A year ago, you couldn’t have a conversation about gaming without mentioning the word “Columbine.” The effect it would have on gaming; the effect gaming may have had on it. Debates erupted, titles were temporarily shelved, and parents everywhere started to raise an eyebrow or two at the games their children brought home.
These days, the words on everyone’s tongues are different; the scope of their effect on the industry just as vague. Broadband. Convergence. Consoles. These are the wait-and-see biggies that may — or may not — change the face of electronic entertainment as we know it. So while we turn an eye to what’s coming out for the summer, it’s difficult not to keep things like the release of PlayStation 2 and Microsoft’s X-Box in our periphery. For the first time in our gaming preview, we asked members of the local gaming community about the state of the industry — what’s interesting right now, how they’re planning for the future, and what games you can expect from them in the meantime. Their visions are varied according to their expertise — it’s no surprise that Jeff Anderson at Origin Systems talks about the future of electronic gaming online, and Human Code’s Lindsay Gupton emphasizes convergence. But together, their answers paint a picture of an industry that is growing in leaps and bounds.
One of the most anticipated titles of the year is Diablo 2, the follow-up to the phenomenally successful 1996 role-playing game. One of the much-envied owners of the game’s beta version, Marcel Meyer, gives us a glimpse at what to expect from the title, due on shelves this summer.
This article appears in April 28 • 2000.