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News Room Archive

Thank You Ma'am!

Warner Brothers will be releasing a live action/animated feature starring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny named Space Jam. This theatrical release, blatantly inspired by the popular Nike commercial, will surely coincide with a new home video game, right? Of course! Acclaim has acquired the production rights for such a title, and is planning for a release near or soon after the film's November premier.

Sonic Brawler

AM2 is developing an all-new Sonic arcade game based on the ever-popular one-vs.-one fighter formula. Its gameplay is said to be near-identical to Sega's Fighting Vipers coin-op, only with the famous hedgehog and his pals. Early screens show Sonic and Tails in action, with others like Robotnik, Knuckles, Metal Sonic, and Amy Rose to be included as well. Look for this cab later this year.

Ghosts In Space

Flip over to Cartoon Network late at night and you may spot a wack-o cartoon talk show called Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast. Led by a totally obscure Hanna-Barbera superhero and his old nemeses-turned-cohosts Zorak and Moltar, this is a great rip on tiresome talk shows plaguing nighttime TV. The bits are actually hilarious, and they somehow manage to nab guests like Weird Al and Schooly D.

Endangered Jaguar?

Certain credible sources are claiming Atari is planning to drop support for their Jaguar system in the wake of slow sales and a failed deal with Virtuality to create a low-cost VR display. This insider, of whom Atari staunchly refutes, states the company's intent to move onto third-party PC development work. This seems to be backed up by reports of mass layoffs by Atari USA.

Top XMas Toy for '95

The seasonal toy craze is as American as apple pie, jumpstarting the holidays with capitalistic fun. Bolstered by blockbuster movie sales, Toy Story is on the mind of kids coast-to-coast. Disney, as always, is keen on raking it on via tie-in merchandise. Shoppers are primarily interested in Buzz Lightyear action figures, buying up all available stock from the apparent short supply.

The CD-ROM Wars?

Dueling digital video formats may be on the horizon! Just as VHS once warred with Betamax for tape supremacy, electronic giants ready their camps for a new phase. Sony hopes their Multimedia CD will reign, while Toshiba and TimeWarner are betting on the Super Density CD (SD). Toshiba leapt forward this month with their announcement of a SD-ROM Drive for next-generation data storage. We await the winner of this one.

Windows Mania

Ready for a brand-new Start? Microsoft introduced their groundbreaking operating system, Windows 95, to the most frenzied and euphoric marketing campaign for a computer product in the industry's history. If you've missed the ads flaunting its easy connectivity to the WWW or the kickoff event with Leno, prepare to be amazed. 95 may be the real deal. Reports say millions of copies have sold.

Worm TV Time

The life and times of everyone's favorite worm-turned-hero is about to be cartoon-ized! The WB network is set to begin airing an animated show based on the smash hit video game Earthworm Jim. It will premier this fall on an all-new Saturday morning block titled Kids WB, alongside a Sylvester & Tweety series and Steven Spielberg's Freakazoid!, from the Animaniacs studio.

Jungle Jamin'

If you too were thoroughly blown away by the brilliant soundtrack of Donkey Kong Country, prepare to get in the groove with a home release. Nintendo is now producing a DK JamZ CD as a special promotional item. It will be fully loaded with all of those nifty tunes created by David Wise and Rare Ltd sound engineers. Let's see if video game music can make it all the way to Sam Goody!

Killer Arcade Incoming

The hottest new arcade cab is Killer Instinct, an eye-popping 3-D fighting game developed by Rare. Featuring ten playable fighers, fatalities, and a spectacular auto-hit combo system capable of unleashing some insane multihit combos, KI is set up to topple the almighty Mortal Kombat. Bring plenty of quarters! Folks waiting on a perfect home release may have to hold out for the Ultra 64.

Top XMas Toy for '94

From Cabbage Patch to Teddy Ruxpin, the holiday toy craze is a seasonal tradition. It should come as no surprise to those paying attention to headlines or Christmas catalogs that the Power Rangers are topping every kid's wish list to Santa Claus. Action figures, gadgets, accessories - you name it! Just try and find a Red or Pink Ranger in stock, you'll have better luck seeing reindeer fly!

Game Chat Lines

AT&T is set to release a modem peripheral for the Genesis named Edge-16. When attached to your landline and slotted in the Genesis, Edge-16 will permit players to play games over the net while chatting on the phone! This revolutionary device will use VoiceSpan technology to open up a new frontier for players to communicate from anywhere in the country. Sign us up!

Sega-Disney Partnership

Games players visiting Epcot Center over at Walt Disney World are in for an electronic treat thanks to a multi-year agreement from Sega of America. Epcot's Innoventions exhibit, a virtual playground with tons of futuristic displays, will now feature a swathe of Sega offerings, including Genesis, Sega CD, and Game Gear stations. The 10,000-sq ft display is open free-of-charge to all park guests!

