1983 in video gaming

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 $6.9 billion in 2016).
• In the United States, home video game sales are worth $3.2 billion, according to Nintendo^[2] (equivalent to $7.62 billion in 2016).
• In Japan, home video game sales approach ¥400 billion^[4] (equivalent to $4.02 billion in 2016).
• 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

• Defunct companies: Games by Apollo, US Games, Xonox, Starpath.
• Amusement Developing Section 8 (later known as Sega-AM2), a research and development department of Sega, is established under the supervision of Yu Suzuki in Tokyo, Japan.^[11]
• Milton Bradley takes over distribution of the Vectrex console after purchasing General Consumer Electronics.

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.
• June 14, Nintendo releases Mario Bros., which features the first appearance of Mario's brother, Luigi.
• June 19, 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 is 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

• December 12, Nintendo publishes Donkey Kong Jr. Math, for the Famicom.
• Mattel Electronics publishes World Series Baseball for the Intellivision, one of the first video games to use multiple camera angles.^[28]
• Activision's final big year of Atari 2600 releases includes Enduro, Decathlon, Keystone Kapers, Robot Tank, and Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space.

Hardware

Arcade

• May, Sega Laserdisc hardware releases, as the first laserdisc video game hardware.
• July, Sega System 1 releases, with Star Jacker game.^[29] Its graphics chips are later used in the Sega System 16 and Sega Space Harrier boards.
• December, Namco Libble Rabble (System 16 Universal) releases, as Namco's second arcade system board to use a 16-bit microprocessor.

Console

• July 15, Sega releases the SG-1000 console in Japan,^[30] 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.^[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.
• June 16, Microsoft Japan releases MSX, an early standardized home computer architecture.
• March, 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.
• June, Mattel Electronics releases the Aquarius home computer, originally designed by Radofin Electronics Far East.^[31]
• October. Coleco releases the Adam home computer.^[32] It is only on the market for 15 months.
• 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.
• Sega releases the SC-3000, a personal computer version of the SG-1000 console, in Japan.^[30]

References