'90s virtual reality, Battlefield 2142, and Total War: This month in PC Gamer 10, 20, and 30 years ago

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April showers bring May flowers, or so the saying goes; more relevant, around these parts, is that magazines written in April come out in May, the date plastered on all three of the issues featured below. It’s a fine vintage no matter the year ending in 6, it turns out.

Here's a look back at what was going on in PC gaming—and in particular, in the pages of PC Gamer magazine—one, two, and three decades ago. Did you own any of these issues? How do our review scores hold up? What seemed trivial at the time that's now enshrined in PC gaming history?

What was on the cover?

May 1996: The Future of Gaming (US, issue #24)