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Play Online

Play Online covered computer games, with a particular focus on those that featured an online component.  Unlike other Japanese magazines about computer games, Play Online primarily covered Western releases, and regularly included such things as coverage of overseas net games, developer interviews and hardware reviews, also uncommon in Japanese computer gaming mags.

23 files

  1. Play Online No.025 (July 2000)

    These issues are full of games I own but have never played.  It's been twenty years since I last bought a game, but from around 1997-2004 or so, I was a game buying machine.  Unfortunately I was also a not-nearly-enough-free-time machine, so most of those purchases went unplayed.  And now that I'm a never-ever-play-games-at-all machine, they will likely forever remain so. 😮‍💨

    66 downloads

    1 comment

    Submitted

  2. Play Online No.024 (June 2000)

    First news about the Xbox reveal (still over a year away from launching.)  I imagine the editors of this magazine were some of the only people in Japan looking forward to it.  They might have been the only people in Japan to BUY it as well.  OK, that's an exaggeration.  Play Online only has 4 editors, and I believe there were around 7 or 8 Xboxes sold in Japan.

    64 downloads

    2 comments

    Submitted

  3. Play Online No.023 (May 2000)

    I see you down there.

    Is this tiny cameo Ms. Croft's first-ever appearance on a Japanese gaming mag cover?  Quite possibly.  Japan was about the only country in the world that never caught Croft Cover Chlamydia.  aHEM. Fever.  I meant, Croft Cover Fever.
    Not that they're really talking about Tomb Raider at all in this issue - it shows up in an article rating how accurate the depiction of guns in various games are.  Poor Lara comes dead last in realism with 2 out of 5 stars.  I'm not sure whose idea it was to include Tomb Raider in any comparative evaluation of REALISM, though.  Have they even played the series?🤔

    52 downloads

    4 comments

    Submitted

  4. Play Online No.022 (April 2000)

    Even Japan got fooled into thinking Daikatana was cover-worthy.

    70 downloads

    4 comments

    Updated

  5. Play Online No.021 (March 2000)

    Big news: Duke Nukem Forever is going on sale March 2000, y'all!  😀
    It always amuses me to see the USA sales rankings for PC games that month.  It really drives home how important the Wal-Mart shopper was to PC game sales when you see that the top 10 games include Deer Hunter 3, Cabela's Big Game Hunter 3, and Barbie Generation Girl: Gotta Groove. 😅

    54 downloads

    0 comments

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  9. 4 comments

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  10. Play Online No.016 (October 1999)

    Play Online No.016 (October 1999)

    63 downloads

    0 comments

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  11. Play Online No.015 (September 1999)

    Play Online No.015 (September 1999)

    66 downloads

    0 comments

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  12. Play Online No.013 (June 1999)

    Play Online No.013 1999年6月号

    65 downloads

    0 comments

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  13. Play Online No.012 (May 1999)

    This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where you can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!
    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください!もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、そこで「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします!
    PS: Please don't upload this file to the Internet Archive.  K thnx bye!

    204 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted

  14. Play Online No.014 (August 1999)

    This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where you can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!
    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください!もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、そこで「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします!
    PS: Please don't upload this file to the Internet Archive.  K thnx bye!

    203 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted

  15. Play Online No.011 (April 1999)

    Once again, this is the most hardcore serious gaming mag to ever hit the shelves in Japan.  I'd wager not a single reader of this mag has any plastic figurines of half-naked anime girls on their shelf or so much as a single item of Nintendo-related memorabilia in their possession.  Nope, this mag targets adults, and not the kind that plays x-rated visual novels, either.
    On a side note, this issue was the glue-iest magazine I've ever seen.  There was glue all over the pages, so much so that even after debinding, I had to cut away portions of the page that had glue spilled all over them so it wouldn't damage my scanner and then reconstruct those missing bits in Photoshop.  The end result is just as pretty as always, never fear.
    This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where you can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!
    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください!もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、そこで「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします!
    PS: Please don't upload this file to the Internet Archive.  K thnx bye!

