1998 in video gaming

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The year 1998 is considered by many to be the greatest year for games ever and the golden age of Playstation, with mega-popular hits such as Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken 3, and Spyro the Dragon, among many others. It is considered the video game equivalent for the year 1994 for movies.

Events

• Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo to the AIAS Hall of Fame
• British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 1st annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards
• Game One channel (subsidiary of Canalplus); Infogrames Entertainment SA and Canal+ launch the Game One television channel.
• May 28–30 — The 4th annual E3 is held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.^[1] The first annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E3
• May 28 - Bill Williams, designer of Alley Cat, Necromancer, and Mind Walker, dies.
• July 3 - Danielle Bunten Berry, designer of M.U.L.E. and Seven Cities of Gold, dies.
• October 23 - The over-hyped, under-delivering Trespasser is released for PCs, quickly becoming the most disappointing game of the year.
• The site LinuxGames is established.
• The ESRB changes the "K-A" (Kids to Adults) rating to "E" (Everyone) in February.

Notable releases

Video game platforms

GBC Game Boy Color N64 Nintendo 64 PS1 PlayStation Sat Sega Saturn Win Microsoft Windows DC Dreamcast

Notable releases of the year 1998

Release	Title	Windows	5th Gen	6th Gen	Handheld	Arcade	Notes
January 12	Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes	N/A	PS1	DC (1999)	N/A	Yes
January 21	Resident Evil 2	1999	PS1; N64 (1999)	DC (1999); GC (2003)	N/A	N/A
January 28	Final Fantasy Tactics	N/A	PS1	N/A	PSP (2007), iOS (2011), Android (2015)	N/A
January 29	Bomberman World	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
January 29	Bust a Groove	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
January 29	Panzer Dragoon Saga	N/A	Saturn	N/A	N/A	N/A
January 31	Gex: Enter the Gecko	Yes	PS1, N64	N/A	GBC	N/A
January 31	Skullmonkeys	N/A	PlayStation	N/A	N/A	N/A
February 9	James Bond 007	N/A	N/A	N/A	GB	N/A
February 11	Xenogears	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
February 26	Tenchu: Stealth Assassins	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
February 28	Star Wars: Rebellion	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 1	Yoshi's Story	N/A	N64	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 13	World Cup 98	April 30	PS1; N64 (May 18)	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 19	Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 19	Real Bout Fatal Fury 2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes
March 29	Parasite Eve	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 31	SaGa Frontier	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 31	StarCraft	Yes	N64 (2000)	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 31	Blasto	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 31	1080° Snowboarding	N/A	N64	N/A	N/A	N/A
April 7	Warhammer: Dark Omen [2]	March 31 [3]	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
April 30	Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
April 30	Point Blank	N/A	PS1	N/A	DS (2005)	Yes (1994)
May 5	Einhänder	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
May 12	Gran Turismo	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
May 22	Unreal	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
May 31	Jersey Devil	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
May 31	Vigilante 8	N/A	PS1, N64	N/A	N/A	N/A
June 11	X-Men vs. Street Fighter	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
June 30	Banjo-Kazooie	N/A	N64	N/A	N/A	N/A
June 30	N2O: Nitrous Oxide	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
July 14	F-Zero X	N/A	N64	N/A	N/A	N/A
July 30	Star Ocean: The Second Story	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
July 31	Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
July 31	Heart of Darkness	August 31	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
July 31	Iggy's Reckin' Balls	N/A	N64	N/A	N/A	N/A
August 21	Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six	Yes	PS1, N64 (1999)	DC (2000)	N/A	N/A
August 31	Mega Man Legends	2001	PS1, N64 (2001)	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 1	MediEvil	N/A	PS1	N/A	PSP (2005)	N/A
September 3	Metal Gear Solid	2000	PS1	GC (2004)	N/A	N/A
September 10	Spyro the Dragon	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
September 10	Resident Evil: Director's Cut	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
September 27	Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit	Yes	PS1 (March 25)	N/A	N/A	N/A
September 30	Fallout 2	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
September 30	Shogo: Mobile Armor Division	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
September 30	Pokémon Red and Blue	N/A	N/A	N/A	GB	N/A
September 30	G-Darius	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
September 30	Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
October	Caesar III	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 10	Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 20	Body Harvest	N/A	N64	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 21	Turok 2: Seeds of Evil	N/A	N64	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 30	Grim Fandango	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 30	Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 30	SiN	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 30	Heretic 2	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 31	Blood II: The Chosen	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 31	Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus	Yes	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 31	Apocalypse	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 31	No One Can Stop Mr. Domino!	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 1	Delta Force	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 10	Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA	N/A	N64	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 19	Half-Life	Yes	N/A	PS2 (2001)	N/A	N/A
November 21	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time	N/A	N64	GC (2002; 2003)	3DS (2011)	N/A
November 21	Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft	Yes	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 30	StarCraft: Brood War	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 30	Thief: The Dark Project	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 30	Baldur's Gate	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 30	The Settlers III	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 30	Starsiege: Tribes	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
December 3	Star Wars: Rogue Squadron	Yes	N64 (December 7)	N/A	N/A	N/A
December 4	Magic and Mayhem	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
December 12	Falcon 4.0	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
December 12	South Park	1999	N64, PC (1999), PS1 (1999)	N/A	N/A	N/A
December 14	Mario Party	N/A	N64	N/A	N/A	N/A
December 17	Suikoden II	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A
December 23	Chocobo's Dungeon 2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
December 23	Sonic Adventure	2004	N/A	DC; DX, GC (2003)	N/A	N/A
December 31	Akuji the Heartless	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A	N/A

Hardware

• Nintendo's Game Boy Camera and Game Boy Color handheld console is released.
• Sega's Dreamcast, an Internet-ready home console released in Japan and later in 1999 in US and the PAL regions.
• The Sega Saturn is discontinued in the US and Europe.
• Bandai's WonderSwan handheld is released in Japan.
• SNK's Neo Geo Pocket handheld released.

Business

• Activision acquires CD Contact Data and Head Game Publishing
• Eidos Interactive acquires Crystal Dynamics
• Electronic Arts Inc. acquires Virgin Studio and Westwood Studios
• JTS Corp. (Atari Corporation) files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Hasbro acquires Atari from JTS.
• Square Co. and Electronic Arts form Square Electronic Arts LLC to publish a wealth of Square Co. titles in the U.S.
• Havas, a subsidiary of Vivendi, acquires Cendant Software, which includes Sierra On-Line and Blizzard Entertainment
• Lego Media established by Lego Group
• New companies: BreakAway, Elixir, Metro3D, Rockstar, Sunrise, Troika, WildTangent, Loki
• Defunct: DWANGO

References

1. "Attendance and Stats". IGN. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
2. "Warhammer: Dark Omen".
3. "Warhammer: Dark Omen".