1980s in video games

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Pac-Man (1980)

The 1980s was the second decade in the industry's history. It was a decade of highs and lows for video games. The decade began amidst a boom in the arcade business with giants like Atari still dominating the American market since the late-1970s. Another, the rising influence of the home computer, and a lack of quality in the games themselves led to an implosion of the video game market that nearly destroyed the industry in North America.[1] It took home consoles years to recover from the crash, but Nintendo filled in the void with its Nintendo Entertainment System (NES, Famicom), reviving interest in consoles.[2] Up until this point, most investors believed video games to be a fad that has since passed.[3] In the remaining years of the decade, Sega ignites a console war with Nintendo, developers that had been affected by the crash experimented with the more advanced graphics of the PC,[4] and Nintendo released the Game Boy, which would become the best-selling handheld gaming device for the next two-decades.[5] Other consoles releases in the decade included the Intellivision, TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine) and Sega Genesis (Mega Drive). Notable games of the 1980s included Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, Metroid, Elite, SimCity, Galaga, Pitfall!, Frogger, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, Defender, Mega Man 2, The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Super Mario Bros. 2, Bubble Bobble, Double Dragon, Final Fight, Ninja Gaiden, Tetris, Adventure, Joust, Robotron: 2084, Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Arkanoid, Populous, R-Type, Contra, Donkey Kong, Centipede, Super Mario Bros. 3, Prince of Persia, Gauntlet, Dragon's Lair, Golden Axe, Ms. Pac-Man, Out Run, Final Fantasy, Altered Beast, Shinobi, Lode Runner, Battlezone, Dragon Quest, and Marble Madness.

Consoles of the 1980s[edit]

Third generation consoles (1983–1993)[edit]

Main article: Third generation of video game consoles
The Nintendo Entertainment System was released in the mid-1980s and became the best-selling gaming console of its time.

Starting in 1983 the third generation began with the Japanese release of the Family Computer (or "Famicom"; later known as the Nintendo Entertainment System in the rest of the world) by Nintendo. Although the previous generation of consoles had also used 8-bit processors, it was at the end of this generation that home consoles were first labeled by their "bits". This also came into fashion as 16-bit systems like Sega's Genesis were marketed to differentiate between the generations of consoles. In the United States, this generation in gaming was primarily dominated by the NES/Famicom. Other notable consoles included Sega's Mark III, also known as the Master System.

Early Fourth generation consoles (1987–1996)[edit]

The Sega Genesis was released in North America in 1989.
Main article: Fourth generation of video game consoles

Starting in 1987 with the PC Engine in Japan and ending in 1996, with the last console being the Neo-Geo in 1991, the fourth generation of video game consoles consisted primarily of games and systems programmed for the 16-bit era. During this generation, 2D graphics had improved over the previous generation and experimentation began to occur with 3D graphics, although 3D games were more prevalent on the PC at the time. The fourth generation also was the first time compact discs were considered a viable port for video game retail sales with the CD-i. Some of the most notable systems released during this generation were the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1990), the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis (1988), and the Neo Geo (1991).[6] Nintendo's Game Boy was also released during the fourth generation, which would later become the most popular series of handheld gaming systems during the 1990s.[7] A rivalry between Sega and Nintendo occurred during this generation, starting the first ever console war.

History[edit]

Golden age of arcade games[edit]

Main article: Golden age of arcade video games

In the early-1980s, arcade games were a vibrant industry. The arcade video game industry in the US alone was generating $5 billion of revenue annually in 1981[8] and the number of arcades doubled between 1980 and 1982.[9] The effect video games had on society expanded to other mediums as well such as major films and music. In 1982, "Pac-Man Fever" charted on the Billboard Hot 100 charts[10] and Tron became a cult classic.[11]

Third-party development and an oversaturated market[edit]

Following a dispute over recognition and royalties, several of Atari's key programmers split and founded their own company Activision in late 1979.[12] Activision was the first third-party developer for the Atari 2600.[13] Atari sued Activision for copyright infringement and theft of trade secrets in 1980,[14] but the two parties settled on fixed royalty rates and a legitimizing process for third parties to develop games on hardware.[15]

In the aftermath of the lawsuit, an oversaturated market resulted in companies that had never had an interest in video games before beginning to work on their own promotional games; brands like Purina Dog Food.[16] The market was also flooded with too many consoles and too many poor quality games,[17] elements that would contribute to the collapse of the entire video game industry in 1983.