    213 downloads

    0 comments

    Submitted

  16. Play Online No.010 (March 1999)

    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください!もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこで誰でもでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします!
    *This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where anyone can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!

    204 downloads

    1 comment

    Updated

  17. Play Online No.009 (February 1999)

    *このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください!もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこで誰でもでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします!
    So what do you do if you're Japanese but you don't want to play yet another game as a spiky haired androgynous orphan on a quest to fulfill your destiny to save the world?  You play some non-Japanese PC games, that's what.
    *This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where anyone can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!

    184 downloads

    0 comments

    Updated

  18. Play Online No.008 (January 1999)

    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください!もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこで誰でもでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします! *
    Here's another issue of a rare niche mag that was made for the hardest of the hardcore - Japanese PC gamers who want to play real games, not just click-fests full of anime girls.  As such, almost all of the coverage centers on Western games, including interviews with Western developers (this issue has a 4-page interview with Sid Meier.)
    In addition to the usual previews and reviews, this issue features extensive strategy sections for Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator, Half-Life, Baldur's Gate, and F-22 Total Air War.
    *This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where anyone can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!

    189 downloads

    0 comments

    Updated

  19. Play Online No.007 (December 1998)

    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください!もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこで誰でもでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします! *
    *This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where anyone can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!
    Cover feature: Baldur's Gate
    In-depth strategies: Rainbow Six, Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, Ultima Online the Second Age, Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome
    Developer Interview: Roberta Williams

    207 downloads

    0 comments

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  20. Play Online No.006 (November 1998)

    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください!もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこで誰でもでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします! *
    *This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where anyone can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!
    To coincide with the release of Ultima Online: the Second Age, this issue features a lengthy interview with Richard Garriot in additional to a feature covering the game itself.
    There is also a 21-page feature on flight sims.
    Always a pleasure, this month's "English Conversation For Network Games" article teaches Japanese players how to speak in the faux Shakespearean English used in Ultima games.  As someone who teaches English in Japan, it amuses me to think of Japanese players barely competent in English trying to greet foreign players using some of the phrases covered:
    "Hail, honored knight of Chaos!"
    "Well met, sir!"
    "Fortune guard thy steps, m'lord!"

    205 downloads

    0 comments

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  21. Play Online No.005 (October 1998)

    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください!もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこで誰でもでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします! *
    *This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where anyone can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!
    Again, it's interesting to me how hardcore this magazine is.  Admittedly it can seem a bit dry if you just want to look at pictures, but it's also refreshing that it isn't full of promotional fluff like most game mags - this mag focuses on information meant for hardcore PC game enthusiasts.  When you consider that many of the games being discussed aren't even available in Japanese (the coverage of the PC release of Final Fantasy VII laments the fact that it's only available in English), you've just gotta respect the beleaguered Japanese PC gamer who has no choice but to study the monthly column teaching English phrases to use when forced to play games against international opponents, since most Japanese gamers only ever fired up their PCs to play visual novels and porn games.

    208 downloads

    0 comments

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  22. Play Online No.004 (September 1998)

    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください!もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこで誰でもでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします! *
    *This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where anyone can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!
    demo CD not included

    215 downloads

    1 comment

    Updated

  23. Play Online No.003 (August 1998)

    このスキャンは皆のために作ったので、ぜひダウンロードして、友達に伝いて、楽しんでください!もしほかのところでこのスキャンを分け合ったら、「このファイルはRetromagsからで、そこで誰でもでタダでダウンロードすることできる」と伝いて下さい。雑誌電子化は皆のために。よろしくお願いします! *
    *This scan was made for everyone, so please download it, share it with your friends and enjoy! If you share this scan elsewhere, please say that the file is from Retromags, where anyone can download it for free. Magazine preservation is for everyone. Thank you!
    demo CD not included

    254 downloads

    0 comments

    Updated

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