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1996 in video gaming

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1996 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Mario 64, Duke Nukem 3D, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Super Mario RPG, Virtua Fighter 3, and Tekken 3, along with new titles such as Blazing Heroes, NiGHTS into Dreams..., Crash Bandicoot, Pokémon Red/Green/Blue, Resident Evil, Dead or Alive, Quake and Tomb Raider.

Events[]

  • March – Swedish video game magazine "Super Power" changes name to Super Play.
  • 15 July – Tom Kalinske announces he will leave his position as president for Sega of America on 1 October.[1]
  • May 16–18 – The second annual E3 is held in Los Angeles, California, United States.[2]
  • 7 September - Sega opens SegaWorld London as part of the London Trocadero in England. It is the first Sega World park to open outside of Japan.
  • 1 October – Tom Kalinske resigns as president for Sega of America.[1]
  • December 31 – Battle.net Classic is released.

Hardware[]

N64-Console-Set

Nintendo 64

Discontinuation[]

1996 saw a major shakeup in the crowded home console market, with the Virtual Boy, Atari Jaguar, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, Sega CD, 32X, and CD-i all being discontinued.

Top-rated games[]

Game of the Year awards[]

The following titles won Game of the Year awards for 1996.

Awards Game of the Year Platform(s) Publisher Genre Ref
Chicago Tribune Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo Platformer [3]
Digitiser [4]
Electronic Gaming Monthly [5]
Game Informer [6]
Golden Joystick Awards [7]
CESA Awards Sakura Taisen (Sakura Wars) Sega Saturn Sega SRPG [8][9]
GameFan Megawards Tomb Raider Multi-platform Eidos Action-adventure [10]
Enemy Zero Sega Saturn Warp Adventure
Gamest Awards Street Fighter Zero 2 (Street Fighter Alpha 2) Arcade (CP System II) Capcom Fighting [11]
IAAPA Exhibit Awards Tokyo Wars Arcade
(Namco Super System 22) 		Namco Shooter [12]
VSDA Awards Donkey Kong Country 2 Super Nintendo Nintendo Platformer [13]

Critically acclaimed titles[]

Famitsu Platinum Hall of Fame[]

The following video game releases in 1995 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40.[14]

Title Platform Developer Publisher Genre Score (out of 40)
Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Platformer 39
Resident Evil PlayStation Capcom Capcom Survival horror 38
Tekken 2 PlayStation Namco Namco Fighting 38
Fighting Vipers Sega Saturn Sega AM2 Sega Fighting 37
Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren GB Game Boy Aquamarine Chunsoft Roguelike 36
Dragon Quest III: Soshite Densetsu e... Super Famicom Heartbeat Enix Role-playing 36
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei Sega Saturn Sega Sega Rail Shooter 35
J. League Victory Goal '96 Sega Saturn Sega Sega Sports 35
Fighters Megamix Sega Saturn Sega AM2 Sega Fighting 35

Metacritic and GameRankings[]

Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.

1996 games and expansions scoring at least 88/100 (MC) or 87.5% (GR)[15][16]
Game Publisher Release Date Platform(s) MC score GR score
Super Mario 64 Nintendo June 23, 1996 Nintendo 64 94/100 96.41%
Wipeout XL/2097 Psygnosis September 30, 1996 PlayStation 93/100 94.75%
Quake GT Interactive June 22, 1996 DOS 94/100 93.22%
Tekken 2 Namco March 29, 1996 PlayStation 89/100 92.50%
Civilization II MicroProse February 29, 1996 Microsoft Windows 94/100 91.29%
Wave Race 64 Nintendo September 27, 1996 Nintendo 64 92/100 90.67%
PaRappa the Rapper Sony Computer Entertainment December 6, 1996 PlayStation 92/100 88.31%
Realms of the Haunting Interplay December 31, 1996 DOS N/A 91.86%
Tomb Raider Eidos Interactive November 14, 1996 DOS N/A 91.67%
Soul Edge Namco December 20, 1996 PlayStation 89/100 91.46%
Tomb Raider Eidos Interactive October 25, 1996 PlayStation 91/100 90.02%
Resident Evil Capcom March 22, 1996 PlayStation 91/100 87.23%
Command & Conquer: Red Alert Virgin November 22, 1996 DOS 90/100 90.91%
Command & Conquer Sega December 18, 1996 Sega Saturn N/A 89.90%
Dragon Force Sega March 29, 1996 Sega Saturn N/A 89.64%
International Superstar Soccer 64 Konami December 20, 1996 Nintendo 64 N/A 89.23%
Guardian Heroes Sega January 26, 1996 Sega Saturn N/A 89.20%
Super Mario RPG Nintendo March 9, 1996 SNES N/A 89.12%
Descent II Interplay Productions March 13, 1996 DOS 89/100 N/A
Duke Nukem 3D GT Interactive January 29, 1996 DOS 89/100 88.50%
Star Control 3 Accolade August 31, 1996 DOS 89/100 N/A
NiGHTS into Dreams... Sega July 5, 1996 Sega Saturn N/A 88.56%
Pokémon Blue Version Nintendo October 15, 1996 Game Boy N/A 88.33%
Pokémon Red Version Nintendo February 27, 1996 Game Boy N/A 87.86%
Formula 1 Psygnosis September 30, 1996 PlayStation N/A 87.75%
Fighters Megamix Sega December 21, 1996 Sega Saturn N/A 87.67%
Pilotwings 64 Nintendo June 23, 1996 Nintendo 64 80/100 87.52%
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei Sega March 22, 1996 Sega Saturn N/A 87.50%

