Manufacturer: Creative Labs Tech: PCI audioboard Bundle: Unreal (EAX Edition), Cakewalk Express Gold, Sound Forge XP Price: $199

Creative Technology Ltd. has really taken some elaborate steps this year to ensure that their juggernaught rolls on into the next millenium harvesting huge fields of cash. We're referring to Creative's acquisition of Cambridge SoundWorks (speaker mfg.) and low-end audio card maker, Ensoniq.

Even with this type of financial outlay, Creative still managed to have a decent year in 98, and have even launched an entire new high-end product line, the Sound Blaster Live! series of audio cards. The SB Live cards represent the final foundational block in Creative's entertainment future, a foundation that began with the amazing early shipment of the world's first Voodoo2 based product way back in February.

After reaping the rewards that go along with successful product launches and rave-reviews, Creative decided that the next step towards entertainment product domination called for an audio technological revolution. The merger with Ensoniq had taught Creative that PCI-based "audio-accelerators" were in high-demand by gamers seeking low CPU overhead, and enhanced high-bandwidth audio features. To capitalize on PCI's large capacity would not be easy, as standard stereo audio barely taxed the limited capacity of the ancient ISA bus.

The answer lied in a burgeoning audio format, one that gamers had shown a large degree of interest in, and had indicated that they would be willing to fork over large dollars for...