Cover Count

                                                                    Cover Count

This is a list of all the franchises that made the cover of the magazine, in descending order of appearances. Issues with variant covers are only counted once, the back covers of issues 78 and 79 also count. 71 franchises appeared on the cover, 14 of which appeared more than once.

WWE – 7 (13, 26, 50, 62, 72, 79 Back, 88)
Grand Theft Auto – 5 (3, 27, 48, 61, 67)
The Getaway – 4 (5, 28, 42, 53)
Metal Gear Solid – 4 (2, 17, 57, 73)
Tomb Raider – 4 (35, 68, 71, 85)
Star Wars – 3 (6, 45, 59)
Pro Evolution Soccer – 3 (52, 64, 79 Front)
Final Fantasy – 3 (12, 20, 81)
Devil May Cry – 2 (14, 22)
The Matrix – 2 (31, 34)
Splinter Cell – 2 (32, 58)
Resident Evil – 2 (10, 65)
FIFA – 2 (63, 76)
Mercenaries – 2 (55, 84)
Tekken – 1 (1)
Unreal Tournament – 1 (4)
Crazy Taxi – 1 (7)
Red Faction – 1 (8)
Gran Turismo – 1 (9)
Deus Ex – 1 (11)
Jak – 1 (15)
Headhunter – 1 (16)
Herdy Gerdy – 1 (18)
Virtua Fighter – 1 (19)
Spider-Man – 1 (21)
Stuntman – 1 (23)
TOCA Race Driver – 1 (24)
Timesplitters – 1 (25)
Mortal Kombat – 1 (29)
Primal – 1 (30)
Silent Hill – 1 (33)
Tony Hawk – 1 (36)
Soul Calibur – 1 (37)
Colin McRae Rally – 1 (38)
Medal of Honor – 1 (39)
Lord of the Rings – 1 (40)
The Sims – 1 (41)
SOCOM – 1 (43)
Burnout – 1 (44)
Hitman – 1 (46)
Need for Speed – 1 (47)
James Bond – 1 (49)
Killzone – 1 (51)
Batman – 1 (54)
The Godfather – 1 (56)
Black – 1 (60)
King Kong – 1 (66)
24 – 1 (69)
Driver – 1 (70)
Assassin’s Creed – 1 (74)
Call of Duty – 1 (75)
Just Cause – 1 (77)
Scarface – 1 (78 Front)
Kingdom Hearts – 1 (78 Back)
Superman – 1 (80)
Ghost Rider – 1 (82)
God of War – 1 (83)
Transformers – 1 (86)
Harry Potter – 1 (87)
Syphon Filter – 1 (89)
The Simpsons – 1 (90)
Crash Bandicoot – 1 (91)
Sega Superstars – 1 (92)
Ghostbusters – 1 (93)
Alone in the Dark – 1 (94)
Ferrari Challenge – 1 (95)
Spiderwick – 1 (96)
Ratchet and Clank – 1 (97)
Lego – 1 (98)
Hulk – 1 (99)
Sonic – 1 (100)

So that this isn’t entirely a dry list, here’s my Top 5 franchises that never made the cover, and which Issues I would have put them on the cover. I tried to replace franchises with multiple cover appearances whenever possible:

5 – Shadow of the Colossus (Issue 68 is the only option for this.)
4 – Destroy All Humans! (This would have been the cover for Issue 96 had Big Willy Unleashed not been cancelled. As it was, I would put this on the cover of Issue 61.)
3 – Onimusha (I would put this on Issue 48’s cover, and move San Andreas onto Issue 54’s cover.)
2 – Prince of Persia (Either one of Issues 40 and 67 would work for this cover. Issue 67 would be my first choice, then 40 which has lots of good cover options. San Andreas takes priority for Issue 54.)
1 – Guitar Hero (Issue 80 would be ideal for this, but Issue 93 would also work. Tomb Raider takes priority for Issue 71)

Honourable mentions: Persona, SSX, Beyond Good and Evil, Okami, Rogue Galaxy