1983 in video games
1983 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Mario Bros. and Pole Position II, along with new titles such as Astron Belt, Champion Baseball, Dragon's Lair, Elevator Action, Spy Hunter and Track & Field. Major events include the video game crash of 1983 in North America, and the third generation of video game consoles beginning with the launch of Nintendo's Family Computer (Famicom) and Sega's SG-1000 in Japan. The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pole Position, while the year's best-selling home system was Nintendo's Game & Watch for the third time since 1980. Financial performance In the United States, arcade video game revenues are worth $2.9 billion (equivalent to $ adjusted for inflation). In the United States, home video game sales are worth $2 billion (equivalent to $ adjusted for inflation). In Japan, home video game sales approach ¥400 billion (equivalent to at the time, or $ adjusted for inflation). Highest-grossing arcade games Pole Position, a racing game by Namco, was the most successful arcade game of 1983. Japan In Japan, Game Machine magazine began publishing half-monthly charts of top-grossing arcade games from June 1, 1983. The following titles were the top-grossing arcade video games on the Game Machine charts from June to December 1983. United States In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1983, according to RePlay magazine, the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA), and Cash Box magazine. Best-selling home video games The following titles were the best-selling home video games of 1983. Best-selling home systems Major awards Events January – Electronic Games labels Donkey Kong, Space Panic, and other games with ladders as "climbing games." The fourth Arcade Awards are held, for games released during 1981–1982, with Tron winning best arcade game, Demon Attack best console game, David's Midnight Magic best computer game, and Galaxian best standalone game. A major shakeout of the North American video game industry ("the crash of 1983") begins. By 1986, total video games sales will decrease from US$3.2 billion to US$0.1 billion. December - Sente Technologies, a division of Pizza Time Theater, launches and demonstrates its first title Snake Pit. Business MCA Universal files suit against Nintendo, claiming that the latter company's video arcade hit Donkey Kong violated Universal's copyright on King Kong. After a brief trial, the judge determined that the rights to the original Kong had passed into the public domain. The case was dismissed, and MCA Universal paid US$1.8 million in damages to Nintendo., Atari files suit against Coleco, claiming violation of Atari's patents on the Atari 2600 video game console. The previous year, Coleco released a peripheral device that made it possible for Atari 2600 game cartridges to be run on the ColecoVision console. Amusement Developing Section 8 (later known as Sega-AM2), a research and development department of Sega, is established under the supervision of Yu Suzuki in Tokyo, Japan. Milton Bradley takes over distribution of the Vectrex console after purchasing General Consumer Electronics. New