Half-Life is one of my favorite video game series, and in honor of its 20th anniversary, I spent a week replaying the first game — which feels incredibly refreshing in 2018. As expected, Valve Software didn’t make any surprise Half-Life 3 announcements to commemorate the milestone. But the team behind Black Mesa, an unofficial remake, released an evocative trailer for their game’s final levels. Those levels are due next year, keeping Half-Life growing even after two decades.

The rest of this week in 1998 had a few noteworthy moments too. Read on for Will Smith, the International Space Station, and the year’s creepiest animatronic toy.

‘We’re in Furby hell’

The big toy fad of 1998 was Furby, and as holiday shopping got underway, adults…

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