1983_in_video_games

1983 in video games

1983 in video games

Overview of the events of 1983 in video games


1983 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Mario Bros. and Pole Position II, along with new titles such as Astron Belt, Champion Baseball, Dragon's Lair, Elevator Action, Spy Hunter and Track & Field. Major events include the video game crash of 1983 in North America, and the third generation of video game consoles beginning with the launch of Nintendo's Family Computer (Famicom) and Sega's SG-1000 in Japan. The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pole Position, while the year's best-selling home system was Nintendo's Game & Watch for the third time since 1980.

Quick Facts List of years in video games ...

Financial performance

  • In the United States, arcade video game revenues are worth $2.9 billion[1] (equivalent to $8.87 billion adjusted for inflation).
  • In the United States, home video game sales are worth $2 billion[2] (equivalent to $6.12 billion adjusted for inflation).
  • In Japan, home video game sales approach ¥400 billion[3] (equivalent to $1.68 billion at the time, or $5.69 billion adjusted for inflation).

Highest-grossing arcade games

Pole Position, a racing game by Namco, was the most successful arcade game of 1983.[4]

Japan

In Japan, Game Machine magazine began publishing half-monthly charts of top-grossing arcade games from June 1, 1983.[5] The following titles were the top-grossing arcade video games on the Game Machine charts from June to December 1983.

United States

In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1983, according to RePlay magazine, the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA), and Cash Box magazine.

Best-selling home video games

The following titles were the best-selling home video games of 1983.

More information Rank, Title ...

Best-selling home systems

More information Rank, System(s) ...

Major awards

More information Award, 4th Arcade Awards (US) ...

Events

Business

Notable releases

Games

Arcade

Personal computer

Console

Hardware

Arcade

Console

Family Computer
  • July 15 – Sega releases the SG-1000 console in Japan,[70] on the same day as the Famicom.
  • July 15 – 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.[43] It would later be released worldwide as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
  • October – Casio launches the Casio PV-1000 in Japan. It does not remain on the market for long.
  • October – Gakken launches the Compact Vision TV Boy in Japan. It's the last second generation console released. It was expensive and obsolete at launch, being discontinued shortly after.
  • GameLine, a combination modem and dialup game distribution service for the Atari 2600, is announced but never ships.

Personal computer

See also


References

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