PSW is one of many Playstation/Playstation2 magazines. With the PC it’s a different matter altogether of course as there isn’t such a thing as an ‘official’ magazine but with consoles of course the ‘official’ magazines usually rule the roost.
Sony have certainly made that the case with the official Playstation and Playstation 2 magazines as they are the only ones that can provide playable demo discs with the mag. You would think that based on this the other magazines would struggle to compete but that has been proven entirely wrong by PSW magazine.

For starters PSW is £3.49 instead of £4.99 and it still includes a DVD although as mentioned above it doesn’t contain any playable games. What it does include though (generally) is over an hour of games footage, news and reviews – more about the DVD later though.

The Mag:
As with almost all magazines the format isn’t anything out of the ordinary.
It’s a glossy mag that has a definite ‘quality’ feel about it and the screenshots and written information is very good throughout.
At the beginning the index is found (which is of course very sensible I’m sure you’ll agree even if you’re occasionally know to think stupid thoughts!).
Nothing too in depth about the index, just covering the main parts of the magazine:

Global – What’s going on the world of PS2, all the latest rumours, news snippets and screenshots. If it’s just happened then this is where you will find out about it.

Previews – An essential part of any magazine, here you can see the latest official info on games that are due to emerge in the very near future. It usually gives a rough idea of how good the finished product should be. The previews are very detailed although you’ll find that the more highly anticipated games will of course get the larger portion of coverage.

Reviews R
11; This is what it’s all about. Are you going to spend £40 on a dodgy game? Not if PSW can help it. The reviews are probably the crucial part of any magazine and PSW appear to speak their mind when it’s felt necessary. They don’t mind praising a title if it’s good though so you can be sure that you’ll know if they like it or not. The ratings are very simple (out of ten) and there are three categories on which the games are judged – Graphics, Sound and Lifespan as well as a short list of good and bad points. Very much like a Dooyoo review really (and we all know that this can’t be a bad thing!!).

There is a PSone section too so if you’re still partial to the occasional older title you can find out about what’s hot or not here. A readers section is present as of course is a help and tips section if you’re struggling on a particular title. A walkthrough is given for a couple of games each issue too just in case you’re having some serious trouble. The walkthroughs are for recent titles too so don’t panic if you’ve got the latest game and you’re stuck.

Other than that the magazine contains a ‘browser’ section which gives you information about various bits of entertainment including DVD movie releases and gadgets that are available for the lovely PS2.

The DVD:
Each month PSW comes complete with a DVD.
What can I say about this? Well, it’s VERY impressive that’s for certain. You can play it on a DVD player or your PS2 so it's also a good way to see how good it all is before you buy a PS2 if you're still not convinced. There is around an hour of content and the transfer from the original source appears to be almost perfect. Recently there has been much attention for the imminent release of Gran Turismo 3 and there has been plenty of footage on the DVD including a multi-angle option where you can choose between the on-car an
d replay view.
Even the start-up screen for the disc is very impressive and you wouldn’t be ashamed if this was how the actual console started up!! From the main menu (along with decent music) you can choose the various options including News, Previews and Reviews as well as a back catalogue of PS2 info.

Forget the magazine, the DVD is worth the cover price alone so for the mag AND DVD £3.49 is an excellent price. You can of course subscribe but the saving is absolutely minimal. (£35.88 for 12 issues)

If you want an honest and impartial opinion backed up with quality text and pictures then this is definitely the mag for you. If you MUST have playable demos then get the official mag too but at this price PSW is an essential companion for every PS2 owner.
MR.COATES