Financial performance[]

Highest-grossing arcade games[]

Japan[]

In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1996.

Rank Gamest[11] Game Machine[17]
Title Manufacturer Title Type Points
1 Street Fighter Zero 2 (Street Fighter Alpha 2) Capcom Virtua Fighter 2 / 2.1 PCB 5541
2 Virtual On: Cyber Troopers Sega Puzzle Bobble 2 / 2X PCB 4782
3 The King of Fighters '96 SNK Print Club (Purikura) Other 4059
4 Virtua Fighter 3 Sega Rave Racer SD / DX / 2P 3780
5 Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara Capcom Tekken 2 PCB 3579
6 Psychic Force Taito Virtua Cop 2 Dedicated 3271
7 RayStorm Taito Virtual On: Cyber Troopers Dedicated 3208
8 X-Men vs. Street Fighter Capcom Alpine Racer Dedicated 2807
9 Real Bout Garō Densetsu (Real Bout Fatal Fury) SNK Fighting Vipers PCB 2555
10 Battle Garegga Eighting Street Fighter Zero 2 PCB 2543

United States[]

In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1996.

Drasnin Communications[18] AMOA[19]
Title Developer Manufacturer Genre Dedicated cabinet Conversion kit
Daytona USA Sega AM2 Sega Racing Alpine Racer Area 51
Cruis'n USA Midway Games Midway Games Racing Area 51 Bust-A-Move Again
Tekken 2 Namco Namco Fighting Cruis'n USA Mortal Kombat 3
Area 51 Mesa Logic Atari Games Light gun shooter Daytona USA Soul Edge
Alpine Racer Namco Namco Sports Time Crisis Tekken 2
Die Hard Arcade Sega AM1 Sega Beat 'em up N/A
Metal Slug SNK SNK Run-and-gun shooter
Point Blank Namco Namco Light gun shooter
DecAthlete Sega AM3 Sega Sports
Strikers 1945 Psikyo Psikyo Scrolling shooter

Australia[]

On Australia's Timezone monthly arcade charts published in the March 1996 issue of Leisure Line magazine, Sega's Manx TT Super Bike was the top-grossing dedicated arcade cabinet and Namco's Point Blank was the top-grossing arcade conversion kit.[20]

Best-selling home video games[]

Japan[]

In Japan, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1996.

Rank Title Platform Sales Developer Publisher Genre Ref
1 Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / Blue Game Boy 1,663,861 Game Freak Nintendo RPG [21]
2 Tekken 2 PlayStation 1,200,000+ Namco Namco Fighting [22]
3 Dragon Quest III: Soshite Densetsu e... Super Famicom 1,071,000 Heartbeat Enix RPG [23]
4 Biohazard (Resident Evil) PlayStation 1,016,000 Capcom Capcom Survival horror
5 Super Mario RPG Super Famicom 995,898 Squaresoft Nintendo RPG [21]
6 Derby Stallion '96 PlayStation 960,000 ASCII ASCII Simulation [23]
7 Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 903,000 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Platformer
8 Arc the Lad II PlayStation 818,000 ARC Entertainment Sony RPG
9 Tobal No. 1 PlayStation 752,000 DreamFactory Squaresoft Fighting
10 Rage Racer PlayStation 701,000 Namco Namco Racing

Europe[]

In Europe, the following titles were the best-selling home video games of 1996.