Retro-Gaming in Japan

For those eager to travel out to the Land of the Rising Sun, consider taking a pit-stop at the all-new Tokyo Video Game Museum. This is a one-of-a-kind shrine for classic games dating back to the beginning. Their historical exhibits are all playable as well, so younger players can try out relics like Defender and Donkey Kong. Not as swanky as an Ultra 64, but oldies can be goodies!

Coffee With a Mouse?

If you live in the Bay Area and love a hot Cup of Joe, you may have seen one of those experimental SFnet shops. SFnet is essentially a combination computer lab/coffeehouse, and this concept appears to be catching on. The hot spot now is the Binary Cafe in Toronto, a small joint which offers much the same as SFNet, plus public internet access! Look out for a swanky Net Cafe near you!

Classic Atari Back in Biz

Technophobes can now breathe easy. RadioShack has re-stocked dozens of popular Atari 2600 cartridges from yesteryear, including the fabulous Donkey Kong and Centipede. These games may look like something that crawled from the primordial ooze, but any classic gamers clinging to their old machines should check this out before these carts head back to the vault.

Where Is THIS System?

Subscribers know our mag prides itself on delivering tons of video game news and intel. But even PPM can't report on everything! Game systems are popping up all over the place, inspired by SEGA breaking apart Nintendo's monopoly-like control of the industry. You know the 3DO and Jaguar, but this new crop is joined by the Euro-based Amiga CD-32, the luxurious Pioneer LaserActive, and the lumbering CD-i. Seeing as their games are sparse and we have nine (superior!) systems to discuss as-is, we thought it best to hold off until something truly mind-blowing appears. As for the future, you never know!

Violent Ratings

Violent games have been in the news a lot these days. Nintendo claims its curated seal of approval prevents any violence from appearing on their consoles. Sega avoided fibbing and instead announced a movie-like rating system to clear the air. Genesis and Game Gear boxes will now come stamped with a label on a scale from GA (General) to MA-13 and MA-17 (Mature). It's not enough for the U.S. Senate, it seems, as they're now holding hearings on the matter. We at PPM feel strongly about this issue, so we'd like to say: We'd kick your butt at Mortal Kombat any day, Mr. Lieberman!

Bit Talkin'

Welcome one and all to the dawn of the Bit Wars. 64-Bit this and 32-Bit that. It's all the techy press keeps glabbering on about! Is more bits always better? And what are bits, anyway? In the context of video games, the number of "bits" refers to the raw power of a console's processor to quickly and smoothly compute information. Higher bit counts, in theory, mean more realistic and complex games, but size isn't everything. There's no doubt you'll be hearing plenty of Bit Talkin' in the coming year!

Toy Mania

You feel that spirit of the season? Time to grab your wallets! Every XMas there comes along a certain "must-have" toy at the top of Santa Wish Lists across the country. Once upon a time it was the Cabbage Patch craze, then Laser Tag. In 1993, it's the Deluxe Talkboy: A handheld cassette player and voice recorder as featured in Home Alone 2. Better act quick if you want one before next year. Most Toys "R" Us stores and big-box retailers are cleaned out!

Nightmares Abound

Autumn is one of our favorite seasons, up there with winter and summer (spring can bite it!), mainly because of the fun spookiness of the Halloween season and the abundance of chillers and thrillers at the cinema. On October 29th of '93, Tim Burton of Batman fame wrote and produced a fun clay-mation feature called Nightmare Before Christmas. Is it an Xmas movie or a Halloween flick? We'll let you be the judge, but it's an underrated gem in our eyes.

**What About That Other Site?**

To the chagrin of our publisher, we are not the only games mag on the scene, nor are we the only website about games and pop culture! For any seasoned "Net Vet" you're aware of the hundreds of other such sites out there. Though we prefer to avoid bringing up web-competitors (we can share, right?), we're handing an olive branch to the folks at Games Domain: A respectable U.K. site with an assortment of analyses. In our view, the more the merrier!

Euro-Tunes or Euro-Snooze?

One of our guilty pleasures here at PyroPlayers is engaging with the infamous Eurovision competition each year. May has returned, and with it, the strange and eccentric bands representing a host of nations - like the Olympics, only talent isn't required. Last year's festivities were won by Ireland's Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan for the agonizingly depressing "Rock n Roll Kids". Hope they pump up the volume this time and allow for some fun music, again!

Paranormal is the New Normal

Curious about strange and unknown mysteries? Take a visit to The Shadowlands, a new website offering glimpses into mysterious creatures, UFO sightings, and spooky ghost stories. There are some answers we may never have, but for everything else, there's the internet!

Time to Find Our E.T.

Our local science wiz, Mark Legend (Sega Shooter Fan), informs us that at an observatory site in Australia, the new Project Phoenix will explore the stars for extraterrestrial signals. Let's hope we find the friendly kind. I'd much rather our friends 'down under' discover Mork than the Xenomorph Queen.

