From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Events
- January, Life magazine runs a two-page spread on arcade game world record holders: "Video Game VIPs."
- January, Electronic Games labels Donkey Kong, Space Panic, and other games with ladders as "climbing games."[1]
- At the first Golden Joystick Awards ceremony (held in 1984), Manic Miner takes Game of the Year.
- The fourth Arcade Awards are held, for games released during 1981-1982, with Tron winning best arcade game, Demon Attack best console game, David's Midnight Magic best computer game, and Galaxian best standalone game.
- A major shakeout of the North American video game industry ("the crash of 1983") begins. By 1986, total video games sales will decrease from US$3.2 billion to US$0.1 billion.[2]
Business
- In the United States, arcade game revenues are worth $2.9 billion[3] (equivalent to $6.89 billion in 2024).
- In the United States, home video game sales are worth $3.2 billion, according to Nintendo[2] (equivalent to $7.6 billion in 2024).
- In Japan, home video game sales approach ¥400 billion[4] (equivalent to $NaN in 2024).
- MCA Universal files suit against Nintendo, claiming that the latter company's video arcade hit Donkey Kong violated Universal's copyright on King Kong. After a brief trial, the judge determined that the rights to the original Kong had passed into the public domain. The case was dismissed, and MCA Universal paid $1.8 million USD in damages to Nintendo.,[5]
- Atari files suit against Coleco, claiming violation of Atari's patents on the Atari 2600 video game console. The previous year, Coleco released a peripheral device that made it possible for Atari 2600 game cartridges to be run on the ColecoVision console.[6]
- New companies: Aackosoft, Alligata, Beyond, Graftgold, Infogrames,[7] Origin Systems,[8] Interplay,[9] Navarre,[10] Mastertronic, Spectrum HoloByte, Tynesoft
Notable releases
Games
- Arcade
- March, Namco releases Mappy.
- May, Sega releases Astron Belt in the Japanese market, the first laserdisc video game. It uses pre-rendered, computer-animated film footage as backdrops, overlaid with sprite graphics.
- 14 June, Nintendo releases Mario Bros., which features the first appearance of Mario's brother, Luigi.
- 19 June, Cinematronics releases Advanced Microcomputer Systems's Dragon's Lair,[12] the second laserdisc video game, and the first in the American market.
- June, Data East releases Bega's Battle, an early laserdisc video game.[13] It uses anime FMV cut scenes to develop a story between the game's shooting stages, which would later become the standard approach to video game storytelling.[14]
- July, Namco releases Pac & Pal exclusively in Japan.
- August, Sega releases Astron Belt in Europe, as the first laserdisc game in the region.[15]
- August, Namco releases Phozon exclusively in Japan.
- October, Namco releases Libble Rabble.
- November, Sega releases Astron Belt in the United States.[16]
- December, Namco releases Pole Position II, adding three additional tracks.
- Bally/Midway releases Spy Hunter.[17] They also release Jr. Pac-Man and Professor Pac-Man without Namco's authorization, and the latter of them was almost an immediate flop.
- Atari releases Star Wars, a color vector graphics game based on the popular film franchise.,[18] and Crystal Castles.
- Konami releases Gyruss in Japan. Centuri distributes the game in North America.[19]
- Nintendo releases Punch-Out!! in Japan.
- Williams releases Blaster, which was originally programmed on an Atari 8-bit computer.
- Personal computer
- June, Yuji Horii releases The Portopia Serial Murder Case for the NEC PC-6001 in Japan. It is an influential adventure game that lays the foundations for the visual novel genre.[20]
- July 8, Infocom releases Planetfall, which becomes one of their top sellers.
- August 23, Origin Systems publishes Ultima III: Exodus, one of the first role-playing video games to use tactical, turn-based combat. It is released for the Apple II, Atari 800, Commodore 64, and IBM PC.[8]
- ASCII releases Bokosuka Wars for the Sharp X1 in Japan. It is a precursor to the tactical role-playing game[21] and real-time strategy[22] genres.
- Koei releases Nobunaga's Ambition for Japanese computers. Its combination of role-playing, turn-based grand strategy and management simulation elements sets a standard for the historical simulation and strategy RPG genres.[23]
- Electronic Arts publishes its first titles: Hard Hat Mack, Pinball Construction Set, Archon, M.U.L.E., Worms?, and Murder on the Zinderneuf.
- Bug-Byte releases Matthew Smith's Manic Miner, a platform game, for the ZX Spectrum.[24]
- Ultimate Play The Game, later known as Rare, releases its first video games, Jetpac and Atic Atac, for the ZX Spectrum.[25]
- Hudson Soft releases Bomberman for the MSX and FM-7.
- Psion release Chequered Flag, the first driving game published for the ZX Spectrum,[26] one of the first computer car simulators, and the first driving game with selectable cars.[27]
- The 4-player simultaneous Dandy is released for the Atari 8-bit family. It directly inspires 1985's Gauntlet arcade game.
- Console
Hardware
- Arcade
- Console
- 15 July, Sega releases the SG-1000 console in Japan,[30] on the same day as the Famicom.
- 15 July, Nintendo releases the Family Computer (Famicom) console in Japan. Shortly after its release, complaints begin to surface about rampant system instability, prompting Nintendo to issue a product recall and to rerelease the machine with a new motherboard.[2] It would later be released worldwide as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
- GameLine, a combination modem and dialup game distribution service for the Atari 2600, is announced but never ships.
- Personal computer
- January, Apple Computer releases the Apple IIe, which becomes their most popular 8-bit machine.
- 16 June, Microsoft Japan releases MSX, an early standardized home computer architecture.
- June, Mattel Electronics releases the Aquarius home computer, originally designed by Radofin Electronics Far East.[31]
- October, Mattel discontinues the Aquarius.
- Acorn Computers release the Acorn Electron, a cut down version of their BBC Micro to compete in the under £200 home computer market. Problems in manufacture see only 1 in 8 presales being delivered for the Christmas market.
- Atari releases the poorly received 1200XL computer. Late in the year it and the rest of the Atari 8-bit family are replaced by the 600XL and 800XL.
- Coleco releases the Adam home computer.[32]
- Sega releases the SC-3000, a personal computer version of the SG-1000 console, in Japan.[30]
References
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