Rank All platforms PlayStation[24]
Title Publisher Title EU sales UK revenue UK revenue (inflation)
1 Formula 1[25] Psygnosis Formula 1 Unknown £15,000,000+ ($23,000,000+)[26] $40,000,000+
2 Unknown Tekken 2 420,000[27] £15,000,000+ ($23,000,000+)[26] $40,000,000+
3 Unknown FIFA 97 Unknown Unknown Unknown
4 Unknown Resident Evil
5 Unknown Crash Bandicoot 300,000[27] £15,000,000+ ($23,000,000+)[26] $40,000,000+
6 Unknown Destruction Derby Unknown
7 Unknown Ridge Racer Revolution
8 Unknown Tekken
9 Unknown Ridge Racer
10 Unknown Tomb Raider

In addition to the PlayStation games listed above, the following titles were the year's best-selling Sega Saturn and PC games in the United Kingdom.

Sega Saturn PC[28]
HMV[29] Rank Title
Athlete Kings Tomb Raider 1 Grand Prix 2
Bust-A-Move 2 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 2 Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Daytona USA: Circuit Edition Virtua Cop 3 FIFA 97
Euro 96 Virtua Fighter 2 4 Command & Conquer
Exhumed Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 5 Civilization II
Fighting Vipers N/A 6 Quake
Guardian Heroes N/A 7 Theme Park
Nights into Dreams N/A 8 Rally Championship
Sea Bass Fishing N/A 9 Championship Manager 2
Sega Rally Championship N/A 10 Worms

United States[]

In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1996.

Rank Title Platform Publisher Genre Sales Revenue Inflation Ref
1 Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo Platformer 2,000,000+ $140,000,000 $242,000,000 [30][31]
2 Donkey Kong Country 2 Super NES Nintendo Platformer Unknown Unknown Unknown [30]
3 Donkey Kong Country 3 Super NES Nintendo Platformer < 1,120,000 Unknown Unknown [30][32]
4 Madden NFL 97 PlayStation EA Sports Sports Unknown Unknown Unknown [30]
5 Wave Race 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo Racing
6 Super Mario RPG Super NES Nintendo RPG
7 Tekken 2 PlayStation Namco Fighting 1,000,000 Unknown Unknown [30][22]
8 Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Nintendo 64 Nintendo Action Unknown Unknown Unknown [30]
9 Resident Evil PlayStation Capcom Survival horror 1,000,000 Unknown Unknown [30][33]
10 Myst PC Broderbund Adventure 853,765 $28,800,000 $49,800,000 [34]

Top game rentals in the United States[]

In the United States, the following games were the top video game rentals of each month, according to the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) for all platforms (across all retail chains) and Blockbuster Video for individual video game consoles (in their own retail chain).

Month All platforms Super NES Sega Genesis PlayStation Sega Saturn Ref
January Unknown Donkey Kong Country 2 NBA Live 96 N/A N/A [35]
February Unknown NBA Live 96 Destruction Derby Virtua Fighter 2 [36]
March Unknown College Slam College Slam Krazy Ivan Mortal Kombat II [37]
April Unknown Resident Evil College Slam [38]
May Super Mario RPG[39] Super Mario RPG[39] Disney's Pocahontas NBA ShootOut Battle Arena Toshinden Remix [40]
June Triple Play: Gold Edition MLB Pennant Race Panzer Dragoon II Zwei [41]
July Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 [42]
August World Series Baseball '96 Triple Play 97 Nights into Dreams [43]
September Unknown Tetris Attack College Football USA 97 Tekken 2 [44]
October Unknown Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Crash Bandicoot [45]
November Unknown Donkey Kong Country 3 Sonic 3D Blast Madden NFL 97 [46]
December Unknown Madden NFL 97 Twisted Metal 2 [47]

Notable releases[]

