Silver Arrows
Banned
Considering that gaming now is mostly now confined to the internet, with places like GAF, Twitter, and various enthusiasts hotspots on Reddit and the like bring us the reviews, info, and stories on gaming we crave, it's interesting to look back at the past, where magazines and internet sites shared the news bringing duties.
I myself have been extremely interested in collecting old gaming magazines for a while now, especially of the magazines that made up my youth, growing up in the early 2000's. As a result, I remember a lot more of the Electronic Gaming Monthly's, Gamepro's, and other magazines that were present in this era then maybe other older Gaffers, who may have read magazines when they were the defacto source for gaming news, reviews, and other things.
Today, I am going to be running through one of the magazines I remember the most from this era: Official US Playstation Magazine.
First off, a quick primer on OPM US, courtesy of Wikipedia:
Ziff Davis, for those who might be wondering, were the owners of various hobbyist publications and sites, and currently own IGN, and were the recent owners of the deceased Gametrailers site. They were also the owners of the long lauded 1UP.com, for those who remember those days. Also apparently owned Car & Driver as well, didn't know that.
(As a sidenote, I apologize for any horizontal images present within this thread. It was the best way to show off the magazine.)
This is the earliest issue I have still in my possession, August 2004. As you can obviously see, Madden 2005 is the main draw for this issue, though it also shares a review with it's sister title, NCAA Football 2005. One of the things that is most notable about US OPM right off the bat is the generally minimalist covers. In this general era of OPM from about 2004 to 2006 is the lack of blurbs and clutter that was present on a bunch of other gaming magazines of the time period. And I really do appreciate that, as it allows the magazine to really pop out if you were seeing it in a news stand back in 2004 or what have you. In fact, it is quite reminiscent of what Game Informer currently is doing with regards to using key concept art or big, wide open cover shots.
An ad for the second billing title for the month, NCAA Football 2005.
Contents page. Again, that minimalist design style that was present with the cover is here as well.
Core staff of OPM in this era. Some might be familiar (I believe Giancarlo Varinini was present at Gamespot back in the early 2000's) and I believe they kept the majority of this staff up to the last issue they produced in 2007, with the only real change being John Davison being ousted as editor-in-chief to Tom Byron.
Hype section. Basically a round up of interviews, gaming news, and what have you. As it might be seen, this Hype's main focus, in the first few pages at least, is focused on E3 2004.
Rundown of one of the MGS 3 trailers released around this time. Featuring time stamps, witty commentary, and guesses on the game's story.
Ad I thought was hilarious. Even in 2004, Mountain Dew was seemingly pandering to the 'l33t gamer' crowd, that, or Green Lantern cosplayers.
Big write up on the sort of 'urbanization' of gaming that was taking place in the early 2000's. Featured blurbs on such games as GTA San Andreas, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (It should be noted that Marc Ecko serves as one of the main voices of the piece) and Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition.
Look ahead to the original PSP with interviews on various industry figureheads who had projects in the pipe, including Yuji Naka for Sonic and Puyo Pop. It should be mentioned that this is yet another supposed showing of the fabled Gran Turismo PSP game, which, as we all know, spent an eternity and a day in development hell, and came out years after the PSP was semi-viable.
Starting page for the Madden 2005 review, which truly is a blowout. Disregarding the creepy photo of Ray Lewis (Insert your best 'Ray Lewis killed a man' quips) once again, there is a sort of minimalist design philosophy present all throughout the magazine. This blowout of Madden also includes an interview with both Lewis and John Madden himself, a bunch of fun extra stuff (including the developers commenting on the legendary greatness that is Michael Vick and the Falcons in Madden 2004), and then the actual review. (Madden 2005 is August's Game of the Month, by the way)
Again, similar blowout for the review of NCAA 2005. Included is a lot of focus on Larry Fitzgerald (Who was the cover athlete) alongside an accompanying interview with the cover boy.
The reason why most people remember OPM: the demo discs. This month, the big focus for demos is a slice of the underrated (and scary as fuck, mind you) Japanese horror game Siren. Also included is NBA Ballers, Midway's NBA Street challenger from this era.
Movie reviews. This part of the magazine was handled by John Scalzi, science fiction author and all around great writer. If you want his Twitter, it's here. Most of the time, the reviews will focus on the big movies being released on DVD that month, of course, the big one for August being the first Hellboy.
Finally, after a section that mostly deals with lists and hints for various games (For August, includes tips on being better at Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow's Spies vs. Mercenaries online mode, and Front Mission 4) this is the final page. Basically, a rewind to the month earlier in it's history, which, in this case, is August 1999. Basically runs down the cover story, the review highlight and lowlights, who topped the sales chart for the month (Which for August, was Ridge Racer Type 4) and then a caption contest.
Finally, the back ad for the magazine, which is Onimusha 3.
