1990s
3D graphics, CD-ROMs, the World Wide Web, and the console wars define a new era.
1990
34 eventsCamelot Software Planning
Camelot Software Planning created the Shining Force series for Sega before becoming Nintendo's premier sports game developer with Mario Golf and Mario Tennis.
Camelot Software Planning
Camelot created Shining Force at Sega before becoming Nintendo's premier sports game developer while crafting the Golden Sun RPG series.
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers delivered excellent two-player cooperative platforming, with the chipmunk duo throwing boxes, apples, and each other through colourful stages.
Chiptune
The music genre and culture built around creating new music using vintage game hardware sound chips, particularly the Game Boy with LSDJ tracker software.
Climax Entertainment
Climax Entertainment crafted distinctive action-adventures with isometric perspectives, creating Landstalker and its spiritual successors across multiple Sega platforms.
Columns
Columns challenged players to match coloured jewels in vertical columns of three, becoming Sega's answer to Tetris and a pack-in title for the Game Gear.
Crystalis
Crystalis delivered Zelda-style action RPG gameplay in a post-nuclear setting, featuring elemental swords, challenging combat, and a surprisingly ambitious narrative for the NES.
Cycle Accuracy
Cycle-accurate emulation reproduces original hardware behaviour at the CPU cycle level, enabling perfect compatibility at the cost of performance.
Digitised Sprites
Digitised sprites captured real actors and objects as pixel art, creating a realistic visual style that defined games like Mortal Kombat and Pit-Fighter.
Dr. Mario
Dr. Mario applied falling-block puzzle mechanics to virus elimination, creating Nintendo's answer to Tetris with accessible two-player competition.
Eidos Interactive
British publisher Eidos rose to prominence with *Tomb Raider* and became a major force in 1990s gaming before acquisition by Square Enix.
Fire Emblem
Fire Emblem combined tactical combat with permanent death, creating emotional stakes where fallen units stayed dead and every battle decision mattered.
Game Genie
Codemasters/Galoob's cheat device for NES, SNES, Genesis, and Game Boy that brought the POKE culture to consoles - and survived Nintendo's legal challenge.
Game Preservation
Game preservation efforts archive software, hardware, and cultural context of video game history, fighting against physical decay, format obsolescence, and corporate indifference.
Gaming Accessibility
Gaming accessibility removes barriers that prevent disabled players from enjoying games, through options like remappable controls, subtitles, colourblind modes, and one-handed control schemes.
John Romero born
id Software co-founder
Little Nemo: The Dream Master
Little Nemo: The Dream Master let players feed candy to animals and ride them, gaining unique abilities to explore dreamworlds in this charming Capcom platformer.
Looking Glass Studios
Looking Glass Studios pioneered immersive simulations with System Shock and Thief, creating sophisticated game systems that trusted player intelligence before financial struggles closed the studio.
Mode 7
Mode 7 was the SNES's signature graphical feature, enabling real-time rotation and scaling of background layers to create pseudo-3D effects in racing games and RPG world maps.
Neo Geo
SNK's Neo Geo delivered arcade-identical gaming at home for the price of a used car, creating the ultimate enthusiast platform.
Raiden
Raiden distilled vertical shooting to its essence: satisfying weapons, challenging patterns, and two-player co-op that defined arcade shooting for the early 1990s.
Revolution Software
Revolution Software created Broken Sword and Beneath a Steel Sky, maintaining adventure game development in the UK through the genre's commercial decline and eventual revival.
Sega Game Gear
Sega's 1990 colour handheld that was essentially a portable Master System, offering backlit graphics but suffering from poor battery life that limited its success against Game Boy.
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll challenged players to guide hungry snakes through isometric worlds, eating pellets to grow long enough to reach the exit scale.
Sonic Team
Sonic Team created Sega's mascot and developed the Sonic series alongside experimental titles like NiGHTS, Phantasy Star Online, and Chu Chu Rocket.
Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
The Bitmap Brothers' violent future sport combined pinball physics with tactical team management.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The SNES arrived late to the 16-bit war but won through superior software, Mode 7 magic, and the most celebrated game library of any console.
Team17
Team17 rose from the Amiga demo scene to become one of Britain's most enduring game developers, creating the legendary Worms franchise.
Tetsuya Mizuguchi born
Synaesthesia designer
The Secret of Monkey Island
The Secret of Monkey Island perfected the point-and-click adventure with witty writing, memorable characters, and puzzles that challenged without frustrating.
Turrican
Manfred Trenz's run-and-gun showcased Amiga capabilities with massive levels, smooth scrolling, and Chris Hülsbeck's thunderous soundtrack.
Tycoon Games
Tycoon games put players in charge of building and managing business empires, from theme parks to railroads to hospitals.
Video Toaster
NewTek's revolutionary Amiga expansion that turned a home computer into professional broadcast equipment, replacing $100,000 of gear for under $5,000.
Wing Commander
Wing Commander combined cinematic storytelling with space combat simulation, pioneering narrative-driven action games and pushing PC hardware to its limits.
1991
37 eventsAcid Software
Mark Sibly's New Zealand company that created Blitz Basic and developed games like Skidmarks, proving that compiled BASIC could produce commercial hits.
Active Time Battle
Active Time Battle added real-time urgency to turn-based combat through filling gauges, forcing faster decisions and creating tension that pure turn-based systems lacked.
