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            List of years in video gaming       (table)
... 1983 .  1984 .  1985 .  1986  . 1987  . 1988  . 1989 ...
1990 1991 1992 -1993- 1994 1995 1996
... 1997 .  1998 .  1999 .  2000  . 2001  . 2002  . 2003 ...
Art . Archaeology . Architecture . Literature . Music . Philosophy . Science +...

1993 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games and several new titles such as Star Fox, Virtua Fighter and Ridge Racer.

Events[]

  • March – In Sweden, the Swedish video game magazine Super PLAY (SP) starts. The original name is Super Power.
  • Nintendo and Silicon Graphics collaborate and begin work on "Project Reality". The project is officially announced in October.[1]

Business[]

  • New companies: Croteam, nVidia, Take-Two Interactive, Shiny
  • Defunct companies: DK'Tronics, Epyx
  • Magnavox is acquired by the Carlyle Group
  • MicroProse is acquired by Spectrum HoloByte

Notable Releases[]

Arcade
Date Dev. / Pub. Game Title Notes
February Sega Daytona USA Becomes one of the world's most impactful racing games of all time, and "won't go away[2]"
April Midway Mortal Kombat II "Mortal Kombat II proved to be an enormous commercial success and even a cultural phenomenon. WMS Industries, owner of Midway at the time, reported its 1993 sales in the quarter ending December 31 rose to $101 million from $86 million and said much of its revenue gain was related to the sale of the arcade version of MKII [3]"
July SNK Samurai Shodown '93 Game Of The Year voted on by Electronic Gaming Monthly[4]
October Namco Ridge Racer -
December Sega Virtua Fighter "Is often cited as being the first fully 3D fighting game released to the general public, and is a basis for almost all subsequent games in the genre[5] "
December Midway NBA Jam Being one of the first sports games with official licensed teams and players, it became a cult classic. It was also the highest-earning arcade game of all time.[6]
Home
Date Dev. / Pub. Game Title Console Notes
February LucasArts X-Wing PC -
February Nintendo Star Fox SNES The first game to use the new Super FX chip
March Nintendo Kirby's Adventure NES Introduced Kirby's ability to take on the powers of enemies he has eaten, which would go on to become a staple of the franchise
April Virgin Interactive The 7th Guest PC Sold over two million copies and was widely regarded as one of three "killer apps" that accelerated the sales of CD-ROM drives (other two being Myst & Doom[7] [page 129]). Bill Gates also called The 7th Guest "the new standard in interactive entertainment"
June LucasArts Maniac Mansion II: Day of the tentacle PC -
June Nintendo The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Game Boy The best-selling handheld game in the series
June Electronic Arts Syndicate PC -
July Nintendo Super Mario All-Stars SNES -
August Square Secret of Mana SNES Second "Action Role-Playing Game" after Final Fantasy Adventure
August Activision Return to Zork PC -
September MicroProse Master of Orion PC -
September Sega Sonic CD PC -
September Broderbund Myst PC One of '93's key games, with lots of interesting facts[8] including that (until The Sims took the top spot with 6.3 million games sold in 2002) Myst was the best-selling PC title on record, with 6 million units sold since its launch. To date, the franchise has sold over 12 million units.
November LucasArts Sam & Max Hit the Road PC -
November Capcom Mega Man 6 NES -
November Virgin Disney's Aladdin Genesis Crowned "Genesis Game of The Year" at the Electronic Gaming Awards (aka the Arcade Awards aka the Arkies) voted on by the public[4]
November Nintendo Clay fighter SNES Thought of as a parody of Street Fighter & Mortal Kombat, but actually wasn't, and was re-released to the Wii.
November Sega Sonic The Hedgehog Spinball Genesis -
December Sierra Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers PC -
December Id Software Doom PC One of the greatest - and most influential - games of all time.
December Capcom Mega Man X SNES -

Hardware[]

References[]

Template:Years in Video Gaming

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