Video game crash of 1983[edit]

Main article: Video game crash of 1983

By 1983, the video game bubble created during the golden age had burst and several major companies that produced computers and consoles had gone into bankruptcy.[18] Atari reported a $536 million loss in 1983.[19] Some entertainment experts and investors lost confidence in the medium and believed it was a passing fad.[20] A game often given poster child status to this era, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial had such bad sale figures that the remaining unsold cartridges were buried in the deserts of New Mexico.[21][22]

Rise of computer gaming[edit]

The brunt of the crash was felt mainly across the home console market. Home computer gaming continued to thrive in this time period, especially with lower-cost machines such as the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. Some computer companies adopted aggressive advertising strategies to compete with gaming consoles and to promote their educational appeal to parents as well.[23][24] Home computers also allowed motivated users to develop their own games, and many notable titles were created this way, such as Jordan Mechner's Karateka, which he wrote on an Apple II while in college.[25]

In the late 1980s, IBM PC compatibles became popular as gaming devices, with more memory and higher resolutions than consoles, but lacking in the custom hardware that allowed the slower console systems to create smooth visuals.[26]

Rejuvenation[edit]

By 1985, the home market console in North America had been dormant for nearly two years. Elsewhere, video games continued to be a staple of innovation and development. After seeing impressive numbers from its Famicom system in Japan, Nintendo decided to jump into the North American market by releasing the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES for short. After release it took several years to build up momentum, but despite the pessimism of critics it became a success. Nintendo is credited with reviving the home console market.[2]

One innovation that led to Nintendo's success was its ability to tell stories on an inexpensive home console; something that was more common for home computer games, but had only been seen on consoles in a limited fashion. Nintendo also took measures to prevent another crash by requiring third-party developers to adhere to regulations and standards, something that has existed on major consoles since then. One requirement was a "lock and key" system to prevent reverse engineering. It also forced third parties to pay in full for their cartridges before release, so that in case of a flop, the liability will be on the developer and not the provider.[27]

Notable video-game franchises established in the 1980s[edit]

Arcades[edit]

Consoles and home computers[edit]

Notes:

  • 1Game franchises that also accompany major film or television franchises.
  • 2Game franchises that are considered spin-offs of previously established franchises.

Financial performance[edit]

Highest-grossing arcade games of the decade[edit]

See also: List of highest-grossing arcade games

The following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of each year in the 1980s, in terms of coin drop earnings.