Alien Breed
Alien Breed channelled Aliens into a top-down shooter, combining claustrophobic corridors with relentless xenomorph hordes across the Amiga and beyond.
Another World
Eric Chahi's Another World used rotoscoped animation and vector graphics to create a wordless cinematic experience that felt like playing a film.
Battletoads
Battletoads combined beat-em-up action with varied gameplay and punishing difficulty, showcasing Rare's technical prowess on the NES.
Blast Processing
Blast Processing was Sega's marketing term for the Genesis/Mega Drive's faster processor speed, becoming both a console war weapon and a source of technical debate.
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment built an empire on exceptionally polished games, from Warcraft and StarCraft to Diablo and World of Warcraft, defining genres through refinement rather than invention.
Bungie
Bungie created Marathon, defined console FPS with Halo, and pioneered live-service gaming with Destiny, evolving from indie Mac developer to industry giant.
Captain Commando
Captain Commando assembled a bizarre team—a mummy, a ninja, and a knife-wielding baby in a mech—for four-player beat-em-up action that showcased Capcom's arcade excellence.
Cinemaware closes
Cinemaware (1985–1991)
Civilization
Sid Meier's Civilization let players guide a society from the Stone Age to the Space Age, creating the 4X genre and one of gaming's most addictive formulas.
EA Sports
EA Sports dominated sports gaming through aggressive licensing, annual releases, and franchises covering every major sport, building a multi-billion dollar business.
Epic Games
Tim Sweeney's Epic Games evolved from shareware publisher to Unreal Engine creator to *Fortnite* phenomenon, reshaping game development and distribution.
Epic MegaGames
Tim Sweeney's company that started with shareware games like ZZT and Jazz Jackrabbit, evolved into Epic Games, and created Unreal Engine - one of gaming's biggest success stories.
Eric Chahi born
Cinematic visionary
Fatal Fury
Fatal Fury established SNK's fighting game legacy with multi-plane combat and characters who would define the company's crossover universe for decades.
Gods
The Bitmap Brothers' 1991 platformer combined puzzle-solving, combat, and their signature metallic aesthetic.
Hewson Consultants closes
Hewson Consultants (1980–1991)
Ian Bell dies
Ian Bell (1984–1991)
id Software
id Software created Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake, defining PC gaming and pioneering shareware distribution.
Jon Ritman dies
Jon Ritman (1983–1991)
Lemmings
DMA Design's 1991 puzzle phenomenon challenged players to save suicidal rodents through clever skill assignment.
Level 9 closes
Level 9 (1981–1991)
Mastertronic closes
Mastertronic (1983–1991)
Metroid II: Return of Samus
Metroid II brought Samus's exploration to Game Boy, tasking players with exterminating the Metroid species across the labyrinthine caves of SR388.
Micro Machines
Codemasters' 1991 top-down racing game featuring miniature vehicles racing across household environments—breakfast tables, pool tables, and garden paths.
Newsfield closes
Newsfield (1984–1991)
Puyo Puyo
Puyo Puyo combined falling-block puzzling with chain reaction mechanics, creating a competitive puzzle game that became a Japanese phenomenon and Sega staple.
Road Rash
Road Rash combined motorcycle racing with vehicular combat, letting players punch, kick, and club opponents while tearing down Californian highways.
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sega's blue blur gave them a mascot, a marketing weapon, and the game that made Genesis a genuine threat to Nintendo.
Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II created the competitive fighting game genre, revitalised arcades, and sparked console wars as Sega and Nintendo fought for the best port.
Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage delivered console-exclusive beat-em-up excellence with tight combat, memorable music by Yuzo Koshiro, and cooperative gameplay that rivalled arcade offerings.
Sunset Riders
Sunset Riders brought Contra-style action to the Wild West, with four bounty hunters chasing outlaws through saloons, trains, and frontier towns in colourful arcade action.
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts continued Capcom's legendary difficulty with gorgeous 16-bit visuals, the double-jump, and the requirement to complete the game twice for the true ending.
Tommy Tallarico born
Game music and media
World Wide Web goes public
Tim Berners-Lee's World Wide Web project goes public, laying the foundation for the internet as we know it today.
Soviet Union dissolves
The Soviet Union officially dissolves after 69 years, ending the Cold War and reshaping global politics and economics.
1992
25 eventsArt of Fighting
Art of Fighting introduced the spirit gauge and scaling sprite technology while establishing characters who would become SNK crossover staples.
Base Building
Base building lets players construct and expand military installations, creating strategic depth through placement decisions, tech trees, and the tension between economy and defence.
DICE
Digital Illusions CE, the Swedish studio with demo scene roots that created the Battlefield series, Mirror's Edge, and became one of gaming's most technically accomplished developers.
Dune II
Dune II established the real-time strategy genre template, introducing base building, resource harvesting, tech trees, and unit production that every RTS would follow.
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty
Dune II invented the real-time strategy template—harvesting resources, building bases, training units—that Command & Conquer and every subsequent RTS would follow.
Fatalities
Fatalities rewarded Mortal Kombat victories with gruesome finishing moves, creating controversy that led to game ratings while becoming the series' defining feature.
First-Person Horror
First-person horror leverages the perspective's intimacy to maximise vulnerability, using limited vision, spatial audio, and player embodiment to create inescapable dread.
