Bowing out? (The Official UK Playstation Magazine)

Name: Aerith

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Product:	The Official UK Playstation Magazine
Date:	07/09/01 (523 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cool mag, easy to read, non biased/sexist

Disadvantages: It costs five quid..

It's not the dawn of the technological era but good things have to come to an end eventually, and well, as sad as it makes me feel, this has to come to an end too.
PSM, so devoted to their console and the games and the publishers that they have slaved away for goodness knows how long at it, all for a good cause! I have lost track of the amounts of the magazine I have, a loyal fan from day one and it brings a tear to my eye to think that I shall never again se the witty remarks and snipes of the PSM crew once PSONE makes it way to concole history and legend.

But looking at it seriously, it has had a good run. Voted as one of the best consumer guides around, intelligent reviews, debates of the top class and always leaving room open for criticism. It's the sign of a good magazine if they take that criticism, after all, we are just human after all.

I can still sit and idly flick through an old copy of psm, and smile. Over the years it has gone through some radical changes...
Look wise and crew wise. The look, in the beginning was function, glossy and with characters embossed upon the front as a mark of pride for the people who read it. After all, you can never get enough of seeing Lara Croft's backside stuck out at you <sarcasm>.
That's one thing that always annoyed me about other magazines. The blatantly sexist way they went about things. Im talking some of these other playstation magazines. Ok, so I am sure they knew what they talked about but contsantly showing half naked women, One magazine flaunted double en tendre in such a way I was utterly disgusted. Hello, girls can game just as well as boys. I may not be the best racer about, but I can damn well lay the Smackdown upon you, I rule at Tekken and Soulblade and you don't stand a chance if you even come NEAR me at Streetfighter. But oh, wait, Im also good at shooters too. Quake, MGS... need I go on? Games arent a purely male province, but also that of women too.
Get with the times some of you sexist, bigoted magazines out there! Dya really think women like showing their arses off to you? To them it's just money, to you it's a sprained wrist and an excuse for the stains on your bed covers. I know I'm getting angry but sometimes they do get on my nerves. Which is why I found PSM to be so different. Never once sexist or ruling out a sex because "they cant play" they just gave the facts and the reviews. Thats what I wanted. Thats what the public needed.
The reviews they gave were comprehensive and honest, marked simply out of ten on several accounts. Easily set out, and easy to follow for those poor people out there who suffer increments of Blonde Moments, they gave the good and the bad and weren't afraid to laugh at games! Recently they even devoted a section to released games that should get smashed and are named and shamed.
Previews were amazing, with a japanese contact they were able to get info from across the water and ells of land, from the far east, get low downs on the games and makes educated guesses as to what they would be like when they came out.
Having games lists at the back helped me a lot. I knew what game I wanted, knew what it was like but had missed the review so in the back they stuck up lists of recent RECENT games and gave small mini views on them so the concientious buyer could look at it and see what it was given marks wise and view wise. Thats how I managed to find Breath of Fire 3. Also the charts put up every month was another good way of judging not only what other people played with their "what they're playing" boxes but also of judging the crowd consumption and what they would rather see reviewed and talked about more.
Top tips and secret codes were provided by powerline, also a nifty number to call but be warned, the system can get so confusing you end up spending more money than anticipated... not like I would know of course.. ^__^

Other snippets of news and new things to come were contained in the tempting first pages, of the exhibitions they went to and stuff. I have to say, if any magazine has done more for the playstation it was PSM official.
Oh, and then there's the demo disk. I mean come on! Allows you to play and preview a game for yourself, with cool nifty competitions in the back of the mag! What are you waiting for! People out there used to be able to programme for the PS and their games were the Net Yaroze game. Im still addicted to the devilish fun of Super Bub...
I raise my hat to you... well, If I WAS wearing one I would...

PSM remains a defining mag and although soon I am planning to be a PS2 owner and will have to start buying that, I love my PS1 and will buy PSM for as long as the little grey box lives on. It's non biased and easy to read, fluid in text and manner. Try reading it, You'd be surprised...

Welcome to the Third Place ^__^

'Rith xx

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