Video game platforms
DOS MS-DOS
GB Game Boy
N64 Nintendo 64
Neo Neo Geo
NeoCD Neo-Geo CD
Pippin Apple Bandai Pippin
3DO 3DO
PS1 PlayStation
Sat Sega Saturn
SNES Super Nintendo Entertainment System / Super Famicom
Win Microsoft Windows
SMD Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
Notable releases of the year 1996
Release Title System Developer/Publisher Notes
January 25 Guardian Heroes Sat Treasure/Sega a beat-em-up game developed by Treasure
January 26 Mystaria: The Realms of Lore Sat Micro Cabin/Sega a tactical RPG
January 29 Duke Nukem 3D DOS 3D Realms/GT Interactive a popular first person shooter
January 31 Mega Man X3 SNES Capcom third X installment in popular Mega Man franchise.
February 9 Bahamut Lagoon SNES SquareSoft Tactical RPG spin-off in the Final Fantasy series, before Final Fantasy Tactics.
February 23 Front Mission: Gun Hazard SNES SquareSoft Sequel to strategy Super Famicom RPG Front Mission.
February 27 Pokémon Red and Green GB Nintendo launched a wildly popular game series
February 29 Civilization II Win MicroProse acclaimed sequel to the highly influential 1991 4X game
February 29 Ripper (video game) DOS Take Two Interactive Interactive movie, Point-and-click adventure Single Player game
February 29 Rise 2: Resurrection Win, Sat, PS1 Mirage/Acclaim the sequel to the fighting game, Rise of the Robots.
February 29 Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri DOS Looking Glass Studios critically acclaimed FPS
February 29 Zork: Nemesis Win Activision 11th game in the Zork series, employing 360-degree views of environment
March 9 Super Mario RPG SNES SquareSoft/Nintendo beginning of the long-running series of Mario RPGs
March 21 Kirby Super Star SNES HAL Labs/Nintendo considered to be one of the best games in the Kirby franchise.
March 22 Resident Evil Win (1997), PS1, Sat (1997) Capcom one of the foundational games in the survival horror genre, for a time it held the record for best-selling PlayStation game
March 22 Panzer Dragoon II Zwei Sat Team Andromeda/Sega an acclaimed rail shooter
March 29 Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension SNES TOSE/Bandai the last Super Famicom game in the Dragon Ball Z franchise.
April 20 Barbie Fashion Designer Win Digital Domain/Mattel Media The game's strong sales sparked a renewed interest in developing games targeting girls.
April 26 Jumping Flash! 2 PS1 Exact/SCEA Sequel to the first true 3D platformer.
April 26 The Legend of Oasis Sat Sega/Ancient Prequel to the Genesis Zelda-style action game Beyond Oasis.
April 30 Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures Win, Mac LucasArts Adventure game developed by LucasArts in the popular Indiana Jones franchise specifically to run in windowed form.
May 14 Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu SNES Intelligent Systems/Nintendo the fourth game in the popular Fire Emblem series.
May 24 Metal Slug Neo SNK the first in the Metal Slug series that proved popular in the arcades.
May 31 Final Doom DOS id Software Despite the name, it would be followed less than a year later by Doom 64.
May 31 Kirby's Block Ball GB HAL Labs/Nintendo Breakout-inspired game in popular Kirby franchise
June Last Bronx Arcade Sega Ported to the Sega Saturn (1997) and Windows (1998)
June 22 Quake DOS id Software advanced 3D graphics technology and started a franchise that has sold more than 4 million games
June 23 Super Mario 64 N64 Nintendo One of two Nintendo 64 U.S. launch games.[48] An archetype for nearly every 3D platformer which followed it, from the day of release it was widely hailed as one of the greatest games of all time.
June 26 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Sat, SMD, SNES Acclaim Entertainment, GT Interactive, Midway, Williams Entertainment Console ports of the standalone update of Mortal Kombat 3
June 27 Shining Wisdom Sat Camelot/Sega Action adventure game in the Shining series
July 5 NiGHTS into Dreams... Sat Sega The advertising campaign features the rebirth of the Sega Saturn; August 21 (US)
July 19 Saturn Bomberman Sat Hudson
July 19 Star Ocean SNES tri-ace/Enix the first game in the Star Ocean series.
July 25 The King of Fighters '96 Neo, NeoCD, Sat SNK an entry in the popular King of Fighters series.
July 26 Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition Sat, PS1 Taito/Acclaim The first home versions of the popular arcade puzzle game.
July 31 Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh DOS, Win Sierra On-Line a controversial sequel to the controversial Phantasmagoria.
July 31 Virtua Fighter Kids Sat, Arcade Sega AM2 a spin-off in the Virtua Fighter series
August 25 Tekken 2 PS1 Namco the second game in the popular fighting game series Tekken
August 31 The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall Win Bethesda Softworks an evolution of the sandbox RPG started with The Elder Scrolls: Arena
August 31 Die Hard Trilogy Win, PS1, Sat Probe Entertainment/Fox Interactive 3 original games in 1 disk, each based on a different movie in the series.
August 31 Tetris Attack SNES, GB Intelligent Systems/Nintendo first release of the popular Panel de Pon series in the US.
August 31 Madden NFL 97 SMD, PS1, Win, SNES, Sat, GB EA Sports/Electronic Arts The first Madden game on gen 5 platforms.
August 31 Beyond the Beyond PS1 Camelot/SCEA The first traditional Japanese-style RPG for the PlayStation
August 31 Jet Moto PS1 SingleTrac/SCEA A futuristic motocross style hoverbike racing game.
