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in: 1997 in video gaming, Video gaming by year

1997 in video gaming

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            List of years in video gaming       (table)
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Art . Archaeology . Architecture . Literature . Music . Philosophy . Science +...

1997 saw many sequels and prequels in video games and several new titles such as GoldenEye 007, Star Fox 64, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Gran Turismo, Mortal Kombat 4, Diddy Kong Racing, Grand Theft Auto, Blast Corps and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Events[]

  • June 19–21 — The 3rd annual E3 is held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.[1]
  • October 4 — Gunpei Yokoi (1941–1997) dies after a double car accident.
  • November – Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) launched.
  • TSR, Inc., the owner of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game, was acquired by Wizards of the Coast.
  • 3D Realms begins production of the infamous Duke Nukem Forever, winner of numerous vaporware awards.
  • A scene from the Pokémon anime show (based upon the highly successful games) from December 16, 1997, causes 685 Japanese children to have seizures, causing Nintendo to make a statement proclaiming the safety of the Pokémon games from fear that the games would cause a similar effect, the episode to be permanently removed from circulation, and the featured Pokémon in the episode (Porygon) hasn't made an appearance in the Pokémon anime since.
  • The popular online gaming portal Cool Math Games went online for the first time.

Notable releases[]

Video game platforms
GBC Game Boy Color
Mac Classic Mac OS / macOS
N64 Nintendo 64
Neo Neo Geo
NeoCD Neo-Geo CD
Pippin Apple Bandai Pippin
PS1 PlayStation
Sat Sega Saturn
SMD Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
SNES Super Nintendo Entertainment System / Super Famicom
Win Microsoft Windows
  
Notable releases of the year 1997
Release Title Windows / DOS 4th Gen 5th Gen Handheld Arcade
January 14 Tengai Makyō: Daiyon no Mokushiroku N/A N/A Sat N/A N/A
January 31 Final Fantasy VII (Japan) 1998 N/A PS1 N/A N/A
February 5 DoDonPachi N/A N/A Sat (September 18), PS1 (1998) N/A Yes
February 10 Mario Kart 64 N/A N/A N64 N/A N/A
February 27 The Lost Vikings 2 April 30 SNES PS1 (May), Sat (May) N/A N/A
February 28 Blast Corps N/A N/A N64 N/A N/A
February 28 Independence Day Yes N/A PS1, Sat N/A N/A
February 28 Mega Man 8 N/A N/A PS1, Sat N/A N/A
February 28 Turok: Dinosaur Hunter November 30 N/A N64 N/A N/A
March 20 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night N/A N/A PS1, Sat (1998) N/A N/A
March 20 Tekken 3 N/A N/A PS1 (1998) N/A Yes
March 26 Vandal Hearts N/A N/A PS1, Sat (November 27) N/A N/A
March 30 The Last Express Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
March 31 Need for Speed II Yes N/A PS1 N/A N/A
April 27 Dungeon Keeper Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
April 30 Fighters Megamix N/A N/A Sat Game.com (1998) N/A
April 30 Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
May 13 Shadow Warrior Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
May 31 Blood Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
May 31 MDK Yes N/A PS1 (1998) N/A N/A
June Harvest Moon N/A SNES N/A N/A N/A
June 20 Sonic Jam N/A N/A Sat Game.com (1998) N/A
June 20 Final Fantasy Tactics (Japan) N/A N/A PS1 N/A N/A
June 30 Star Fox 64 N/A N/A N64 N/A N/A
July 4 Jane's 688(I) Hunter/Killer Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
July 28 The King of Fighters '97 N/A Neo, NeoCD PS1, Sat (1998) N/A Yes
July 30 Carmageddon Yes N/A PS1 (1999), N64 (2000) GBC (2000) N/A
July 31 Herc's Adventures N/A N/A PS1, Sat N/A N/A
July 31 Warlords III: Reign of Heroes Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
August 1 Mega Man X4 1999 N/A PS1, Sat N/A N/A
August 11 Tetrisphere N/A N/A N64 N/A N/A
August 25 GoldenEye 007 N/A N/A N64 N/A N/A
August 31 Hexen II Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
August 31 Imperialism Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
September 10 Silhouette Mirage N/A N/A Sat, PS1 (1998) N/A N/A
September 11 Breath of Fire III N/A N/A PS1 N/A N/A
September 18 Street Fighter Collection N/A N/A Sat, PS1 (October 23) N/A N/A
September 19 Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee Yes N/A PS1 N/A N/A
September 24 Ultima Online Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
September 29 Croc: Legend of the Gobbos N/A N/A PS1, Sat N/A N/A
September 30 Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
September 30 Fallout Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
September 30 Panzer General II Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
September 30 Poy Poy N/A N/A PS1 N/A N/A
September 30 Total Annihilation Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
October Grand Theft Auto Yes N/A N/A GBC (2000) N/A
October 9 Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
October 15 Age of Empires Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
October 15 Mortal Kombat 4 1998 N/A N64, PS1 (1998) GBC (1998) Yes
October 23 Steep Slope Sliders N/A N/A Sat N/A 1998
October 28 Shipwreckers Yes N/A PS1 N/A N/A
October 29 Riven Yes N/A Sat, PS1 (November 30) N/A N/A
October 30 Culdcept N/A N/A Sat, PS1 (1999) N/A N/A
October 31 Blade Runner Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
October 31 Colony Wars N/A N/A PS1 N/A N/A
October 31 The Curse of Monkey Island Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
October 31 PaRappa the Rapper N/A N/A PS1 N/A N/A
October 31 Zork: Grand Inquisitor Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
November Independence War Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
November 1 Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back N/A N/A PS1 N/A N/A
November 1 Shock Troopers N/A Neo N/A N/A Yes
November 17 Sonic R 1998 N/A Sat N/A N/A
November 18 Tomb Raider II Yes N/A PS1 N/A N/A
November 21 Diddy Kong Racing N/A N/A N64 N/A N/A
November 21 Worms 2 Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
November 25 Myth: The Fallen Lords Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
November 27 Kirby's Dream Land 3 N/A SNES N/A N/A N/A
November 30 Bomberman 64 N/A N/A N64 N/A N/A
November 30 One N/A N/A PS1 N/A N/A
November 30 Wing Commander: Prophecy Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A
November 30 WCW vs. nWo: World Tour N/A N/A N64 N/A N/A
December 6 Quake II Yes N/A PS1, N64 (1999) N/A N/A
December 11 Klonoa: Door to Phantomile N/A N/A PS1 N/A N/A
December 18 Grandia (Japan) N/A N/A Sat, PS1 (1999) N/A N/A
December 18 Mega Man Legends 2001 N/A PS1, N64 (2000) N/A N/A
December 21 Yoshi's Story N/A N/A N64 N/A N/A
December 23 Gran Turismo N/A N/A PS1 N/A N/A
December 31 Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero N/A N/A N64 N/A N/A

