1984 in video games

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List of years in video games

1984 saw many sequels and prequels along with new titles such as 1942, Boulder Dash, Cobra Command, Jet Set Willy, Karate Champ, Kung-Fu Master, Tetris, Yie Ar Kung-Fu and Punch-Out! The year's highest-grossing arcade games were Pole Position in the United States, for the second year in a row, and Track & Field in the United Kingdom. The year's best-selling home system was Nintendo's Family Computer (Famicom), which was only sold in Japan at the time.

Financial performance[]

In the United States, home video game sales fall to $800 million[1] ($2 billion adjusted for inflation).

Highest-grossing arcade games[]

Japan[]

In Japan, the following titles were the top-grossing arcade video games of each month on the Game Machine charts in 1984.

Month Table arcade cabinet Upright/cockpit cabinet Ref
Title Points Title Points
January Hyper Olympic (Track & Field) 14.54 TX-1 18.19 [2][3]
February 10-Yard Fight 15.64 16.95 [4][5]
March Vs. Tennis 14 16.25 [6][7]
April 13.23 15.56 [8][9]
May Gaplus 14.66 Thunder Storm (Cobra Command) 15.83 [10][11]
June Vs. Baseball 14.79 15.76 [12][13]
July Crowns Golf 15.08 15.44 [14][15]
August Karate Champ 15.58 14.95 [16][17]
September Jan Oh (Jang-Oh) 16.89 TX-1 V8 18 [18][19]
October Night Gal 15 15.67 [20][21]
November Jan Oh (Jang-Oh) 14.68 16.92 [22][23]
December Night Gal 14.36 Super Don Quix-ote 17 [24][25]

United Kingdom and United States[]

The following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1984 in the United Kingdom and United States.

Rank United Kingdom United States
Title Manufacturer RePlay[26] AMOA[27] Play Meter[28]
Arcade Route/Street Video Title Points
1 Track & Field[29] Konami Pole Position II Pole Position[30] Dragon's Lair 499.8
2 Un­known Pole Position Track & Field,
Spy Hunter,
M.A.C.H. 3,
Punch-Out!! 		Elevator Action,
Spy Hunter,
Pole Position II,
Punch-Out!! 		Spy Hunter,
Ms. Pac-Man,
Track & Field,
Punch-Out!! 		Pole Position 459
3 Un­known Un­known Track & Field 370.6
4 Un­known Un­known M.A.C.H. 3 280.6
5 Un­known Un­known Spy Hunter 256.5
6 Un­known Un­known N/A Star Wars 205.7
7 Un­known Un­known N/A Space Ace 192.6
8 Un­known Un­known N/A Punch-Out!! 191.8
9 Un­known Un­known N/A Vs. Tennis 170.8
10 Un­known Un­known N/A Astron Belt 137.8

Best-selling home systems[]

Rank System(s) Manufacturer Type Generation Sales
Japan Worldwide
1 Family Computer (Famicom / NES) Nintendo Console Third 2,940,000[31] 2,940,000
2 Commodore 64 (C64) Commodore Computer 8-bit N/A 2,500,000[32]
3 IBM Personal Computer (PC) IBM Computer 8-bit / 16-bit N/A 2,000,000[32]
4 TI-99/4A Texas Instruments Computer 16-bit N/A 1,000,000+[33]
5 Apple II Apple Inc. Computer 8-bit N/A 1,000,000[32]
6 NEC PC-88 / PC-98 NEC Computer 8-bit / 16-bit 470,000[34][35] 470,000+
7 Apple Macintosh Apple Inc. Computer 16-bit N/A 370,000[32]
8 MSX ASCII Corporation Computer 8-bit 350,000[36] 350,000+
9 Coleco Adam Coleco Computer 8-bit N/A 255,000[37][38]
10 Sega SG-1000 Sega Console Third 240,000[39] 240,000+

Best-selling home video games in the United Kingdom[]

In the United Kingdom, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home computer games of 1984, according to N.O.P. Market Research.[40]

Rank Title Publisher Genre Platform
1 Jet Set Willy Software Projects Platformer ZX Spectrum
2 Fighter Pilot Digital Integration Combat flight sim
3 Manic Miner Bug Byte/Software Projects Platformer
4 Atic Atac Ultimate Play The Game Action-adventure
5 Chequered Flag Psion Racing
6 Hunchback Ocean Platformer
7 Sabre Wulf Ultimate Play The Game Action-adventure
8 Night Gunner Digital Integration Shoot 'em up
9 Jet Pac Ultimate Play The Game
10 Manic Miner Software Projects Platformer Commodore 64

Major awards[]

  • The fifth Arcade Awards are held, for games released during 1982–1983. Pole Position wins Coin-Op Game of the Year, Ms. Pac-Man and Lady Bug win console Videogames of the Year, Lode Runner wins Computer Game of the Year, and Q*bert wins dedicated Stand-Alone Game of the Year.[41]
  • In the second Golden Joystick Awards (held in 1985) for best home computer games, Knight Lore takes Game of the Year.

