From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a chronological list of years in video games that indexes the years in video games pages. Years are annotated with significant events in the
history of video games .
1970s
1970 – Initial development begins on the first commercial video game,
Computer Space . The first
North American Computer Chess Championship is held.
1971 – Computer Space and
Galaxy Game are released.
The Oregon Trail is first demonstrated.
[1]
[2]
1972 – The
Magnavox Odyssey , the first
home video game console , is released,
[3] along with the arcade machine
Pong .
[2]
1973 – Pong and similar titles dominate the arcade sector,
Gotcha ,
Space Race and
Maze War are also released.
1974 –
Tank is released, as well as the early first
first-person shooter
Spasim .
[4]
1975 –
Speed Race releases internationally, along with the first ever RPG
Dungeon .
1976 – The
Fairchild Channel F releases, the first console to have cartridges. The highest selling arcade game of the year is
F-1 .
1977 – The
Atari Video Computer System (later the Atari 2600) is released as the first widely popular home video game console.
[5]
1978 –
Space Invaders is released, popularizing the medium and beginning the
golden age of arcade video games .
[6]
1979 – The first handheld console, the
Microvision is released. Other key titles that year include
Galaxian and
Asteroids .
1980s
1980 –
Pac-Man is released, and
Nintendo enters the handheld market with the
Game & Watch series.
Rogue inspires the
Roguelike genre.
1981 –
Donkey Kong ,
Frogger ,
Bosconian ,
Centipede and
005 are among the notable releases that were introduced.
Vanguard pioneers the
scrolling shooter genre.
Jump Bug further innovates scrolling shooters.
1982 – The number of arcades in the United States reaches its peak.
[7]
Q*bert ,
Dig Dug and
Ms. Pac-Man are released. In hardware, the
Commodore 64 is also released.
1983 – The
industry crashes in the United States , resulting in 20 years of
Japanese domination .
[8]
[9]
Nintendo release the
Famicom , beginning the
8-bit era .
[10]
1984 – The first
beat-em-up game
Kung-Fu Master is released along with
Duck Hunt and
Punch-Out!!
1985 –
Super Mario ,
Tetris ; The Nintendo Entertainment System is released as an international version of the Famicom.
[11]
1986 –
The Legend of Zelda launches; the
Metroidvania genre is sparked by
Metroid and
Castlevania respectively; in hardware the
Sega
Master System releases in North America.
1987 –
Mega Man and
Final Fantasy debut. Additionally,
Out Run is highly influential in the development of
racing games .
[12]
1988 –
Ninja Gaiden ,
Super Mario Bros. 3 , and the debut of the Sega
Mega Drive in Japan.
1989 – The
16-bit era begins in North America with the
TurboGrafx-16 and
Sega Genesis .
[13] The
Game Boy is released to great success.
1990s
1990 – Nintendo releases the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan.
[14] The
Nintendo World Championships begin, an early example of
Esports .
1991 –
Street Fighter II launches; it and its updated variants dominate the arcade sector for several years.
Sonic the Hedgehog debuts.
1992 –
Mortal Kombat ,
Mario Kart ,
Ecco the Dolphin ,
Streets of Rage 2 , the arcade version of
Virtua Racing is Sega's first 3D title.
1993 –
Star Fox ,
Ridge Racer ,
The Lost Vikings ,
Samurai Shodown and
Myst are among the notable releases that were introduced.
Doom launches, greatly influencing and popularizing the
first person shooter genre.
[15]
NBA Jam is influential in sports.
[16]
1994 –
Sony enters the console market with the
PlayStation .
[17] Also released are
Super Metroid ,
EarthBound
Tekken and the debut of the
Elder Scrolls franchise with
Arena .
1995 – The
Sega Saturn launch is unsuccessful.
E3 is first held.
3dfx release the
Voodoo GPU line . Key releases that year include
Chrono Trigger and
Time Crisis .
1996 – The
Nintendo 64 launches; Atari
leave the market .
[18]
Pokémon debuts and
becomes a global phenomenon .
Tomb Raider ,
Resident Evil , and
Crash Bandicoot launch.
1997 –
Final Fantasy VII ,
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and
GoldenEye 007 . Modern games UX research is first employed for
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back .
[19]
1998 – The
Game Boy Color and
Dreamcast launch.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time releases to critical acclaim.
Half-Life is highly influential in immersive storytelling.
[20]
1999 –
Nvidia enters the GPU market with the
GeForce 256 . Key titles that year include
Super Smash Bros. ,
Heroes of Might and Magic III ,
Ape Escape and
Shenmue .
2000s
2000 – The
PlayStation 2 launches and becomes the
highest selling console of all time .
Pokémon Gold & Silver releases internationally along with
Dragon Quest VII .
