1993 In Video Games
1993 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden, Mortal Kombat II, Secret of Mana, and Super Street Fighter II, alongside new titles such as Star Fox, FIFA International Soccer, Doom, Gunstar Heroes, Myst, Samurai Shodown, Ridge Racer, NBA Jam, Disney's Aladdin, and Virtua Fighter.
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This year's highest grossing video game worldwide was Capcom's arcade fighting game Street Fighter II for the third year in a row, while again being the year's highest grossing entertainment product. The best selling home system around the globe was the Nintendo Super Famicom/SNES video game console.
Top-rated games
Game of the Year awards
The following titles won Game of the Year awards for 1993.
| Awards | Game of the Year | Developer | Publisher | Genre | Platform(s) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) | Samurai Shodown (Samurai Spirits) | SNK | SNK | Fighting | Neo Geo | |
| European Computer Trade Show | ||||||
| Gamest Awards | ||||||
| Chicago Tribune | Star Fox | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | Rail shooter | Super NES | |
| Electronic Gaming Awards | Disney's Aladdin | Virgin Games | Sega | Platform | Sega Genesis | |
| GameFan Golden Megawards | Gunstar Heroes | Treasure | Sega | Run and gun | ||
| Game Informer | Mortal Kombat | Midway | Acclaim Entertainment | Fighting | Consoles |
Famitsu Platinum Hall of Fame
The following video game releases in 1993 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40.
| Title | Platform | Developer | Publisher | Genre | Score (out of 40) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Street Fighter II Turbo | Super Famicom | Capcom | Capcom | Fighting | 36 |
| Disney's Aladdin | Sega Mega Drive | Virgin Games | Sega | Platformer | 35 |
| Dragon Quest I & II | Super Famicom | Chunsoft | Enix | Role-playing | 35 |
Financial performance
Highest-grossing arcade games
Street Fighter II was the highest-grossing entertainment product of 1993, earning more than the film Jurassic Park. The following table lists the year's top-grossing arcade games in Japan, the United Kingdom, United States, and worldwide.
| Market | Period | Title | Coin drop revenue | Inflation | Manufacturer | Genre | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | — | Street Fighter II' Turbo | Unknown | Unknown | Capcom | Fighting | |
| United Kingdom | January–June | Street Fighter II | $229 million | $510 million | Capcom | Fighting | |
| United States | — | NBA Jam | $300 million+ | $630 million+ | Midway | Sports | |
| Worldwide | Street Fighter II | $1.5 billion | $3.3 billion | Capcom | Fighting |
Japan
The following titles were the top ten highest-grossing arcade games of 1993 in Japan.
| Rank | Gamest | Game Machine | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Type | Points | ||
| 1 | Street Fighter II' Turbo | Street Fighter II / Dash / Turbo | Software kit | 7935 |
| 2 | Garō Densetsu 2: Aratanaru Tatakai (Fatal Fury 2) | Virtua Racing | Twin / Deluxe | 5415 |
| 3 | Puyo Puyo | Lethal Enforcers | Dedicated | 4005 |
| 4 | Street Fighter II Dash (Champion Edition) | Puyo Puyo | Software kit | 3531 |
| 5 | Tenchi wo Kurau 2: Sekiheki no Tatakai (Warriors of Fate) | Garō Densetsu 2: Aratanaru Tatakai | Software kit | 2934 |
| 6 | Samurai Spirits (Samurai Shodown) | Tetris (Sega) | Software kit | 2856 |
| 7 | World Heroes 2 | Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours | Deluxe / Standard | 2852 |
| 8 | Virtua Racing | Columns | Software kit | 2697 |
| 9 | Street Fighter II: The World Warrior | Final Lap 3 | Standard | 2638 |
| 10 | Art of Fighting | Tenchi wo Kurau 2: Sekiheki no Tatakai | Software kit | 2074 |
United States
In the United States, NBA Jam was the highest-grossing arcade game of 1993, followed by Mortal Kombat; both games exceeded the $300,000,000 (equivalent to $630,000,000 in 2023) domestic box office gross of Jurassic Park that year.
The following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of the year, according to the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) and American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA).