Business[]

  • New companies: Accolade, Elite Systems, Gremlin Graphics, Kemco, New World Computing, Novagen, Ocean, Psygnosis, Sculptured Software
  • Defunct companies: Astrocade, Human Engineered Software, Imagine, Sirius, Starpath.
  • Hasbro, Inc. acquires Milton Bradley Company.
  • Management Sciences America acquires Edu-Ware Services.
  • Broderbund acquires 8-bit gaming competitor Synapse Software.
  • Atari shuts down the Atari Program Exchange, which sold notable "user written" games such as Eastern Front (1941) and Dandy.
  • Warner Communications Inc. sells Atari arcade video game, home video game, and home computer intellectual properties including the Atari logo and trademark, inventories of Atari home video game and home computer hardware and software, as well as certain Atari international subsidiaries to Tramel Technology. Warner Communications effectively closes its domestic home video game and computer divisions but retains the arcade games division and renames Atari Inc. to Atari Games, with permission from Tramel Technology.[42] Tramel Technology renamed to Atari Corporation.[43]
  • Sega and CSK merge to form Sega Enterprises Ltd.
  • Mattel sells video game assets including M Network and Intellivision hardware and software intellectual property to a group led by a former Mattel Electronics executive that becomes INTV Corporation. Mattel Electronics closes their games development offices in California and Taiwan.[44] The games development office in France is sold to investors and renamed Nice Ideas.[45]

Births[]

May[]

Notable releases[]

Games[]

Arcade
  • February 17 - Nintendo launch the initial version of boxing game Punch-Out!!.
  • April – Namco releases Gaplus, the sequel to Galaga.
  • July – Data East releases Technōs Japan's Karate Champ, laying the foundations for the one-one-one fighting game genre.
  • July 20 – Namco releases action role-playing game Tower of Druaga.
  • October – Namco releases Pac-Land and lays the foundations for horizontally-scrolling platform games.
  • November 1 – Namco releases Grobda, a spin-off from Xevious.
  • December – Namco releases Super Xevious and Dragon Buster, the latter of which is one of the first games to feature a life bar.
  • December – Capcom releases 1942.
  • December – Irem releases Kung-Fu Master and lays the foundations for the beat 'em up genre.
  • December – Atari Games releases Marble Madness, their first game written in the C programming language and to use a 68000-family microprocessor.
  • Bally Midway releases Demolition Derby, which features a damage bar and the ability to join a game in progress.
Computer
  • January - Bullet-Proof Software releases The Black Onyx on the PC-8801, which helps popularize turn-based role-playing games in Japan.
  • June - Ultimate Play the Game release Sabre Wulf on the ZX Spectrum.
  • June 6 – Alexei Pajitnov creates Tetris for the Electronika 60 in the Soviet Union.
  • September 20 – Elite, an influential wireframe 3D space trading game offering a then-unique open-ended design, is published by Acornsoft.
  • October – Nihon Falcom releases action role-playing game Dragon Slayer.
  • October - Automata UK releases Deus Ex Machina on ZX Spectrum.
  • December – T&E Soft releases Hydlide, an early action role-playing game that features a health regeneration mechanic and anticipates elements of The Legend of Zelda and Ys series.[46]
  • December 7 – Knight Lore by Ultimate Play the Game is released for the ZX Spectrum (and later ported to the BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC, MSX, and Famicom Disk System). It is the third title in the Sabreman series, but the first to use the isometric Filmation engine.
  • Broderbund releases The Ancient Art of War by Dave and Barry Murry. It is a real-time tactics game and a precursor to the real-time strategy genre.
  • Broderbund releases Karateka for the Apple II.
  • The Lords of Midnight, a strategy adventure game by Mike Singleton, is released.
  • Infocom releases The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Sorcerer, Cutthroats, and Seastalker.
  • First Star releases Boulder Dash, which inspired enough clones to create the rocks-and-diamonds genre.
  • Epyx releases Impossible Mission for the Commodore 64.
  • Electronic Arts releases Adventure Construction Set.
  • Sierra On-Line releases King's Quest I for the PCjr.
  • Synapse releases Atari 8-bit game Dimension X, over 9 months after running magazine ads showing features that weren't present in the final game.[47]
  • Software Projects releases seminal platformer Jet Set Willy on the ZX Spectrum.
  • First Star Software releases Spy vs. Spy for the Commodore 64.
Console

Hardware[]

  • January 24 – Apple Inc. announces the original, 128K, floppy disc-only, Macintosh.
  • March – IBM releases the IBM PCjr in an attempt to enter the home computer market. It has improved sound and graphics over the original, business-oriented IBM PC, but is commercial failure.
  • Atari, Inc. announces the Atari 7800, a next-gen console that's compatible with Atari 2600 cartridges, but capable of greatly improved visuals. It is shelved until 1986 due to the sale of the company and legal issues.
  • Discontinued systems: Atari 5200, Magnavox Odyssey², Vectrex

References[]

  1. ^ Lindner, Richard (1990). Video Games: Past, Present and Future; An Industry Overview. United States: Nintendo of America.
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  29. ^ "Commando: Soldier of Fortune". Your Sinclair. No. 1. January 1986. p. 54.
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