2001 –
Pikmin ,
Halo: Combat Evolved ,
Animal Crossing ,
Conker's Bad Fur Day ,
Luigi's Mansion ,
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy ,
Devil May Cry ,
Ico and
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney are among the notable releases that were introduced. Sega
leaves the console market while
Microsoft enters it with the
Xbox . The
GameCube and
Game Boy Advance are also released.
[21]
2002 –
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is successful and influences many
open world games.
[22]
Metroid Prime and
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker are critically acclaimed.
2003 –
Steam launches and later dominates PC game sales.
Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire ,
Mario Kart: Double Dash ,
Knights of the Old Republic and
Call of Duty also see success.
2004 – The
Nintendo DS is launched and
World of Warcraft
redefines MMORPGs .
San Andreas ,
Fable ,
Far Cry ,
Katamari Damacy ,
Half-Life 2 and
Halo 2 all debut.
2005 – The
Xbox 360 is released, along with
God of War ,
Guild Wars and
Shadow of the Colossus .
Guitar Hero triggers a
wave of musical rhythm games .
E3 attendance peaks.
2006 – The
Nintendo Wii is released with
Wii Sports and
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess . The
PlayStation 3 launches.
The Elder Scrolls IV is highly acclaimed.
2007 – Numerous high profile releases including
Halo 3 ,
God of War II ,
Team Fortress 2 ,
Assassin's Creed ,
BioShock ,
Crysis ,
Mass Effect ,
Portal ,
The Witcher , and
Uncharted .
2008 – The
Nintendo DSi launches. Key releases:
Grand Theft Auto IV ,
Fallout 3 ,
Metal Gear Solid 4 ,
Fable II ,
Dead Space ,
Left 4 Dead ,
LittleBigPlanet ,
Mirror's Edge and
Spore .
2009 –
Minecraft launches and eventually becomes the
best selling game of all time . Also that year are
Angry Birds ,
Batman: Arkham Asylum ,
Dragon Age: Origins and
Infamous .
2010s
2010 – The
Kinect sells well but is later regarded as a gimmick.
[23]
Red Dead Redemption ,
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood ,
Mass Effect 2 ,
God of War III are acclaimed.
2011 – Nintendo launches the
3DS .
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is considered among the greatest games of all time.
[24] Other key launches include
Batman: Arkham City and
Portal 2 .
2012 – The
PlayStation Vita and
Wii U launch internationally and are both considered failures.
[25]
[26] Also launching are
Far Cry 3 ,
Journey ,
Dishonored ,
The Walking Dead and
XCOM .
2013 – The
PlayStation 4 and
Xbox One launch, with the former becoming dominant.
[27]
Outlast ,
The Wonderful 101 ,
Gone Home and
Remember Me are introduced.
Grand Theft Auto V ,
The Last of Us ,
The Stanley Parable and
BioShock Infinite are warmly received.
2014 –
Gamergate leads to changes in the industry's attitude to
diversity .
[28] Key releases include
Shovel Knight ,
Mario Kart 8 ,
Hearthstone ,
Destiny and
Monument Valley .
2015 –
Twitch becomes influential in
speedrunning and
Lets Play .
[29] Launch of the
New Nintendo 3DS , along with
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ,
Bloodborne ,
Undertale , and
Fallout 4 .
2016 – Interest in
virtual reality technologies increase after the wider release of the
Occulus Rift . Also released are
Uncharted 4 ,
Overwatch ,
Forza Horizon 3 , and a rebooted
Doom .
2017 – The
Nintendo Switch launches with
Breath of the Wild .
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds establishes the
battle royale genre .
Loot box proliferation leads to regulation debate.
[30]
2018 –
Fortnite is a runaway success and the
Epic Games Store launches. Also launching are
Spider-Man ,
Red Dead Redemption 2 ,
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and
God of War .
2019 – Launch of
Google Stadia ,
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice ,
Tetris Effect and
Disco Elysium . Some regulation of loot boxes begins in Belgium and the Netherlands.
2020s
See also
References
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^ James, Matt (29 November 2018).
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^
"Exploring the Evolution of Computer Games: A Deep Dive into GTA Vice City" . Ask.com . 27 November 2023.
^ Stuart, Keith (8 October 2013).
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^ "Edge Special List: The 100 Greatest Video Games".
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^ Yang, George (24 June 2021).
" 'The little handheld that could': examining the Vita's impact a decade later" . The Verge .
^ Stuart, Keith (3 February 2017).
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^ Warren, Tom (15 August 2022).
"Microsoft finally admits Xbox One sales were less than half of the PS4" . The Verge .
^
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^ Needleman, Sarah E.
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^
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^
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