So I have been doing a spot of history, and I truly find it astounding just how good and important 1998 was for video games. A brief look at the list should tell you why:
- half life
- unreal
- zelda orcania of time
- thief
- star craft
- baldurs gate
Any one of these games is special. But to have all of them in a single year is quite remarkable, especially when you consider the future significance of many of them:
- half life was valves debut game and set it on the road to half life 2 and steam
- baldurs gate was bio wares debut game and made it one of the premier rpg makers
- thief gave birth to the stealth survival game
- zelda was the epic translation of a classic into the 3D world
- unreal gave birth to the unreal engine, an engine which spawned a plethora of other triple a titles
- Starcraft gave birth to the online competitive leagues we see today in things like Dota and LOL.
For me it seems as though to get a year like this you have to have three things:
1- an established set of games in a recognised format (unreal, zelda)
2 - a giant leap forward in technology (unreal, zelda, thief)
3 - innovation (half life, star craft, baldurs gate)
This sort of leads to the question what will bring the next great year of video gaming? Many of you have probably seen that oculus rift has just started shipping. I think give it a year or two and we might just be in for another year of greatness.
My own personal opinion is that consoles have held gaming back for many years. But recently you have seen a resurgence in PC gaming as enthusiasts on the console market have switched to PC because the likes of Microsoft have increasingly tried to appeal to the mass market. Which means they kind of ignored their hardcore support. This is a good thing as the PC is by far the most innovative market. Maybe we are due a new greatest year of gaming. My personal hope is for half life 3 on oculus rift and a plethora of other games in the side.
- half life
- unreal
- zelda orcania of time
- thief
- star craft
- baldurs gate
Any one of these games is special. But to have all of them in a single year is quite remarkable, especially when you consider the future significance of many of them:
- half life was valves debut game and set it on the road to half life 2 and steam
- baldurs gate was bio wares debut game and made it one of the premier rpg makers
- thief gave birth to the stealth survival game
- zelda was the epic translation of a classic into the 3D world
- unreal gave birth to the unreal engine, an engine which spawned a plethora of other triple a titles
- Starcraft gave birth to the online competitive leagues we see today in things like Dota and LOL.
For me it seems as though to get a year like this you have to have three things:
1- an established set of games in a recognised format (unreal, zelda)
2 - a giant leap forward in technology (unreal, zelda, thief)
3 - innovation (half life, star craft, baldurs gate)
This sort of leads to the question what will bring the next great year of video gaming? Many of you have probably seen that oculus rift has just started shipping. I think give it a year or two and we might just be in for another year of greatness.
My own personal opinion is that consoles have held gaming back for many years. But recently you have seen a resurgence in PC gaming as enthusiasts on the console market have switched to PC because the likes of Microsoft have increasingly tried to appeal to the mass market. Which means they kind of ignored their hardcore support. This is a good thing as the PC is by far the most innovative market. Maybe we are due a new greatest year of gaming. My personal hope is for half life 3 on oculus rift and a plethora of other games in the side.