Happy New Year!

We'd like to wish our readers a happy and prosperous new year as we head deeper into the future. New tech is on the way, with more games and reviews to match! Did everyone see Salt-n-Pepa on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year special? They outshined Hootie, that's for sure.

Street Fighter the Movie

After a long, long wait, Steven de Souza's Street Fighter, based on the hit arcade game, will be released in theaters nationwide this Christmas! If you haven't seen the trailer yet, it will surely blow your mind. Here's hoping Guile, Ryu, and Ken can take down M. Bison with a hadouken or two.

Marvel Action Hour

For all you superhero comics fans out there, you may already be in the know - but for the rest of us, it's super cool news that a new TV block has premiered dedicated solely to the animated adventures of Iron Man and The Fantastic Four. Check your local listings as the station may differ.

Led Zeppelin Unplugged

MTV aired its newest unplugged concert in October, featuring a reunited Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. May not be a killer deal to you kiddos, but some of old fogeys remember that golden age in music. Thankfully, this one turned out way better than the disaster at LiveAid.

MS Paint Web Tool

Wish you could edit or create in Microsoft Paint but use a different operating system? Well now you can! Thanks to the programming ability of Isaiah Odhner of CanvasPaint, everyone can now access the software in your web browser! Click on the title and check it out :)

Featurette: A Primer

In this block, a section we admirably call the "Bonus Featurette," our editors will type up smaller, highlights pertaining to a multitude of topics. Everything from a hot new website to a reunion of our favorite hair metal band, be sure to check this column each week!

Web Updates for March

Proceeding in its quest to overtake the next-gen market, the PlayStation is climbing up to nearly 1 million sales. Sega, on the other hand, reported about 400,000 as of its January data. Having instructed developers to scrap all remaining 32X titles or upgrade to Saturn, it is clear Sega is shifting its strategy. We'll take a closer look at this unfolding rivalry in an upcoming Spotlight feature. As for the hot new games available this month, with gems aplenty there's no shortage of goodies... unless you're itching for a solid Super NES title. Those are increasingly hard to come by as the Big N refocuses on Ultra 64.

* Spotlight Feature - The 32-Bit Brawl
* The Review Station - Krazy Ivan on PS-X and Cyberia on Saturn
* Snapshots - Descent, Spider-Man, Darius Gaiden, Plus 9 More
* Previews Corner - Kirby Super Deluxe, Pocket Monsters, & More
* Wonders - Exploring LucasArts' Full Throttle Adventure Game
* Cover Gallery - Issue #35 Cover & Details

Web Updates for February

As we briskly stride through '96, the gaming biz is undeniably grabbing the 32-Bit bull by the horns. Most developers have allocated full resources to games on PlayStation, Saturn, and the highly awaited Ultra 64, leaving behind the perennial 16-Bit favorites of Super NES and Genesis. Great titles continue to emerge for the older hardware, like Yoshi's Island and Earthworm Jim 2, but now with RPGs making their initial splash onto next-gen, the PS-X and Saturn will assuredly become the main staple of your TV diets. Case-in-point: King's Field. We'll have a full review posted for this amazing RPG in this month's issue.

* Top Ten - Best Japan-Only Games
* The Review Station - King's Field on PS-X and Captain Quazar on 3DO
* Snapshots - Clockwork Knight 2, SF Alpha, Virtua Cop, Plus 9 More
* Previews Corner - Zelda 64, Super Mario RPG, & More
* PPM Player Awards - Awarding the Best Games of 1995
* Cover Gallery - Issue #34 Cover & Details

Welcome to PPM Volume 4!

With the release of Issue #33 for the month of January, PPM is officially in its fourth volume! Per tradition, we have tweaked PyroPlayers Net Edition with a number of improvements and minor layout changes. This includes a refreshed cover design made to reflect the increased focus on the 32-Bit market, renovation of our Netguide, the integration of BonusBytes and Hit List infoboxes, a renewed Information Terminal look, and much more planned for the year ahead. As for news updates, let's just say January is jam-packed. You think Saturn vs. PlayStation is hot stuff? Just wait until you see what Nintendo has in store.

* The Adventurer's Guild - Two Japan-Only RPGS on SNES
* Snapshots - Sega Rally, Mega Man X3, Tails' Adventure, Plus 9 More
* The Review Station - Virtua Fighter 2 on Saturn and Philosoma on PS-X
* Previews Corner - Super Mario 64, Kirby Bowl 64, & More
* Spotlight Feature - Ultra 64 At The Shoshinkai Show
* Cover Gallery - Issue #33 Cover & Details

Web Updates for December

Happy Holidays from your friends at PyroPlayers Magazine! Seeing as it's the season of gift-giving, your PPM Crew put out a bundle of presents for all of you lovely cyberspace fanatics. To begin, check out this helpful guide detailing all of the hot systems and their best games: PPM Holiday Handbook. To commemorate the spirit of Christmastime, we bring you three in-depth articles at The Review Station, including Rare's DKC 2, Loaded on PlayStation, and the first Saturn RPG Mystaria. This month's Snapshots are MEGA-sized with a total of 18 game reviews from kiddie fun in Toy Story to chicken slaughter in Killing Time. We wish you all the joy and happiness this holiday season!