September Virtua Fighter 3 Arcade Sega AM2 A fighting game considered to have the most technically impressive graphics at the time.
September 9 Crash Bandicoot PS1 Naughty Dog/Universal/Sony Crash was used as the mascot for the PlayStation console.
September 14 GunGriffon Sat Game Arts/Sega critically acclaimed mech game, first in its series.
September 20 Revelations: Persona PS1 Atlus first game in the Persona series, a spin-off series of the Megami Tensei series. Also the first Megami Tensei-related game to release outside Japan
September 26 Pilotwings 64 N64 Nintendo One of two Nintendo 64 U.S. launch games.[48]
September 27 Meridian 59 Win 3DO one of the first MMORPGs.
September 30 Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars Win, PS1 Revolution Software/Virgin Interactive acclaimed point and click adventure that started an iconic series.
September 30 Wipeout XL/2097 PS1 Psygnosis a poster child of the PlayStation for pop culture infusions and sleek extreme action
September 30 Shattered Steel DOS BioWare/Interplay first game developed by BioWare
September 30 Street Fighter Alpha 2 Arcade, SNES, PS1, Sat Capcom second game in the Street Fighter Alpha spin-off series
September 30 Mr. Bones Sat Zono/Sega platformer for the Saturn
September 30 Tobal No. 1 PS1 DreamFactory/SCEA fighting game famous for including a demo for Final Fantasy VII.
September 30 Formula 1 PS1 Bizarre Creations/SCEA first racing game developed by Bizarre.
September 30 Donkey Kong Land 2 GB Rare/Nintendo second Donkey Kong Land game
October 10 Mortal Kombat Trilogy N64, PS1, R-Zone, Sat (1997) Avalanche, Midway, Point of View
October 15 Marathon Infinity Mac Bungie The last game in the Marathon trilogy.
October 31 Command & Conquer: Red Alert DOS Westwood Studios the second major title in the Command & Conquer universe, and one of the most popular
October 31 Master of Orion II DOS Simtex/MicroProse
October 31 The Neverhood Win The Neverhood Inc./DreamWorks The game is done almost entirely in claymation and has gained a sequel.
October 31 Drowned God Win Epic Multimedia Group/Inscape Adventure game.
October 31 SimCopter Win Maxis Flight simulation game in popular Sim series.
October 31 King's Field III PS1 FromSoftware/ASCII Entertainment the last of three games in the King's Field series released for the PlayStation.
October 31 DeathDrome Win Zipper Interactive/Viacom First game developed by Zipper Interactive.
October 31 WWF In Your House DOS, PS1, Sat Acclaim First WWF game developed specifically for consoles.
October 31 Twisted Metal 2 PS1 SingleTrac/SCEA Second game in the popular Twisted Metal franchise.
October 31 Destruction Derby 2 PS1 Reflections Interactive/SCEA Second game in the popular Destruction Derby franchise.
October 31 NBA Live 97 PS1, Sat, SNES, SMD Electronic Arts, EA Sports
October 31 Pandemonium! PS1, Sat, Win (1997) Electronic Arts, EA Sports
November 1 Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain PS1, Win Silicon Knights/Crystal Dynamics First game in the Legacy of Kain series.
November 15 Tomb Raider PS1, Sat, DOS Core Design/Eidos Action adventure game which was among the year's most critically acclaimed games and proved highly influential on both 3D games development and cinematic presentation
November 20 Sonic 3D Blast Sat, SMD Sega/Traveller's Tales Isometric platformer in the popular "Sonic the Hedgehog" series.
November 22 Donkey Kong Country 3 SNES Rare/Nintendo the third installment to the popular Donkey Kong Country franchise
November 25 Killer Instinct Gold N64 Rare/Nintendo a home fighting game based on the arcade's Killer Instinct 2.
November 25 Bubsy is 3D in "Furbitten Planet" PS1 Eidetic/Accolade Noted for its negative reception. Was the last title in the Bubsy series for 21 years.
November 26 Area 51 PS1, Win, Sat Mesa Logic/Atari Games Ported versions of the classic arcade shooter.
November 26 Dead or Alive Arcade, Sat (1997), PS1 (1998) Team Ninja/Tecmo The first game in the Dead or Alive series of fighting games.
November 30 Contra: Legacy of War Sat, PS1 Konami/Appaloosa Interactive the first true 3D entry in the popular Contra series
November 30 Dragon Force Sat Sega/Working Designs a combination of war simulation and RPG
November 30 Fighting Vipers Sat, Arcade Sega AM2 a popular fighting game.
November 30 Virtua Cop 2 Sat, Arcade Sega AM2 a popular light gun game
November 30 Virtual On: Cyber Troopers Sat, Arcade CRI/Sega the first game in the Virtual On series
November 30 Bug Too! Saturn, Win Sega/Realtime Associates a sequel to Bug!
November 30 FIFA Soccer 97 SMD, PS1, Win, SNES, Sat, GB EA Canada/Electronic Arts
December 3 Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire N64 LucasArts/Nintendo one of the first Nintendo 64 games, an action game in the popular Star Wars franchise.
December 14 Mario Kart 64 N64 Nintendo The Mario Kart series first 3D game.
December 17 Mega Man 8 PS1 Capcom The first Mega Man game to be released on PlayStation.
December 19 Terranigma SNES Quintet/Nintendo Popular RPG famous for being released in Europe but not in America, a rarity in the mid-1990s. Also a spiritual successor to Illusion of Gaia.
December 31 Death Rally DOS Remedy Entertainment/GT Interactive the first game developed by Remedy Entertainment.
December 31 NBA Hangtime SMD, PS1, Win, N64, Arcade, SNES Midway arcade-style basketball game developed by Midway.

