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.
Financial performance In the United States, arcade video game revenues are worth $2.9 billionVideo Game Myth Busters - Did the "Crash" of 1983/84 Affect Arcades?, The Golden Age Arcade Historian (December 27, 2013) (equivalent to $ adjusted for inflation). In the United States, home video game sales are worth $2 billion (equivalent to $ adjusted for inflation). In Japan, home video game sales approach ¥400 billion (equivalent to at the time, or $ adjusted for inflation).
Highest-grossing arcade games Pole Position, a racing game by Namco, was the most successful arcade game of 1983.
Japan In Japan, Game Machine magazine began publishing half-monthly charts of top-grossing arcade games from June 1, 1983. The following titles were the top-grossing arcade video games on the Game Machine charts from June to December 1983.
Month Table arcade cabinet Upright/cockpit cabinet First half Second half First half Second half Champion Baseball Astron Belt Champion Baseball Elevator Action Elevator Action Ultra Quiz Astron Belt Pole Position Star Wars Xevious Joshi Volleyball Laser Grand Prix Pole Position II Exerion Hyper Olympic TX-1
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.
Rank RePlay AMOA Cash Box Play Meter 1 Pole Position Pole Position Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Position Dragon's Lair 2 Dragon's Lair, Mr. Do! Bump 'n' Jump, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, Mr. Do!, Bag Man, Nibbler, Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom, Jungle King (Jungle Hunt) Donkey Kong, Joust, Time Pilot, Q*bert rowspan="12" 3 Dragon's Lair 4 Millipede 5 rowspan="9" rowspan="9" 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Best-selling home video games The following titles were the best-selling home video games of 1983.
Rank Title Platform Publisher Licensor Release year Genre Sales 1 Ms. Pac-Man Atari 2600 Atari, Inc. Midway 1983 Maze 1,963,078 Via 2 Donkey Kong ColecoVision Coleco Nintendo 1982 Platformer 1,500,000 3 Centipede Atari 2600 Atari, Inc. 1983 Shoot 'em up 1,475,240 4 Pitfall! Atari 2600 Activision 1982 Platformer 1,000,000+ 5 Pac-Man Atari 2600 Atari, Inc. Namco 1982 Maze 684,569 6 Night Driver Atari 2600 Atari, Inc. 1980 Racing 580,9597Space InvadersAtari 2600Atari, Inc.Taito 1980Shoot 'em up435,3538WarlordsAtari 2600Atari, Inc. 1981Action372,6729BreakoutAtari 2600Atari, Inc. 1978Block breaker312,67210CentipedeAtari 2600Atari, Inc. 1983Shoot 'em up100,499
Best-selling home systems Rank System(s) Manufacturer Type Generation SalesJapanWorldwide1Game & WatchNintendoHandheld 5,300,0002Atari 2600 (Atari VCS)Atari, Inc.ConsoleSecond 3,000,0003Commodore 64 (C64)CommodoreComputer8-bit 2,000,000 4 ColecoVision ColecoConsole Second 1,500,0005Family Computer (Famicom / NES)NintendoConsoleThird1,000,000+1,000,000+6IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC)IBMComputer8-bit / 16-bit 850,0007IntellivisionMattelConsoleSecond 750,0008Atari 400 / Atari 800Atari, Inc.Computer8-bit 500,0009Apple IIApple Inc.Computer8-bit 420,00010NEC PC-88 / PC-98NECComputer8-bit / 16-bit,000,000+
Major awards + Award 4th Arcade Awards (US)"1984 Arcade Awards", Electronic Games, January 1984, pages 68–81. Video Games Player Golden Joystick Awards (US) Golden Joystick Awards (UK) Arcade Console Computer Standalone Arcade Console ComputerComputerGame of the YearPole PositionLady BugLode RunnerQ*bertRobotron: 2084Pitfall!ShamusJetpacMs. Pac-ManBest Arcade Adaptation KangarooFrogger Donkey KongFrogger Best Movie Adaptation Empire Strikes Back Most Innovative GameQ*bert Archon Astron BeltMicrosurgeonBaseball Best Original Game Ah DiddumsBest Graphics Pole PositionZaxxonWayout Best Special Effects SubRoc-3D Audio/Visual EffectsDragon's LairDonkey Kong Jr. Arcade-Style Game Manic MinerBest Action Game River RaidCentipede CentipedeCentipedeCrossfire Best Ladder Game Donkey KongDonkey KongMiner 2049er Best Maze Game Ms. Pac-ManPac-Man Science Fiction/FantasyXeviousVanguard Best Space Game Buck RogersDemon AttackDefender Best Adventure Game Advanced D&DWitness DragonstomperZork Best Sports Game colspan="3" colspan="2" Soccer Strategy/War Game colspan="3" colspan="2" LegionnaireThe HobbitBest Mini-Arcade Game colspan="3" 3-D Sky Attack colspan="3" Best Software House colspan="4" colspan="3" Ultimate Play the Game
Events January – Electronic Games labels Donkey Kong, Space Panic, and other games with ladders as "climbing games." 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. December - Sente Technologies, a division of Pizza Time Theater, launches and demonstrates its first title Snake Pit.
Business 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 US$1.8 million in damages to Nintendo., 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. 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. Milton Bradley takes over distribution of the Vectrex console after purchasing General Consumer Electronics. New companies: Aackosoft, Alligata, Beyond, Graftgold, Infogrames, Origin Systems, Interplay, Navarre, Mastertronic, Spectrum HoloByte, Tynesoft Defunct companies: Games by Apollo, U.S. Games, Xonox.
Notable releases
Games Arcade January – Namco releases Xevious. March – Sega releases Astron Belt in the Japanese market, the second laserdisc video game. It uses pre-rendered, computer-animated film footage as backdrops, overlaid with sprite graphics. May – Atari releases Star Wars, a color vector graphics game based on the popular film franchise. Konami releases Gyruss in Japan. Centuri distributes the game in North America. 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, the third laserdisc video game, and the first in the American market. June – Data East releases Bega's Battle, a laserdisc video game. 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. August – Sega releases Astron Belt in Europe, as the first laserdisc game in the region. September – Konami releases Track & Field. November – Sega releases Astron Belt in the United States. December – Namco releases Pole Position II, adding three additional tracks. Atari releases the trackball-controlled Crystal Castles. Bally/Midway releases Spy Hunter. They also release Jr. Pac-Man and quiz game Professor Pac-Man without Namco's authorization, and the latter is an immediate flop. 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. (Reprinted at ) 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 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and IBM PC. ASCII releases Bokosuka Wars for the Sharp X1 in Japan. It is a precursor to the tactical role-playing game and real-time strategy 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. Electronic Arts publishes its first five titles: Hard Hat Mack, Pinball Construction Set, Archon: The Light and the Dark, M.U.L.E., and Worms?. Bug-Byte releases Matthew Smith's Manic Miner, a platform game, for the ZX Spectrum. Ultimate Play the Game, later known as Rare, releases its first video games, Jetpac and Atic Atac, for the ZX Spectrum. Hudson Soft releases Bomberman for the MSX and FM-7. Psion releases Chequered Flag, the first driving game published for the ZX Spectrum, one of the first computer car simulators, and the first driving game with selectable cars. The 4-player simultaneous Dandy is released for the Atari 8-bit computers. It directly inspires 1985's Gauntlet arcade game. Muse Software releases a port of Castle Wolfenstein for the MS-DOS.
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. 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. 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, 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. 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 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 computer series are replaced by the 600XL and 800XL. June – Mattel Electronics releases the Aquarius home computer, originally designed by Radofin Electronics Far East.