Web Updates for November

Boy oh boy, do we all have a ton to be thankful for! Ingenious and groundbreaking titles appear to be dropping all over the place, ripe for the enjoyment of players everywhere. Miyamoto's latest Mario masterpiece, Yoshi's Island has landed on SNES, and a revolutionary 3-D platformer named Jumping Flash is now out on PS. See 'em both in-depth at The Review Station. Among this issue's Snapshots, see a plethora of fun, action-packed games including Wipeout, Earthworm Jim 2, and the stunning-for-16-Bit Vectorman. Plus, see previews for two upcoming action-adventure games over in the PPM Preview Corner. Oh, and Happy 10th Birthday to the NES!

Web Updates for October

PyroPlayers has tons of treats and goodies for you this month! The PlayStation and Saturn are officially in high-gear, the next-gen RPGs are starting to roll to market, and that idiotic O.J. trial is finally, finally at an end. Check out our long-form reviwers over in the The Review Station for high-flying ninja fun in Shinobi on Saturn and legendary fighting mayhem in the long-awaited home version of MK3 on PS-X. Our Snapshots is filled with plenty of game highlights from shooters like Kileak and Robotica to RPGs like Lunar: Eternal Blue. Speaking of role-players, stop by the PPM Preview Corner for a look at 5 upcoming titles for Saturn, PlayStation, and SNES.

Web Updates for September

Welcome to our favorite month! This month marks the 3rd Anniversary of PyroPlayers Magazine and we are thrilled to continue our multi-year run alongside you, our dedicated Net readers. Stay subscribed as we trek down the tricky boulevard that is the next-generation. On September 9th, the Sony PlayStation made its official launch in North America. Our team scored a system, as well as all 11 of its launch titles! As we try to pry our reviewers away from the tv set, check two long-form reviews on PS-X games in The Review Station. First up are Ridge Racer and Rayman. Take a peek at the Snapshots site for a look at some more Sony games including Toshinden, as well as three more Saturn hits!

Web Updates for Summer

July kicks off with our round-up reviews for the most exciting entry for console, yet! As Mr. Kalinske announced at the E3 Conference, Sega has released the Saturn early! With the systems on store shelves, our team ran to the nearest electronics store and snagged a few. In this issue, we take a look at the new console in all of its glory, as well as a few titles available for it. Full coverage of the Saturn launch can be seen on the Spotlight site. Over at the the PPM Snapshots, take a look at three hot Saturn games: Virtua Fighter, Clockwork Knight, and Daytona USA! As always we also have highlight reviews for newly-released SNES and Genesis games, including dual versions of Judge Dredd.

Web Updates for June

Summertime is back, baby! Now that the much-anticipated Electronic Entertainment Expo is all wrapped-up, our team is prepared with loads of news to share. But, first, we have a collection of sparkling-new games reviews. This month's featured reviews explore two excellent Super Nintendo experiences: An oddball, Big N-published RPG called Earthbound and a swift-moving ninja platformer, Hagane. See both over at The Review Station. Inside the home for quick takes, the PPM Snapshots, see our new release coverage from Tempo on 32X to Core Design's Skeleton Krew for Genesis. Our two-issue long E3 highlight will begin with a Spotlight piece on the best announcements. An afforable PlayStation? Early-release Saturn? An invisible Ultra 64? Wow!

Web Updates for May

As school starts to wrap up and graduation ceremonies are underway, we here at PyroPlayers Magazine are celebrating our 25th Issue this May! We're happier than Luke Perry is to ditch 90210! This month, Sega's red-haired echidna will star in his very own adventure. Knuckles' Chaotix has hit the scene for 32X - but can it revive interest in Sega's add-on? See our full review for this title, as well as a brand-new Enix RPG called Ogre Battle within The Review Station. Meanwhile, our team put together 12 spankin' new Snapshots for your reading enjoyment, including a look at the new Kirby cart. Be sure to peek at the Preview Corner for some 32-Bit goodness, too. Lots to come as we brace for the big Expo. Expect an online-exclusive piece to cover any big announcements. Stay tuned!

Web Updates for April

Burnt out on Easter candy and looking for a more exciting flavor? We at PPM have just the treat for you. As we inch closer to a slew of worldwide premiers next month at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the games keep on rolling off the production line. The highlight article this month concerns the tongue-snapping Crystal Dynamics gecko named Gex. Check out our full review of this 3DO exclusive platformer, in addition to peek at a hot Sega action game over at The Review Station. Our Snapshots this time focus on some other long-awaited releases, including X-Men 2 on Genesis and Earthworm Jim: Special Edition on the Sega-CD. An upcoming Mortal Kombat Cool Zone update will showcase the upcoming feature film as well as a live-action stage show coming soon.

