1991 in video gaming
Notable events of 1991 in video gaming. See also history of computer and video games.
Contents |
[edit]
Events
Sonic the Hedgehog eventually became a mascot for Sega.
[edit]
Notable releases
- Sega releases Sonic the Hedgehog (by AM8, later Sonic Team) for the Sega Megadrive internationally and the Sega Genesis in North America. It introduced the Sonic character which became Sega's mascot.
- Microprose creates Civilization, Sid Meier's most successful game as of 2005.
- Electronic Arts releases Road Rash for Sega Genesis, starting a series of games that were popular in the 1990s.
- Capcom releases Street Fighter II for arcades. It becomes highly successful and is routinely listed as the grandfather of the fighting game genre.
- Tecmo releases Tecmo Super Bowl for NES, which serves as one of the most revolutionary arcade football games of its time.
- AOL, SSI, TSR and Stormfront Studios collaborate and launch Neverwinter Nights, the first graphical MMORPG.
- July 19 - Squaresoft releases Final Fantasy IV in Japan, the first Final Fantasy game for the Super Famicom (released in November as Final Fantasy II in North America).
- November 21 - Nintendo releases The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Super Famicom in Japan.
- Nintendo releases Super Mario World for Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The first game for the SNES, and one of the most sold ones. The game introduces the Yoshi character to the Mario series.
- Team 17 release the first of their popular Alien Breed series for the Amiga.
[edit]
Hardware
- September 1 - Super Nintendo Entertainment System released in North America
- December 1 - Sega releases the Mega CD in Japan
- September - S3 launches with the 86C911, often regarded as the first significant graphics accelerator chip
[edit]
Business
- New York State v. Nintendo lawsuit: the state attorney general sues Nintendo over the monopoly of the video game industry. Nintendo loses the suit and offers customers a $5 rebate on Nintendo games.
- New companies: Vicarious Visions, Inc, id Software, Bungie Software, Silicon & Synapse, The 3DO Company (founded as SMSG, Inc.)
