IE: Interactive Entertainment
About
IE was a digital video game "magazine" that debuted in 1994. Distributed on CDs, they featured narrated reviews and previews of various games, incorporating screenshots and short video clips. It was cool. At the time, it was rare to get such a clear look at games—tiny thumbnails in magazines were usually as close as you'd get to a lot of them.
One day I was getting all nostalgic and decided to take a look at the file structure of one of the CDs. The media formats were archaic, but...I bet myself I could write a web interface to most of the content. A few days of coding and transcoding later, and you have what you see below. There's some really cool stuff in here, including some interviews that were almost lost to time, previews of games that were ultimately never released, and the weirdest goddamn review of Super Metroid you'll ever see.
These aren't perfect copies. Every issue had some special features that didn't follow the same format as the normal articles, and for the most part I've stripped those out. Life's too short. I'm also just starting with two CDs for now: I had issue 13 on hand (and it's the one I wanted to see again), and then I took a crack at issue 2 to see if it worked with my same code. I may add more in the future, if there's interest.
One day I was getting all nostalgic and decided to take a look at the file structure of one of the CDs. The media formats were archaic, but...I bet myself I could write a web interface to most of the content. A few days of coding and transcoding later, and you have what you see below. There's some really cool stuff in here, including some interviews that were almost lost to time, previews of games that were ultimately never released, and the weirdest goddamn review of Super Metroid you'll ever see.
These aren't perfect copies. Every issue had some special features that didn't follow the same format as the normal articles, and for the most part I've stripped those out. Life's too short. I'm also just starting with two CDs for now: I had issue 13 on hand (and it's the one I wanted to see again), and then I took a crack at issue 2 to see if it worked with my same code. I may add more in the future, if there's interest.
Update! (02-17-2017) I added issue one.
Issue 1
May 1994
1942—1942: The Pacific Air War
2000—Tempest 2000
ACES—Aces of the Deep
ALBR—Alien Breed
ALON—Alone in the Dark 2
BARK—Barkley Shut Up and Jam
BASE—Front Page Sports Baseball
BCAR—Battle Cars
BUZZ—Race Into Space
CAND—The Magic Candle
DETR—Detriot
DRAG—DragonSphere
DROM—Battledrome
ENCY—Grolier Encyclopedia
FDEF—Fleet Defender
FIFA—FIFA International Soccer
FIRE—Privateer: Righteous Fire
FOG—Fields of Glory
FOTF—Fury of the Furries
FRNO—Inferno
GODS—Wrath of the Gods
GSIA—Genesia
HACK—Dungeon Hack
HARV—Harvester
HORD—The Horde
JMAD—Madden Football 3D0
LOFT—Ravenloft
LORD—Richard Garriott interview
LUCK—Lucky's Casino Adventure
MECH—MechWarrior 2: The Clans
MOON—Under a Killing Moon
MYST—Myst
NBAJ—NBA Jam
NEWS—News
OUTP—Outpost
PAGN—Ultima VIII
PARK—Theme Park
PREH—Prehistoria
RACE—MegaRace
RAID—Raiden
RAPT—Raptor: Call of the Shadows
RUFF—Unnecessary Roughness
SMAX—Sam & Max Hit the Road
SNEW—The Sporting News
SON3—Sonic 3
STAR—Starlord
SUBW—Subwar
WZRD—Wizard
2000—Tempest 2000
ACES—Aces of the Deep
ALBR—Alien Breed
