PlayStation: The Official Magazine

Last updated
PlayStation The Official Magazine logo.png
Opm COVER.jpg
The first issue of PTOM
Editor-in-chiefRoger Burchill
CategoriesGaming
Frequency13 issues a year
Publisher Future plc / Future US
First issueSeptember 1997 (1997-09)
Final issueDecember 25, 2012 (2012-12-25)
Country United States
Based inSouth San Francisco, CA
LanguageEnglish
ISSN 1940-0721

PlayStation: The Official Magazine (PTOM) was a magazine originally known as PlayStation Magazine (PSM), becoming PlayStation: The Official Magazine in late 2007. PlayStation: The Official Magazine was published 13 times a year by Future plc until its cancellation in late 2012. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

PSM's UK-based partner magazine, PSM3 , was another Future publication.

History

PSM: 100% Independent PlayStation Magazine

The first issue of PSM PSM issue 1 cover.jpg
The first issue of PSM
A cover near the end of the magazine's run as PSM PSM Jul06 cover.jpg
A cover near the end of the magazine's run as PSM

Prior to becoming the official magazine, PSM was an independently published video game magazine specializing in all Sony PlayStation-brand video game consoles and handheld gaming platforms. PSM was published by Future, who also publishes PlayStation Official Magazine .

The magazine launched with the September 1997 issue, which featured Final Fantasy VII on the cover. During its publication, it consistently outsold every other PlayStation-dedicated magazine both in the United States and abroad (according to independent ABC audits).[ citation needed ]

PSM celebrated ten years of publication with its 2007 issue. By this time, the magazine had been through several redesigns, most recently with its June 2006 issue. Also over its history, the magazine had sponsored side content such as cover-mounted DVDs, websites, online forums, and near the end, a PSM podcast. [4]

PlayStation: The Official Magazine

After Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine was discontinued, Sony Computer Entertainment announced on October 1, 2007 that PSM would become PlayStation: The Official Magazine.

The last issue published under the PSM title was that of December 2007, becoming PlayStation: The Official Magazine with the following Christmas 2007 issue. While it did retain the same staff for a period of time lasting from December 2007 until January 2008, it eventually lost its remaining core editors, making PTOM a completely different magazine from the former PSM.

Due to the same setbacks that caused the cancelations of other video game magazines published by Future (mostly prominently Nintendo Power ), the magazine ceased publication after 15 years (5 as PlayStation: The Official Magazine) with its Christmas 2012 issue. [1] [2] [3]

Mascots and promotion

Banzai Chibi-Chan was something of a mascot in the first few years of PSM. Banzai Chibi-Chan head.png
Banzai Chibi-Chan was something of a mascot in the first few years of PSM.

In the beginning, PSM had an anime-style mascot named "Banzai Chibi-Chan", created and illustrated by Robert DeJesus. He was featured prominently in early issues and even inspired apparel and other accessories. He was later dropped, with the supposed reason being that the character was too childish and gave some the wrong impression about the magazine's intended audience.[ citation needed ]

A smiley face featuring an eye patch with a star on it was also used, but it too was eventually dropped after the magazine went through redesign in later years. The PSM Smiley Face was notable for its appearance throughout the magazine, as well as on "lid-sticker" inserts (large, circular stickers that could be placed decoratively on the lid of a PlayStation console), including one found in the first issue.

Some lid-stickers promotionally featured characters from PlayStation games being covered in the magazine. Other inserts included PlayStation memory card label stickers featuring visual themes similar to the lid-stickers, as well as video game tip sheets, instead of the demo discs that then-competitor Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine was known for.

As PTOM, from the July 2008 issue to the June 2009 issue, the magazine included promotional codes for free downloads of Qore , a subscription-based interactive online magazine for the PlayStation 3, available through the PlayStation Store. These free, promotional editions of Qore did not include some of the features available in the paid-for edition, such as playable demos. PTOM also had promotional pullout-style posters from time to time, to help advertise upcoming video game releases.

Related Research Articles

<i>Game Informer</i> American monthly video game magazine

Game Informer is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 when video game retailer FuncoLand started publishing an in-house newsletter. The publication is now owned and published by GameStop, who bought FuncoLand in 2000. Due to this, a large amount of promotion is done in-store, which has contributed to the success of the magazine. As of June 2017, it is the 5th most popular magazine by copies circulated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PlayStation Portable</span> Handheld game console by Sony

The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, and is the first handheld installment in the PlayStation line of consoles. As a seventh generation console, the PSP competed with the Nintendo DS.

<i>Nintendo Power</i> American video game magazine and podcast

Nintendo Power was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Nintendo of America, then independently, and in December 2007 contracted to Future US, the American subsidiary of British publisher Future. Its 24–year production run is one of the longest of all video game magazines in the United States and Canada.

<i>Electronic Gaming Monthly</i> American video game magazine

Electronic Gaming Monthly is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews.

Game Players is a defunct monthly video game magazine founded by Robert C. Lock in 1989 and originally published by Signal Research in Greensboro, North Carolina.

<i>Edge</i> (magazine) UK video game magazine

Edge is a multi-format video game magazine published by Future plc. It is a UK-based magazine and publishes 13 issues annually. The magazine was launched by Steve Jarratt. It has also released foreign editions in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

<i>Computer and Video Games</i> UK magazine and website

Computer and Video Games was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website was launched in 1999 and closed in February 2015. CVG was the longest-running video game media brand in the world.

