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List of years in video gaming       (table)
… 1976 .  1977 .  1978 .  1979  . 1980  . 1981  . 1982 … 1983 1984 1985 -1986- 1987 1988 1989 … 1990 .  1991 .  1992 .  1993  . 1994  . 1995  . 1996 …
Related time period  or  subjects
… 1983 . 1984 . 1985 - 1986 - 1987 . 1988 . 1989 … … 1950s . 1960s . 1970s -1980s- 1990s . 2000s . 2010s … 19th century . 20th century . 21st century …
Art . Archaeology . Architecture . Literature . Music . Science +...

Contents 1 Events 1.1 Notable releases 1.2 Hardware 1.3 Business

[edit] Events

[edit] Notable releases

• Namco releases Sky Kid Deluxe, Hopping Mappy, Toy Pop, The Return of Ishtar, which is the sequel to Tower of Druaga, Genpei Tōma Den, and Rolling Thunder.
• August 6 — Metroid by Makoto Kanoh, the first in the Metroid series.
• February 21 — The Legend of Zelda (designed by Shigeru Miyamoto for the Nintendo Famicom Disk System), the first in The Legend of Zelda series, a spiritual forerunner of console role-playing games
• Sega releases the Out Run arcade game
• Arkanoid (Taito, arcade), spawned many sequels and remakes
• Bubble Bobble (Taito, arcade), spawned many sequels
• Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter was released in October
• Dragon Quest (Enix, Famicom), usually considered the foremost console role-playing game, the first in a series that has been phenomenally successful in Japan

[edit] Hardware

• Namco releases the Namco System '86 arcade system board
• Atari releases the Atari 7800 home console two years after its original test market date
• Sega releases the Sega Master System home console in the United States
• Sharp releases the Twin Famicom home console
• Nintendo releases the Famicom Disk System (an add-on for the Famicom) in Japan only

[edit] Business

• New companies: Acclaim, Majesco, Ubi Soft
• June 13 - Activision merges with Infocom Inc.
• Activision acquires Gamestar Software
• Sinclair Research Ltd. is acquired by Amstrad

v • d • e History of video games By generation First (1972–1977) · Second (1976–1984) · Video game crash of 1983 · Third (1983–1992) · Fourth (1987–1996) · Fifth (1993–2002) · Sixth (1998–) · Seventh (2005–) By decade 1990s · 2000s By year Years prior to 1972  · 1970 1971 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 2010 · 2011 · Future