ALON—Alone in the Dark 2
BARK—Barkley Shut Up and Jam
BASE—Front Page Sports Baseball
BCAR—Battle Cars
BUZZ—Race Into Space
CAND—The Magic Candle
DETR—Detriot
DRAG—DragonSphere
DROM—Battledrome
ENCY—Grolier Encyclopedia
FDEF—Fleet Defender
FIFA—FIFA International Soccer
FIRE—Privateer: Righteous Fire
FOG—Fields of Glory
FOTF—Fury of the Furries
FRNO—Inferno
GODS—Wrath of the Gods
GSIA—Genesia
HACK—Dungeon Hack
HARV—Harvester
HORD—The Horde
JMAD—Madden Football 3D0
LOFT—Ravenloft
LORD—Richard Garriott interview
LUCK—Lucky's Casino Adventure
MECH—MechWarrior 2: The Clans
MOON—Under a Killing Moon
MYST—Myst
NBAJ—NBA Jam
NEWS—News
OUTP—Outpost
PAGN—Ultima VIII
PARK—Theme Park
PREH—Prehistoria
RACE—MegaRace
RAID—Raiden
RAPT—Raptor: Call of the Shadows
RUFF—Unnecessary Roughness
SMAX—Sam & Max Hit the Road
SNEW—The Sporting News
SON3—Sonic 3
STAR—Starlord
SUBW—Subwar
WZRD—Wizard
Issue 2
June 1994
INTRO—Introduction
11TH—The 11th Hour
6PAK—Russian 6 Pak
ALIE—Alien Legacy
ARMD—Wing Command Armada
BC3K—Battlecruiser 3000AD
BEST—Best Neighborhood Disc Ever
BLOD—Bloodstone
BODY—Body Adventure
BRCH—Breach 3
BUSY—Busiest Neighborhood Disc Ever
BUZZ—Race Into Space
C2CD—Castles II
CHAO—The Chaos Continuum
CONS—Conspiracy
COR7—Corridor 7
DETR—Detriot
DSTL—Disciples of Steel
DUNE—Dune
EACT—Evasive Action
FLET—The Grandest Fleet
GAMO—Origamo
GENI—Al-Quadim
GNB2—Great Naval Battles 2
HANN—Hannibal
HARV—Harvester
HOLL—Lawrence Holland interview
ISLE—Battle Isle 2
JAGD—Jagged Alliance
JAMM—Jammit
KING—Kingmaker
LAWN—Lawnmower Man
LEGN—Dark Legions
LORD—Lords of the Realm
MEGA—Megaman X
MERL—Young Merlin
MORT—Mortal Kombat
NEWS—News
PACS—Pacific Strike
PAGN—Ultima VIII (tips)
PPAN—Peter Pan
RADI—Fortress of Dr Radiaki
REBL—Rebel Assault
SERF—Serf City
SHOK—System Shock
SIMC—Sim City 2000
SINK—Sink or Swim
SKIT—Skitchin
SMET—Super Metroid
TABP—Take a Break Pinball
TIFI—Tie Fighter
TOUT—Timeout Sports
UDOM—Ultimate Domain
WING—Super Wing Commander
XCOM—UFO: Enemy Unknown
ZERO—Ground Zero Texas
11TH—The 11th Hour
6PAK—Russian 6 Pak
ALIE—Alien Legacy
ARMD—Wing Command Armada
BC3K—Battlecruiser 3000AD
BEST—Best Neighborhood Disc Ever
BLOD—Bloodstone
BODY—Body Adventure
BRCH—Breach 3
BUSY—Busiest Neighborhood Disc Ever
BUZZ—Race Into Space
C2CD—Castles II
CHAO—The Chaos Continuum
CONS—Conspiracy
COR7—Corridor 7
DETR—Detriot
DSTL—Disciples of Steel
DUNE—Dune
EACT—Evasive Action
FLET—The Grandest Fleet
GAMO—Origamo
GENI—Al-Quadim
GNB2—Great Naval Battles 2
HANN—Hannibal
HARV—Harvester
HOLL—Lawrence Holland interview
ISLE—Battle Isle 2
JAGD—Jagged Alliance
JAMM—Jammit
KING—Kingmaker
LAWN—Lawnmower Man
LEGN—Dark Legions
LORD—Lords of the Realm
MEGA—Megaman X
MERL—Young Merlin
MORT—Mortal Kombat
NEWS—News
PACS—Pacific Strike
PAGN—Ultima VIII (tips)
PPAN—Peter Pan
RADI—Fortress of Dr Radiaki
REBL—Rebel Assault
SERF—Serf City
SHOK—System Shock
SIMC—Sim City 2000
SINK—Sink or Swim
SKIT—Skitchin
SMET—Super Metroid
TABP—Take a Break Pinball
TIFI—Tie Fighter
TOUT—Timeout Sports
UDOM—Ultimate Domain
WING—Super Wing Commander
XCOM—UFO: Enemy Unknown
ZERO—Ground Zero Texas
Issue 13
May 1995
INTRO—Introduction
ALIE—Aliens
BYTE—Blue Byte (spotlight)
CELT—Celtic Tales
CFD2—Cannon Fodder 2
CIVN—CivNet
CWAR—The Civil War
CYBA—Cyberia
DF1—Dark Forces (tips)
DISC—Discworld
DMII—Dungeon Master II
ECS2—Ecstatica (tips)
