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[kyussman]

I'm honestly surprised printed media about video games has stuck around so long after the rise of the internet.....there is so much stuff available online and you can keep up with news on an hourly basis,rather than once a month,lol.....and I say that as someone who bought these magazines every month for many years.

 

[nbkicker]

I use to buy loads of gaming magazines , especially when they use to have demo discs on them, but as time went on and the internet became faster, everything you read including reviews are always miles behind what you already no or have seen or read on the internet, cant remember last time i bought a gaming mag, although i do have apple news subscription so do get edge, official playstation and retro gamer mags every month, but its only retro gamer i actually go fully through, edge and opm i ususally quickly skip through, in this day and age unless a gaming magazine can get exclusive info on a game then dont see how they can survive

 

[SupremeHoodie]

My high school was right in front of the community library and during downtime I would cross the street and read magazines and these were fun to look at.
But that was 10 years ago.I’m surprised magazines are still a thing.

 

[SegaManAU]

Gaming magazines were such a big part of my childhood gaming memories. Before the internet took over, I'd go to the news agency weekly and read/buy gaming magazines. That's how we'd get first look at the screenshots of new games. What a time to be alive! Glad I still have a large collection of magazines.

 

[ShaikhCroft]

Edit: Wrong thread

 

[T8SC]

Can we just take a moment to acknowledge a great era of OG PS1 games, 2 listed in the mag - Wipeout & Destruction Derby.

 

[pman94]

I loved PSM2 back in the PS2 and PS3 eras. The excitement of finding out the gaming news and trailers monthly was great. Not to mention some of the issues are actually very funny to read.

 

[nbkicker]

To be honest i cant see this mag surviving much longer,i would have thought being official they would have got some info early, but now whos gonna pay £6 for photos and info you already new about and seen more then a month ago

 

[s_mirage]

To be honest i cant see this mag surviving much longer,i would have thought being official they would have got some info early, but now whos gonna pay £6 for photos and info you already new about and seen more then a month ago

Perhaps part of the problem was that they already weren't getting enough meaningful exclusives to make the license worthwhile. There are less exclusive games to write about than there were back in the PS1, PS2, and probably even PS3 eras. Hell, from the major publishers there are less games full stop.

To be honest though, I'm not terribly bullish about the successor magazine having a long and bright future either.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

Genuine question. Anyone here still subscribe to the official magazine and had their first issue of PLAY yet?

 

[Sausy1987]

Genuine question. Anyone here still subscribe to the official magazine and had their first issue of PLAY yet?

Just from easons

 

[Sausy1987]

Bought x3 copies first issue I'm trying keep one game mag alive at least

 

[JeremyEtcetera]

I swear there was a game mag called Play Magazine around 10 years ago. Guess they went broke. That was the shill mag which always had reviews scores early and every game was given a 9 or 10/10.

No, you're right, they existed and they did go broke. There were 2(now 3) different magazines known as "Play Magazine" at one point in time. TGO just posted one of them(UK one).

The second one is the post 2000s American one you're speaking of, and they were known for posting eye-catching covers, they used expensive paper, handed 9s and 10s out like candy, and contained additional articles about anime. I have a feeling that they actually inspired Game Informer to do the whole 'Artistic covers' thing because as far as I know no one else was doing clean artistic covers like Play magazine back then.

They even had a yearly swimsuit issue like Sports Illustrated:

 

[TGO]

No, you're right, they existed and they did go broke. There were 2(now 3) different magazines known as "Play Magazine" at one point in time. TGO just posted one of them(UK one).

The second one is the post 2000s American one you're speaking of, and they were known for posting eye-catching covers, they used expensive paper, handed 9s and 10s out like candy, and contained additional articles about anime. I have a feeling that they actually inspired Game Informer to do the whole 'Artistic covers' thing because as far as I know no one else was doing clean artistic covers like Play magazine back then.

They even had a yearly swimsuit issue like Sports Illustrated:

Yes the UK one ran from 1995 to April 2016
I think one issue came with the MGS2 trailer on VHS

 

[JeremyEtcetera]

Yes the UK one ran from 1995 to April 2016
I think one issue came with the MGS2 trailer on VHS

I think that VHS circulated to the US as well because I distinctly remember watching it. I just forgot which publication had it over here.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

I think that VHS circulated to the US as well because I distinctly remember watching it. I just forgot which publication had it over here.

The UK one didn’t go bust either. Must have been a US thing.

It was PSM magazine in the UK that came with the VHS.

 

[HarryKS]

I swear there was a game mag called Play Magazine around 10 years ago. Guess they went broke. That was the shill mag which always had reviews scores early and every game was given a 9 or 10/10.

There was a Play magazine. Didn't know they shifted copies in Canada however.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

Used to be this in the UK

 

[TMLT]

I know they're pretty much obsolete now, but still, the death of games mags makes me sad. There used to be so many in the ps1 and ps2 days - OPM (and its spin off Essential) CVG, Power, PSM, Play, Extreme, PSW, Arcade etc, and thats without even getting into the Nintendo, Sega, Xbox specific mags.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

Christ yeah I used to buy

Play
PSM
Official PlayStation
Extreme PlayStation
Arcade
PlayStation Pro
PSW

Just as PlayStation titles.

 

[Spaceman292]

Man I used to get these religiously throughout the PS1 era as a kid. Don't think I missed a single magazine and have all of them along with the demo disks in storage in the UK.

Simpler times.

Looking at all that stuff on your phone is probably simpler than collecting a weekly stack of paper and CDs.

 

[Sybrix]

I remember getting that sweet VHS with the MGS 2 trailer on it from one of these mags.

Ah the days when YouTube or any social media wasn't around and you had to get a VHS from a mag to watch a trailer! ha! Good times.

 

[Soodanim]

Play Magazine isn't new

I'm glad you posted this, I was doubting myself that it was called Play. I used to buy OPSM and Play as well as a guide magazine called PowerStation. They used to keep a massive index of game cheats at the back every issue. Good times.