Flashback
Flashback delivered cinematic rotoscoped animation, a complex sci-fi narrative, and demanding platforming that made it feel like a Hollywood production.
Fog of War
Fog of war obscures unexplored areas and enemy movements in strategy games, forcing players to scout and making information as valuable as military might.
Full Motion Video
Full motion video brought filmed footage into games, promising Hollywood production values but often delivering awkward acting and limited interactivity during the CD-ROM era.
Kirby's Dream Land
Kirby's Dream Land introduced the adorable pink hero with his signature inhale ability, delivering accessible platforming that welcomed newcomers while hiding surprising depth.
Landstalker
Landstalker delivered Zelda-style adventure from an isometric perspective, challenging players with tricky platforming and puzzle-solving across a treasure-hunting quest.
Lure of the Temptress
Revolution Software's debut combined point-and-click adventure with innovative NPC routines, setting the stage for *Beneath a Steel Sky* and *Broken Sword*.
Magnetic Scrolls closes
Magnetic Scrolls (1984–1992)
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat shocked arcades with digitised violence and fatality finishers, sparking controversy that led to the ESRB rating system while building a fighting game empire.
Mortal Kombat Controversy
The 1992-1993 controversy over Mortal Kombat's fatalities that led to congressional hearings and the creation of the ESRB, highlighting the Sega vs Nintendo approaches to violence.
Rebellion Developments
The Oxford-based studio founded by the Kingsley brothers that acquired legendary comic publisher 2000 AD and built franchises including Sniper Elite and Zombie Army.
Sensible Soccer
Sensible Software stripped football to its essence—tiny players, aftertouch, and pure competitive joy.
Shin Megami Tensei
Atlus's *Shin Megami Tensei* series offered darker, more mature JRPGs where players recruit demons, make moral choices, and navigate post-apocalyptic Tokyo.
Shining Force
Shining Force brought tactical RPG battles to the Mega Drive, combining Fire Emblem-style grid combat with explorable towns and a diverse army of recruitable characters.
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Nintendo R&D1's *Super Mario Land 2* expanded Game Boy Mario with larger sprites, non-linear world selection, and the villainous debut of Wario.
Texture Mapping
Texture mapping wraps 2D images onto 3D surfaces, adding visual detail to polygonal models without the geometric complexity that would otherwise be required.
Tomonobu Itagaki born
Dead or Alive's provocateur
Treasure
Treasure was founded by ex-Konami developers who created intense, inventive action games including Gunstar Heroes, Ikaruga, and Guardian Heroes with technical brilliance and creative design.
Unit Pathfinding
Unit pathfinding algorithms determine how game units navigate terrain, with RTS games demanding solutions that scale to hundreds of units finding optimal routes simultaneously.
1993
29 eventsAladdin (Genesis)
Virgin Games' 1993 Genesis platformer featuring actual Disney animator involvement, creating one of the most visually stunning 16-bit games and the definitive licensed game template.
BSP Trees
Binary Space Partitioning trees enabled Doom's impossible 3D by pre-calculating visibility, determining which surfaces could see which others to eliminate overdraw.
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs brought the Xenozoic Tales comic to arcades, combining classic Capcom beat-em-up action with dinosaurs, muscle cars, and environmental themes.
Cannon Fodder
Sensible Software's controversial action game combined accessible squad tactics with an anti-war message, remembered as much for its poppy controversy as its addictive gameplay.
Clickteam
The company founded by François Lionet after AMOS, creating Klik & Play, The Games Factory, and Fusion - continuing the mission of accessible game development.
Congressional Hearings 1993
The US Senate hearings that examined violence in video games, using Mortal Kombat and Night Trap as examples, ultimately forcing the industry to create the ESRB rating system.
Day of the Tentacle
Day of the Tentacle sent three friends across American history to stop a purple tentacle's world domination, delivering LucasArts' most inventive puzzle design and sharpest writing.
Doom
Doom didn't invent the first-person shooter, but it perfected and popularised the genre, spreading across office networks and defining PC gaming.
Epyx closes
Epyx (1978–1993)
FIFA
FIFA leveraged official licenses and annual iterations to dominate football gaming commercially, becoming EA's most valuable sports franchise despite gameplay debates.
Gunstar Heroes
Gunstar Heroes announced Treasure's arrival with relentless action, combinable weapons, and technical wizardry that pushed the Mega Drive far beyond its assumed limits.
Model 2
Sega's Model 2 arcade board delivered unprecedented texture-mapped 3D graphics, powering Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter 2, and other titles that defined mid-90s arcades.
Myst
Myst dropped players onto a mysterious island with no instructions, selling millions of copies and proving that atmospheric puzzle games could find mainstream audiences.
NanaOn-Sha
NanaOn-Sha created PaRappa the Rapper and other rhythm games under Masaya Matsuura's direction, establishing a distinctive style of musical game design.
NBA Jam
NBA Jam abandoned basketball simulation for two-on-two arcade mayhem with impossible dunks, burning basketballs, and commentary that entered the cultural lexicon.
NHL '94
NHL '94 achieved sports game balance that kept players returning decades later, with responsive controls, the one-timer mechanic, and gameplay that transcended its era.
RenderWare
Criterion's RenderWare provided cross-platform 3D graphics middleware that powered *Grand Theft Auto*, *Burnout*, and hundreds of other games.