Web Updates for March

Time to spring into action with a whole issue's worth of complete video gaming goodness. This month, we reflect on our time at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronic Show! We saw all kinds of wonders and oddities (and that weirdo Virtual Boy is the oddest of them all!), as well as a couple of neat tidbits of next-gen info. See it all in the latest Spotlight. Joining this highlight reel is a Preview Corner update filled to the brim with CES titles! Over at the The Review Station, see our in-depth thoughts on the excellent Crusader of Centy and the curious Robotrek RPG. And last but not least, the Snapshots page features 12 all-new reviews ranging from Kirby to Bomberman. Stay safe and beware the Ides!

Web Updates for February

What better way to commemorate the month of love and togetherness than by releasing an all-new issue of PyroPlayers Magazine with "WAR" splattered right on the cover! That's right, folks, the 16-Bit battle is at an apex! Which do you prefer in the fight - Final Fantasy III or Phantasy Star IV? This month's update to The Review Station features highlight articles on two top games landing on the scene, Popful Mail for Sega-CD and Mega Man X2 on SNES. Our Snapshots page is updated as well with a plethora of reviews from Ristar to Home Improvement. Gaze into the crystal ball over at the Preview Corner for a quick glance at a couple groundbreaking titles for PlayStation and Saturn. Happy Reading!

Welcome to PPM Volume 3!

To celebrate the ringing in of this brilliant new heliocycle, your PPM Crew is proud to announce the launch of PyroPlayers Magazine Volume 3! PyroPlayers Net Edition has undergone a marked facelift with a multitude of revolutionary renovations. Our layout has evolved to a whole new level. Version 3.0 adds an upgraded Sidebar with novel navigation tools to make surfing our site easier than ever, and an experimental Chat Room net-box to converse with your fellow virtual pals. The Review Station has been revamped to house more detailed game reviews, with two articles set for release each issue. Short-form reviews now live within the Snapshots site. And as ever, we game enthusiasts pledge dedicated coverage to the news and topics you care about. Let the fun begin!

Web Updates for December

Happy holidays to one and all! With Christmastime at our doorstep and the season of gift-giving upon us, your PPM Crew worked extra hard to deliver a cyberspace treat to all you good kiddos out there. Aside from the hot new PyroPlayers Holiday Handbook, a helpful guide for shoppers looking for games, we've uploaded a MEGA-sized Review Station for your viewing pleasure. In honor of the spirit of the season, this edition includes six extra reviews! That will give you all some reading material to hold you over 'til the New Year, we hope! Want some more? Check our the updated Slime of the Season to see one stinker of a bobcat. As for the special announcement, let's just say we have some huge renovations happening behind-the-scenes here at PPM! More soon!

Web Updates for November

It's the time of year to be thankful for all the blessings in your life. Around the Thanksgiving table, be sure to recount your sentimentality for your Super Nintendo, your Genesis, and don't forget that Game Boy of yours! Oh, and I suppose health, and happiness, and blah blah blah. This month, Rare will release their absolutely astounding Donkey Kong Country, a sure-fire contender for Best Game of 1994. Check out our Review Station for our condensed thoughts on that one, as well as the all-new Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic: Triple Trouble! We bring you two exclusive coming attractions within the Preview Corner, a highly anticipated SNES RPG and a 3-D action title for 3DO. Something exciting is in the works for PPM Net Edition - Stay tuned for a special announcement!

Web Updates for October

In this month of tricks and treats, PPM is your go-to for an incredible autumn of gaming galore. The leaves may be a'changing, but the fun times keep rolling onward. Our Review Station is practically bursting off the hinges as loads of goodies finally hit release time. Earthworm Jim promptly set a new bar for action-platformers. Final Fantasy III earns high marks for exhibiting the best of RPGs, and Contra on Genesis is no joke. See our total Mortal Kombat II blowout with 4 mega reviews! Over at our Preview Corner, the team examines two upcoming launch titles: Entries for the Ultra 64 and the Sega 32X. An all-new Cool Zone as well as a Nintendo VS. Sega Spotlight are coming this month, too!

Web Updates for September

Just like that and we are back in September! This month marks the 2nd Anniversary of PyroPlayers Magazine and we are super glad that you Net readers have shared this journey with us. These two years have been a blast, and we are just getting started. Stay subscribed as we brave the coming leap to a whole new generation of gaming! Check out our monthly Reviews and Previews, featuring titles from Dynamite Headdy to Way of the Warrior. We have also posted the latest edition of Top Ten, featuring our favorite cooperative games - We bet you can't guess #1! Much more coming your way in the near future, including the newest Adventurer's Guild episode all about some awesome RPGs.

