A 16-page ad supplement Sony ran in PC Gamer's January 1996 issue — issue 20 of the US edition — shows just how differently the company thought about PC gaming three decades ago. Back then, Sony was actively courting PC players, not retreating from them.
The insert promoted Sony Interactive's "PlayStation mega-hits" coming to PC, complete with promises of "CD-quality audio" and graphics "displayed in stunning SVGA with up to 32,768 colors." It explicitly stated that Sony was "just as committed to bringing great games to the PC as they are to creating cutting-edge PlayStation titles" — and pointed to Psygnosis, the storied PC publisher that had become a Sony Interactive subsidiary, as proof. Games featured include WipEout and Twisted Metal, both closely associated with the original PlayStation, alongside Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong Nou, hyped as "one of Japan's most popular CD-ROM titles" — a claim Hardcore Gaming 101 flatly contradicts, noting the game wasn't much of a success.
The contrast with Sony in 2026 is stark. The company is now doubling down on physical media for PlayStation 6 and has pulled back from releasing its prestige titles on PC — a near-complete reversal of the attitude on display in that glossy 16-page spread. Psygnosis itself was eventually wound down by Sony in the early 2000s, and the era of big publishers taking out lavish magazine inserts to sell PC gamers on console ports feels like a different industry entirely.
The ad is more nostalgic curiosity than damning evidence — nobody expects a corporation's strategy to stay frozen for 30 years. But it's a sharp reminder of a moment when "over 40 huge mazes to explore" was a genuine selling point, discs were the future, and Sony still wanted PC gamers on its side.
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