I’m a relatively recent Formula 1 fan, so I missed the era of “every company making their own F1 game.” In the past couple of years I’ve dug into the good (Bizarre Creations’ PS1 games) and the OK (Human Grand Prix and F-1 World Grand Prix on N64), but it wasn’t until an episode of the Time Extend podcast that I had even heard of Grand Prix Challenge.
The original Fantavision was the most (unfairly) dunked-on game at the the PS2’s North American launch. It may not have been the “next gen” experience people were looking for, but it was a fun, chaotic, get-in-the-zone puzzle game with a cool aesthetic. It’s not terribly surprising that the multiplayer-focused sequel, Futari no Fantavision didn’t release in North America. While third parties would go wild releasing all manner of Japanese games on PS2, Sony was weirdly reserved about first party releases- it’s honestly a wonder that the original Fantavision released in the West at all.
It’s finally here, something I have wanted for years: a single-player friendly version of classic EverQuest. I pre-ordered and I can play it right now, I just have to get past a major mental hurdle. This is a beta, and one where your character is wiped at the end.
Last week I began diving into EverQuest lore via primary print sources with the base game’s manual and original strategy guide. Now it’s time for Ruins of Kunark. Previously I had photographed all of the materials, but this time I opted to go with the scans on Archive.org. I own the original books (see pic above!), but using the scans makes it all much more readable. And there’s *a lot* to read here! Enough table setting- let’s dig into some EQ lore, starting with the manual.
Now that the PS2’s proper reveal at 1999’s Tokyo Game Show has come and gone, we’re in the print era’s wild west of hype, doubt, and misinformation about the console. It won’t be until magazines get their hands on the Japanese console in March (so April / May 2000 issues) that people’s expectations of the hardware will become reasonable. Let’s enjoy this chaotic, lost time period.
Owning a copy of a game for many years and not playing it is bad. Owning two copies of a game and not playing it is even worse. This was the case for me and Bujingai. I have owned a Japanese and a North American copy for years and it wasn’t until a few days ago that I finally played it.
As I continue to focus my attention on the PlayStation 2, I thought it would be fun to dig into some magazine coverage of the era. I decided to start in November 1999, which was when the console was formally revealed to the press and public at the Tokyo Game Show.
I’m thinking this may be an ongoing feature, so I chose 5 magazines to track month over month: Next Gen, Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), Official PlayStation Magazine (OPM), PlayStation Magazine (PSM), and GameFan. Why these particular magazines? Well, they were the ones I was reading at the time, and all provide unique perspectives.
Without any further ado, let’s start with Next Gen.
While I enjoyed the series’ PS1 predecessor, Koudelka, I never checked out the Shadow Hearts games. But in my quest to actually play some of the PS2 games I own, I decided to pop in my copy of the original Shadow Hearts.
