Scroll Through the Pages of a 2000 Gaming Magazine and Relive the Hype

John Summers • Contributor

Oct 1, 2025 7:00 PM EDT

I don't think we'll ever see a more exciting era in gaming than the early 2000s. It was that magical window where we finally broke free from the pixelated 2D past and stumbled - awkwardly but gloriously - into fully realized 3D worlds. The possibilities felt endless. Every new game promised immersion like we'd never experienced before (even if the controls still made your character walk like a confused Roomba).

But it wasn't just about the games - it was about the culture. Gaming was exploding, studios were launching wild new titles every other week, and most of us were getting our news not from YouTube or social media (which didn't exist yet), but from gaming magazines.

Yes, actual printed magazines. Glossy pages. Demo disc inserts. Wild cover art. And previews that made you lose sleep in anticipation of a game that might be two years away.

This scanned issue of "64 Magazine" from the year 2000 is a straight-up time machine. Every ad, every review, every weird sidebar about cheat codes feels like a lost artifact from a better, blockier time.