Sam & Max Hit the Road
Sam & Max Hit the Road followed a dog detective and hyperkinetic rabbity thing across American roadside attractions, delivering surreal comedy through LucasArts' refined adventure formula.
Samurai Shodown
Samurai Shodown emphasised single decisive strikes over combo chains, creating a tense, methodical fighting game set in feudal Japan with distinctive SNK artistry.
Secret of Mana
Secret of Mana delivered real-time combat with three-player co-op on SNES, combining action gameplay with RPG progression in a vibrant world of Mana and ancient civilisation.
Skidmarks
Acid Software's top-down racing game that proved Blitz Basic could produce commercial hits, featuring split-screen multiplayer and satisfying physics.
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony entered gaming with the PlayStation and fundamentally transformed the industry, making console gaming mainstream entertainment for adults.
Star Fox
Nintendo's 1993 SNES rail shooter that used the custom Super FX chip to bring filled polygon 3D to consoles, created in partnership with Argonaut.
Super FX Chip
The Super FX chip embedded a RISC processor in SNES cartridges, enabling polygon graphics and establishing the concept of hardware-accelerated console gaming.
Syndicate
Syndicate combined real-time tactics with cyberpunk atmosphere, letting players control a squad of augmented agents in missions of corporate warfare.
The 7th Guest
Trilobyte's haunted house puzzle game showcased CD-ROM technology with full-motion video and helped establish the multimedia PC era.
The Chaos Engine
The Chaos Engine combined top-down shooting with character selection and cooperative play in a Victorian steampunk world, showcasing the Bitmap Brothers' design excellence.
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Link's Awakening brought Zelda's exploration to Game Boy with a surreal island setting, memorable characters, and a bittersweet narrative that transcended hardware limitations.
Virtua Fighter
Virtua Fighter pioneered 3D polygon fighting games with realistic martial arts, spawning a genre and establishing Sega's arcade dominance in the early 1990s.
1994
39 eventsBeneath a Steel Sky
Revolution Software's 1994 point-and-click adventure set in a dystopian Australian future, featuring art by Watchmen's Dave Gibbons and later released free on GOG.com.
Chris Metzen born
Blizzard's voice
Chris Sawyer born
Assembly language master
Commodore closes
Commodore (1954–1994)
Daytona USA
Daytona USA delivered exhilarating arcade stock car racing with the Model 2's texture-mapped graphics and an unforgettable soundtrack that players sang along to.
Donkey Kong Country
Rare's Donkey Kong Country brought pre-rendered 3D graphics to the SNES, revitalising both the aging console and Nintendo's forgotten ape with stunning visuals and tight platforming.
EarthBound
EarthBound rejected fantasy conventions for suburban America, pizza deliveries, and psychic kids, hiding emotional depth beneath absurdist humour and influencing indie RPGs for decades.
ESRB
The Entertainment Software Rating Board, created in 1994 after congressional hearings on game violence, which established industry self-regulation and prevented government censorship.
Frontier Developments
David Braben's Frontier Developments carried forward the *Elite* legacy while building simulation games and theme park management titles.
Game Ratings
Game ratings systems emerged from controversy over video game violence, establishing age classifications that informed parents and shaped how games were marketed and sold.
Insomniac Games
Insomniac Games created Spyro and Ratchet & Clank for PlayStation before expanding to multiplatform development with Spider-Man and other action titles.
Irem closes
Irem (1974–1994)
Jay Miner dies
Jay Miner (1932–1994)
Katsuhiro Harada born
Tekken's voice
Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct combined pre-rendered graphics with an innovative combo system, creating Rare's answer to the fighting game boom with spectacular audio-visual presentation.
MOS Technology closes
MOS Technology (1969–1994)
Nazca Corporation
Nazca Corporation created Metal Slug for the Neo Geo, delivering exceptional 2D animation and run-and-gun gameplay before being absorbed into SNK.
Neversoft
Neversoft created the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series that defined extreme sports gaming before transitioning to Guitar Hero and eventually merging into Infinity Ward.
PlayStation
Sony's PlayStation transformed gaming through CD-ROM capacity, third-party support, and marketing that made consoles mainstream adult entertainment.
PlayStation Hardware
The original PlayStation's hardware combined a 32-bit MIPS CPU with custom graphics processing, enabling 3D gaming that transformed the industry.
Puzzle Bobble
Puzzle Bobble transformed Bubble Bobble's dragons into a colour-matching shooter, creating an accessible puzzle format that spawned countless imitators.
Sega Saturn
Sega's Saturn excelled at 2D and sprite-based games but struggled with 3D, losing the 32-bit console war despite an impressive Japanese library.
Sports Interactive
Sports Interactive developed Championship Manager before splitting to create Football Manager, producing the definitive football management simulation for three decades.
Super Metroid
Nintendo's *Super Metroid* refined the exploration-action formula to near perfection, becoming the template against which all Metroidvanias are measured.
System Shock
System Shock combined first-person action with RPG systems and environmental storytelling, creating the 'immersive sim' template that influenced Deus Ex, BioShock, and countless others.
Team Andromeda
Team Andromeda developed the Panzer Dragoon series exclusively for Sega Saturn, creating one of gaming's most distinctive and atmospheric franchises before disbanding.
Tekken
Tekken brought accessible 3D fighting to arcades and PlayStation, with limb-based controls and juggle combos that created an alternative to Virtua Fighter's technical demands.