Business[]

  • February – Blizzard Entertainment acquires a development group known as Condor, renaming it Blizzard North
  • April – Eidos Interactive acquires CentreGold plc, which holds Core Design (creator of the Lara Croft character) and U.S. Gold
  • May 1 – GameSpot and GameFAQs are launched
  • June – Firaxis Games is formed By Jeff Briggs with Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds
  • July – GT Interactive Software purchases Humongous Entertainment
  • July 24 – CUC International, Inc purchases Sierra On-Line, Blizzard Entertainment and Davidson & Associates for about $3 billion in a stock swap.
  • July 30 - Atari Corporation reverse-merges with JTS, Inc.
  • August 6 – AOL buys Sierra's ImagiNation Network from AT&T for a reported $15 million.
  • August 24 – Valve is founded.
  • September 1 – AOL closes ImagiNation Network, the first online video game with graphics, after 5 years of service.
  • November 13 – Tom Clancy and Virtus Corp. found Red Storm Entertainment, headed by Doug Littlejohns
  • Infogrames Entertainment SA acquires Ocean Software Ltd.
  • Midway Games, Inc. (subsidiary of WMS Industries) acquires Atari Games Corporation from Time Warner.
  • Technos Japan Corporation, originator of the Nekketsu Kouha Kunio Kun series and Double Dragon series, goes out of business (assets acquired by Atlus)
  • Black Isle Studios forms as a division by Interplay; doesn't use Black Isle name until 1998
  • Game Park Inc. founded in South Korea
  • The company formed by MicroProse and Spectrum HoloByte in 1993 starts branding using only the MicroProse name
  • Overworks, Ltd. formed
  • Zed Two Limited formed
  • Nintendo of America, Inc. v. Computer & Entertainment, Inc.
  • The 3DO Company purchases New World Computing