Highest-grossing arcade games of the 1980s
Year Market Chart(s) Title Revenue Inflation Developer Manufacturer(s) Genre Ref
1980 Worldwide — Pac-Man $6 billion $19 billion Namco Namco / Midway Maze [28][29]
1981
1982
1983 Worldwide — Pole Position Un­known Namco Namco / Atari Racing [30]
1984 UK Un­known Track & Field Un­known Konami Konami Olympic sports [31]
USA AMOA Pole Position Un­known Namco Atari Racing [32]
RePlay Pole Position II Un­known Namco Atari Racing [33]
1985 UK Un­known Commando Un­known Capcom Capcom Run-and-gun [31]
USA Play Meter Hang-On Un­known Sega Sega Racing [34]
RePlay Karate Champ Un­known Technōs Data East Fighting [35]
1986 Japan Game Machine Hang-On Un­known Sega Sega Racing [36][37]
UK Electrocoin (London) Nemesis (Gradius) Un­known Konami Konami Scrolling shooter [38]
USA Play Meter Gauntlet Un­known Atari Games Atari Games Hack-and-slash [39]
RePlay Hang-On Un­known Sega Sega Racing [40]
1987 Japan Gamest / Game Machine Out Run Un­known Sega Sega Driving [41][42]
USA Play Meter Sega Sega Driving [43]
1988 Japan Gamest / Game Machine After Burner Un­known Sega Sega Air combat [44][45]
Hong Kong Bondeal RoboCop Un­known Data East Data East Action [46]
UK Un­known Operation Wolf Un­known Taito Taito Light gun shooter [47]
USA Play Meter Double Dragon Un­known Technōs Taito Beat 'em up [48]
1989 Japan Dedicated cabinet Final Lap Un­known Namco Namco Racing [49]
Conversion kit Tetris Un­known Sega Sega Puzzle [49][50]
USA AMOA (dedicated) Double Dragon Un­known Technōs Taito Beat 'em up [51]
AMOA (conversion kit) Capcom Bowling Un­known Strata Capcom Sports
RePlay (dedicated) Super Off Road Un­known Leland Leland Racing [52]
RePlay (conversion kit) Ninja Gaiden Un­known Tecmo Tecmo Beat 'em up

Best-selling home video games of the decade[edit]

The following table lists the top 20 best-selling home video games of the 1980s. Note that video game sales numbers were not as widely reported during the 1980s, with the exception of titles published by Nintendo and Atari, Inc.

Best-selling home video games of the 1980s (as of 2015)
No. Title Units sold Initial release date Platform(s) Genre Developer Publisher(s) Ref
1 Super Mario Bros. 40.24 million September 13, 1985 NES Platformer Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo [53]
2 Tetris (Game Boy) 35 million June 14, 1989 Game Boy Puzzle Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo [54]
3 Duck Hunt 28.31 million April 29, 1984 NES Light gun shooter Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo [55]
4 Super Mario Land 18.14 million April 21, 1989 Game Boy Platformer Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo [56]
5 Super Mario Bros. 3 17.28 million October 23, 1988 NES Platformer Nintendo EAD Nintendo [56]
6 Donkey Kong 15.05 million June 1982 G&W, Coleco, Atari, NES Platformer Nintendo R&D1 Coleco, Atari Corporation [a]
7 Pac-Man 11.15 million 1982 VCS, Coleco, NES, PC Maze Namco Atari, Coleco, Namco, Thunder Mountain [b]
8 Tetris (NES) 8 million November 1989 NES Puzzle Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo [67]
9 Super Mario Bros. 2 7.46 million October 9, 1988 NES Platformer Nintendo EAD Nintendo [56]
10 The Legend of Zelda 6.51 million February 21, 1986 NES Action-adventure Nintendo EAD Nintendo [68]
11 Space Invaders 6.09 million March 1980 Atari VCS Shoot 'em up Taito Atari, Inc. [62][c]
12 The Last Ninja 2 5.5 million August 29, 1988 Computers Action-adventure System 3 Activision [69]
13 Pitfall! 5 million April 20, 1982 Multi-platform Platformer Activision Activision [70]
14 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 4.38 million January 14, 1987 NES Action role-playing Nintendo EAD Nintendo [71]
15 Excitebike 4.16 million November 30, 1984 NES Racing Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo [72]
16 Frogger 4.1 million August 1982 Atari VCS, Computers Action Konami Parker Brothers, Sierra On-Line [d]
17 Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? 4 million June 1, 1985 Multi-platform Educational Broderbund Broderbund [75]
The Last Ninja 4 million 1987 Commodore 64 Action-adventure System 3 Activision [69]
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4 million May 12, 1989 NES Action-platformer Konami Ultra Games [76]
Populous 4 million June 5, 1989 Multi-platform God game Bullfrog Productions Electronic Arts [77]

Best-selling home systems of the decade[edit]

The following table lists the top 20 best-selling home systems in the 1980s, including home video game consoles, handheld game consoles, handheld electronic games, and personal computers.

