PlayStation Official Magazine – UK

• 1. Introduction

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  In February 1999, PlayStation Official Magazine - UK, known to readers as OPM, recorded 453,571 sales for issue 42, which carried Metal Gear Solid on its cover. According to ABC, that record beat FHM, Maxim and Loaded, the biggest lads' magazines in the country. A magazine about one console brand had out-sold titles aimed at a far wider audience. OPM began in 1995 and kept covering PlayStation news as Sony's hardware moved through several generations, eventually reaching the PlayStation 5. This documentary asks how a debut that sold 37,000 copies became the best-selling videogames magazine in the world. It asks what the editors changed to keep readers, how they judged the games they loved, and why a title with that history was eventually retired and relaunched under a new name.

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• 2. Climbing The Charts

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  The Official UK PlayStation Magazine launched in November 1995 to coincide with the arrival of the PlayStation console, and its first issue sold 37,000 copies. Growth was quick. By the middle of 1997, the magazine, then abbreviated PSM, was selling more than 150,000 issues every month. It went on to become the best-selling PlayStation magazine in the United Kingdom and the best-selling videogames magazine in the world.

  The abbreviation changed roughly halfway through the run. In the fourth quarter of 2000, a different magazine called PSM2 launched, and the official title switched to OPM to avoid confusing the two. Across its life, the look of the pages was reworked three times: issues 1 to 51, issues 52 to 72, and issues 73 to 108.

  The run ended with the 108th issue, which reached news stands in March 2004. Before that, the magazine had won the Industry Dinner Magazine of the Year Award in both 1998 and 1999.

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• 3. The PS2 Sibling

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  In December 2000, a sequel title called Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine, or OPS2, went on sale at an original price of 4.99 pounds. It was timed to match the launch of the PlayStation 2 console, and each month it came with a cover-mounted playable demo DVD. It ran for 100 issues, and the last went on sale in July 2008. At its peak in 2002, it reached 197,348 readers, which made it the best-selling PlayStation 2 magazine in the UK.

  In 2004, the magazine won the Industry Dinner Magazine of the Year Award, and its publication also took MCV's Magazine Team of the Year Award.

  The editors never settled on one audience. Issues 1 to 25, from December 2000 to October 2002, were built for early adopters, meaning hardcore gamers and readers who had crossed over from the original PlayStation title. Issue 26 brought a full redesign aimed at a more mainstream audience.

  From issue 34, the team tried to win back a young male readership like that of the independent PlayStation magazines of the 1990s. They decided to "review" readers' girlfriends and their mothers, and they ran more images of scantily-clad women, even including nudity. Readers responded with mixed feelings, and the readership did not grow much. Another redesign arrived with issue 42, and for the next three years the magazine avoided an overtly male or hardcore stance.

  In its final year, the PlayStation 2 entered a more family-friendly stage. From issue 90, OPS2 turned its attention to new PS2 owners and younger gamers.

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• 4. Inside An Issue

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  From issue 1 to issue 51, the original magazine followed a fixed running order that began with StartUp. That section ran through the games on the cover disc and carried the editor's letter. Next came Update, which delivered news, interviews and first looks. A loading bar percentage rose with each page, like a game loading on screen.

  PrePlay held the previews, and PlayTest held the reviews. Letters sat near the front at first and later moved to the back, into a section called Down Loading. The Cheats pages were later renamed Top Secret, and they were printed on recycled paper.

  OPS2 had its own map. Spy covered news and announcements, and Monitor offered previews chosen by reader vote. Replay looked back at earlier reviewed titles with an A to Z of reviews and cheats, and Comedown reviewed DVDs and music.

  The later PlayStation 3 era magazine settled on another set of recurring segments. The Big 10 discussed the ten most momentous pieces of PlayStation news. Agenda carried sales charts for all three major PlayStation platforms, and it also hosted Culture, where super fans showed off their art, models and tributes. Contact printed reader letters and emails, along with a corner called "what's on my hard drive". A Directory section offered a Buyer's Guide to games and to HDTVs.

