Retrospect is a funny thing. In fact at times it's downright hilarious. Anyone who's ever re-watched a '70s or '80s science or technology show knows how brilliant it is to go over visions of the future from the past in order to bask in the ludicrous conviction of the guy who said we'd all have robot butlers by 1995.
But at the same time, seeing the early stages of the events and inventions which eventually went on to shape life as we know it is thrilling. There's nothing like looking back at what was once an innocuous event and injecting it with all of the significance it has accrued in the years since. It's like you can spot something a bit more special hidden away at its core, ready to reach out through the years to give you a big warm hug where you stand right now.
Which is what looking through Edge magazine's collection of every one of their covers since 1993 is like. There are clunkers of course ("3DO is the videogame future", "Long live Dreamcast"), but there's also a proliferation of those sly grin moments when the seed of something huge crops up for its first bout of "Hi, how are you?" (Hello, Xbox, DS, and Half-Life 2). So have a look through them. It's a hell of a fun thing to do, and there's a vast amount of quintessentially '90s eye-candy during the first chunk of the collection. Which is always great. You know it is.
Oh, and if you're looking for some more sexy Edge action after that (because even the cybernetic Edge hive-mind has sexy feelings), check out their 10 controversial reviews feature, in which they dissect some of their most forthright blastings and praisings and see if they were really right about them.