Web Updates for August

August has dawned upon us, and I for one cannot wait for this irritating Elton John song to get off of the radio, already. Our team has documented all of our fascinating findings from the Chicago CES, and presented the entire package to you in a lovely Spotlight Feature for your viewing pleasure. Preview screenshots for tons of upcoming games are posted over at our Preview Corner, and our monthly Reviews are up as well! Our absolute favorite game shown off at CES was, and this is unanimous among our staff, Donkey Kong Country. See our thoughts in the Previews! Coming this month is a new update to the Cool Zone and the Summer edition of Slime of the Season.

Web Updates for July

The dog days of summer have arrived, and these dogs sure are barking! Summer's peak brings with it plenty of new games for us to explore. The latest Reviews and Previews are now live on the web to check out. Super Street Fighter II is here at long last, as is the exciting 3-D racer Stunt Race FX on SNES! For an all-new treat, we've posted our Special Console Edition of PP Preview Corner featuring the Sony PS-X and Sega Saturn, with game screenshots and more! Be sure to click our new "Wonders of the Web" webpage too, PPM's home for Home Computer content. First off is our snapshot look at Microsoft Dinosaurs. Expect further updates comin' real soon, including a fresh visit to the Adventurer's Guild.

Web Updates for June

Welcome to the Summer of Gaming '94, a season which brings just as many games as the rest of the year! We've posted our newest catalog of Reviews and Previews for your viewing pleasure, complete with three hot, new 3DO titles for the Panasonic wonder. At our coming attractions section, see some killer screens for Super Street Fighter II on SNES. We're pumped to save those quarters! Check out the latest Next Wave Report on our Spotlight page for a peek at the Super 32X and a surprising VR announcement from Nintendo.

Web Updates for May

As the NBA Jam announcer declared, "It's heating up!" Summer is around the corner, and with it comes the latest round of Reviews and Previews. Check out our review of Super Metroid, Nintendo's premier heavy hitter for '94. The crew also takes a look at the pricey Virtua Racing port for Genesis and Soul Star, our favorite SEGA-CD game in ages. As for coming attractions, Square has confirmed their planned U.S. launch of Final Fantasy III. See our full preview over in the Preview Corner. We've also updated the Cool Zone with a piece on the unavoidable Power Rangers craze. Much more to come soon!

Web Updates for April

Everyone find your lost eggs and win a basket of candy? Celebrate with a brand-new assortment of Reviews and Previews. With April comes Wario Land on Game Boy, Tempest 2000 for the Jag, and the Genesis reimagining of Shadowrun. We're psyched for Illusion of Gaia coming soon for SNES, so make sure to see our exclusive look in the Preview Corner. Comin' down the pipeline is the April ediiton of the Top 10 along with much more! Stay reading, web visitors!

March Reviews and Previews

Spring forward over to our latest game Reviews and Previews for the month of March! This time our crew covers Imagineer's Wolfenstein port on SNES, Castlevania: Bloodlines for Genesis, and the ever-exciting NBA Jam! Our previews are chock-full of CES snapshots for a huge variety of games coming soon. Be sure to stop by the Adventurer's Guild for entries on two new RPGs, and very soon our Gallery page will be updated with this month's mag and all of its inner goodness!

PPM Player Awards

Our virtual spacetop is chock-full of even more goodies as we wrap up the winter months and move full-speed ahead! Presenting...The 1993 PPM Player Awards, our exclusive awards ceremony to commemorate this year's finest in the world of games. Be sure to sneak a peak at the newest Next Wave Report all about Nintendo's Project Reality and SEGA's Saturn. Coming real soon on the Spotlight front is our review of the Las Vegas Consumer Electronic Show. Oh! Don't forget our Top Ten Tough-as-Nails Games over in that corner, too!

February Reviews and Previews

Looks like Ross Perot saw his shadow, so we'll be enduring six more weeks of winter! Warm up with some fresh new game Reviews and Previews for the month of February, courtesy of your PPM Crew. This go-around adds review snapshots for twelve releases highlighted by Sonic the Hedgehog 3! Check out previews for John Madden Football and Super Metroid too! Trudge through some sticky slime, if you dare, for our Winter '94 edition of Slime of the Season as we cover our eyes from the horror of this winter's worst cart.

Dost Thou Seeketh Adventure?

Your PPM Review Crew has been itchin' to evolve our net review format into a longer-form style. Mr Quince saw the light - So Whoomp! There it is! We've unlocked the doors to the Adventurer's Guild, a column focused on role-playing and fantasy games. Our first entry includes a look at Final Fantasy II and Ys IV on SNES. Additionally, we've posted our Showcase Review for Cybermorph on the Atari Jaguar: A title with loads to live up to. You may notice several smaller updates as well, like the all-new In This Corner...! section below! Net Edition is just flowing with content, folks!

