But last year was also a tremendous year for the 'real' PC games, led by a revival of roleplaying titles and some real innovations in first-person shooters. Recent RPGs of note include Fallout 2, Might & Magic VI, and Baldur’s Gate - the latter getting almost everyone’s nod as RPG of the year.

There are plenty more where that came from, including Might & Magic VII, Silver, Swords & Sorcery, Anachronox, System Shock 2, Deus Ex, Planescape, and an expansion pak for Baldur’s Gate on the way. The virtual Dungeons & Dragons crowd has never had it so good.

Last year also saw some tremendous strides in the shoot ‘em up market, with the promise of more to come. Delta Force and Rainbow Six opened up a new category of realistic, squad-based action games done in the first person, while Thief: The Dark Project and Half-Life were welcomed universally for their well-thought out design and departure from lazy Doom-cloning.

The other big trend in the US has been the increasing migration towards multiplayer games. In 1998 Starsiege Tribes - a multiplayer-only, MechWarrior-type game - was a hit, and a well-received public beta test of EverQuest, Sony’s online multiplayer RPG, proved that the next generation of Ultima Online-style games can make the leap into the 3D accelerated world.

And of course all eyes are on Unreal Tournament, Quake III: Arena, and Valve’s Team Fortress 2. All of these are going after the Internet deathmatch niche with new types of team games, revamped graphics, and tweaked Net play code. Talking of such possibilities in front of a UK crowd is kind of like eating a gallon of ice cream in front of someone on a strict diet - having to pay for local calls is no doubt slowing down the growth of online gaming over here.

On the console front, much of the hype about Dreamcast that has been building up over the last year is being pushed out of the limelight by specs leaked on PlayStation 2. With the US launch of the Dreamcast slated for September 1999, and Sony’s PlayStation 2 rumoured for September 2000, it looks like Sega will have their work cut out for them. Of course over here, where you already have a dozen magazines devoted to the PlayStation, picking the ultimate winner - especially if PlayStation 2 turns out to be the backwards-compatible, DVD-based system that’s being reported - is pretty much a no-brainer.

All in all, looks like it’ll be another banner year for gaming, no matter which side of the road you drive on.

Cheers!