![EDGE Issue 1](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.timeextension.com/e192804de97be/edge-issue-1.900x.jpg)
Iconic Issues is a new series we're running which takes a look back at classic magazines from the past. We're kicking things off with the first issue of a publication which is still in print today...
It's difficult to communicate the impact that the first issue of EDGE magazine had on the world of UK game journalism back in 1993. While it certainly wasn't the first magazine to take aim at more mature readers – ACE had arguably done that a few years previously, and many of the early '80s home computer magazines had been written with adults in mind, rather than children – but, coming off the back of a period of time where most publications were gunning squarely for the 'teen-and-below' crowd, EDGE felt astonishingly grown-up.
From its opening page (which famously proclaimed that "we know who you are") to its multi-page features, bespoke monochrome photography and densely packed review section, EDGE meant business. Its news section focused not just on the latest games but on the multi-million dollar business that generated them; the opening story sets its sights on Commodore and Atari's latest hardware ventures, the ill-fated Amiga CD32 and the equally doomed Jaguar.
![EDGE Issue 1](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.timeextension.com/07f4110715f43/edge-issue-1.900x.jpg)
Elsewhere, another new challenger is profiled, with Trip Hawkin's 3DO Interactive Multiplayer put under the microscope in a huge 11-page feature. Psygnosis' CD-ROM darling Microcosm – which was the issue's cover star – also gets an in-depth piece, complete with moody black-and-white photos of the development team, taken especially for EDGE. This really was a new age of game journalism, and nothing would be the same again.
The reviews portion of the magazine tried to do something different, too; each game would get a small review – usually a half-page – and then, later on, would be given additional pages for an in-depth look and loads of screenshots. It didn't quite work, and EDGE would revert to a more traditional approach for later issues. (This was also the magazine that infamously awarded Gunstar Heroes six out of ten, an oversight that we seem to recall its editorial team owning up to many years down the line.)
![EDGE Issue 1](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.timeextension.com/4f753652d44ac/edge-issue-1.900x.jpg)
EDGE, of course, endures to this very day – a truly remarkable achievement when you consider the fact that the internet has massively reduced the viability of printed media, at least in relation to video games.
The EDGE of 2023 is, of course, massively different from its 1993 counterpart, but that only goes to prove how much the industry has changed over the years (issue one featured a sci-fi soundbite from Jez San which asserted that "direct broadcast games" would become the norm in the near future. Pfft. Who would believe that).
Comments 12
Still got my copy and it feels like yesterday.
Was not impressed with the first issue, style over substance I thought, but it got better over the years.
Yeah, I remember that first issue of Edge. Pretty iconic. I actually had most of the first 100 issues or so, but I sold them for way less than they were worth at some point. Only slightly regret it.
Gunstar Heroes: A clear technical marvel in so many ways, but a game that I don't enjoy playing quite as much as marvelling at for what it's doing graphically and how much it's throwing around on-screen most of the time. Maybe Edge noticed and felt similarly when it first scored the game. Although, having said that, even then I'd give it more than a 6/10, maybe say a 7/10 or 8/10 at a push, just for the sheer technical achievement alone. It's by no means close to average though, that's for sure.
Nice idea for a regular feature, I’m always up for some mag chat! Lots of scope here I think!
I would love to read an in-depth article on the 8-bit tape wars in the late 80s/early 90s if anyone is up for that?
I have my copy but at some point in my late teens I cut out a load of words and images from it (oops)
Ooh do Super Play Gold next, mainly cos I missed out on it back in the day
Loved this article. Well done, thank you. More like this please!
im in the US, and the big ones for me growing up were GamePlayers, EGM, Nintendo Power, and to a slightly lesser extent, Next Generation and GamePro.
GamePlayers, especially before the Ultra GamePlayers reboot, was simply the best. excellent coverage of games, great taste, but also irreverence, inside jokes, oddball articles that were genuinely funny and entertaining, a great "mailbag" section, and editors that i actually grew some affection towards. to this day, i sometimes think about Bill Donahue, Patrick Baggata, Francesca Reyes, et al, and wonder what ever happened to them. I know Chris Slate eventually went to Nintendo Power and is still with them!
EGM carried the torch as GP fell out of relevance, and had its own heyday in the late 90s with MASSIVE multi hundred page issues absolutely PACKED with content, and a very talented and distinctive "review crew" of their own.
I get the impression that EDGE was on this level! enjoyed the article, thank you very much!
(PS - my all time favorite issue ever is the '96 GamePlayers with Virtua Fighter 3 on the cover, which gave me personally my first looks at VF3, final fantasy 7, metal gear solid, and super mario rpg 😊. what a time to be a young gamer!)
EDIT - F&$# YES found it!
please enjoy my childhood 🙂
https://archive.org/details/Game_Players_Issue_84_May_1996
When Edge was great, stopped buying years ago now. Mag got thinner, reviews are way to harsh most times. The amount of games I missed out on because I listened far to much to the reviews.
@-wc- "Still with them" Nintendo Power was closed at the end of 2012.
I do remember it being a meme on a stream I watch about how Sonic the Comic gave Gunstar Heroes a similarly low score (I want to say 75%). Streamer has slowly read through the comic, one issue per stream for over a year.
"Not enough boring parts!" he said to describe StC sometimes baffling reviews/scores.
But they gave Bubsy like a 91% or something (the original Bubsy seems to have widely gotten scores that might shock people whose opinion of the franchise was entirely formed by memes). They also gave Super Street Fighter II (for Mega Drive, being a Sonic comic it of course only spoke of game content on Sega consoles) a score backing up its editor's "don't waste your money" statement, 94%.
@KingMike
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2JiZAV5BmDVHtik3w5OCMMg34D-H3_ad&si=sDexQXBtP6vYMw6D ✌️
if i recall correctly (and to be fair, i was a child,) bubsy games were considered decent-to-good games until Bubsy 3D, when the whole series got memory holed right into the trash bin. 👍
i always thought they kinda sucked though lol.
(edit- if its not obvious, thats chris slate hosting the "nintendo power podcast," and he has been doing it for years.)
I love looking through old magazines from the 90s-early 2000s era of video games. They are amazing time capsules, and it's really interesting to see how games rated back in the day. It's also nice because I was born in 1988, so my reading ability wasn't so good in the first few years of the 90s, so I missed out on a lot of those magazines. It was just pictures to me at the time! haha.
I had NO idea that Next Generation magazine here in the US was a British import! I've long since known that England makes some of the best magazines, having been reading most of the UK's motorcycle magazines for over 20 years. But I thought we (the US) had our own iconic game mags (Diehard Gamefan comes to mind).
Next Gen quickly became my favorite, as I was at that age when it debuted (almost out of high school) and my tastes were changing to more mature stuff. I left Gamepro behind and subbed to Next Generation until the end of the 90s. I'm just genuinely shocked it was Edge renamed for stateside readers...
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