January Reviews and Previews

Brrr! The temperature's been dropping faster than Meat Loaf's trousers, and our heating bill keeps going up. Might as well crank up the volume on that Genesis and get to work! Reviews and Previews for the month of January are now live on the web for your viewing enjoyment - now with extra Jag! Our team uploaded the latest Tips too! If you're a Star Wars fan, be sure to check the CoolZone for a special entry just for you! There's lots more to come this month from your pals over at PyroPlayers Magazine.

Year-End Roundup

1993 has come and gone, and so ends the 1st Volume of PyroPlayers Magazine. Other than containing a full year of PPM, '93 brought with it many memorable moments from StarFox-mania to Mortal Monday and the dawn of 32 and 64-Bit. We leave you with our coverage of Aladdin in Nintendo VS. SEGA, as well a new surprise to welcome in the New Year. Moving forward, PPM will switch to a monthly format! That means 12 issues per year instead of 6, and plenty more updates! Brace yourselves for 1994 and Volume 2 of PPM!

Tis the Season

Feel that cold brisk in the air and the tones of Frank Sinatra on every radio? It must be the most wonderful time of the year! To celebrate, we've posted the digitized PPM Holiday Handbook: Our annual gifting guide for the gaming-inclined. Take a peak at this special feature and use its info to help with your shopping spree this XMas! Elsewise, the autumn Slime pick is live, as is our Top 10 countdown of the best Super Mario titles!

Nov/Dec Reviews and Previews

Remember, remember, the games of November. We have lots comin' your way this holiday season on PyroPlayers.Org! First up, all Reviews and Previews from Nov/Dec of '93 are live, including our early glance at Cybermorph. In the heat of the PPM Spotlight, we've also readied our feature on the new generation of 32 and 64-Bit consoles in an all-new segment named "Next Wave Report". Expect further updates throughout the season, leading to our 1994 Holiday Guide to be uploaded this December.

Not-So-Scary October Updates

Here's some brand-new webpage updates for your viewing pleasure as we approach the spookiest time of the year. As you may have noticed, we renovated the design of our sidebar buttons to make them a touch more 3-Dimensional. Much better than the stale ol' design we had before. Check out the latest editions to SOTS and Cool Zone as well for extra goodness. Finally, our critical Street Fighter II Spotlight feature is now available over at Nintendo VS. SEGA!

Feats of Gaming's Legends

We've launched a brand-new page for our website, an all-new element from our Sept-Oct '93 printed mag. Give a warm welcome to Legends, a short-form area where our reviewers take a look back in gaming history (Yes, our web styling is based on the original Pong aesthetic!) First up are the mascots of the 8-Bit era. On the horizon this month our team will be providing updates to several other sections of the site with plenty more coming down the pipeline.

Sept/Oct Reviews and Previews

All Reviews and Previews from the Sept/Oct '93 issue of PPM are now posted to the site. Go check out our thoughts on Street Fighter II Turbo on SNES and Mortal Kombat for Genesis! We also made sure to provide a 3DO games update on the precipice of that console's hyped-up launch. The latest edition to our Top Ten Page is now live! Be on the lookout for a Legend-ary update coming your way before this month's end! Till then, Happy Autumnal Equinox!

September Coming Attractions!

Back to pencils, back to books, back to teacher's dirty looks! September is back again and change is in the air. Especially on the gaming scene! Lots of exciting releases were on the forefront back in Sept of '93, and we've chronicled all the big ones. PPM has some fun announcements in store for the site - but just for now we're starting off easy with our newest Spotlight feature on the wonders of "Sega Channel". Check out some new Tips for X-Men and Cybernator too!

Web Updates for Jul & August!

Enjoying the heat? It sure feels like summer here at PPM HQ. A/C blasting and keyboards clittering, with an occasional beach day thrown in. We've added our top-line Spotlight Feature from July '93: Our Summer CES round-up. Our editors have also taken the liberty of adding mag issue summaries to our Cover Gallery page; just click a cover image and see a run-down of what's inside. The latest mag cover will also be available for your viewing pleasure. Lots more in the works, including a brand-new page or two, so stay tuned!

The Coolest Place Around

In July of '93 our editors took a bold, new direction for the mag and dared to include a section not entirely about video games! The CoolZone thus became a staple of PyroPlayers. Keeping up on all of the coolest pop culture tidbits that we feel our readers may enjoy (that means no news about Fabio's choice of shampoo), the Cool Zone is your one-stop shop for the entertainment happenings worth your time. First up is our look at the Jurassic Park juggernaut.

July/August Reviews and Previews

Our resident PPM Wiz Team has uploaded all 12 main Reviews from the July/Aug '93 issue of PyroPlayers Mag to our webpage mainframe. This time we take a look at a slew of fantastic summer titles, ranging from ultra-technical role-playing games to chaotic space shooters. Our highest rated game this issue was Link's Awakening on Game Boy with a perfect score. In addition to our reviews, see our rejuvinated Previews page. We're working on further web updates, including two new Spotlight features, and we hope to have those up real soon!