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Laurence Zuckerman (16 July 1996). "Sega's US Chief to Resign as Company Sales Fall Short". New York Times. Retrieved 5 July 2020.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  2. ↑ "Attendance and Stats". IGN. Retrieved May 21, 2015.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  3. ↑ Carter, Chip; Carter, Jonathan (January 2, 1997). "For Game Quality, 1996 Was a Very Good Year". Chicago Tribune. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-01-02-9701020105-story.html. 
  4. ↑ "Digitiser's Top 14 Games Of 1996". Digitiser. 3 January 1997. http://www.superpage58.com/digitiser-vault-teletext-screenshot-image-archive-1997-01-03.htm. 
  5. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, issue 92 (March 1997), pages 82-90
  6. ↑ "25 Years Of Game Informer's GOTY Awards". GameInformer.com. 2 January 2017. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  7. ↑ "Golden Joysticks Awards' Ultimate List of Ultimate Games: 1983–2014". GamesRadar. Future plc. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2015.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  8. ↑ CESA大賞'96 初の作品賞(大賞)はサクラ大戦が受賞！ [The CESA Grand Prize '96's top award (Grand Prize) was won by Sakura Wars!] (in Japanese). Japan Game Awards. 2017. Archived from the original on March 14, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  9. ↑ "About Sakura Taisen". Red Entertainment. 2008. Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2008.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  10. ↑ GameFan, volume 5, issue 2 (February 1997), pages 34-36
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "第10回 ゲーメスト大賞". Gamest 188 (January-February 1997): 46-63. December 27, 1996. 
  12. ↑ "IAAPA Exhibit Awards History (1990-2001)" (PDF). International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. November 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2021.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  13. ↑ "Home Entertainment Awards – Video Games". Entertainment Merchants Association. Archived from the original on 26 June 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2012.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  14. ↑ "週刊ファミ通クロスレビュープラチナ殿堂入りソフト一覧" [Weekly Famitsu Cross Review Platinum Hall of Fame Software List]. Geimin (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 27, 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2021.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  15. ↑ "Best Video Games for 1996". Metacritic. Retrieved November 4, 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  16. ↑ "Highest-Ranking Games of 1996 (with at least 5 reviews)". GameRankings. Retrieved November 4, 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  17. ↑ Akagi, Masumi, ed. (1 February 1997). ""Tekken 2", "Virtua Cop 2" Top Videos '96". Game Machine (Amusement Press, Inc.) (534): 26. https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19970201p.pdf#page=14. 
  18. ↑ "Top Ten Arcade Titles for 1996: According to a recent report, both Sega and Namco had three of top ten grossing arcade titles in 1996". Next Generation. December 17, 1996. http://www.next-generation.com/news/121796b.chtml. 
  19. ↑ "Coin Machine: AMOA Announces JB Award Nominees". Cash Box: 26. August 3, 1996. https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/90s/1996/CB-1996-08-03-OCR-Page-0026.pdf. 
  20. ↑ "Test Reports". Leisure Line (Leisure & Allied Industries): p. 58. March 1996. https://archive.org/details/Leisure_Line_1996-03_Leisure_Allied_Industries_AU/page/n57. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "1996年ゲームソフト年間売上TOP100" (in ja). Famitsū Gēmu Hakusho 1997. Tokyo: Enterbrain. 1997. http://geimin.net/da/db/1996_ne_fa/index.php. Retrieved 17 February 2021. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Hurwitch, Nick (10 July 2019). The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History. Dynamite Entertainment. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-5241-1308-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=cG2hDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA33. 
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "1996年のコンシューマーゲームソフトの売上". Dengeki Oh (MediaWorks). http://www.rnac.ne.jp/~zangel/1996.htm. Retrieved 16 September 2021. 
  24. ↑ "Top-Selling PlayStation Titles (1996) - Europe". Screen Digest (Screen Digest Limited): 130. 1997. https://books.google.com/books?id=51nvAAAAMAAJ. 
