STUART'S UNTITLED COLUMN 1 - December 1993

A column, from PCG's launch issue.

STUART'S COLUMN 2 - January 1994

Introducing "my mate Ken", a real person who was my main source of PC information, since I couldn't stand the things and wouldn't have one in the house. If only that were still true.

STUART'S COLUMN 3 - February 1994

What if Rainbow Islands was your dad?

STUART'S COLUMN 4 - March 1994

First in a series of new, full-page columns, with some really nice promotional pics replacing the horrible drawings that had been used previously.

AIRLINES REVIEW - February 1994

Rubbish airline-management game.

FANTASTIC DIZZY REVIEW - March 1994

A cute platformer takes a wrong turn and ends up on the PC.

RED HELL REVIEW - March 1994

An adventure game so terrible the review ended up being four times as long as it was supposed to be so I could get in more of the bad points.

PANZER DRAGOON REVIEW - February 1995

First in Sega's series of Saturn-to-PC conversions, that now makes a lot more sense in the light of the Dreamcast's Windows'based operating system.

RUGBY WORLD CUP 95 REVIEW - August 1995

One of EA's very few sporting titles that haven't had a yearly update ever since.

SIM TOWER REVIEW - September 1995

A rare instance of PC Gamer giving me something halfway-decent to review.

STUART'S WORLD 1 - September 1995

Introducing Willy The Wolf.

ALIEN ODYSSEY REVIEW - October 1995

Normal service is resumed.

ULTIMATE FOOTBALL 95 REVIEW - October 1995

"Football" in the American, wrong, sense.

STUART'S WORLD 2 - October 1995

Getting on to The Internet - an idiot's guide.

THE HOT SPOT 1 - October 1995

The first in a series of deliberately confrontational interview columns. So far I've only been able to locate four of these, there are some more somewhere. This one sets out to illustrate the nature of the column by turning the spotlight on the unsuspecting and protesting (and not for show - he really was protesting about it) PCG editor, Jonathan Davies.

STUART'S WORLD 3 - November 1995

Willy The Wolf takes over.

MAGIC CARPET 2 REVIEW - November 1995

Controversial (yet fantastically correct) judgement that brought a hailstorm of whining down around PCG's ears from the publisher's PR, the likes of which wouldn't be seen again until Worms.

THE HOT SPOT 2 - November 1995

The first "proper" Hot Spot takes on a Sunday Times journalist who'd penned a shock-horror story about Time Warner's dull but inoffensive subliminal-messages puzzler Endorfun. The bit where I accuse him of being a drug pusher (since the ST were portraying the game as a sinister, drug-like experience, but had tested it on various defenceless kiddies) is my favourite.

STUART'S WORLD 4 - December 1995

The last Stuart's World. (Until now, of course.)

WORMS REVIEW - December 1995

Sparked off one of the biggest software-publisher hissy fits of all time. Team 17 and publisher Ocean paid for expensive full-page, full colour adverts in the trade press making shameful and untrue allegations about the review, hiding behind the fact that it's almost impossible for an individual to prosecute a company for libel in the UK.

THREE PINBALL GAMES REVIEW - December 1995

Pro Pinball: The Web, Pinball 95 and Extreme Pinball. The days of pinball games without the word "Pinball" in the title were still a long way off.

THE HOT SPOT 3 - December 1995

Dominik Diamond from TV's Gamesmaster. While doing the interview over the phone, Dominik (a nice chap, but inclined to be a bit defensive) seemed very confused about whether to play along or be offended. He had a really funny answerphone message, though.

TILT REVIEW - January 1996

Except for this one, of course. (Although it was known as "Extreme 3D Pinball" everywhere else in the world, so it sort of still counts.)

THE HOT SPOT 5 - January 1996

(Where's No. 4? Who knows?) It was already getting quite tricky to get willing volunteers to submit to The Hot Spot's uniquely aggressive style of interview, so this month, at the last minute, I ended up interviewing myself, as a satire on all the flak that the Magic Carpet 2 review a month previously had generated. Perhaps sadly, I gave myself a harder time than any real debating opponent has ever managed.

THE TIME MACHINE - March 1996

A feature on emulation, in an HG Wells kind of style. Rather loses out here from the omission of the lovely illustrations the PCG art team came up with. Hopefully I'll track them down and scan them in at some point.

3D LEMMINGS REVIEW - July 1996

Magnificent, beautiful, criminally under-rated title. Quite possibly the best PC game of all time (you can stick your Quake up your arse), and the last game to have me waking up at 3am having realised the solution to a screen, and being totally unable to resist getting up, switching the PC on and actually doing it.

DARKER REVIEW - July 1996

I love a party with a happy atmosphere.

PRIMAL RAGE REVIEW - August 1996

Crap beat-'em-up the pasting of which drew no controversy whatsoever.

RED TOP, HOT SHOT, BEEP BEEP BEEP - September 1996

A feature on the history of driving games, brought about by the PC suddenly getting its first good one ever (spunky Ridge Racer wannabe Screamer.).

PCG NEWS - September 1996

The reason nobody ever gets me to do news.

SPACE ACE REVIEW - September 1996

An uncharacteristic bout of niceness.