Top 10

We've added a new featured page named the "Top 10". This section premiered in our May/June 1993 issue and is going strong to this very day! The first iteration catalogued our thoughts on 16-bit scrolling shooters. Check a look over at our Top 10 page!

Web Updates for May!

We have a few lil' updates coming your way for the month of May '95! First we've added a "Review By Console" block in our Player Sitemap at the bottom of each page, making it even easier to find console-specific game reviews. Next, for each review we've posted, the scoring card has been upgraded to reflect our new category-based system. Also check out the latest Mag Cover in our Cover Gallery and take a peek at the new navigation arrows in Slime Town!

May/June Reviews and Previews

Each of our mag's game previews and reviews from the May/June '93 issue are all up and roaring! Take a look at our brand new review scoring system. From now on we will score games based on four criteria; gameplay, graphics, sound, and the overall package. Star Fox, of course, earns 5 out of 5 in the graphics category, but its gameplay can be a touch repetitive (don't send hate mail!). We thought this was a fairer way to rate titles rather than a flat 1-5 metric.

Spotlight: Nintendo vs. Sega: Batman Returns

The newly uploaded Spotlight from our May/June issue back in 1993 features our very first try at the Nintendo vs. Sega column. We chose to begin this approach with differing versions of Tim Burton's Batman Returns on the SNES and the Genesis. Funny enough, our staff was a bit divided on which game was truly superior.

Web Updates for April!

This is no April Fool's prank! We've updated a handful of web site pages a bit ahead of schedule. Over on our ever-slimy Slime of the Season page, we've posted the Quarter 2 Slime winner. The new Tips N Tricks web-block below now features a segment from Sega's Ecco. Finally, PPM is planning a new scoring system that will be retroactively upgrade all reviews starting May/June 1993. Stay tuned, players!

PyroPlayers Mag Cover Gallery

We've added a brand-new page to our website: Our Cover Gallery. This page, accessible from the side bar, will house our archived magazine cover art. Psst, it may take time to load due to the large image sizes!

March/April Reviews and Previews

We've posted our game reviews and previous for Mar/Apr of 1993. This time we take a look at Tiny Toons on the SNES, Wolfchild for Sega-CD, and piece together the marvel that is Nintendo's Star Fox!

Spotlight: 3-D-O Announcement

Check out the spotlight feature on the initial reveal of the 3DO video game system. It is ripped directly from our March '93 issue. Relive the glorious, $700 hype.

Louder, Please!

Nintendo is on-pace to release their brand-new line of Game Boy systems, now in technicolor (the outer shells, not the screens just yet)! Their extensively hyped "Play It Loud!" series is scheduled for March 20th. See our latest printed issue for more details.

January/February Reviews and Previews

We've posted our game reviews and previous for Jan/Feb of 1993. Also be sure to check out the January Edition of "Slime of the Month!"

November/December Reviews and Previews

We've posted our game reviews and previous for Nov/Dec of 1992. This month we've included our Player's thoughts on Super Mario Kart and Sonic the Hedgehog 2!

Spotlight: Super NES CD

Check out the spotlight feature on the Super NES CD add-on! It is ripped directly from our November '92 issue, with all of the hopes and dreams we had for that beloved vaporware.

PyroPlayers 1.0 is Here!

The official PyroPlayers website is now completely stocked with our October '92 reviews and previews, and the October Slime of the Month will be up shortly! We expect to have the November round-up all set by this weekend too! If you'd like to leave us any feedback, check the Guestbook link on our Contact Us Page or send us electronic mail!

October Reviews and Previews

Our site has been updated with the video game reviews and previews for October of 1992. These are ripped straight from the original '92 mag, but now updated with gnarly state-of-the-art graphics and a 1-5 ratings scale. Remember, for the newest game reviews, be sure to pick up our printed edition. Otherwise, buckle in as we flash back to some of the best from 1992 and on!

SpotLight: Information Super Highway

What is the Internet all about anyway? Is it really all that it's cracked up to be? Check out our latest full feature and see for yourself - Just click the title or the Spotlight button on the side bar.

10.21 PyroPlayers Website Launches!

Extra! Extra! PyroPlayer on NeoCities is open for testing! Our official launch will not take place until development has been completed, but stay tuned as we provide daily updates toward PyroPlayers Site 1.0!! Until then, keep playing!

News Room: A Primer

In "News Room" we will supply you with the latest news striking the world of video games, including routine updates on this very website! We plan bi-monthly uploads from our printed mags: Spotlights, Reviews, Previews and, of course, our Slime of the Season. Whenever we have news, we will notify you of a link to the right web page.

Kick Those Other Mags to the Curb!

Check Out the Side Bar or Player Sitemap Below for Links to Various Features and Reviews!

Thanks For Hanging Out! We Appreciate Your Support! :^)

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