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1997 started with a bang here at GameSpot, with our selection of Diablo as 1996's Game of the Year. With only its back leg in 1996 (it shipped on December 28), many readers proclaimed this an injustice, a violation of some unwritten rule. We listened but couldn't agree. And the rumblings didn't stop there. There were others who disagreed with our classification of Diablo as an RPG, arguing that instead it should be an action game. We rejected that notion as well. In retrospect, we made the right decisions. For if we hadn't, Diablo would have had to contend with Jedi Knight and Quake II for Best Action Game of 1997 - and who would want to see that?

But the controversy over GameSpot's awards was just the start of a raucous 1997.

By midsummer, it was clear what the hot hardware upgrade would be during the next holiday season - and what tremendous impact 3D cards would have on computer games in 1998.

Notable game designers - like Sid Meier, Chris Roberts, and Peter Molyneux - took flight from the publishers, breaking the shackles of budgets and bottom lines, and the restraints and constraints of big business. Each sought to return to an earlier time, when computer game designers blazed new trails, rather than churning out cookie-cutter products ordered up by the marketing suits. So, in 1997, they each formed their own development houses, leaving behind their greatest gaming legacies and in some cases, the companies they founded.

In 1997, we also saw the emergence of the most significant hardware add-ons since the original Sound Blaster. The 3D accelerator cards showed that they could carry - with much greater strength than a fast CPU - the heretofore unwieldy Z-axis. And the games that took advantage of it, such as Quake II and Wing Commander Prophecy, were simply amazing. By midsummer, it was clear what the hot hardware upgrade would be during the next holiday season - and what tremendous impact 3D cards would have on computer games in 1998.

As welcome as 3D cards were, another trend emerged in early fall that was not so welcome.

The cost to develop a competitive game and get it to store shelves now routinely runs into the millions of dollars.

When the tally was complete, over 40 real-time strategy games were in the works from a number of veteran developers as well as a few upstarts. Everybody who was anybody sought to ride the coattails of Warcraft and Command and Conquer, but few actually succeeded. Mediocre clones came on the scene like a swarm of locusts, then quickly disappeared from store shelves. But two true champions emerged in the form of Total Annihilation and Dark Reign - and the battle between them rages on even now.

But perhaps the biggest lesson of 1997 is that the cottage industry that once defined this market has definitely been left behind. The cost to develop a competitive game and get it to store shelves now routinely runs into the millions of dollars. This has led to the consolidation of smaller game companies into often-spiritless conglomerates, and while the resulting titles might look and sound more impressive than their predecessors, most lack what Meier, Roberts, and Molyneux once breathed into them - a life of their own.

But there were exceptions, and we've gathered all of them together in this year's Best & Worst Awards. Inside you'll find our selections for the most outstanding, and reprehensible, titles released in 1997. We hope you enjoy the results.

Go to the Game of the Year