1986 in video gaming

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1986 in video gaming

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Events

Notable releases

Namco
Namco

, from NAkamura Manufacturing COmpany, is an amusement company based in Japan, best known overseas for video games development. On September 29 2005, Namco officially merged with Japanese toymaker Bandai to form Namco Bandai, one of the largest entertainment companies in Japan.Namco became a wholly owned subsidiary of the holdin...
releases Sky Kid Deluxe
Sky Kid Deluxe

Sky Kid Deluxe is a horizontal Shoot 'em up#Scrolling shooters 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....
, Hopping Mappy
Hopping Mappy

Hopping 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 Pop
Toy Pop

Toypop is a Shoot 'em up#Multidirectional shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1986. The game was included in Namco Museum....
, The Return of Ishtar
The Return of Ishtar

is an arcade game that was released by Namco in 1986. It runs on Namco System 86 hardware and is the sequel to Tower of Druaga, which was released two years earlier....
, which is the sequel to Tower of Druaga
Tower of Druaga

The Tower of Druaga is the name of an arcade game released by Namco in 1984.The game runs on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware but with a video system like that used in Mappy....
, Genpei Toma Den, and Rolling Thunder
Rolling Thunder (arcade game)

is a Shoot 'em up#Run and gun arcade game that was released by Namco in 1986. It runs on the Namco System 86 hardware platform and was licensed for US distribution to Atari Games....
.
August 6 — Metroid
Metroid

Metroid is an action-adventure game video game and the first entry in the Metroid . Developed by Nintendo Research & Development 1 and published by Nintendo, the game was released in Japan in August 1986, in North America in August 1987, and in Europe in January 1988....
by Makoto Kanoh
Makoto Kanoh

Makoto Kanoh is a Japanese video game designer who has worked on dozens of games, all for Nintendo....
, the first in the Metroid series
Metroid series

is a series of science fiction Adventure game video games conceived by designer Gunpei Yokoi and produced by Nintendo. Metroid 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 fictional organisms such as the eponymous Metroids....
.
February 21 — The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda

is a video game designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and developed and published by Nintendo. Set in the fantasy land of Universe of The Legend of Zelda#Hyrule, the plot centers on a boy named Link , the playable protagonist, who aims to rescue Princess Zelda from the primary antagonist, Ganon, by collecting eight fragments of the Universe of The Legend o...
(designed by Shigeru Miyamoto
Shigeru Miyamoto

is a Japanese people video game designer. He created the Mario , Donkey Kong , The Legend of Zelda , F-Zero , Pikmin and Nintendogs franchises for Nintendo game consoles, and mostly works on games as a Game producer....
for the Nintendo
Nintendo

is a global company located in Kyoto, Japan founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Famicom Disk System
Famicom Disk System

The was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral for the Nintendo Entertainment System console in Japan. It was a unit that used proprietary floppy disks for data storage....
), the first in The Legend of Zelda series
The Legend of Zelda series

is a high fantasy Action-adventure game video game series created by Game designer#Video game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka and Video game developer and Video game publisher by Nintendo....
, a spiritual forerunner of console role-playing game
Console role-playing game

A console role-playing game is a video game Computer and video game genres that has its origin rooted in video game consoles and includes game mechanics and, frequently, settings derived from those of traditional role-playing games....
s
Arkanoid
Arkanoid

is an arcade game developed by Taito Corporation in 1986. It is based upon Atari's Breakout games of the 1970s. The title refers to a doomed "mothership" from which the Vaus, the player's controller, escapes....
(Taito
Taito Corporation

The is a Japanese developer of video game software and arcade hardware wholly owned by publisher Square Enix.Taito Trading Company was established by a Russian Jewish businessman named Michael Kogan....
, arcade), spawned many sequels and remakes
Bubble Bobble
Bubble Bobble

is an arcade game by Taito Corporation, first released in 1986. It was porting soon for numerous home computers and game consoles. The game features twin Bubble Dragons, , who is green with yellow spikes/horns and , who is blue with cyan spikes/horns....
(Taito, arcade), spawned many sequels
Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter
Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter

Space Quest or more formally Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter was a video game released in October of 1986 in video gaming and quickly became a hit, selling in excess of 100,000 copies ....
was released in October
Dragon Quest (Enix
Enix

The was a Japan 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

Namco
Namco

, from NAkamura Manufacturing COmpany, is an amusement company based in Japan, best known overseas for video games development. On September 29 2005, Namco officially merged with Japanese toymaker Bandai to form Namco Bandai, one of the largest entertainment companies in Japan.Namco became a wholly owned subsidiary of the holdin...
releases the Namco System '86 arcade system board
Atari
Atari

Atari 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 Infogrames ....
releases the Atari 7800
Atari 7800

The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console released by Atari Corporation in June 1986. A test market release had occurred two years earlier under Atari, Inc....
home console two years after its original test market date
Sega
Sega

is a Multinational corporation video game software and hardware development company, and a home computer and console manufacturer headquartered in Ota, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan....
releases the Sega Master System
Sega Master System

The Sega Master System is an 8-bit cartridge-based video game console that was manufactured by Sega and was first released in 1986 in video gaming....
home console in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
; releases the Out Run
Out Run

is a 1986 arcade game designed by Yu Suzuki and Sega-AM2. The game was a major hit with arcade-goers and 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
Sharp
Sharp Corporation

is a Japanese electronics manufacturer, founded in 1912.It takes its name from one of its founder's first inventions, the Ever-Sharp mechanical pencil, which was invented by Tokuji Hayakawa in 1915....
releases the Twin Famicom
Twin Famicom

The was Produced by Sharp Corporation in 1986, and was released only within Japan. It is a licensed Nintendo product, and is basically the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Famicom Disk System which have been combined onto a single piece of hardware....
home console
Nintendo
Nintendo

is a global company located in Kyoto, Japan founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce 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 System
Famicom Disk System

The was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral for the Nintendo Entertainment System console in Japan. It was a unit that used proprietary floppy disks for data storage....
(an add-on for the Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in . In most of Asia, including Japan , the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Singapore, it was released as the ....
) in Japan only

Business

New companies: Acclaim
Acclaim Entertainment

Acclaim Entertainment was an United States video game developer and video game publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed video game for a variety of video game console, including Sega's Sega Mega Drive, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, and Sega Game Gear, Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment S...
, Majesco
Majesco Entertainment

Majesco Entertainment is a Japan/United States video game publisher founded in 1986. It first made a name as a reissuer of old titles that had been abandoned by their original publisher....
, Ubi Soft
Ubisoft

Ubisoft Entertainment is a computer game and video game publisher and video game developer with headquarters in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France....
June 13 - Activision
Activision

Activision Inc. is an United States video game developer and video game publisher. It was founded on October 1, 1979., and was the first independent developer and distributor of video games for video game console....
merges with Infocom
Infocom

Infocom 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.
Activision
Activision

Activision Inc. is an United States video game developer and video game publisher. It was founded on October 1, 1979., and was the first independent developer and distributor of video games for video game console....
acquires Gamestar Software
Sinclair Research Ltd. is acquired by Amstrad
Amstrad

Amstrad is an electronics firm based in Brentwood, Essex in Essex, England and founded in 1968 by Sir Alan Sugar in the United Kingdom. The name is a contraction of Alan Michael Sugar Trading....