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 January 1995 cover | |
| Frequency | Monthly |
|---|---|
| First issue | January 1995 (1995-01) |
| Final issue Number | January 2002 (2002-01)[1] 85 |
| Company | Imagine Media |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Brisbane, California |
| ISSN | 1078-9693 |
Next Generation was a USvideo game magazine that was published byImagine Media (nowFuture US).[2] It was affiliated to and shared content with the UK'sEdge magazine.Next Generation ran from January 1995 until January 2002. It was published by Jonathan Simpson-Bint and edited by Neil West. Other editors included Chris Charla, Tom Russo, and Blake Fischer.[3]
Next Generation initially covered the 32-bit consoles including3DO,Atari Jaguar, and the then-still unreleasedSony PlayStation andSega Saturn. Unlike competitorsGamePro andElectronic Gaming Monthly, the magazine was directed towards a different readership by focusing on the industry itself rather than individual games.
The magazine was first published by GP Publications up until May 1995 when the publisher rebranded asImagine Media.
In September 1999,Next Generation was redesigned, and its cover name shortenedNextGen. A year later, in September 2000, the magazine's width was increased from its standard 8 inches to 9 inches. This wider format lasted less than a year.
The brand was resurrected in 2005 byFuture Publishing USA as an industry-led website, Next-Gen.biz. It carried much the same articles and editorial as the print magazine, and reprinted many articles fromEdge, the UK-based sister magazine to Next-Gen.In July 2008, Next-Gen.biz was rebranded as Edge-Online.com.[4]
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Next Generation's content did not focus onscreenshots,walkthroughs, andcheat codes. Instead the content was more focused on game development from an artistic perspective. Interviews with people in thevideo game industry often featured questions about gaming in general rather than about the details of the latest game orgame system they were working on.
Next Generation was first published prior to the North American launch of theSega Saturn andSony PlayStation, and much of the early content was in anticipation of those consoles.
Apart from the regularcolumns, the magazine did not usebylines. The editors explained that they felt the magazine's entire staff should share the credit or responsibility for each article and review, even those written by individuals.[5]
The review ranking system was based on a number of stars (1 through 5) that ranked games based on their merits overall compared to what games were already out there.
Next Generation had a few editorial sections like "The Way Games Ought To Be" (originally written every month bygame designerChris Crawford) that would attempt to provideconstructive criticism on standard practices in thevideo game industry.
The magazine's construction and design was decidedly simple and clean, its back cover having no advertising on it initially, a departure from most other gaming magazines. The first several years ofNext Generation had a heavy matte laminated finish cover stock, unlike the glossy paper covers of its competitors. The magazine moved away from this cover style in early 1999, only for it to return again in late 2000.
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