01
September 1998
Metal Gear Solid launches in Japan on September 3.
A month marker with regional timing kept visible rather than smoothed into a single global date.
release card
Gaming History, One Month at a Time
GTM-1998-09
September 1998
September is Metal Gear and Western Pokemon.
OcarinaHalf-LifeMetal Gear SolidDreamcast
Timeline archive
Select a year
1998 month drawer
Installed months are active; empty drawers are held for future exhibits.
Gallery 01
News
Five researched month markers or context notes.
02
September 1998
Pokemon Red and Blue launch in North America on September 28.
A month marker with regional timing kept visible rather than smoothed into a single global date.
magazine clipping
03
September 1998
Stealth cinema and handheld collecting define very different futures.
A researched period marker, written cautiously where sources disagree or the month is more atmosphere than hard date.
shop-window label
04
September 1998
UK players still wait for Pokemon's official arrival.
From a UK-aware angle, this mattered through delayed releases, import pages, demo discs and high-street availability.
demo-disc note
05
September 1998
The PlayStation feels mature while Game Boy feels newly alive.
A researched period marker, written cautiously where sources disagree or the month is more atmosphere than hard date.
context plaque
Gallery 02
Releases
Eight notable releases, led by month-specific anchors where evidence supports them.
September 3, 1998PlayStation
stealth cinema
Metal Gear Solid
Kojima turns stealth, cinema and controller tricks into a PlayStation event.
September 28, 1998Game Boy
handheld phenomenon
Pokemon Red and Blue
Pokemon reaches North America and starts building the Western wave that hits Europe in 1999.
January 21, 1998PlayStation
survival horror sequel
Resident Evil 2
Capcom moves survival horror from mansion to city-scale panic.
March 31, 1998Windows
RTS landmark
StarCraft
Blizzard turns asymmetric RTS design into a multiplayer language.
May 22, 1998Windows
PC engine showcase
Unreal
Epic's shooter makes lighting, scale and engine technology part of the PC boast.
June 29, 1998Nintendo 64
N64 platformer
Banjo-Kazooie
Rare gives the N64 a warm, dense collectathon with British studio fingerprints.
November 19, 1998Windows
narrative FPS
Half-Life
Valve stitches FPS action into a continuous authored disaster.
November 21/23, 1998Nintendo 64
3D adventure landmark
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Nintendo translates Zelda into 3D and makes lock-on combat feel inevitable.
Gallery 03
Hardware
Machines, media and platform context around the month.
Game Boy Color launches in Japan
Nintendo refreshes handheld play just as Pokemon is beginning its Western climb.
Dreamcast launches in Japan
Sega opens the sixth generation with a built-in modem and arcade-derived confidence.
N64 peaks with event software
Ocarina of Time makes the cartridge machine feel essential again, even beside PlayStation volume.
PC gaming splits between strategy, shooter and RPG
StarCraft, Half-Life, Unreal, Thief and Baldur's Gate show several PC futures at once.
Gallery 04
Magazine Covers
Reconstructed shelf markers for the magazine culture of the year.
1998
N64 Magazine
The UK Nintendo shelf watches GoldenEye afterglow turn into Ocarina anticipation.
1998
Official PlayStation Magazine UK
Demo discs and glossy covers place Metal Gear, Gran Turismo and Tomb Raider in the same ritual.
1998
PC Gamer UK
A PC shelf marker for StarCraft, Half-Life, Unreal, Thief and Baldur's Gate.
1998
Edge
A year where serious criticism had to make room for several all-time landmarks at once.
Gallery 05
Online Life
How network play, downloads, fan pages and demo culture felt at the time.
Battle.net becomes routine for strategy players
StarCraft turns online matchmaking and ladder identity into part of the game.
Half-Life mod culture is waiting in the walls
Valve's shooter arrives as a platform for communities, tools and eventually Counter-Strike.
Pokemon trading remains mostly physical
The Western wave begins, but playground cables and local friends still matter more than websites.
Dreamcast makes online console play imaginable
The built-in modem is not yet a UK reality, but the idea changes how Sega talks about the future.
Gallery 06
What It Felt Like
A short atmospheric reading from the player side of history.
01
Every platform had a masterpiece argument
N64, PlayStation and PC could each point to a different future and sound convincing.
02
The year felt overcrowded in the best way
One magazine issue could hold Zelda, Metal Gear, Half-Life and StarCraft without blinking.
03
Pokemon was approaching Britain from overseas
UK players could feel the wave coming through American coverage and import chatter.
04
Sega seemed to be preparing one last clean slate
Dreamcast made Saturn's troubles look like prelude rather than ending.