glasses. The content itself is a lot of screenshots with some tips and strategies for certain games. They never made another 3D issue.

Hey, I just left a long and thoughtful comment on the "Alone in the Dark - The New Nightmare " guide that was submitted. Just remember what I said and paste those thoughts in your mind for this one too. "I never got to play this game -- blah, blah, blah. I like the art and colors... thank you and good night."

Perfect. I always wanted to play through this game, but I didn't have my copy of this guide anymore. I never played this game before, but I didn't want to use a video guide that just plays through the game. Being able to follow a guide like this is great. Thank you, complete stranger!

This mag has some great covers for its first year. Many mags would stuff their covers with lots of detail and many characters, but NextGen had a way of making them simple, but they were still eye-catching. Highlights From this Issue: This 6-page interview with Shigeru Miyamoto is a perfect look at the way the magazine is designed. Many mags would interview him over a new Zelda or Mario title being released, but NextGen instead asks more interesting questions instead of doing it just as a promotional piece or tie-in. Miyamoto offers dome great insight. We get 8-pages on the Saturn and what is planned for the launch, and we get some news about the PlayStation, Amiga, the Neptune (Genesis+32X), info on Reality Labs, and more. There's an article on a current boom of retro gamming, and what's it like playing games on the internet in 1995. The previews include Alone in the Dark 3, Road Rash 3, Absolute Zero, BioForge, Clockwork Knight, Tekken and a few more. Many previews are 2 pages long, and give you several screenshots and a good amount of info. But everything is still simple and clean -- most pages only have 2-5 screenshots for the most part, and are made of four columns that can be used for content, and usually only two were filled with text. And they didn't pack every column with stuff -- there was open spaces on the sides on many pages, so it never felt crowded like other mags. I always remember this, and I do enjoy this design today. You'll notice the reviews section uses all four columns for text, but that's because they are cramming as many as six reviews on a page, but this never bothered me. There are lots of reviews but a few highlights are Under A Killing Moon (pc), Club Drive (jaguar), Cosmic Carnage (32x), Eternal Champions CD (sega-cd), and Magic Carpet (pc). Not because they are all good games, but because they got good coverage. And you still have five pages of Genesis and SNES games. As you can see, there is so much content to each issue. This was such an exciting time during gamming history, and this mag worked very hard to deliver this level of content and energy.

Next Generation was a US videogame magazine published by Imagine Media. It was affiliated to Edge magazine from the UK, and shared editorial staff. Next Generation ran for 85 issues total (January 1995 to January 2002), and this included the 1999 redesign where they also shortened the name to NextGen. The content was "more focused on game development from an artistic perspective." Interviews featured many of those that worked in the videogame industry and were typically more focused on questions about gaming in general rather than about the details of the latest game or system they were working on. You really did not find entire pages covered with screenshots, the magazine's layout and design was very simple and clean. You would not find walkthroughs, or cheat codes either. The magazine did not use bylines (the name of the one who wrote the article), aside from the regular recurring columns. The editors explained that they felt the magazine's entire staff should share the credit or responsibility for each article and review, even those written by individuals. I really liked these differences, being a departure from most other gaming magazines. I would keep issues around because they had so many different articles I would go back to. Next Generation had a heavy matte laminated finish cover stock, unlike the glossy paper covers of others. They moved away from this cover style in early 1999, only for it to return again in late 2000. Highlights From this Issue: There is a 6-page interview with Trip Hawkings, President of the 3DO Company at this time. A look at the 32X and the Neo Geo CD launch, 3Dlabs new GLINT chip. Some of the regular columns were "Arcadia" by Marcus Webb, an ongoing look at the coin-op industry. And "Generator" from Mark James Ramshaw with a look behind the scenes of game development and rumors. There's an article on videogame violence. We have a brief look at all the consoles out and coming soon, like 3DO, CDi, N64, PlayStation, and Saturn. We have a lot of previews, followed by a number of reviews. Some platforms get several one-paragraph reviews, but a few others are a little longer. Several from 3DO, with a handful of Jaguar, CD-i and Sega CD. Even a few from Genesis and SNES. The reviews were never really in-depth, you didnt see full page reviews (at least not this early), but it was more about the articles and featured interviews. Previews used a full-page layout, so you got more info there. It's a very different feel for a gamming mag, but I enjoyed it so much I would get a subscription.

This should be the final issue for inCite PC Gaming, the magazine that tried to bolster its readership by advertising it was ONLY 99 cents per issue at launch. It wasn't a lie, but you needed to order the 12-month subscription for inCite Video Gaming at $11.88US, otherwise it was $4.99 on the newsstand. The sister publication was inCite Video Gaming which covered console games, but it also didn't last long. inCite PC Gaming was $1.99 per issue if you bought the 12-month subscription at $23.88. Plus it had a CD with demos and videos. Thanks for these issues, JimJam78. I only bought a handful of them on newsstands back in the day, but I can't remember which exact publications I had, so it's nice to have everything on the PC Gaming side of it now. Highlights From this Issue: We have the review for Diablo II (5 out of 5) followed immediately by Daikatana (3 out of 5), something you don't see often. This is a rather unremarkable PC gaming magazine for its time. It is most remembered for its celebrities on the cover that had nothing to do with gaming, for the most part. This PC version wasn't as bad as I remembered, but the console version had a different team, and the writing wasn't as good.

I'm sure there are dozens of YouTubers that have made videos for this game, but its always nice to see the official guide and the full-color artwork they put into it. This even covers the Extra Room.

I appreciate going back and making improvements in a previously-finished scan like the color, MigJmz. I'm so happy to often just get a new issue to look at, I don't care if everything lines up to the pixel or if the color has just the right balance, but the dedication to putting out a superior product overall is defiantly noticed by many. I don't understand the level of detail it takes to fine tune these little variables, but I constantly am impressed by how great the colors look in these magazines from over 20 years ago. Some of that might be the condition of the issue itself, but I'm sure a lot of work goes into it. Thank to you, and the others that take the extra time to get things "just right."

Thanks for your work on these bogusfrank. When I was buying these on newsstands, I usually stuck with the mags that I liked the most, but it's great going through these older issues to see what the others were like back then. Good work, very appreciated.

It's a shame all three of these Command & Conquer strategy guides are only displayed in black and white. The format is very basic, almost like I wouldn't be surprised if they published an online version using the same layouts. I guess 300+ pages in color would add $10 to the cost, and $25US guides don't sell well unless you're from a big property. It's nice to see these.

It's Saturday night and that only means one thing, dablais is working hard to release a handful of content for the site, working toward that Contributor of the Month trophy. Give him a thanks and some love, because he just published a 130-page guide, and two massive 300+page strategy guides, all for Command & Conquer. These must take some time to resize and get right. Good work

Thanks for a double-issue release to finish off the 2012 year of Official Xbox Magazine US. I was mostly getting my videogame news and reviews from YouTube and GameTrailers, so I didn't have magazine subscriptions going on like I once always had.