1986 in video gaming
Encyclopedia
Events
Notable releases
- NamcoNamcois a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
releases Sky Kid DeluxeSky Kid DeluxeSky Kid Deluxe is a horizontal scrolling shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1986. It runs on Namco System 86 hardware and as the name suggests, it is the sequel to Sky Kid, released in the previous year. The gameplay is more difficult than the original, and it also introduces several...
, Hopping MappyHopping MappyHopping Mappy is an arcade game that was released by Namco in 1986. It runs on Namco System 86 hardware and, as the name suggests, it is the sequel to Mappy, released 3 years earlier...
, Toy PopToy Popis a multi-directional shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1986. The game was included in Namco Museum Vol.1.-Description:Toy Pop is a top-down multi-directional shooter that can be played both single-player or with two players simultaneously...
, The Return of IshtarThe Return of Ishtaris an action role-playing arcade game, released by Namco in 1986. It runs on Namco System 86 hardware and is the sequel to The Tower of Druaga, which was released three years earlier. It is the second game in the Babylonian Castle Saga series. It was ported to the MSX, FM7 and included in the Namco...
, which is the sequel to Tower of DruagaTower of Druagais a maze-based action role-playing arcade game released by Namco in 1984, in Japan and the United States. It is the first game in the Babylonian Castle Saga series of games....
, Genpei Tōma Den, and Rolling ThunderRolling Thunder (arcade game)is a side-scrolling action game produced by Namco originally released in as a coin-operated arcade game which ran on the Namco System 86 hardware. It was distributed internationally outside Japan by Atari Games. The player takes control of a secret agent who must rescue his female partner from a...
. - February 21 — NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
also releases The Legend of Zelda (designed by Shigeru MiyamotoShigeru Miyamotois a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
for the NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Famicom Disk SystemFamicom Disk SystemThe was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral for the Family Computer console in Japan. It was a unit that used proprietary floppy disks for data storage. It was announced, but never released, for the North American Nintendo Entertainment System...
), the first in The Legend of ZeldaThe Legend of ZeldaThe Legend of Zelda, originally released as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Nintendo, and designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. Set in the fantasy land of Hyrule, the plot centers on a boy named Link, the playable protagonist, who aims to collect the eight fragments...
series, a spiritual forerunner of console role-playing games - August 6 — NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
releases MetroidMetroidis an action-adventure video game, and the first entry in the Metroid series. It was co-developed by Nintendo's Research and Development 1 division and Intelligent Systems, and was released in Japan in August 1986, in North America in August 1987, and in Europe in January 1988...
by Makoto Kano, the first in the Metroid seriesMetroid seriesis a series of science fiction action-adventure video games by Nintendo. It chronicles the missions of bounty hunter Samus Aran who protects the galaxy from the depredations of the Space Pirates and their attempts to harness the power of the eponymous Metroids. It is noted for having one of the...
. - SegaSega, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
releases the Out RunOut Runis an arcade game released by Sega in 1986. It was designed by Yu Suzuki and Sega-AM2. The game was a critical and commercial success. It is notable for its innovative hardware , pioneering graphics and music, a choice in both soundtrack and route, and its strong theme of luxury and relaxation...
arcade game - ArkanoidArkanoidis an arcade game developed by Taito in 1986. It is based upon Atari's Breakout games of the 1970s. The title refers to a doomed "mothership" from which the player's ship, the Vaus, escapes.-Overview:...
(TaitoTaito CorporationThe is a Japanese publisher of video game software and arcade hardware wholly owned by publisher Square Enix. Taito has their headquarters in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, sharing the facility with its parent company....
, arcade), spawned many sequels and remakes - Bubble BobbleBubble Bobbleis an arcade game by Taito, first released in 1986 and later ported to numerous home computers and game consoles. The game, starring the twin Bubble Dragons and , is an action-platform game in which players travel through one hundred different stages, blowing and bursting bubbles, avoiding...
(Taito, arcade), spawned many sequels - Space Quest I: The Sarien EncounterSpace Quest I: The Sarien EncounterSpace Quest or more formally Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter was a video game released in October of 1986 and quickly became a hit, selling in excess of 100,000 copies .-Plot:Players of the original game are never told the hero's name, but are instead asked to...
was released in October - Dragon Quest (EnixEnixThe was a Japanese company that produced video games, anime and manga. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975 as and renamed Enix in 1982...
, Famicom), usually considered the foremost console role-playing game, the first in a series that has been phenomenally successful in Japan
Hardware
- NamcoNamcois a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
releases the Namco System '86 arcade system board - AtariAtariAtari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
releases the Atari 7800Atari 7800The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc.'s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily...
home console two years after its original test market date - SegaSega, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
releases the Sega Master SystemSega Master SystemThe is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
home console in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... - SharpSharp Corporationis a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products. Headquartered in Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan, Sharp employs more than 55,580 people worldwide as of June 2011. The company was founded in September 1912 and takes its name from one of its founder's first...
releases the Twin FamicomTwin FamicomThe was produced by Sharp Corporation in 1986, and was only released in Japan. It is a licensed Nintendo product, and is basically the Family Computer and the Family Computer Disk System which have been combined into a single piece of hardware....
home console - NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
releases the Famicom Disk SystemFamicom Disk SystemThe was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral for the Family Computer console in Japan. It was a unit that used proprietary floppy disks for data storage. It was announced, but never released, for the North American Nintendo Entertainment System...
(an add-on for the FamicomNintendo Entertainment SystemThe Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
) in Japan only
Business
- New companies: AcclaimAcclaim EntertainmentAcclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo...
, MajescoMajesco EntertainmentMajesco Entertainment is a video game publisher founded in 1986.-History:Majesco first made a name as a reissuer of old titles that had been abandoned by their original publisher. By cutting the prices dramatically and, eventually, arranging the rights to self-manufacture games for both Nintendo...
, Ubi SoftUbisoftUbisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries.... - June 13 - ActivisionActivisionActivision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
merges with InfocomInfocomInfocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....
Inc. - ActivisionActivisionActivision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
acquires Gamestar Software - Sinclair Research Ltd. is acquired by AmstradAmstradAmstrad is a British electronics company, now wholly owned by BSkyB. As of 2006, Amstrad's main business is manufacturing Sky Digital interactive boxes....