Tempest 2000
In 1994 Jeff Minter reimagined Atari’s vector shooter for the Jaguar, delivering a rave-worthy soundtrack and hypnotic visuals.
The King of Fighters
The King of Fighters united SNK's fighting game universes into team-based tournaments, creating an annual franchise with deep mechanics beloved by competitive players.
Theme Park
Theme Park put players in charge of designing and managing an amusement park, balancing ride construction, staff management, and guest happiness.
Toaplan closes
Toaplan (1984–1994)
Todd Howard born
Bethesda's visionary
Transport Tycoon
Chris Sawyer's *Transport Tycoon* let players build transport empires across procedural landscapes, inspiring dedicated fans who maintain the game to this day.
Virtua Cop
Sega's 1994 arcade light gun game that pioneered 3D graphics in the genre and introduced target prioritisation mechanics.
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
Warcraft brought real-time strategy to fantasy, establishing Blizzard's flagship universe with humans versus orcs warfare and accessible multiplayer competition.
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
Wario Land transformed Mario's antagonist into a playable anti-hero, replacing precision platforming with treasure hunting and shoulder-charging through a greedy adventure.
X-COM: UFO Defense
MicroProse's 1994 strategy masterpiece that combined turn-based tactical combat with strategic base management, creating one of gaming's most influential and beloved franchises.
X-COM: UFO Defense
X-COM combined base building, resource management, and tense turn-based tactics in a fight against alien invasion that spawned a legendary strategy franchise.
Nelson Mandela elected President of South Africa
Nelson Mandela becomes South Africa's first Black president after the country's first fully democratic election, ending apartheid.
1995
26 eventsBioWare
BioWare defined modern Western RPGs through companion relationships, moral choices, and cinematic presentation in Baldur's Gate, Knights of the Old Republic, and Mass Effect.
Cavedog Entertainment
Cavedog Entertainment created Total Annihilation, pushing RTS toward unprecedented scale before parent company GT Interactive's collapse ended the studio's promising trajectory.
Chris Avellone born
RPG's dark poet
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger assembled Square's dream team to create the definitive JRPG—time travel done right, multiple endings earned, and combat that respected players' intelligence.
Comix Zone
Comix Zone trapped its creator inside his own comic, with gameplay moving between panels, tearing paper for weapons, and fighting drawn enemies in a stylish beat-em-up.
Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer popularised real-time strategy with accessible base-building, resource harvesting, and FMV cutscenes that brought personality to warfare.
Creatures Inc.
Creatures Inc. co-owns the Pokémon franchise alongside Nintendo and Game Freak, developing spin-off games and managing the trading card game.
Domark closes
Domark (1984–1995)
Ensemble Studios
Ensemble Studios created the Age of Empires series, delivering historical RTS excellence for Microsoft before closure in 2009 despite consistent critical and commercial success.
Full Throttle
Full Throttle put players in the leather jacket of biker gang leader Ben, framed for murder in a stylish adventure that prioritised atmosphere and attitude over puzzle complexity.
Harmonix
Harmonix created the Western rhythm game phenomenon with Guitar Hero and Rock Band before transitioning through multiple acquisitions while maintaining their musical focus.
Ken Levine born
BioShock's architect
LJN closes
LJN (1970–1995)
Motion Capture
Motion capture recorded real human movement for game animation, enabling realistic character motion in sports games, fighting games, and cinematic action titles.
Panzer Dragoon
Panzer Dragoon combined rail-shooter action with a haunting post-apocalyptic world, establishing one of the Saturn's most distinctive franchises through atmosphere and artistry.
Rayman
Rayman introduced Ubisoft's mascot through gorgeous 2D animation and challenging platforming, evolving from solo adventure to cooperative chaos.
Remedy Entertainment
The Finnish game studio founded by members of the legendary demo group Future Crew, creators of Max Payne, Alan Wake, and Control - embodying the scene-to-studio pipeline.
Sega Rally Championship
Sega Rally Championship introduced surface-dependent handling to racing games, with tyres responding differently to asphalt, gravel, and mud in genre-defining rally action.
Suikoden
Suikoden adapted the classical Chinese novel's structure to JRPG form, tasking players with recruiting 108 characters to build an army and headquarters against tyranny.
Tales of Phantasia
Tales of Phantasia pioneered real-time JRPG combat with the Linear Motion Battle System, launching a franchise that would span decades with its action-focused approach.
Team Ninja
Team Ninja developed Dead or Alive and revived Ninja Gaiden under Tomonobu Itagaki before expanding into collaborative projects with other franchises.
Tetsuya Takahashi born
Xeno series architect
Time Crisis
Namco's revolutionary 1995 light gun game that introduced the cover mechanic, transforming arcade shooters into tactical experiences.
Vectorman
Vectorman brought pre-rendered 3D graphics to the Mega Drive through a robot hero made of spheres, showcasing impressive visuals in Sega's battle against the next generation.
WipEout
WipEout combined futuristic anti-gravity racing with designer aesthetics and electronic music, establishing PlayStation's identity as the cool gamer's platform.
Worms
Worms transformed artillery games into a cultural phenomenon, combining destructible terrain, creative weapons, and squeaky-voiced invertebrates into multiplayer mayhem.
1996
32 eventsAnalogue Control
Analogue sticks replaced binary d-pads with pressure-sensitive input, enabling smooth 3D movement and camera control that became standard for console gaming.
