Hands On: Lock-On Magazine Is a Love-Letter to the World of PlayStation

Print media is dead. It’s a fact which has been clear for some time, at least in the realm of video games. The internet has rendered the majority of magazines irrelevant, because print can never hope to keep up with the fast-paced nature of the games industry, nor can it be expected to challenge a media which is capable of offering video and audio to the mix. However, while mainstream magazines are falling by the wayside, we’re seeing the emergence of more niche examples, of which Lock-On is the latest.

Published by Lost in Cult and featuring the talents of many notable writers — including Ryan Brown, Matt Paprocki, Lewis Parker, Digital Foundry’s John Linneman, and Alex Aneil — Lock-On is a lavishly-produced magazine which aims to celebrate the past and present of PlayStation. Within its pages (which smell fantastic, we should add) you’ll find old and new rubbing shoulders quite happily.

Classic Sony properties like PaRappa the Rapper, Jade Cocoon, Vib Ribbon, and Castlevania: SotN sit alongside more recent titles like Returnal, Hades, Death Stranding, and the PS5 remaster of Demon’s Souls. There’s even an in-depth look at the genesis of the PlayStation, including a spread which looks at the various logos Sony toyed with before selecting the one we all know and love today.

While companies like Nintendo and SEGA can call upon several decades of culture and history, Sony — which joined the party relatively late in the mid-’90s — is only now beginning to find itself in the same position, and Lock-On is very much a solid indication of that fact. As well as features on games and hardware, the magazine delves into stuff like the groundbreaking “Double Life” TV campaign that ran in the UK and the process of ‘saving’ Scott Pilgrim vs. the World from digital purgatory. There’s even a feature about the recent stock market shenanigans involving North American retailer GameStop.

In case you weren’t aware by now, we really dig Lock-On. It’s just a shame that it’s now totally sold out following a successful crowdfunding campaign and limited print run. Volume 2 is already in development, so if you like the sound of it, you can pledge your support now and keep this amazing love letter to all things PlayStation going for the foreseeable future.