Hardware[]

Business[]

  • Activision acquires CentreSoft Ltd. and Raven Software
  • Electronic Arts Inc. acquires Maxis
  • GameTek filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed its doors in July 1998
  • 2015, Inc. founded
  • 4D Rulers Software, Inc. founded
  • September — 4HEAD Studios created
  • Bungie West formed by Bungie
  • Conspiracy Entertainment Corporation founded
  • Crave Entertainment, Inc. formed
  • August — Human Head Studios, Inc. formed
  • Illusion Softworks, a.s. founded
  • April 15 — Irem Software Engineering Inc. founded
  • Irrational Games LLC founded
  • Mythic Entertainment renames itself from Interworld Productions after name dispute with another "Interworld" company
  • THQ renamed from Toy Headquarters, Inc.
  • Warthog PLC founded

Lawsuits[]

  • Nintendo vs Games City; Nintendo sues Games City for selling the Game Doctor and Doctor V64 backup devices for the SNES and N64 consoles. Nintendo wins the suit.
  • Nintendo vs Prima Publishing; Nintendo sues Prima over copyrights to maps of the N64 video game GoldenEye 007. Nintendo loses the suit
  • Nintendo vs Sony Video Games; Nintendo sues Sony over copyrights about Mario games

Discontinual[]

Critically acclaimed titles[]

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

1997 games and expansions scoring at least 88/100 (MC) or 87.5% (GR)[2][3]
Game Publisher Release Date Platform(s) MC score GR score
Gran Turismo Sony Computer Entertainment December 23, 1997 PlayStation 96/100[4] 94.95%[5]
GoldenEye 007 Nintendo August 25, 1997 Nintendo 64 96/100 94.7%
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Konami March 20, 1997 PlayStation 93/100 93.03%
Final Fantasy VII Square January 31, 1997 PlayStation 92/100 92.35%
Dungeon Keeper Electronic Arts June 26, 1997 Microsoft Windows N/A 92.2%
Colony Wars Psygnosis October 31, 1997 PlayStation 91/100 92.09%
Sid Meier's Gettysburg! Electronic Arts September 30, 1997 Microsoft Windows 92/100 91%[6]
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II LucasArts September 30, 1997 Microsoft Windows 91/100 88.69%
Myth: The Fallen Lords Bungie October 31, 1997 Microsoft Windows 91/100 80.8%
Blast Corps Nintendo February 28, 1997 Nintendo 64 90/100 88.87%
NFL GameDay 98 Sony Computer Entertainment November 17, 1997 PlayStation N/A 90%
Fallout Interplay Productions September 30, 1997 Microsoft Windows 89/100 89.69%
Carmageddon Sales Curve Interactive June 20, 1997 Microsoft Windows N/A 89.6%
Formula 1 97 Psygnosis September 26, 1997 PlayStation N/A 89.43%
MDK Playmates Interactive April 30, 1997 Microsoft Windows N/A 89.2%
Star Fox 64 Nintendo April 27, 1997 Nintendo 64 88/100 89.01%
The Curse of Monkey Island LucasArts October 31, 1997 Microsoft Windows 89/100 89%
Einhänder Square November 20, 1997 PlayStation 89/100[4] 85%[5]
Total Annihilation GT Interactive September 30, 1997 Microsoft Windows 86/100 88.85%
Diddy Kong Racing Rare November 21, 1997 Nintendo 64 88/100 88.65%
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Sony Computer Entertainment October 31, 1997 PlayStation N/A 88.54%
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee GT Interactive September 19, 1997 PlayStation 85/100 87.94%
Fighters Megamix Sega April 30, 1997 Sega Saturn N/A 87.67%

References[]

  1. ↑ "Attendance and Stats". IGN. Retrieved May 21, 2015. {{cite web}}:
  2. ↑ "Best Video Games for 1997". Metacritic. Retrieved February 18, 2019. {{cite web}}:
  3. ↑ "Highest-Ranking Games of 1997 (with at least 5 reviews)". GameRankings. Retrieved August 6, 2019. {{cite web}}:
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Best Video Games for 1998". Metacritic. Retrieved February 17, 2019. {{cite web}}:
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Highest-Ranking Games of 1998 (with at least 10 reviews)". GameRankings. Retrieved February 25, 2019. {{cite web}}:
  6. ↑ "Sid Meier's Gettysburg! for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved August 6, 2019. {{cite web}}:

External links[]

Template:Years in Video Gaming

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