Let us celebrate Edge's 25th Anniversary

[Benny]

I remember when Resi 4 got a 10. Oh wait.

[elyuw]

19 hours ago, amc said:

This was the first issue I bought, it jumped out at me in WHSmiths in Bedford. After reading it from cover to cover I subsequently ordered back issues 2 - 5 (1 wasn't available unfortunately). I've read at least something from every issue since, although I skip huge chucks of it these days as I'm not that into most modern stuff and hardware doesn't change very often anymore so it's not as exciting as it was in the 90s and 2000s, plus obviously the Internet has meant you're aware of things long before Edge hits the shelves.

 

I could probably cancel my subscription and not miss it, but something stops me as though I'd be giving up on the hobby of gaming and I'm so not.

[Qazimod]

Unfortunately we didn't start buying the magazine until around issue 106  (early 2002) - it was actually my brother who first got into the magazine and I remember it being one of the last issues with the Dreamcast in the list of formats on the cover. For us as gamers it still seemed like we were in a bit of a transition period towards the sixth-generation, but also it was a time where I could afford new games a little more easily, so a magazine like this was actually worth reading for once! I think in '93 I was probably reading the final issues of Commodore Format, or maybe Sega Power/Mean Machines when we transitioned to 16-bit.

 

I also joined the Edge forum in 2002, and whilst there were some heated conversations in certain areas, the Retro folder was always full of awesome folk (shoutouts to alexhighnumber, Jim Miles, isogashii et al). I also remember the era of archiving reviews online, and it's a shame that it was never expanded. I don't have the magazine anymore, but I think it was their review of the original PS2 release of Persona 3 that prompted me to impulse-buy the game in an indie store (with no other knowledge of the series) and turn into the series fan I am now.  

 

As for the scores - I think it was only Kabuki Warriors that ever scored a 1... and part of me almost wants to try ordering an old copy (it's backwards compatible) just to discover the horror. Not really though.  Also - even though it was before I started buying the magazine - talk of a 6 for SFIII 3rd raised an eyebrow (but admittedly the brilliance of that game wasn't really in the public consciousness before Evo Moment 37.) Those 10s? Most of them seem pretty accurate... I think in hindsight GTA IV isn't nearly as much of a 10 as V is, but nobody knew that V would be such a massive leap. I'll even defend "low" scores for personal favourites of mine - because I can pick holes if I want to.

 

Also, there was almost a charming naivety in the magazine's tendency to jump on hot new technology and talk it up, despite some of that technology bombing so hard. Call it shilling if you must, but the open-minded attitude was refreshing in an era of format wars and bickering.

[Broken Thumbs]

First copy of Edge i ever bought was issue 92:

 

 

I mean, Jesus, just look at it. It practically screamed off the shelf at me. The article pretty much kicked off my love of the game and the Dreamcast, and i've been reading ever since. 
 

Just a well written magazine - often its the articles that i've left for last that turn out to be the best bits. 

 

[David Kenny]

I recycled my entire collection a few years ago, which (based on the covers I recognise) would have started at issue 8. I was sorry to see them go but they were just taking up so much room. I keep hoping an official online archive will appear to reassure me that I haven't made a huge mistake.

 

I would have been in my early 20s and dirt poor when I started reading it and for me it was a way of vicariously playing games I couldn't possibly afford. I used to pore over every screenshot and every article was re-read multiple times. I did somehow manage to get hold of a Pentium 120 PC and a SNES at some point in the following years and finally got to try some of the games I'd been reading about. But of course technology moves on and the magazine was now full of Playstation and N64 games, so reading it was still a way of experiencing things out of my financial reach. 

 

Eventually I got a job on what then seemed a great salary, and the day I got my first pay check I went into the centre of town and bought an N64 with Super Mario 64 based on entirely on the Edge review of that game. It was more money than I'd ever spent on anything but my god it was worth every penny. Having a regular income meant that now I was able to actually buy at least some of the games that were reviewed each month. But money was still pretty tight, so those reviews became the most important factor in guiding my purchases. They didn't lead me wrong too many times either.

 

Since then I've become a lot more financially secure so games are much more disposable to me now. I still spend a stupid amount on them, but I don't invest anything like the time I used to. I think this change in my attitude towards the medium is reflected in how I read Edge. I no longer read it with the same fervent attention, and I think that's partly because I know that within reason, I could experience everything in the magazine for myself at some point. I still enjoy it of course, but I miss the days when it was a view into a world that without that magazine I'd never have even known existed.

[rafaqat]

I kept my Issue 1-20-ish and a couple other milestone ones.  Never did manage to track down issue zero.   Anyone here got one?

 

[teddymeow]

Issue 29 is my first memory of Edge. 

 

"Edge Meets The Ultramen" in Katakana on the cover. 

[MagicalDrop]

IVe still got my official slipcase with Issues 1-14 and the 10th anniversary edition with one of my favourite covers.

[Mr Do 71]

3 minutes ago, grindmouse said:

 

Holy shit it’s 15 years since the 10th anniversary issues with all the different covers?! I got the Outrun one.

 

I mean, it’s obvious but fuck in my head that was a few years ago.

 

Edit: They could do a book with every cover for the past 25 years, minus the text inc. sub-variants. 

...I’d buy it anyway.

 

They've done that on their iOS app, although it needs updating to include recent covers.

[LeighCb]

I framed a bunch of those postcards that came as a free gift when you subscribed years ago. 

 

 

I don't have them up anymore as it is possibly the saddest thing I have ever done and I don't want my girlfriend to leave me. 

[AceGrace]

I bought Edge from issue 1 until they did the redesign (5 years ago?).

 

After that I found the articles trying to be too intellectual for the sake of it with too many  column writers and very dry so I stopped buying it.

 

I make do with the Edge Files volumes. They cover probably the most exciting times in videogames (1993 to 2002)

[Masu]

Its my 25th anniversary next week, and I actually took a copy of the first Edge with me on honeymoon!


I think if I do just few more chores she will let it drop..