Best-selling home systems in the 1980s
No. System(s) Manufacturer Type Generation Release Hardware sales Software sales
Japan USA Europe Korea Worldwide As of USA As of
1 Nintendo Entertainment System Nintendo Console Third 1983 14,630,000[78] 20,800,000+[79] 1,000,000[80] 20,000[81] 36,450,000 1989 101,500,000[82] 1989
2 Game & Watch Nintendo Handheld — 1980 — — — — 18,600,000+[83][84] 1982 — —
3 Atari 2600 (Atari VCS) Atari Console Second 1977 — — — — 18,450,000+[85][86] 1986 Un­known Un­known
4 Commodore 64 (C64) Commodore Computer 8-bit 1982 — — — — 13,700,000[87] 1989
5 IBM Personal Computer (PC) IBM Computer 8/16-bit 1981 — — — — 6,952,600+[e] 1989
6 Apple II Apple Inc. Computer 8-bit 1977 — — — — 4,487,000[87] 1989
7 NEC UltraLite / PC-88 / PC-98 NEC Computer 8/16-bit 1981 4,040,000[f] 211,000+[90] Un­known Un­known 4,251,000+ 1989
8 Famicom Disk System Nintendo Console 8-bit 1986 4,000,000[91] — — — 4,000,000 1989
9 MSX ASCII Corp. Computer 8-bit 1983 — — — — 4,000,000[92] 1989
10 Sega SG-1000 / Master System Sega Console Third 1985 1,440,000[93] 1,665,000+[94][95][96] 700,000[80] 130,000[81] 3,935,000+ 1989
11 Apple Macintosh Apple Inc. Computer 16-bit 1977 — — — — 3,502,000[87] 1989
12 Intellivision Mattel Console Second 1979 — — — — 3,000,000+[97] 1983
13 Coleco Mini-Arcade Coleco Dedicated — 1982 — 3,000,000[98] — — 3,000,000 1982 — —
14 PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 NEC Console 8/16-bit 1987 2,350,000[78] 300,000[99] Un­known Un­known 2,650,000+ 1989 Un­known
15 Game Boy Nintendo Handheld 8-bit 1989 1,480,000[78] 1,000,000[79] — — 2,500,000[100] 1989
16 ZX81 / ZX Spectrum Sinclair Computer 8-bit 1981 — — — — 2,300,000[101] 1984
17 ColecoVision Coleco Console Second 1982 — 2,000,000[102] Un­known Un­known 2,000,000+ 1984
18 Amstrad CPC Amstrad Computer 8-bit 1984 — Un­known 2,000,000[103] — 2,000,000+ 1989
19 Atari 400 / Atari 800 Atari Computer 8-bit 1979 — — — — 1,900,000[87] 1989
20 Amiga Commodore Computer 16-bit 1985 — — — — 1,600,000[87] 1989

Hardware timeline[edit]

The following gallery highlights hardware used to predominantly play games throughout the 1980s.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Game & Watch version sold 8 million.[57] ColecoVision version sold 2 million.[58] Atari VCS version sold 4 million in 1982,[59] and 180,523 between 1987 and 1990.[60] Famicom version sold 840,000.[61] Atari 8-bit computer version sold 25,502.[60]
  2. ^ Pac-Man:
  3. ^ 1,318,655 in 1980. 2,964,137 in 1981. 1,373,033 in 1982. 435,353 in 1983.
  4. ^ The Atari VCS version by Parker Brothers sold 4 million cartridges in 1982.[73] Sierra's home computer version sold more than 100,000 copies in the United States by 1985.[74]
  5. ^ 3.575 million up until 1984.[87] 1.4 million in 1985.[88] 1.229 million in 1988.[89] 748,600+ in 1989.[90]
  6. ^ See Market share of personal computer vendors § Japan.

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