1983 in video gaming
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Events
- Video game crash of 1983: Console and home video game sales plummet
Notable releases
- Bally/Midway releases the popular Spy Hunter arcade game.
- Cinematronics manufactures Advanced Microcomputer Systems' Dragon's Lair, the first laserdisc video game.
- Atari releases the popular Star Wars vector graphics arcade game.
- Williams Electronics releases Vid Kidz's Blaster arcade game.
- Origin Systems publishes its first game and one of the most influential CRPGs, Ultima III: Exodus. It introduced the concept of controlling an entire party and a cohesive story to the Ultima series.
- Electronic Arts publishes Dan Bunten's M.U.L.E., an influential multiplayer strategy game.
- Electronic Arts publishes Bill Budge's Pinball Construction Set, which introduced the "builder" (or "construction set") class of games.
- Konami releases Gyruss designed by Yoshiki Okamoto. It is one of the first arcade games with psuedo-3D graphics and the first with stereo sound.
Hardware
- Coleco Industries releases the Adam home computer.
- Mattel releases the Aquarius home computer; releases the Intellivision II home console
- Nintendo releases the Famicom home console in Japan
- SEGA's SG-1000 released in Japan
Business
- New companies: Infogrames Entertainment SA, Interplay Entertainment Corp., Navarre Corporation, AM2, Origin Systems, Inc.
- Defunct companies: Many companies are affected by the video game crash
- MCA vs Nintendo lawsuit: MCA sues Nintendo over the title resemblance of the Donkey Kong video game to the King Kong movie. MCA loses the case
- Atari, Inc. v. Coleco