ON Games Magazine Volume Two - Magazine Review

After a barnstorming debut, ON Games Magazine has something of a reputation to live up to. Can the second volume achieve the high standards of the first? 

As before, this copy was sent for me to review. What follows are my own thoughts and opinions, and ON Games Magazine has had neither input in to this appraisal, nor foreknowledge of its contents.

I received the rather fetching Pikachu cover, and since the volume itself is of the same high quality as the first, let's get straight into the features. 

Keith Stuart starts proceedings with a highly readable retrospection on 1990's horror games and how a maturing gaming audience was well placed to enjoy the benefits of 3D graphics, CD-ROM storage, and developer inspiration from other mediums. Cinema, literature and television had, over the previous couple of decades, redefined the concepts of what "horror" was, and the 90's saw a perfect mix of cultural awareness and technological advancement deliver genre-defining gaming experiences. This is something that is still happening to this day and one can't help but wonder if someone could grab the rights to BBC's Ghostwatch and make a VR title out of it. There again, the original broadcast scared the hell out of me so for the sake of my heart, maybe not... 

Path-making in games fall under Christian Donlan's gaze, inspired by a trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Wait, just hold on, there are pertinent points being to be made and the author picks up the baton with aplomb. The reader is taken on an at times personal journey as to how in-game pathways reflect both real-world conditions as well as defining how players interact with the virtual world. This is especially important in open-world titles, and the article got me thinking about two "go anywhere" games that I still drop into every now and again: Saints Row IV and Halo Infinite. Yes, I am one of those. I feel no personal shame. The text is accompanied by some lovely map-work - and as a map-nerd, this made me very happy.

Following that is a funky vignette comparing the mission The Target from Driver: San Francisco with Christopher Nolan's films. All I'll say is yes, I get it. 

The once hugely popular rhythm game genre is picked apart by Jen Simpkins, and this one had me reaching for the library and online searches. Many will have heard of Beatmania, Vib Ribbon, and Rez. But Sayonara Wild Hearts (not those Wildhearts, Eddie. Leave Ginger out of this!) and Rhythm Heaven were new ones for me. Aside from Rez which I played on my Dreamcast back in the day, most of these games are not my Vib(e), but learning about them means that maybe one day, I might be tempted to seek one or two out. Knowledge is a powerful thing, after all. 

Ah, now here's one for the tin foil hatters out there: Pokemon myths. Chris Tapsell's deep dive into the urban legends, half truths and outright lies that have surrounded the Pokemon games since their arrival is a fun and ever so slightly absurd voyage of amateur detective work and extremely niche online communities. Don't take that as a sneering comment though. These are passionate people finding connections to people across the globe within a shared love of a decades-long franchise (feel old yet?). As someone who was slightly too aged to be truly beaten by the Pokemon bug in the closing months of the last century (seriously, how old do you feel now?), this very much a thirty-something's tale. The interviewees are an interesting bunch, and the subject has been approached with respect and much affection. Detours to Xevious and data-mining, as well as the reticence of developers in letting things slip, add to the air of mystery.

The article should also make the reader very much aware that since video games have been a cultural touch point for some fifty plus years now, there are many valid personal histories relating to gaming experiences and such tales should never be disparaged simply because they are not "your" memories. 

Speaking of which, Caelyn Ellis has the article that resonated with me the most - the brilliance of the original PlayStation and the author's personal gaming (and employment history). As a declaration of love for the little grey box, I have not read better, and being (almost) part of the same generation, their enthusiasm for the machine is palpable. It helps that arguably there had never been to that point, and never has been since, such a leap in gaming technical capabilities. The walkthrough of classic games that defined the console could literally define the term "Greatest Hits", and it would be a lie to say I didn't feel all nostalgic with the memories of buying my first PlayStation using my WH Smith staff discount. Now that was a Christmas temp job!

The take wouldn't be complete without the prevalence of copied games and the chipping that enabled them, and the addition of the author's PlayStation 2 experience is a cherry on top of the article. 

Andrew P Hind offers a brief interlude on the design concepts behind the magazine, before Jeremy Peel takes an off-kilter view of the history of video games as defined by the Wolfenstein series. Beginning with the Apple II's Castle Wolfenstein, and finishing with 2019's Youngblood, the links to the changing nature of the industry are put forward succinctly and eruditely. Of note is the way the author adds depth to the subject in how the series and its developers have affected, and been emblematic of, gaming in general. 

The final piece is once again left to Yussef Cole, this time centring his attention on the Stalker series, the second game in particular, and the connections between the origins of the series and the real-world location of its inspiration and development. It's a timely reminder that gaming does not exist in a vacuum, and that reality does take its toll on the medium. (cough, EA, cough) 

All told, this is a brilliant successor to the first volume, and reinforces my belief that longer-form content still has a physical place in the world of videogames. I have signed up for updates on volume three, and I shall be placing an order as soon as it's available.

