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For the final Gist List article this year, I decided to take a look at eight games I think are going to help define the next year in gaming. I'll be back in January with some articles to wrap up 1999 in gaming. In the mean time, Happy Holidays, and be prepared for the biggest year yet in gaming!
Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2 should take multiplayer gaming in a new direction

Developer: Valve
Publisher: Sierra Studios

There's little doubt one of the games I'm most excited to see next year is Valve's Team Fortress 2. Although gamers seem to be embracing the gameplay style in games such as Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena, I predict that Team Fortress 2 will fundamentally change the way we play action games online -- especially team-play. I think Valve is on the right track deciding to take teamplay beyond capture the flag, and I'm particularly interested to see how they implement ideas such as an ICQ-like friends browser. I think the biggest hurdle Valve faces is figuring out how to introduce new players to the online game environment: Simply throwing them into a big team game with a bunch of people they've never met before won't slice it. Nevertheless, I fully expect Team Fortress 2 to do for online gaming what Half-Life did for action games: re-define a genre.
Vampire: The Masquerade

Can you believe an RPG looks this good?

Developer: Nihilistic
Publisher: Activision

Only about a year ago it seemed that role playing games always had to be about swords and dungeons, but 2000 will usher in a group of impressive looking RPGs. The first is Vampire: The Masquerade, a game that drips with supernal visuals, and looks to take RPGs to a new level. It remains to be seen how well the storyline holds up, but if developer Nihilistic can pen a rich tale to wrap around the visuals and the game's easy-to-use point and click interface, expect big things from this game in early 2000. If there's an as-of-yet unknown developer to come out of its shell in 2000, Nihilistic is the one.
Find out the next two games on the list>>>