''PlayStation Underground'' is a now-defunct American

video game magazine Video game journalism is a branch of journalism concerned with the reporting and discussion of video games, typically based on a core "reveal–preview–review" cycle. With the prevalence and rise of independent media online, online publicat ...

, originally published by

Sony Computer Entertainment America Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

. The magazine focused on the PlayStation fanbase, including gaming on the original

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

and the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

, and was promoted as a "PlayStation fan club". Unlike its paper-based counterpart the ''

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine ''Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine'' (often abbreviated to ''OPM'') was a monthly video game magazine, published by Ziff Davis Media. It was a sister publication of ''Electronic Gaming Monthly''. The magazine focused exclusively on PlayStation ...

'', ''PlayStation Underground'' came in the form of

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

s which could be played on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles. Subscribers were also given access to a members-only website. The magazine released its first issue on March 26, 1997 and its final issue in 2001. The magazine released a total of seventeen issues during its active years. The magazine was eventually merged with ''Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine'' in 2001 when it was discontinued. In 2015, PlayStation Underground returned as a video series where gameplay from upcoming games is shown in a

Let's Play A Let's Play (LP) is a video (or screenshots accompanied by text) documenting the playthrough of a video game, often including commentary and/or a camera view of the gamer's face. A Let's Play differs from a video game walkthrough or strateg ...

format while the PlayStation.Blog team discusses the game with the developer.

Content

Each issue consists of two

s that can be played on a

or a

console, or an emulator.

Disc one

*The Vault - A collection of playable game demos of upcoming

game titles. *Code Book - Hints, cheat codes and strategy guides for video games. *Imports - Preview of games from around the world such as

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

which have yet to be released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. *Download Station - Additional game content, such as extra secret levels or hidden characters, which are saved into the memory card for use with certain games, similar to DLC. *Tech Q&A - A section which asks and answers questions behind product development and the PlayStation's technological capabilities. *Debriefing - Video interviews with major video game designers who work with the PlayStation console. *Behind the Scenes - A look at the "making of" video games, commercial spots, etc. *Event Center - A highlight of current happenings in the

brand, promotions and marketing events. *Bulletins - Exclusive special notices and opportunities for PlayStation Underground club members. *Transmission - A feature showcasing upcoming features and contests. *Alphas - Exclusive previews and premieres of upcoming games. *Hidden Content - Each issue had various Easter Eggs hidden throughout the sections including cheat codes, game movies, and game demos.

Disc two

The second disc contains mostly demos of upcoming games as well as game trailers. For example, in the second issue of PlayStation Underground the second disc was a

Square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adj ...

themed disc containing demos to ''

Final Fantasy VII is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation console. It is the seventh main installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Published in Japan by Square, it was released in other regions by Sony Computer Entertai ...

'' and '' Bushido Blade'' as well as exclusive upcoming trailers of new Square games.

Notable interviews

''PlayStation Underground'' featured video interviews with many high-profile game designers as well as other notable figures in the entertainment industry internationally during their Debriefing, Tech Q&A and Behind The Scenes segments, these include: * Dave Jaffe (

Incognito Entertainment Incognito Entertainment (formerly Incognito Studios and Incog Inc. Entertainment) was an American video game developer headquartered in Salt Lake City. History Incognito Entertainment was founded in 1999 by Scott Campbell, who had previousl ...

) - ''

Twisted Metal 2 ''Twisted Metal 2'' (known as ''Twisted Metal: World Tour'' in Europe and ''Twisted Metal EX'' in Japan) is the second game in the vehicular combat series, ''Twisted Metal''. It was developed by the game studio SingleTrac, published by Sony, and ...

'', '' Twisted Metal: Black'' *

Hironobu Sakaguchi is a Japanese game designer, director, producer, and writer. Originally working for Square (later Square Enix) from 1983 to 2003, he departed the company and founded independent studio Mistwalker in 2004. He is known as the creator of the ''Fin ...

(

) - ''

'' *

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton Jo ...

(

) - ''

'' *

Yoshinori Kitase is a Japanese game director and producer working for Square Enix. He is known as the director of ''Final Fantasy VI'', ''Chrono Trigger'', ''Final Fantasy VII'', ''Final Fantasy VIII'' and ''Final Fantasy X'', and the producer of the ''Final Fa ...

(

) - ''

'' *

Todd McFarlane Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic book creator, artist, writer, filmmaker and entrepreneur, best known for his work as the artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horro ...

(

Acclaim Entertainment Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game publisher based in Glen Cove, New York. Originally formed by Greg Fischbach, Robert Holmes and Jim Scoroposki out of an Oyster Bay storefront in 1987, the company established a worldwide d ...

) - ''

Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: ...

'' * Kazuo Hirai (

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

) -

Masaya Matsuura (born June 16, 1961) is a Japanese musician and video game designer based in Tokyo, Japan. He was born in Osaka on June 16, 1961, and majored in Industrial Society at Ritsumeikan University. He has worked extensively with music and images, and h ...

( NanaOn-Sha) - ''

PaRappa the Rapper is a rhythm video game developed by NanaOn-Sha and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation in Japan in 1996 and worldwide in 1997. Created by music producer Masaya Matsuura in collaboration with artist Rodney Greenblat, t ...

'' *

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

(

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...

) - ''

Spyro the Dragon ''Spyro the Dragon'' is a platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation on September 9, 1998. The first game in the ''Spyro'' series, it stars the title character, a young purple dr ...

'' *

Ken Kutaragi is a Japanese engineering technologist and businessman. He is the former chairman and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), the video game division of Sony Corporation, and current president and CEO of Cyber AI Entertainment. He is known ...

(

) - "Next Generation PlayStation" *

Phil Harrison Phil Harrison is a vice president and general manager for Google, and the former corporate vice president of Microsoft. Previously, Phil was the British corporate executive and a representative director of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. (SC ...

