Here's our look back at a few of the top stories of 1998 that generated heaps of reader interest. The first on our list being:

　　1. Acquisition FeverAt times in 1998 (truth be told, most times in 1998), it felt like an interactive gold rush was on. Or perhaps more descriptively, an interactive feeding frenzy, with bigger companies gobbling up smaller ones whenever one turned around.

　　Consider: Broderbund announced its intention to merge with The Learning Company in June. In September alone, EA announced that its acquisiton of Westwood was complete, Eidos gobbled up Crystal Dynamics and it was revealed that Hasbro was purchasing MicroProse. In November, Paris-based Havas SA announced that it was grabbing the consumer software division of Cendant Corporation (a division that included Sierra On-Line and Blizzard Entertainment) for a cool US$800 million in cash. That same month, GT Interactive announced a US$15 million acquisition of OneZero Media, a two-year-old Internet entertainment company, which it hopes to use to develop new forms of revenue from e-commerce, licensing, Internet, and TV advertising. And just this month, 3Dfx Interactive announced that it will acquire graphic card maker STB Systems, while Mattel revealed its plans to purchase software maker The Learning Company for close to US$3.8 billion.

　　Even a company with a name as big as Sega (or at least the company's American Sega Soft Networks operations) found it beneficial to join forces with another company; earlier this month, GT Interactive announced that it had reached an affiliate label agreement with the two Sega companies. GT will be distributing PC games for those companies. GT has beefed up its own affiliate label program this year as well; other GT affiliates include Empire Interactive, Smart Code, Beam, and Golf Manager.

　　The question remains - what's feeding this frenzy? It's more than simply a matter of capitalism in action - the big absorbing the small - though that, and the fear of being left behind definitely has something to do with it. And it's more than a matter of keeping up with the Jonses (or in this case, the GTs and the EAs).

　　GT touted the possibility of leveraging "proprietary technology throughout its studios in order to enhance quality and speed up development time" when it announced last month the formation of Bootprint Studios (adding to GT's roster of "internal developers," a group that also includes Cavedog Entertainment, Humongous Entertainment, SingleTrac and Oddworld Inhabitants). That ability to use technology (a game engine, say, or a motion capture system) across a number of different studios - especially in this era when licensing of engines is becoming more and more prevalent (see the Quake II, Messiah and Unreal engines) - is but one of the reasons why going after existing companies makes sense to so many.

　　Another, of course, is name recognition. With the computer game sales charts increasingly dominated by titles based on other media properties (cartoons, toys, etc.) and sequels, it only make sense to acquire a company with an already established name (Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo undoubtedly figured highly in Havas SA's decision to acquire Cendant) or one with connections to a brand with potential to cross over to the interactive arena (can anyone say Barbie? Or Lego?). In many minds, it seems, it's much easier to buy the name recognition of a character or series like Gex than it is to try and create from scratch one of your own.

　　2. Toy Companies Go Interactive

　　Mattel had good reasons to shy away from trying to get (back) into the interactive games business. (What are those reasons, you ask? One word: Intellivision).

　　But look at some of the most recent PC sales charts and you'll see one name over and over: Barbie. Mattel owns that brand. Another perennial chart-topper this year - Lego Island - is now, or soon will be, a Mattel title too, thanks to Mattel's announced purchase of The Learning Company. Not to be outdone, Mattel competitor Hasbro has slipped some of its interactive offerings onto the PC sales chart as well. This is true most recently with Wheel of Fortune and Frogger games.

　　Traditional toy companies are back in the interactive entertainment game. And in a big way.

　　Lest there be any doubt ... "We have begun the process of transforming Mattel from a toy company to a global children's products company," said Jill Barad, chairwoman of Mattel, when announcing Mattel's acquisition of The Learning Company. "As a result of this merger, we will achieve our goal of building a $1 billion interactive software business."

　　Mattel announced this deal at the same time that it was revealing that its 1998 earnings were going to be lower than expected. It's enough to make you think that the traditional toy business is hurting.

　　Toy retailers are changing the way they're ordering from companies such as Mattel - they're ordering toys much closer to the time they expect to sell them than they did in the past and are letting inventory levels dry up before re-ordering. That impacts the bottom line of traditional toy-makers like Hasbro and Mattel.

　　Those same toy companies are taking a bigger and bigger hit due to increased video and computer game sales. It only makes sense for those traditionalists to get into the interactive arena.

　　And this year, that's just what they did.3. Respect Thy Casual Gamer

　　They are called casual gamers and they're redefining the PC game marketplace. Deer Hunter is the group's marquee title, but that particular WizardWorks title is merely the tip of the iceberg. The overall impact extends beyond the slew of Deer Hunter knock-offs which have landed on retail shelves and in PC Data's charts of top-sellers; the overall trend is for shorter development cycles, lower pricing at launch, and subject matter more accessible to the neophyte PC owner

　　Call it the dumbing down of computer gaming if you dare, but the numbers – and that would be dollars and cents – favor this new group of gamers as a driving force in the industry for at least the next year.4. Gamers Band Together, Get a Lawyer, Try to Get Even

　　The allegations were downright nasty. One of the biggest computer game companies was described as being out to rip off gamers by engaging in acts that boiled down to lying, cheating, and stealing. The allegations (in just slightly softer terms) came from one George Schultz, esq. and his clients who accused Electronic Arts and Origin Systems, Inc. of releasing a fault-ridden Ultima Online and supporting the game most horribly.

　　The accusations – which emanated from alleged crash-prone servers, tactless GMs, misleading box copy, and a pay-to-play policy that tore holes in gamers' wallets – were noted as fraud and breach of contract in the various court documents Schultz filed starting in April. The emotions were hot from the outset – and remain hot to this day. And although Schultz's efforts to have his clients' case certified as a class action as he hoped didn't occur, he remains convinced something good will come of his efforts.

　　Electronic Arts, on the other hand, remains stoic in the face of the lawsuit. This story still has legs.5. ION Storm's Negative Charge

　　Talk about street cred, it doesn't get much bigger than name John Romero. But one thing we noticed after going over the top stories for '98 (and that includes looking at which stories received giant numbers of page views and which ones generated reader mail), anything related to ION Storm, Daikatana, or John Romero created reader interest. And the news out of ION that got the most clicks was news about staff losses the brazenly publicity-hungry gaming company suffered this year.

　　It seemed that for every Rolling Stone article or Fast Company photo spread, there was another story to be read about designers or programmers jumping ION's ship. The exact count seemed less relevant than the trend. What was it about that sky-high shop that made people want to leave? The true test of ION Storm comes with next year's release of Daikatana.

　　More news to come from this team for sure.