Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.
Read a PDF like it’s 1994 with a 3DO mag, a fan produced PDF running to 30 pages that celebrates the mostly forgotten CD-based console.
I like to think I have a pretty good memory when it comes to retro stuff, but if there’s one thing that passed me by, it was the existence of any 3DO-dedicated publications. Fortunately, if I never saw one in the flesh at the height of Britpop, I’ve seen one now.
Shared online by @ste_mega, who wrote the mag (as 3DO KID), this is a well-designed piece of reading, that cheekily places itself slap bang in the 1990s, when the 3DO was around. Here’s the tweet:
Browse through the PDF and you will find reviews, cheats, and even fake ads. What’s not to like?!
Did I ever see a 3DO mag?
I’m still not 100% certain if I ever saw a magazine for the 3DO on the shelves of WHSmith (I would have been looking at other old computer mags). But what I did see, was a 3DO or two in the windows of Rumbelows in the mid 1990s. (True fact: the site of my local Rumbelows is now a vape shop and a British Heart Foundation shop. How much have we lost?)
As for the existence of a genuine 3DO mag… well, the letters page of 3DO Magazine reveals that there was one, with an editor’s response reading:
“Certainly a certain Bath based magazines has changed their tune dramatically to 3DO game releases over the past few months.”
Look, it’s a free PDF, it’s fun (“issue zero!”) and the creator has but a lot of time and effort into producing something that not only looks good but reads well. So, if you’re interested in the age of living room game systems disguised as CD players, a mag dedicated to this misunderstood console (even its creators didn’t really know what they had) is worth your time.
Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through those links. This comes at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.
