Permit me to paraphrase Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five: “Listen: The video game industry has come unstuck in time.”

With Duke Nukem Forever on the verge of being released, coupled with announcement of the reemergence of Spyro the Dragon, (who was, admittedly, never really gone) your average gamer might think it was 1998 all over again.

Who knows if it’s a good thing. The Duke Nukem franchise never interested me, and Spyro is a kids’ game–thought the new technology it’s using sounds interesting.

Still, 1998 marked the beginning of what many consider a golden age of gaming. 1998/’99 saw the release of: Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Valve’s Half-Life, Black Isle’s Fallout 2, LucasArts‘ Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Konami’s Metal Gear Solid, and of course, Black Isle’s Planescape: Torment.

So, it might not be bad to revisit the old days, if it kicks a cycle like that off again.