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.
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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.
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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.
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I’ve been slowly getting rid of some of my old console games (the ones worth anything, at least) because I just don’t have the space. I had kept collecting and putting things in boxes in my basement crawlspace with the vague hope that one day we’ll own a larger home where I could have a proper retro game / movie room. However, I’ve come to realize that probably isn’t in the cards anytime soon (or ever).
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I’m back in my PS2 era, and to kick things off I’ve been dabbling with a couple of Japan-exclusive licensed games.
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I love EverQuest. For years, Norrath was my favorite fantasy game world, so I was ecstatic to play an action-looter (my favorite genre of RPG) in that setting. What made it even better is that Champions of Norrath was from Snowblind Studios, who had released the sublime Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance on PS2 in 2001. Needless to say, for me, Champions of Norrath did not disappoint.
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