You can pick up a copy of volume two direct from the ON Games Magazine website, and you can follow them on the following social media sites: 

Instagram: ongamesjournal Instagram

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ongamesjournal/videos

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/ongamesjournal.bsky.social

X: https://x.com/ongamesjournal

ON Games Magazine Volume One - Magazine Review

Video games print media isn't dead despite what a glance at the shelves of TG Jones (nee WH Smith - RIP) or your local supermarket might suggest. Instead, niche independent publishers have arisen to continue the heritage of magazines past. There are those that use the handy A5 format, others the more usual newsstand proportions, but some, such as [Lock-On] from Lost In Cult, take the journal approach - more book than magazine. Joining such illustrious company in 2025 is ON Games Magazine with a pair of volumes, the first of which I'm reviewing here.

Full disclosure: this copy was sent to me for review. What you are about to read are my own thoughts and opinions, and ON Games Magazine has had neither input in to this review, nor foreknowledge of its contents. 

Arriving in very secure packaging (approaching Bitmap Books levels of quality - both practical and classy), the first thing you notice as you hold the magazine/journal/book - let's settle for journal at this point - is that it's an absolute chonk. A smidge under A4 in footprint, 19mm in thickness, and 891g in weight, volume one has some heft to it. It feels solid, and the heavy duty paper cover bridges the gap between traditional magazines and the additional expense of a hardback book. Inside, the stock offers a high quality tactility to each page turn and the uncoated matt paper compliments the artwork greatly. There are eight cover designs to choose from, this one being the straight forward ON logo. 

Contents page

This volume comes in at just over 200 pages and comprises of seven long form articles, some from contributors you may be familiar with, others less so. The obvious advantage of a journal like this is that each author has the space and word count to properly convey their topic of choice.

From Keith Stuart's illuminating yet wistful retrospective on Sega's Model 1 arcade board (encompassing mentions of PLATO  - check out The Friendly Orange Glow, a fascinating read! - and name dropping Zarch, warming my RISC OS cockles), to Yussef Cole's thought provoking treatise on the subject of death in Cyberpunk 2077 and its parallels to the real world, there is much to engage the thinking part of your brain. 

Along the way, you will find Keza MacDonald's alternate take on the history and culture of Nintendo as defined by seven of Ninty's catalogue, a unique view on how the Japanese giant is still key to the industry today. Staying in Japan, Margaret Robertson's perusal of paper-based play is a fascinating insight into a cultural space that not only entertained, but informed as well, and has admittedly led me down a rabbit hole in online searches. What's one more hobby to add to the pile???

In pure gaming terms, Christian Donlan provides a round up of the best puzzles games that accompanied the launches of handheld consoles, and yes, whilst that game is mentioned, tis but a building block(!) to the fun that follows. Suffice to say, after reading this article, I fired up my import PSP (purchased from the long since departed Maughan Micros in the MetroCentre back in the day) and revisited both Lumines: Puzzle Fusion and Archer Maclean's Mercury - both still hold up wonderfully.

In similarly time-limited circumstances, run-based games fall under the gaze of Nathan Brown, and whilst not a genre I'm au fait with, I have dabbled in Hades a bit. I am in complete agreement that when free time is a scarce resource, such games are a perfect drop in/drop out opportunity.  

The last of the features details the little genre that could - dressing up games. With a keen insight and knowledge of the subject, Jen Simpkins delivers an exemplary essay on how games and gaming can challenge cultural norms, as well as help people define themselves in a kaleidoscope of different ways. Not saying Barbie Fashion Designer was released with any particular intent, but by popularising the genre, it has seen this subset of gaming become an outlet for people to explore concepts of gender identity and sexuality without fear or persecution. Interviews with several developers reinforce, with personal experiences, the key arguments of the article that even though effort is still required within this distinctive gaming space, there is much to be hopeful for.

There are also interludes that provide unique visual viewpoints of the work of FromSoftware, SNES classic RPG EarthBound, and the NES version of Tetris. Each proves a nice break from the features if you decide to power through the journal. Myself, I took a more leisurely pace. 

As you can see, text is well spaced and the layout is easy on the eyes. One criticism I have, and your mileage will vary on this one, is that I found that white text on black backgrounds was crushed to the point of being difficult to read. Not a common occurrence and my good lady did not agree, so my eyes then, but something to be aware of if you understand the concern. 

ON Games Magazine is a notable entrant into the video games print market. The array of content is diverse enough to avoid repetition, yet also of such high quality that I found that every article well worth reading - something that cannot be said for a typical magazine issue. Pleasing to read in a general sense, and thought provoking at its best, this first volume of ON Games Magazine is highly recommended.

You can pick up a copy of volume one direct from the ON Games Magazine website, and you can follow them on the following social media sites: 

Instagram: ongamesjournal Instagram

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ongamesjournal/videos

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/ongamesjournal.bsky.social

X: https://x.com/ongamesjournal