-----------------------------------------
So, that's about all that I have. I didn't want to clutter the thread with a bunch of quote wrapped images (Considering this is up to 15 already!) So I ask you GAF, do you remember the 2004 era OPM?
I myself have been extremely interested in collecting old gaming magazines for a while now, especially of the magazines that made up my youth, growing up in the early 2000's. As a result, I remember a lot more of the Electronic Gaming Monthly's, Gamepro's, and other magazines that were present in this era then maybe other older Gaffers, who may have read magazines when they were the defacto source for gaming news, reviews, and other things.
Today, I am going to be running through one of the magazines I remember the most from this era: Official US Playstation Magazine.
First off, a quick primer on OPM US, courtesy of Wikipedia:
Ziff Davis, for those who might be wondering, were the owners of various hobbyist publications and sites, and currently own IGN, and were the recent owners of the deceased Gametrailers site. They were also the owners of the long lauded 1UP.com, for those who remember those days. Also apparently owned Car & Driver as well, didn't know that.
(As a sidenote, I apologize for any horizontal images present within this thread. It was the best way to show off the magazine.)
This is the earliest issue I have still in my possession, August 2004. As you can obviously see, Madden 2005 is the main draw for this issue, though it also shares a review with it's sister title, NCAA Football 2005. One of the things that is most notable about US OPM right off the bat is the generally minimalist covers. In this general era of OPM from about 2004 to 2006 is the lack of blurbs and clutter that was present on a bunch of other gaming magazines of the time period. And I really do appreciate that, as it allows the magazine to really pop out if you were seeing it in a news stand back in 2004 or what have you. In fact, it is quite reminiscent of what Game Informer currently is doing with regards to using key concept art or big, wide open cover shots.
An ad for the second billing title for the month, NCAA Football 2005.
Contents page. Again, that minimalist design style that was present with the cover is here as well.
Core staff of OPM in this era. Some might be familiar (I believe Giancarlo Varinini was present at Gamespot back in the early 2000's) and I believe they kept the majority of this staff up to the last issue they produced in 2007, with the only real change being John Davison being ousted as editor-in-chief to Tom Byron.
Hype section. Basically a round up of interviews, gaming news, and what have you. As it might be seen, this Hype's main focus, in the first few pages at least, is focused on E3 2004.
Rundown of one of the MGS 3 trailers released around this time. Featuring time stamps, witty commentary, and guesses on the game's story.
Ad I thought was hilarious. Even in 2004, Mountain Dew was seemingly pandering to the 'l33t gamer' crowd, that, or Green Lantern cosplayers.
Big write up on the sort of 'urbanization' of gaming that was taking place in the early 2000's. Featured blurbs on such games as GTA San Andreas, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (It should be noted that Marc Ecko serves as one of the main voices of the piece) and Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition.
Look ahead to the original PSP with interviews on various industry figureheads who had projects in the pipe, including Yuji Naka for Sonic and Puyo Pop. It should be mentioned that this is yet another supposed showing of the fabled Gran Turismo PSP game, which, as we all know, spent an eternity and a day in development hell, and came out years after the PSP was semi-viable.
Starting page for the Madden 2005 review, which truly is a blowout. Disregarding the creepy photo of Ray Lewis (Insert your best 'Ray Lewis killed a man' quips) once again, there is a sort of minimalist design philosophy present all throughout the magazine. This blowout of Madden also includes an interview with both Lewis and John Madden himself, a bunch of fun extra stuff (including the developers commenting on the legendary greatness that is Michael Vick and the Falcons in Madden 2004), and then the actual review. (Madden 2005 is August's Game of the Month, by the way)
Again, similar blowout for the review of NCAA 2005. Included is a lot of focus on Larry Fitzgerald (Who was the cover athlete) alongside an accompanying interview with the cover boy.
The reason why most people remember OPM: the demo discs. This month, the big focus for demos is a slice of the underrated (and scary as fuck, mind you) Japanese horror game Siren. Also included is NBA Ballers, Midway's NBA Street challenger from this era.
Movie reviews. This part of the magazine was handled by John Scalzi, science fiction author and all around great writer. If you want his Twitter, it's here. Most of the time, the reviews will focus on the big movies being released on DVD that month, of course, the big one for August being the first Hellboy.
Finally, after a section that mostly deals with lists and hints for various games (For August, includes tips on being better at Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow's Spies vs. Mercenaries online mode, and Front Mission 4) this is the final page. Basically, a rewind to the month earlier in it's history, which, in this case, is August 1999. Basically runs down the cover story, the review highlight and lowlights, who topped the sales chart for the month (Which for August, was Ridge Racer Type 4) and then a caption contest.
Finally, the back ad for the magazine, which is Onimusha 3.
-----------------------------------------
So, that's about all that I have. I didn't want to clutter the thread with a bunch of quote wrapped images (Considering this is up to 15 already!) So I ask you GAF, do you remember the 2004 era OPM?