  25. ↑ Classic Videogame Hardware Genius Guide. Imagine Publishing. p. 492. ISBN 978-1-908222-22-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=QZS_gXpshd4C&pg=PT492. 
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 "Scorching Christmas Sales For PlayStation!". Computer and Video Games (184 (March 1997)): 12. 12 February 1997. https://archive.org/details/Computer_and_Video_Games_Issue_184_1997-03_EMAP_Images_GB/page/n11. 
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Screen Digest. Screen Digest. 1997. p. 132. https://books.google.com/books?id=51nvAAAAMAAJ. "Despite the earlier launch in the US, sales of next generation console games can already be fairly evenly balanced between the US and Europe, with PlayStation titles Tekken II and Crash Bandicoot, for example, selling 470,000 and 340,000 in the US and 420,000 and 300,000 in Europe respectively." 
  28. ↑ "UK: Top-Selling PC CD-ROM Games 1996". Screen Digest (Screen Digest Limited): 133. 1997. https://books.google.com/books?id=51nvAAAAMAAJ. 
  29. ↑ "Editorial". Computer and Video Games (United Kingdom: EMAP) (183 (February 1997)): 6-7. 10 January 1997. https://archive.org/details/Computer_and_Video_Games_Issue_183_1997-02_EMAP_Images_GB/page/n5/mode/2up. 
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 30.6 Famighetti, Robert (1997). "Top-Selling Video Games, 1996". The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1998. World Almanac Books. p. 259. ISBN 0886878217. https://archive.org/details/worldalmanacbook00slwo/page/259. "Source: The NPD TRSTS Video Game Tracking Service, The NPD Group, Inc., Port Washington, NY; ranked by units sold" 
  31. ↑ "Inventor pales beside his 'Mario' creation". El Paso Times. Associated Press: pp. 56. 16 March 1997. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21337013/shigeru-miyamoto-nintendo/. 
  32. ↑ "US Platinum Chart Games". The Magic Box. Retrieved 17 October 2021.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  33. ↑ "Growing Minions of Evil!". Computer and Video Games (179 (October 1996)): 9. 9 September 1996. https://archive.org/details/Computer_and_Video_Games_Issue_179_1996-10_EMAP_Images_GB/page/n8. 
  34. ↑ Miller, Greg (March 3, 1997). "Myst Opportunities: Game Makers Narrow Their Focus to Search for the Next Blockbuster". Los Angeles Times: p. 3. http://articles.latimes.com/1997-03-03/business/fi-34360_1_pc-game/3. "Source: PC Data" 
  35. ↑ "Blockbuster Video February Hot Sheet". GamePro (IDG) (79): 17. February 1996. https://retrocdn.net/images/a/aa/GamePro_US_079.pdf. 
  36. ↑ "Blockbuster Video March Hot Sheet". GamePro (IDG) (80): 17. March 1996. https://retrocdn.net/images/f/ff/GamePro_US_080.pdf. 
  37. ↑ "Blockbuster Video April Hot Sheet". GamePro (IDG) (91): 17. April 1996. https://retrocdn.net/images/8/85/GamePro_US_091.pdf. 
  38. ↑ "Blockbuster Video May Hot Sheet". GamePro (IDG) (92): 21. May 1996. https://retrocdn.net/images/c/c2/GamePro_US_092.pdf. 
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Staff (August 24, 1996). "Mario RPG Tops Rentals Again". Next Generation. Archived from the original on April 19, 1997. Retrieved February 6, 2021.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  40. ↑ "Blockbuster Video June Hot Rentals". GamePro (IDG) (93): 125. June 1996. https://retrocdn.net/images/9/9b/GamePro_US_093.pdf. 
  41. ↑ "Blockbuster Video July Hot Rentals". GamePro (IDG) (94): 125. July 1996. https://retrocdn.net/images/b/ba/GamePro_US_094.pdf. 
  42. ↑ "Blockbuster Video August Hot Rentals". GamePro (IDG) (95): 125. August 1996. https://retrocdn.net/images/5/5d/GamePro_US_095.pdf. 
  43. ↑ "Blockbuster Video September Hot Rentals". GamePro (IDG) (96): 125. September 1996. https://retrocdn.net/images/2/28/GamePro_US_096.pdf. 
  44. ↑ "Blockbuster Video October Hot Rentals". GamePro (IDG) (97): 143. October 1996. https://retrocdn.net/images/c/c5/GamePro_US_097.pdf. 
  45. ↑ "Blockbuster Video November Hot Rentals". GamePro (IDG) (98): 203. November 1996. https://retrocdn.net/images/4/4d/GamePro_US_098.pdf. 
  46. ↑ "Blockbuster Video December Hot Rentals". GamePro (IDG) (99): 253. December 1996. https://retrocdn.net/images/1/1d/GamePro_US_099.pdf. 
  47. ↑ "Blockbuster Video January Hot Rentals". GamePro (IDG) (100): 191. January 1997. https://retrocdn.net/images/5/5e/GamePro_US_100.pdf. 
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 McCall, Scott (September 28, 1996). "N64's U.S. Launch". Teleparc. Retrieved September 29, 2015.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

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