Black Isle Studios
Black Isle Studios delivered Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment, and Icewind Dale before Interplay's collapse scattered its talent across the industry.
Black Isle Studios
Black Isle Studios produced the greatest Western RPGs of the late 1990s, including Fallout, Planescape: Torment, and Icewind Dale, before Interplay's collapse scattered their talent.
Broken Sword
Revolution Software's *Broken Sword* series revived point-and-click adventures with globetrotting mysteries, witty dialogue, and hand-drawn animation.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Red Alert reimagined World War II with Tesla coils and time travel, delivering faster gameplay and the iconic Hell March soundtrack while spawning its own beloved sub-series.
Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot delivered tight 3D platforming through linear obstacle courses, positioning the spinning marsupial as PlayStation's answer to Mario and Sonic.
Criterion Games
Criterion Games pioneered spectacular crash physics with Burnout before taking over Need for Speed, demonstrating technical innovation in arcade racing.
Dead or Alive
Tecmo's *Dead or Alive* introduced reversals and holds to fighting games, creating a rock-paper-scissors flow that distinguished it from competitors.
Diablo
Diablo distilled dungeon crawling to its addictive essence—click enemies, collect loot, descend deeper—creating an action RPG template that spawned an entire genre.
Duke Nukem 3D
Duke Nukem 3D brought personality to first-person shooters with its wisecracking hero, interactive environments, and level design set in recognisable real-world locations.
Ion Storm
Ion Storm's Austin studio delivered Deus Ex and Thief sequels while the Dallas office imploded around Daikatana, demonstrating how team culture matters more than resources.
Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart 64 brought kart racing to 3D with four-player split-screen multiplayer that made it a defining social experience of the Nintendo 64 era.
Masaya Matsuura born
PaRappa's creator
Metal Slug
Metal Slug delivered exquisitely animated run-and-gun action on Neo Geo hardware, combining Contra-style gameplay with cartoon visuals, vehicle combat, and dark military humour.
Modding to Industry
The career pipeline where game modders parlayed successful mods into professional careers, with Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, and DOTA creators hired or acquired by major studios.
Nazca Corporation closes
Nazca Corporation (1994–1996)
Nintendo 64
Nintendo's 64-bit console delivered groundbreaking 3D experiences with four controller ports that made it the definitive couch multiplayer machine.
PaRappa the Rapper
PaRappa the Rapper pioneered the modern rhythm game with call-and-response gameplay and paper-thin visual style that influenced a generation of music games.
Persona
Persona spun off from Shin Megami Tensei to explore teenage identity through Jungian psychology, blending dungeon crawling with social simulation in modern Japanese settings.
Pokemon
Pokemon created a global phenomenon through monster collection, strategic battling, and social trading that transcended gaming into multimedia dominance.
Pokémon Red & Blue
Pokémon Red and Blue created a global phenomenon through monster collection, trading via link cable, and version exclusives that made social play essential.
Pre-Rendered Backgrounds
Pre-rendered backgrounds provided detailed 2D imagery behind 3D characters, allowing PlayStation-era games to display visual complexity impossible in real-time rendering.
Quake
Quake brought true 3D graphics and online multiplayer to first-person shooters, establishing the technological and competitive foundations that define the genre today.
Resident Evil
Resident Evil codified survival horror with fixed camera angles, limited resources, and the Spencer Mansion's interconnected puzzles, creating a genre that terrified millions.
Rhythm Matching
Rhythm matching games judged player inputs against musical timing, creating a gameplay format that turned music appreciation into active participation.
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 invented 3D platforming with its revolutionary analogue control, dynamic camera system, and open-ended level design that gave players unprecedented freedom of movement.
Tank Controls
Tank controls moved characters relative to their facing direction rather than the camera, solving fixed-camera consistency problems while creating the distinctive stiff movement of survival horror.
Technos Japan closes
Technos Japan (1981–1996)
The House of the Dead
Sega's 1996 arcade horror shooter that combined B-movie zombie aesthetics with light gun gameplay, spawning a beloved franchise.
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider sent Lara Croft exploring ancient tombs with athletic platforming and puzzle-solving, creating gaming's first female icon and defining 3D action-adventure.
US Gold closes
US Gold (1984–1996)
Valve Corporation
Valve transformed from Half-Life developer into gaming's dominant digital distributor, creating Steam while producing landmark titles like Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Dota 2.
1997
24 eventsAge of Empires
Age of Empires brought historical civilisations to real-time strategy, spanning Stone Age to Iron Age while teaching players history through gameplay.
Beatmania
Beatmania created the rhythm game arcade phenomenon with its DJ controller interface, spawning Konami's Bemani division and influencing music games worldwide.
Bemani
Bemani developed Konami's rhythm game empire including Beatmania, Dance Dance Revolution, and Guitar Freaks, dominating Japanese arcades through dedicated music gaming.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Symphony of the Night transformed Castlevania from linear action to RPG-infused exploration, co-defining the metroidvania genre with its interconnected castle.
Cel Shading
Cel shading renders 3D graphics with flat colours and hard edges, mimicking hand-drawn animation and creating distinctive visual styles.
DualShock
Sony's DualShock controller combined dual analog sticks with rumble feedback, establishing the modern gamepad template still used today.
Dungeon Keeper
Bullfrog's 1997 strategy game that inverted the RPG formula—you played the villain, building dungeons to thwart heroic adventurers.
