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A look at gaming in September 1998
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September 1998 is one of those months where the gaming world feels impossibly stacked, and we wanted to revisit it the way it actually happened: what we played, what we wanted, and what the magazines told us mattered. We start with the everyday texture of the late 90s, that Saturday-morning feeling, the controller in your hands, and the first wave of “I’ve got a paycheck now” game-buying decisions. From there we get into the games that shaped the moment, including Tiger Woods 99 on PlayStation, the cult appeal of Future Cop LAPD, and why Rainbow Six on N64 feels like a technical miracle and a compromise at the same time.
Then we zoom out into the bigger identity stuff that defined the PS1 vs N64 era. We talk Spyro as a genuinely smart 3D platformer and use it to trace studio trajectories, especially Insomniac’s rise against Rare’s absolute N64 dominance and what happens when talent gets absorbed by corporate plans. We also hit the arcade side of 1998 with House of the Dead 2 and that dream of bringing a light gun shooter home, plus a quick stop in the weird corners of the era with titles like Parasite Eve and LSD Dream Emulator.
The nostalgia is fun, but the real time capsule is the “news” and charts: Lara Croft movie hype before casting is even locked, GoldenEye scooping major awards, and a letter that captures the end of the bit wars while accidentally calling the Dreamcast’s future. We even read the best-selling games list to see what was truly dominating shelves, and we draft our October 1998 “paper round money” picks like Metal Gear Solid and MediEvil.
If you love retro gaming, PlayStation 1, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast history, and 90s video game magazine culture, come hang with us. Subscribe, share the episode with a friend who lived through 1998, and leave a review telling us which game you’d put back at number one.
Join our fantastic discord
https://discord.gg/v7RFSUcG
If link has expired then message us at [email protected]
or click the linktree on our instagram.
or DM us on instagram or X and we'll send you an invite.
Cheers gamers!
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By Unofficial ControllerSend us Fan Mail
September 1998 is one of those months where the gaming world feels impossibly stacked, and we wanted to revisit it the way it actually happened: what we played, what we wanted, and what the magazines told us mattered. We start with the everyday texture of the late 90s, that Saturday-morning feeling, the controller in your hands, and the first wave of “I’ve got a paycheck now” game-buying decisions. From there we get into the games that shaped the moment, including Tiger Woods 99 on PlayStation, the cult appeal of Future Cop LAPD, and why Rainbow Six on N64 feels like a technical miracle and a compromise at the same time.
Then we zoom out into the bigger identity stuff that defined the PS1 vs N64 era. We talk Spyro as a genuinely smart 3D platformer and use it to trace studio trajectories, especially Insomniac’s rise against Rare’s absolute N64 dominance and what happens when talent gets absorbed by corporate plans. We also hit the arcade side of 1998 with House of the Dead 2 and that dream of bringing a light gun shooter home, plus a quick stop in the weird corners of the era with titles like Parasite Eve and LSD Dream Emulator.
The nostalgia is fun, but the real time capsule is the “news” and charts: Lara Croft movie hype before casting is even locked, GoldenEye scooping major awards, and a letter that captures the end of the bit wars while accidentally calling the Dreamcast’s future. We even read the best-selling games list to see what was truly dominating shelves, and we draft our October 1998 “paper round money” picks like Metal Gear Solid and MediEvil.
If you love retro gaming, PlayStation 1, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast history, and 90s video game magazine culture, come hang with us. Subscribe, share the episode with a friend who lived through 1998, and leave a review telling us which game you’d put back at number one.
Join our fantastic discord
https://discord.gg/v7RFSUcG
If link has expired then message us at [email protected]
or click the linktree on our instagram.
or DM us on instagram or X and we'll send you an invite.
Cheers gamers!