1997 in video games
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1997 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games and several new titles such as GoldenEye 007, Star Fox 64, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Mortal Kombat 4, Diddy Kong Racing, Grand Theft Auto, Blast Corps and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
Events
- June 19–21 — The 3rd annual E3 is held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.[1]
- October 4 — Gunpei Yokoi (1941–1997) dies after a double car accident.
- November – Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) launched.
- TSR, Inc., the owner of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game, was acquired by Wizards of the Coast.
- 3D Realms begins production of the infamous Duke Nukem Forever, winner of numerous vaporware awards.
- A scene from the Pokémon anime show (based upon the highly successful games) from December 16, 1997, causes 685 Japanese children to have seizures, causing Nintendo to make a statement proclaiming the safety of the Pokémon games from fear that the games would cause a similar effect, the episode to be permanently removed from circulation, and the featured Pokémon in the episode (Porygon) hasn't made an appearance in the Pokémon anime since.
Notable releases
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| Release | Title | Windows / DOS | 4th Gen | 5th Gen | Handheld | Arcade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 31 | Final Fantasy VII | 1998 | — | PS1 | — | |
| February 10 | Mario Kart 64 | — | — | N64 | — | |
| February 28 | Blast Corps | — | — | N64 | — | |
| February 28 | Independence Day | Yes | — | PS1, Sat | — | |
| February 28 | Turok: Dinosaur Hunter | November 30 | — | N64 | — | |
| March 20 | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | — | — | PS1, Sat (June 25) | — | |
| March 20 | Tekken 3 | — | — | PS1 (1998) | — | Arcade |
| March 20 | Mega Man 8 | — | — | PS1, Sat (March 25) | — | |
| March 26 | Vandal Hearts | — | — | PS1 | — | |
| March 30 | The Last Express | Yes | — | — | — | |
| March 31 | Need for Speed II | Yes | — | PS1 | — | |
| April 27 | Dungeon Keeper | Yes | — | — | — | |
| April 30 | Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter | Yes | — | — | — | |
| May 13 | Shadow Warrior | Yes | — | — | — | |
| May 31 | Blood | Yes | — | — | — | |
| May 31 | MDK | Yes | — | PS1 (1998) | — | |
| June | Harvest Moon | — | — | SNES | — | |
| June 20 | Final Fantasy Tactics (Japan) | — | — | PS1 | — | |
| July 1 | Star Fox 64 | — | — | N64 | — | |
| July 4 | Jane's 688(I) Hunter/Killer | Yes | — | — | — | |
| July 30 | Carmageddon | Yes | — | PS1 (1999); N64 (2000) | — | |
| July 31 | Warlords III: Reign of Heroes | Yes | — | — | — | |
| August 1 | Mega Man X4 | 1999 | — | Sat; PS1 | — | |
| August 11 | Tetrisphere | — | — | N64 | — | |
| August 25 | GoldenEye 007 | — | — | N64 | — | |
| August 31 | Hexen II | Yes | — | — | — | |
| August 31 | Imperialism | Yes | — | — | — | |
| September 11 | Breath of Fire III | — | — | PS1 | — | |
| September 19 | Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee | Yes | — | PS1 | — | |
| September 24 | Ultima Online | Yes | — | — | — | |
| September 29 | Croc: Legend of the Gobbos | — | — | PS1, Sat | — | |
| September 30 | Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far | Yes | — | — | — | |
| September 30 | Fallout | Yes | — | — | — | |
| September 30 | Panzer General II | Yes | — | — | — | |
| September 30 | Poy Poy | — | — | PS1 | — | |
| September 30 | Total Annihilation | Yes | — | — | — | |
| October | Grand Theft Auto | Yes | — | — | — | |
| October 9 | Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II | Yes | — | — | — | |
| October 15 | Age of Empires | Yes | — | — | — | |
| October 15 | Mortal Kombat 4 | 1998 | — | N64, PS1 (1998) | — | Arcade |
| October 28 | Shipwreckers | Yes | — | PS1 | — | — |
| October 29 | Riven | Yes | — | PS1 (November 30); Sat | — | |
| October 31 | Blade Runner | Yes | — | — | — | |
| October 31 | Colony Wars | — | — | PS1 | — | |
| October 31 | The Curse of Monkey Island | Yes | — | — | — | |
| October 31 | PaRappa the Rapper | — | — | PS1 | — | |
| October 31 | Zork: Grand Inquisitor | Yes | — | — | — | |
| November | Independence War | Yes | — | — | — | |
| November 1 | Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back | — | — | PS1 | — | |
| November 1 | Shock Troopers | — | Neo | — | — | |
| November 18 | Tomb Raider II | Yes | — | PS1 | — | |
| November 24 | Diddy Kong Racing | — | — | N64 | — | |
| November 25 | Myth: The Fallen Lords | Yes | — | — | — | |
| November 30 | Bomberman 64 | — | — | N64 | — | |
| November 30 | One | — | — | PS1 | — | |
| November 30 | Wing Commander: Prophecy | Yes | — | — | — | |
| November 30 | WCW vs. nWo: World Tour | — | — | N64 | — | |
| December 6 | Quake II | Yes | — | PS1, N64 (1999) | — | |
| December 18 | Grandia | — | — | Sat, PS1 (1999) | — | |
| December 18 | Mega Man Legends | 2001 | — | PS1, N64 (2000) | — | |
| December 21 | Yoshi's Story | — | — | N64 | — | |
| December 23 | Gran Turismo | — | — | PS1 | — | |
| December 31 | Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero | — | — | N64 | — |
Hardware
- March 1 — The Nintendo 64 is released in Europe and Australia
- October 20 — Nintendo releases a smaller redesigned version of the SNES, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Model SNS-101) in North America.
- Sony releases PlayStation development software for PC
- Tiger Electronics releases the Game.com
Business
- Activision acquires CentreSoft Ltd. and Raven Software
- Electronic Arts Inc. acquires Maxis
- GameTek filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed its doors in July 1998
- 2015, Inc. founded
- 4D Rulers Software, Inc. founded
- September — 4HEAD Studios created
- Bungie West formed by Bungie
- Conspiracy Entertainment Corporation founded
- Crave Entertainment, Inc. formed
- August — Human Head Studios, Inc. formed
- Illusion Softworks, a.s. founded
- April 15 — Irem Software Engineering Inc. founded
- Irrational Games LLC founded
- Mythic Entertainment renames itself from Interworld Productions after name dispute with another "Interworld" company
- THQ renamed from Toy Headquarters, Inc.
- Warthog PLC founded
Lawsuits
- Nintendo vs Games City; Nintendo sues Games City for selling the Game Doctor and Doctor V64 backup devices for the SNES and N64 consoles. Nintendo wins the suit.
- Nintendo vs Prima Publishing; Nintendo sues Prima over copyrights to maps of the N64 video game GoldenEye 007. Nintendo loses the suit
- Nintendo vs Sony Video Games; Nintendo sues Sony over copyrights about Mario games
Discontinual
- Sega announce that the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) has been discontinued.
- Sega Game Gear discontinued.
References
- ^ "Attendance and Stats". IGN. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
External links
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