MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
These were the big events and releases to mark in your calendar when MCV first came out all the way back in September 1998.
METAL GEAR SOLID
September 03, 1998
The tactical espionage action game that put creator Hideo Kojima on the map internationally released in September 1998. MGS managed to be the best stealth game to that point, and brought video games up to a brand new cinematic standard while giving birth to a million terrible Solid Snake (David Hayter) impressions.
ECTS
September 06, 1998
As well as a showcase for all the latest games, The European Computer Trade Show at London’s Olympia was where the very first issue of The Market for Home Computing and Video Games could be found – usually inside oversized promotional bags being carried by attendees eager for something to hold all the freebies they were collecting.
SPYRO THE DRAGON
September 10, 1998
Spyro the Dragon was the closest thing Crash Bandicoot had to a mascot platformer rival on the PlayStation. It all started in September 1998 with Spyro’s first 3D platformer quest, in which he set out on a fantasy adventure to save the other dragons from the evil Gnasty Gnorc. It’s weird to think that Spyro and Crash are both likely to be a part of the Xbox roster now – pending CMA approval, of course.
POKÉMON YELLOW
September 12, 1998
Yellow was the fourth Generation I (Kanto) entry in the Pokémon franchise, and was made to take advantage of the Pikachu fandom that had developed among kids following the arrival of the TV anime. It did this by replacing the three typical starter monsters with the electric generating marsupial star from the show, and letting you talk to him whenever you wanted. If a kid wanted to be Ash Ketchum, this was probably the closest they were going to get.
BODY HARVEST
September 30, 1998
Body Harvest was one of two games DMA Design (soon to become Rockstar North) made for the Nintendo 64. It was supposed to be a launch title, but eventually arrived in September 1998 with help from Gremlin and Midway. Nintendo had by then backed out of publishing the game, realising that an invasion story about aliens harvesting the human population of Earth for their organic material was perhaps a bit dark for its brand at the time.
GEX 3D: RETURN OF THE GECKO
September 30, 1998
Gex and the villainous Rez faced off with one another for a second time in September 1998 with Return of the Gecko. It took the titular lizard into the third dimension in a Super Mario 64-style TV remote collecting adventure, which had humour that was supposedly inspired by The Simpsons. So important was his snark and parody humour, in fact, that the main character was redubbed in the UK to make him actually funny. Sorry, Dana Gould, but Leslie Phillips will always be the best Gex to us.