ECTS—Frontier: First Encounters
GNB3—Great Naval Battles 3
GOLF—Golf Magazine Presents 36 Great Holes
HART—Heart of Darkness
HORZ—New Horizons
HUNT—Silent Hunter
JAGG—Jagged Alliance
JUNG—Jungle Strike
KRIS—Krisalis Software (spotlight)
MAAB—Maabus
MC2—Magic Carpet 2
MC3—Magic Candle 3
MICR—Microprose (sponsor)
MK32—Mortal Kombat 2
NEWS—News
PSYG—Psygnosis (spotlight)
PURE—The Pure WarGame
QQP—Quantum Quality Productions interview
REL1—Relentless (tips)
SATN—Sega Saturn
SCRM—I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream
SEAS—High Seas Trader
SIER—Sierra (sponsor)
SLAM—Grand Slam (spotlight)
STNG—Star Trek: A Final Unity
TGUN—Top Gun
TICO—USS Ticonderoga
TWI—Time Warner Interactive (spotlight)
VIEW—Harlan Ellison interview
VIRG—Virgin Interactive (spotlight)
VIRT—Virtuoso
VOYR—Voyeur
WARR—Warriors
WHMR—Warhammer 40K
WIN2—Wing Commander 3 (tips)
XCOM—X-COM: Terror From the Deep
ZORO—Zorro
ALIE—Aliens
BYTE—Blue Byte (spotlight)
CELT—Celtic Tales
CFD2—Cannon Fodder 2
CIVN—CivNet
CWAR—The Civil War
CYBA—Cyberia
DF1—Dark Forces (tips)
DISC—Discworld
DMII—Dungeon Master II
ECS2—Ecstatica (tips)
ECTS—Frontier: First Encounters
GNB3—Great Naval Battles 3
GOLF—Golf Magazine Presents 36 Great Holes
HART—Heart of Darkness
HORZ—New Horizons
HUNT—Silent Hunter
JAGG—Jagged Alliance
JUNG—Jungle Strike
KRIS—Krisalis Software (spotlight)
MAAB—Maabus
MC2—Magic Carpet 2
MC3—Magic Candle 3
MICR—Microprose (sponsor)
MK32—Mortal Kombat 2
NEWS—News
PSYG—Psygnosis (spotlight)
PURE—The Pure WarGame
QQP—Quantum Quality Productions interview
REL1—Relentless (tips)
SATN—Sega Saturn
SCRM—I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream
SEAS—High Seas Trader
SIER—Sierra (sponsor)
SLAM—Grand Slam (spotlight)
STNG—Star Trek: A Final Unity
TGUN—Top Gun
TICO—USS Ticonderoga
TWI—Time Warner Interactive (spotlight)
VIEW—Harlan Ellison interview
VIRG—Virgin Interactive (spotlight)
VIRT—Virtuoso
VOYR—Voyeur
WARR—Warriors
WHMR—Warhammer 40K
WIN2—Wing Commander 3 (tips)
XCOM—X-COM: Terror From the Deep
ZORO—Zorro
Credits
Publisher - Yale Brozen
Producer - Dave Stott
Technical Director - Joseph B. Hall
Director - Steve Scivally
Managing Editor - Greg Titus
Editor - Tim Keating
Executive Editor - Marc Dultz
Art Director - Kirk P. Membry
Production Consultant - Jim Romanoff
Audio Engineer - Gregory T. Henry
Audio Technician - Chris Sargent
Business Manager - Gregg Sauter
Accounting Services - Christina Brozen
Writers - Scott Grant, Gregory T. Henry, Jesse Isaacson, Tim Keating, Damon Nazarenko, Greg Titus, John Voorhees
Announcers - Cindy Brooks, Jennifer Colby, Gregory T. Henry, Darren Ingram, John Voorhees, Tim Keating, Lue McWilliams, Brigitte O'Conner, Greg Titus, Ruth Yeskoo
Producer - Dave Stott
Technical Director - Joseph B. Hall
Director - Steve Scivally
Managing Editor - Greg Titus
Editor - Tim Keating
Executive Editor - Marc Dultz
Art Director - Kirk P. Membry
Production Consultant - Jim Romanoff
Audio Engineer - Gregory T. Henry
Audio Technician - Chris Sargent
Business Manager - Gregg Sauter
Accounting Services - Christina Brozen
Writers - Scott Grant, Gregory T. Henry, Jesse Isaacson, Tim Keating, Damon Nazarenko, Greg Titus, John Voorhees
Announcers - Cindy Brooks, Jennifer Colby, Gregory T. Henry, Darren Ingram, John Voorhees, Tim Keating, Lue McWilliams, Brigitte O'Conner, Greg Titus, Ruth Yeskoo