Esports Origins
How competitive gaming evolved from LAN party tournaments through early leagues like CPL to the billion-dollar esports industry - tracing the path from Doom deathmatches to professional gaming.
Fallout
Fallout dropped players into an irradiated wasteland with unprecedented freedom, letting them talk, fight, or sneak through a retrofuturistic world shaped by their choices.
Final Fantasy Tactics
Square's tactical RPG combined isometric grid combat with a dense political narrative, becoming one of the PlayStation's most beloved strategy games.
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII brought Japanese RPGs to Western mainstream audiences with cinematic FMV, a memorable cast, and an industrial fantasy world that sold millions of PlayStations.
GoldenEye 007
GoldenEye 007 proved first-person shooters could work on consoles, combining licensed gameplay with innovative multiplayer that defined countless gaming nights.
Gran Turismo
Gran Turismo brought simulation racing to consoles with unprecedented car authenticity, physics modelling, and a license structure that taught players to drive before letting them race.
Grand Theft Auto
DMA Design's Grand Theft Auto established open-world crime gameplay from a top-down perspective, creating a controversial franchise that would reshape the industry.
Gunpei Yokoi dies
Gunpei Yokoi (1941–1997)
Irrational Games
Irrational Games combined first-person gameplay with literary ambitions, creating System Shock 2 and BioShock before closing in 2014 as Ken Levine pursued smaller-scale development.
Lionhead Studios
Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios created Black & White and Fable, becoming synonymous with innovative game design and the gap between ambitious promises and delivered features.
Relic Entertainment
Relic Entertainment pushed RTS boundaries with Homeworld's 3D space combat and Company of Heroes' tactical infantry, earning a reputation for innovation over iteration.
Rumble Pak
Nintendo's Rumble Pak added haptic feedback to gaming, letting players feel impacts, explosions, and terrain through controller vibration that became an industry standard.
Snake
Pre-installed on Nokia phones, *Snake* became one of the most-played games in history, demonstrating that compelling gameplay needs minimal technology.
Star Fox 64
Star Fox 64 delivered cinematic rail-shooter action with full voice acting, branching paths, and the first Rumble Pak support, creating an endlessly quotable Nintendo classic.
Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation introduced true 3D terrain, streaming economy, and unprecedented unit counts, pushing RTS toward grand-scale conflict that StarCraft deliberately avoided.
Zenobi Software closes
Zenobi Software (1987–1997)
Princess Diana dies in Paris crash
The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a Paris car crash triggers unprecedented global mourning and media coverage.
1998
33 eventsBaldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate revived computer RPGs with faithful AD&D rules, memorable companions, and an epic Forgotten Realms adventure that proved the genre could thrive on PC.
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie refined the 3D platformer with charming characters, interconnected worlds, and a sprawling collectible hunt that showcased Rare's mastery of the genre.
Brøderbund closes
Brøderbund (1980–1998)
Dan Bunten dies
Dan Bunten (1978–1998)
Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution transformed rhythm gaming into physical performance, creating arcade spectacles and home fitness phenomena through its iconic dance pad interface.
Dance Mat
The floor-based controller that turned rhythm games into physical exercise, defining the Dance Dance Revolution phenomenon.
F-Zero X
F-Zero X prioritised performance over visual fidelity, delivering 30 vehicles racing at 60fps with aggressive AI and a death-defying sense of speed.
Galoob closes
Galoob (1957–1998)
Grim Fandango
Grim Fandango merged film noir with Día de los Muertos mythology in a 3D adventure following travel agent Manny Calavera through the Land of the Dead.
Half-Life
Half-Life transformed first-person shooters through seamless storytelling, scripted sequences, and intelligent AI, proving the genre could deliver cinematic experiences without cutscenes.
Havok
Havok physics engine brought realistic rigid body dynamics to games, becoming the industry standard for physical simulation in the 2000s and beyond.
Hitmaker
Sega's Hitmaker studio (formerly AM3) created *Crazy Taxi*, *Virtua Tennis*, and other arcade classics that defined late-1990s coin-op gaming.
IO Interactive
Danish studio IO Interactive created the *Hitman* series, defining the stealth sandbox genre with meticulous level design and dark humour.
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid reinvented stealth gaming with cinematic presentation, codec conversations, and fourth-wall-breaking moments that made players feel like action movie protagonists.
NAOMI
Sega's NAOMI arcade board shared Dreamcast architecture, enabling arcade-perfect home ports and efficient cross-platform development.
Ocean Software closes
Ocean Software (1983–1998)
Physics Engines
Physics engines simulate physical behaviour in games, from rigid body dynamics to fluid simulation, enabling realistic object interaction.
Polyphony Digital
Polyphony Digital created Gran Turismo and established simulation racing as a console genre, becoming one of Sony's most technically accomplished first-party studios.
Ragdoll Physics
Ragdoll physics simulated realistic body reactions to impacts, replacing canned death animations with dynamic, unpredictable, and often darkly comedic results.
Retro Studios
Retro Studios rescued Metroid with Prime, translating the 2D exploration formula into acclaimed first-person action under Nintendo's guidance.
Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games publishes Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, and other industry-defining open-world titles through its network of studios worldwide.
Sega Dreamcast
Sega's final console launched with online gaming, visual memory units, and arcade-perfect ports, but couldn't survive the PlayStation 2 onslaught.
