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• Last Update: April 14, 2012, at 02:05 PM
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PSX Issue 1

I was hoping to turn the "ancient magazine analysis" thing into a weekly feature, but I'm never much for keeping to schedules. Blame my work schedule, or maybe just that fact that I secretly aspire to be a slacker. Either way, I'm finally getting around to following up the Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue 1 entry with something slightly more obscure: PSX #1.

Never heard of PSX, aka PlayStation eXperience? Well, actually you probably have without realizing it -- nowadays it goes by the name Official PlayStation Magazine. Personally, I consider OPM the classiest-looking gaming publication in the US (the half-tabloid format pages are an especially nice touch). Which means that PSX #1 is the very definition of "humble roots."

This issue hearkens from the time of the PlayStation's US launch, fall 1995. What old, naive days those were, when people actually thought Battle Arena Toshinden was awesome and a port of Mortal Kombat 3 was cover-worthy. Incidentally, PSX was launched by Sendai, the parent company of EGM and was apparently bought out by Ziff-Davis along with its sister publication. I can sincerely say I don't recognize a single name in the masthead besides Steve Harris, the original publisher of EGM. But then, I'm a mere babe in this industry, so what do I know?

A little more dating -- not only is MK3 considered worthy of a cover spot, it also nets a 2/3 page write-up. The real gem here, however, is the bottom chunk of the right page in which the future (or lack thereof) of original PSOne mascot Polygon Man is discussed. Remember Polygon Man, the Lawnmower Man reject that Sony decided (for some reason) best represented the PSOne? The company did a lot of things right when it launched the system, but Polygon Man definitely wasn't among those successes.

The left page, dedicated to wide-eyed stupefaction that Sony was using the new-fangled Inter-Web for promotions, is also charming.

The review section, which is completely bizarre. Writers' real names are used throughout this issue -- except in this portion, where GamePro-style aliases are employed. As far as I can tell, the real names and faces that go with the aliases are never actually matched up within the magazine.

Also note that Toshinden is called one of the best fighting games of the year, which says a lot about the fighting game scene circa 1995.

A lengthy feature on the PlayStation launch, which actually is pretty decent. Props as well to the incredibly boring layout, which is miles beyond...

...pretty much everything in the rest of the magazine. I mean, yes, Ridge Racer. It was very exciting to see the arcade hit come home in such a refined form, but this spread looks like Quark XPress had a terrible traffic accident a few feet from the finish line. The random bits of display text really make it for me. "HIT THE ROAD, JACK!"

Ironically, I was in several design classes at the time this hit the racks. For our publication facelift project, one of my classmates chose the elegant, understated NEXT Generation magazine as being in most dire need of an overhaul while giving this and EGM a free ride. Some people.

Still, while the layout sends the "good taste" centers of my brain into spasmodic fits of apoplexy, I can't fault their enthusiasm for imports. It was admittedly borne of necessity since the US launch was a little thin for content and the Japanese system was nearly a year old and had tons of support, but any US publication with a two-page spread on Parodius is pretty much awesome.

Actually, I could envision Play running something like this. So maybe Parodius shouldn't be the sole metric for awesomeness.

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