<i>Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine</i> Video game magazine

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine was a monthly video game magazine, published by Ziff Davis Media. It was a sister publication of Electronic Gaming Monthly. The magazine focused exclusively on PlayStation hardware, software, and culture, covering the original PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. Each issue included a disc that contained playable demos and videos of PlayStation games. The magazine had a nearly ten-year run. The first issue, cover dated October 1997, was published September 23, 1997, while the final issue was cover dated January 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Future US</span> American media company

Future US, Inc. is an American media corporation specializing in targeted magazines and websites in the video games, music, and technology markets. Headquartered in New York City, the corporation has offices in: Alexandria, Virginia; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Washington, D.C. Future US is owned by parent company, Future plc, a specialist media company based in Bath, Somerset, England.

<i>PlayStation Magazine</i> (Italy)

PlayStation Magazine, also known by the acronym PSM, is an Italian video game magazine specializing in all Sony video game consoles and handheld gaming platforms. The magazine features previews, reviews, and cheat codes for Sony games.

PSM3 was a video game magazine specializing in all Sony video game consoles and handheld gaming platforms. It was published by Future plc, a UK-based publishing company.

<i>PlayStation Official Magazine – UK</i> Video game magazine

PlayStation Official Magazine – UK, generally abbreviated as OPM, was a magazine based in the United Kingdom that covered PlayStation news created in 2006. Although the first issue was distributed in three-month intervals, from Issue 2 onward, it became a monthly segment. From Issue 7 to Issue 84, the magazine came with a playable Blu-ray disc; it primarily covered PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, PlayStation VR and PlayStation 5 games and material. It also covered PlayStation Vita material. The magazine covered PlayStation, as well as all aspects of HD media in lesser detail.

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a division of Sony; the first PlayStation console was released in Japan in December 1994, and worldwide the following year.

<i>Splatterhouse</i> (2010 video game) 2010 video game

Splatterhouse is a horror-themed beat 'em up hack and slash video game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games in 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is a reimagining and a reboot of the original Splatterhouse which was released in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qore (PlayStation Network)</span> Interactive online magazine for the PlayStation Network

Qore was a monthly subscription-based interactive online magazine for the PlayStation Network and replaces the Jampack series of disks offered by PlayStation Underground. Available only in North America, the service offered high definition videos, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage pertaining to upcoming and recently released PlayStation games. It also offered exclusive access to game demos and betas. The product was available to download to the PlayStation 3 from the PlayStation Store, where users were able to choose to purchase individual episodes or an annual, 13-episode subscription. PlayStation Plus subscribers received Qore free of charge for the duration of their subscription. The magazine was presented by Veronica Belmont & Audrey Cleo and later Jesse 'Blaze' Snider & Tiffany Smith.

<i>Uncharted 2: Among Thieves</i> 2009 video game

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the second game in the Uncharted series and was released in October 2009 for PlayStation 3. Set two years after the events of Drake's Fortune (2007), the single-player story follows Nathan Drake, Chloe Frazer, and Elena Fisher as they search for the Cintamani Stone and Shambhala while battling a militia led by war criminal Zoran Lazarević.

<i>Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley</i> 2010 video game

Comic Jumper is an action video game developed by Twisted Pixel Games published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released for the Xbox 360 via the Xbox Live Arcade Marketplace on October 6, 2010. It is the third original game created by Twisted Pixel following The Maw and 'Splosion Man, all three of which are exclusive to Xbox Live Arcade.

<i>FirstPlay</i> Online video game magazine

FirstPlay was a video gaming online magazine published by Future Publishing for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. It was produced by the team behind PlayStation Official Magazine and features video reviews and previews and screenshots of upcoming and recently released PlayStation 3 games. Episodes were released weekly on the PlayStation Store where users could choose to purchase a single episode or a 90-day subscription at a discounted rate.

<i>Red Faction: Armageddon</i> 2011 video game

Red Faction: Armageddon is a third-person shooter video game developed by Volition and published by THQ in association with the TV network Syfy. It is the fourth and final installment in the Red Faction series, and was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in various countries around the world between June 7 and June 10, 2011.

<i>TNA Impact!: Cross The Line</i> (video game) 2010 video game

TNA Impact!: Cross the Line is a professional wrestling video game for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and Nintendo DS consoles, released by SouthPeak Games in June 2010 The game is a port of TNA Impact!, a game originally developed by Midway Studios Los Angeles and Point of View, Inc., released by Midway Games in the fall of 2008. The PSP version is largely the same as the 2008 release, though the Nintendo DS version was specially configured by DoubleTap Games.

References

  1. 1 2 Santos, Alexis (7 November 2012). "PlayStation: The Official Magazine being shuttered, will say farewell with holiday issue". Engadget (Joystiq). Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  2. 1 2 Reilly, Jim (6 November 2012). "PlayStation The Official Magazine Closing". Game Informer. GameStop Corporation. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  3. 1 2 Conditt, Jessica (6 November 2012). "PlayStation: The Official Magazine shut down, final issue this holiday". Engadget (Joystiq). Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  4. "Archived version of PSMPodcast.com". Internet Archive . Archived from the original on 2008-09-14. Retrieved 6 December 2012.

Archived PlayStation: The Official Magazines on the Internet Archive