Soul Calibur
Soul Calibur perfected 3D weapon-based fighting with eight-way movement and the Dreamcast port that many consider the greatest launch title in console history.
Spyro the Dragon
Spyro the Dragon offered open 3D worlds to explore, combining flame breath, charging attacks, and gem collecting in a family-friendly platformer that showcased PlayStation's capabilities.
Starbreeze Studios
Swedish developer Starbreeze created *The Chronicles of Riddick* and *Payday*, demonstrating that licensed games could achieve genuine excellence.
StarCraft
StarCraft delivered three radically different factions in perfect balance, creating an esports phenomenon that dominated competitive gaming for over a decade.
Team Andromeda closes
Team Andromeda (1994–1998)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Ocarina of Time translated Zelda into 3D with revolutionary Z-targeting, context-sensitive controls, and a time-spanning narrative that set the template for 3D action-adventure games.
Thief: The Dark Project
Thief invented the first-person stealth genre, making shadows, sound, and patience more important than combat in a dark fantasy world of guards, monsters, and valuable loot.
Troika Games
Troika Games created Arcanum, Temple of Elemental Evil, and Vampire: Bloodlines—three deeply ambitious RPGs that earned cult followings but commercial failure, leading to closure in 2005.
United Game Artists
United Game Artists developed music-driven experiences like Space Channel 5 and Rez under Tetsuya Mizuguchi's direction, pioneering the fusion of rhythm and gameplay.
Unreal
Unreal showcased unprecedented visual technology with vast outdoor environments, coloured lighting, and detailed textures that pushed PC gaming into a new graphical era.
Xenogears
Xenogears fused giant robot combat with Jungian psychology, Gnostic mythology, and questions about God, consciousness, and human nature—ambitious beyond its troubled production.
1999
26 eventsApe Inc. closes
Ape Inc. (1989–1999)
Arkane Studios
Arkane Studios kept immersive sim design alive when publishers abandoned the genre, delivering Dishonored, Prey, and Deathloop while maintaining creative integrity under corporate ownership.
Counter-Strike
A *Half-Life* mod became gaming's defining tactical shooter, spawning a competitive scene that helped establish esports as we know it.
Crazy Taxi
Crazy Taxi combined frantic arcade driving with time-pressure gameplay and an unforgettable punk soundtrack, becoming one of Dreamcast's most recognisable titles.
Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Garou: Mark of the Wolves refined SNK's fighting game craft into a competitive masterpiece with the T.O.P. system and Just Defend mechanics beloved by enthusiasts.
Gremlin Graphics closes
Gremlin Graphics (1984–1999)
Homeworld
Homeworld brought real-time strategy into three dimensions with a persistent fleet, haunting atmosphere, and the emotional journey of a civilisation seeking its origins.
Monolith Soft
Monolith Soft was founded by Xenogears veterans to pursue ambitious JRPGs, eventually becoming a Nintendo subsidiary creating Xenoblade Chronicles and supporting Zelda development.
Neo Geo Pocket Color
SNK's 1999 handheld featuring the best portable D-pad ever made and excellent fighting games, cut short by SNK's bankruptcy despite critical acclaim.
Planescape: Torment
Planescape: Torment asked 'What can change the nature of a man?' and delivered gaming's most celebrated narrative through an immortal protagonist exploring questions of identity and mortality.
Pokémon Gold & Silver
Pokémon Gold and Silver expanded the formula with day/night cycles, breeding, and a post-game return to Kanto that doubled the adventure's scope.
Raphaël Colantonio born
Arkane's founder
Roberta Williams dies
Roberta Williams (1980–1999)
RollerCoaster Tycoon
RollerCoaster Tycoon let players build elaborate theme parks with custom coasters, achieving remarkable depth through code written entirely in assembly language by one developer.
RollerCoaster Tycoon
RollerCoaster Tycoon let players design theme parks with intricate coaster construction, all coded in assembly language by one developer.
Sensible Software closes
Sensible Software (1986–1999)
Shenmue
Shenmue created an unprecedented living world with day/night cycles, weather systems, and NPC schedules, pioneering open-world design at enormous cost to Sega.
Sierra On-Line closes
Sierra On-Line (1979–1999)
Silent Hill
Silent Hill shifted survival horror from action to atmosphere, using fog, radio static, and psychological terror to create dread that lingered long after the game ended.
Sony vs Connectix
The 1999-2000 lawsuit where Sony's attempt to shut down the Virtual Game Station emulator backfired, establishing the legality of console emulation through reverse engineering.
Space Channel 5
Space Channel 5 blended rhythm gameplay with 1960s retro-futurism, creating a stylish musical experience that epitomised Dreamcast's creative experimentation.
System Shock 2
System Shock 2 merged RPG systems with survival horror aboard a derelict starship, influencing BioShock and establishing the template for narrative-driven immersive sims.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater transformed skateboarding into accessible gaming with intuitive trick systems, iconic level design, and soundtracks that defined a generation.
Tool-Assisted Speedrun (TAS)
Speedruns created using emulator tools like frame advance and save states, demonstrating theoretical perfect play impossible for humans but entertaining and educational to watch.
Williams Electronics closes
Williams Electronics (1974–1999)
Y2K preparations reach fever pitch
The world prepares for potential computer chaos as the year 2000 approaches, highlighting society's dependence on software.