1983 in video games
See also: 1982 in video gaming, other events of 1983, 1984 in video gaming, history of video games
Events
- Video game crash of 1983: Console and home video game sales plummet
Notable releases
- Acornsoft releases the Elite video game
- Bally/Midway releases the Spy Hunter arcade game
- Electronic Arts releases the One-On-One arcade game
- Gottlieb releases the Mad Planets arcade game
- Magicom (formerly Starcom) creates the Dragon's Lair and Space Ace laserdisc arcade games (Cinematronics manufactures and markets them)
- Warner Communications' Atari releases the Star Wars arcade game
- Williams Electronics releases the Blaster arcade game
- Origin Systems publishes its first game and one of the most influential CRPGs, Ultima III: Exodus. It introduced the concept of controlling an entire party and a cohesive story to the Ultima series.
Hardware
- Coleco Industries releases the Adam home console/computer
- Commodore releases the Commodore 64 (C-64) home computer
- Mattel releases the Aquarius home console; releases the Intellivision II home console
- Nintendo releases the Famicom home console in Japan
- SEGA's SG-1000 released in Japan
Business
- New companies: Infogrames Entertainment SA, Interplay Entertainment Corp., Navarre Corporation, AM2, Origin Systems, Inc.
- Defunct companies: Many companies are affected by the video game crash
- MCA vs Nintendo lawsuit: MCA sues Nintendo over the title resemblance of the Donkey Kong video game to the King Kong movie. MCA loses the case
- Atari, Inc. v. Coleco