(

) - "Next Generation PlayStation" *

Tomonobu Itagaki (born April 1, 1967) is a Japanese video game designer best known for creating the '' Dead or Alive'' series and also reviving the ''Ninja Gaiden'' franchise in 2004. Joining Tecmo in 1992, Itagaki produced two video game franchises that were com ...

(

Team Ninja is a Japanese video game developer, and a division of Koei Tecmo, founded in 1995 as a part of Tecmo. It is founded and formerly led by Tomonobu Itagaki, later by Yosuke Hayashi, and is best known for the ''Ninja Gaiden'' action-adventure game ...

) - "Next Generation PlayStation" *

Kazunori Yamauchi , nicknamed "Kaz", is a Japanese game designer and professional racing driver. He is CEO of Polyphony Digital and producer of the '' Gran Turismo'' video game series. Polyphony Digital He became the president of Polyphony Digital after designin ...

(

Polyphony Digital Polyphony Digital is an internal Japanese first-party video game development studio for PlayStation Studios. Originally a development group within Sony Computer Entertainment known as Polys Entertainment, after the success of '' Gran Turismo'' i ...

) - ''

Gran Turismo 2 ''Gran Turismo 2'' is a 1999 racing game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the sequel to '' Gran Turismo''. It was well-received critically and financially, shipping 1.71&nbs ...

'' *

Shuhei Yoshida is a Japanese businessman and gaming industry veteran. He was the President of SIE Worldwide Studios for Sony Interactive Entertainment from 2008 to 2019, before moving onto other SIE-related projects. Yoshida has been a key member of the Play ...

(

Japan Studio Japan Studio was a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo. A first-party studio for Sony Interactive Entertainment (formerly Sony Computer Entertainment), it was best known for the ''Ape Escape'', ''LocoRoco'', '' Patapon'', ''Gravity Ru ...

) - ''

Ape Escape ''Ape Escape'' is a series of video games developed primarily by Japan Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, starting with '' Ape Escape'' for PlayStation in 1999. The series incorporates ape-related humour, unique gameplay, and a ...

'' *

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...

(

Neversoft Neversoft Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Woodland Hills, California. The studio was founded by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward in July 1994 and was acquired by Activision in October 1999. Initially, the st ...

) - ''

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'', released as ''Tony Hawk's Skateboarding'' in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe, is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It was released for the PlayStation (c ...

'' *

Jason Rubin Jason Rubin (born 1970) is an American video game director, writer, and comic book creator. He is best known for the ''Crash Bandicoot'' and ''Jak and Daxter'' series of games which were produced by Naughty Dog, the game development studio he co- ...

(

Naughty Dog Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.) is an American first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. Gav ...

) - '' Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back'', '' Crash Bandicoot: Warped'', ''

Crash Team Racing ''Crash Team Racing'' (stylized as ''CTR: Crash Team Racing'') is a 1999 kart racing video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the fourth installment in the ''Crash Bandicoot'' ...

'' *

Ted Price Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and a studio of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is ...

(

Insomniac Games Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and a studio of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is mo ...

) - ''

'', '' Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!'' *

Tokuro Fujiwara , sometimes credited as Professor F or Arthur King, is a Japanese video game designer, involved in the development of many classic Capcom video games. He directed early Capcom titles such as the run-and-gun shooter ''Commando'' (1985), the platf ...

(Whoopee Camp) - '' Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return'' *

Hideo Kojima is a Japanese video game designer, director, producer and writer. He is regarded as an auteur of video games. He developed a strong passion for action/adventure cinema and literature during his childhood and adolescence. In 1986, he was hired ...

(

Kojima Productions Kojima Productions Co., Ltd. is a Japanese Video game developer, video game development studio founded in 2015 by video game designer Hideo Kojima, creator of the ''Metal Gear'' series. It is the spiritual successor to a production team inside K ...

) - '' Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty''

History

The RP-T version of ''PlayStation Underground's'' 'Holiday 2004' demo disc was released with a major glitch that caused the save data to be wiped on all memory cards connected to the PlayStation 2 if the demo for ''

Viewtiful Joe 2 ''Viewtiful Joe 2'', known in Japan as is a video game and sequel to ''Viewtiful Joe''. The game was developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom in 2004 for the GameCube and PlayStation 2. The game's story begins precisely where the origin ...

'' was played. Sony sent an email to subscribers of the magazine warning users to remove the memory cards from the PlayStation 2 before inserting the demo disc.

Staff

The staff of PlayStation Underground included: * Narrator - Gary Barth * Narrator - Chris Colon * Senior Executive Producer –

Andrew House Andrew House (born 23 January 1965) is a Welsh businessman and the former chair of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE). He previously served as President and Global CEO of SIE. House started working for Sony Computer Corporation in 1990, working ...

* Senior Producer - Perry Rodgers * Executive Producer - Peter Dille * Producer – Gary Barth * Marketing Director – Colin MacLean * Marketing Manage - Michelle Vercelli * Audio - Buzz Burrowes * Music Composition, Sound Effects - Nathan Brenholdt * Music Composition - Chuck Doud * Marketing Coordinator - Yvonne Smith * Marketing Coordinator, Product Manager - Kim Yuen * Creative Director - Alan Drummer * Test Manager - Mark Pentek * Art Staff - Christian Lowe * Tip Team - Francesca Reyes

References

External links

Original Press Release

Official Page at Giant Bomb

{{PlayStation PlayStation (brand) magazines Monthly magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1997 Video game magazines published in the United States 1997 establishments in California 2001 disestablishments in California Magazines disestablished in 2001 Defunct computer magazines published in the United States Magazines published in California PlayStation (console) games PlayStation 2 games