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• 5. Scores And Gold Awards

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  Wipeout was the first game the original magazine reviewed, and it received 8/10. The last was Ford Truck Mania, which earned 7/10. OPS2 opened with Tekken Tag Tournament, also at 8/10, and closed with SBK-08: Superbike World Championship, at 7/10.

  In the later era, each new game was usually assigned to one reviewer. Sometimes another staff member added a "2up", which gave a second opinion. Some reviews used pie charts to show what a game contained, and score poles compared one game with others and described its influences. A "dev talk" box gave the developer a short statement. All scores were out of ten.

  The highest accolade was the Gold Award. It went to games the staff believed "demonstrates significant innovation, near-flawless gameplay, great graphics and long-lasting appeal." A perfect 10 was not required. Winners on the PlayStation 3 included Grand Theft Auto IV, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Heavy Rain, Red Dead Redemption and LittleBigPlanet.

  Tomb Raider: Anniversary won on the PlayStation 2. God of War: Chains of Olympus and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions won on the PlayStation Portable.

  The harshest verdict was a 0, given to the DVD version of Time Traveler, the only game ever to receive that mark.

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• 6. Readers' Verdicts

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  In issue 50, dated October 2010, the magazine published the results of a readers poll on the greatest PlayStation title ever released. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves took first place. Metal Gear Solid was second, Final Fantasy VII third, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City fourth. Resident Evil 4 closed the top ten.

  The staff had made its own list years earlier, in the final March 2004 issue of the original magazine. Called Desert Island Games, it ranked the top ten PlayStation games of all time. ISS Pro Evolution 2 from Konami and KCE Tokyo, released in 2001, came first. Metal Gear Solid, released in 1999, came second, and Tomb Raider, released in 1996, third.

  Gran Turismo 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and Resident Evil 2 followed. PaRappa the Rapper, Medal of Honor, Circuit Breakers and Tekken 2 completed the ten.

  After the magazine took on a new look, it began a Hall of Fame for each platform. The Last of Us led the PlayStation 3 list and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End led PlayStation 4. Demons Souls topped PlayStation 5, Rez Infinite topped PlayStation VR, and Tearaway topped the Vita list.

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• 7. Irish And Australian Cousins

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  In May 2000, Ireland got its own version when TP Media published the first issue of Official PlayStation Magazine - Ireland, or OIPM. Two things drove the decision. Ireland had a large PlayStation adoption rate, and import fees pushed the price of the UK magazine, published by Future Publishing, as high as 9.99 Irish pounds.

  The first three issues used the same cover as the UK title. After that, the writing came from a team in Ireland headed by Kevin MacDermot. Some features were taken directly from the UK edition, including the A-Z section, although later entries drew on OIPM's own reviews.

  Australia took a different route. PlayStation Official Magazine - Australia, published by Future Australia, issued its first issue in March 2007. Its roots go back to the original PlayStation console, when it was named Official Australian PlayStation Magazine. It then became Official PlayStation 2 Magazine-Australia. With the arrival of the PlayStation 3, it was renamed again to its current title, which is also often abbreviated to OPM.

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• 8. Blu-ray And Retirement

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  In the PlayStation 3 years, the demo disc carried game demos and other PlayStation material that had to be downloaded and installed onto the console's hard drive. Some demos were also available on the PlayStation Network, but certain discs held exclusive material. The disc later changed form. From issue 7 to issue 84, each issue came with a playable Blu-ray disc. By then the coverage centered on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, PlayStation VR and PlayStation 5, with some attention to the PlayStation Vita and a lesser share for HD media.

  As of issue 140, the team listed on the first page was Ian Dean as editor, Milford Coppock as managing art editor, and Miriam McDonald as operations editor. Oscar Taylor-Kent was games editor, and Jessica Kinghorn was staff writer.

  On the 30th of April 2021, GamesRadar+ announced that the Official PlayStation Magazine title would end. Its statement said that "along with Sony we felt that the Official PlayStation Magazine had finally earned a well-deserved retirement." The magazine would relaunch as Play with the same staff. Existing subscribers would stay subscribed, though issue numbering would start again.

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