| Rank | AMOA | AMAA | Play Meter | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dedicated cabinet | Arcade conversion kit | Title | Award | ||
| 1 | NBA Jam | Mortal Kombat | Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, NBA Jam, Neo Geo MVS | Diamond | NBA Jam |
| 2 | Street Fighter II, Lethal Enforcers, Mortal Kombat, Virtua Racing | Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, Time Killers, X-Men, World Heroes | Unknown | ||
| 3 | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 5 | Virtua Racing | Platinum | |||
| 6 | Unknown | OutRunners, Time Killers | Gold | ||
| 7 | |||||
| 8 | Unknown | Crime Patrol, Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold | Silver | ||
| 9 | |||||
Best-selling home systems
Consoles
| Rank | Manufacturer | Game console | Type | Generation | Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | USA | Europe | Korea | Worldwide | |||||
| 1 | Nintendo | Super NES | Home | 16-bit | 17,700,000 | 23,350,000 | 1,661,000 | 60,000 | 49,100,000+ |
| 2 | Sega | Mega Drive / Genesis | Home | 16-bit | 9,000,000 | 19,000,000 | 2,260,000 | 24,000 | 30,750,000+ |
| 3 | Nintendo | Game Boy | Handheld | 8-bit | 1,590,000 | 1,500,000+ | 625,000+ | Unknown | 3,715,000+ |
| 4 | Sega | Game Gear | Handheld | 8-bit | 400,000 | 1,500,000 | 383,000+ | Unknown | 2,283,000+ |
| 5 | Sega | Sega CD / Mega-CD | Home | 16-bit | 100,000 | 800,000 | 264,000 | Unknown | 1,164,000+ |
| 6 | Nintendo | NES / Famicom | Home | 8-bit | 540,000 | Unknown | 555,000 | 50,000 | 1,145,000+ |
| 7 | Sega | Master System | Home | 8-bit | — | — | 700,000 | 80,000 | 780,000+ |
| 8 | NEC | PC Engine | Home | 16-bit | 400,000 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 400,000+ |
| 9 | Fujitsu | FM Towns Marty | Home | 32-bit | 45,000 | — | — | — | 45,000 |
| 10 | Panasonic | 3DO | Home | 32-bit | — | 40,000+ | — | — | 40,000+ |
Computers
| Rank | Manufacturer | Computer architecture | Sales | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | Worldwide | |||
| 1 | Apple Inc. | Apple Macintosh | — | 3,300,000 |
| 2 | IBM | IBM PC | — | 2,075,000 |
| 3 | Compaq Computer | IBM PC compatible | — | 1,418,000 |
| 4 | NEC | NEC PC-98 | 1,200,000 | 1,200,000+ |
| 5 | Packard Bell | IBM PC compatible | — | 997,000 |
| 6 | Dell | IBM PC compatible | — | 795,000 |
| 7 | Gateway 2000 | IBM PC compatible | — | 644,000 |
| 8 | AST Research | IBM PC compatible | — | 530,000 |
| 9 | Tandy Corporation | IBM PC compatible | — | 350,000 |
| 10 | Toshiba | IBM PC compatible | — | 316,000 |
Best-selling home video games
The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games (console games or computer games) of 1993 with known sales figures.
| Rank | Title | Platform | Publisher | Genre | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | UK | Worldwide | |||||
| 1 | Street Fighter II | Multi-platform | Capcom | Fighting | 1,314,000+ | Unknown | 5,000,000 |
| 2 | Mortal Kombat | Multi-platform | Acclaim | Fighting | Unknown | 400,000+ | 3,000,000+ |
| 3 | Star Fox | Super NES | Nintendo | Rail shooter | 325,000 | Unknown | 1,700,000+ |
| 4 | Disney's Aladdin | Multi-platform | Virgin | Platformer | Unknown | Unknown | 1,600,000+ |
| 5 | Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden | Super NES | Bandai | Fighting | 1,300,000+ | — | 1,300,000+ |
| 6 | Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana) | Super NES | Squaresoft | Action RPG | 1,002,000 | — | 1,002,000+ |
| 7 | Super Mario Collection (All-Stars) | Super NES | Nintendo | Platformer | 877,000 | Unknown | 877,000+ |
| 8 | Romancing SaGa 2 | Super Famicom | Squaresoft | RPG | 823,000 | — | 823,000 |
| 9 | Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2 | Super Famicom | Bandai | Fighting | 740,000 | — | 740,000 |
| 10 | Super Mario Kart | Super NES | Nintendo | Kart racing | 450,000 | 250,000+ | 700,000+ |
Japan
In Japan, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1993.
| Rank | Title | Developer | Platform | Publisher | Genre | Sales | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Street Fighter II Turbo | Capcom | Super Famicom | Capcom | Fighting | 1,314,000 | |
| 2 | Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden | TOSE | Super Famicom | Bandai | Fighting | 1,300,000+ | |
| 3 | Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana) | Squaresoft | Super Famicom | Squaresoft | Action RPG | 1,002,000 | |
| 4 | Super Mario Collection (Super Mario All-Stars) | Nintendo EAD | Super Famicom | Nintendo | Platformer | 877,000 | |
| 5 | Romancing SaGa 2 | Squaresoft | Super Famicom | Squaresoft | RPG | 823,000 | |
| 6 | Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2 | TOSE | Super Famicom | Bandai | Fighting | 740,000 | |
| 7 | J. League Soccer Prime Goal | Namco | Super Famicom | Namco | Sports | 610,000 | |
| 8 | Dragon Quest I & II | Chunsoft | Super Famicom | Enix | RPG | 567,000 | |
| 9 | Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon | Chunsoft | Super Famicom | Chunsoft | Roguelike | 510,000 | |
| 10 | Super Bomberman | Produce! | Super Famicom | Hudson Soft | Maze | 497,000 |
Europe
In Europe, the following titles were the top two best-selling 1993 releases during the first quarter of the year.
| Rank | Title | Platform | Developer(s) | Publisher | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Super Mario Kart | Super Nintendo Entertainment System | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | Kart racing |
| 2 | Streets of Rage II | Sega Mega Drive | Sega, Ancient | Sega | Beat 'em up |
In the United Kingdom, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1993.
| Rank | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher(s) | Genre | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mortal Kombat | Game consoles | Acclaim Entertainment | Fighting | 400,000+ |
| 2 | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Sega Mega Drive | Sega | Platformer | 400,000+ |
| 3 | Lemmings | Multi-platform | Various | Strategy | 400,000+ |
| 4 | Super Kick Off | Game consoles | Various | Sports | 400,000+ |
| 5 | FIFA International Soccer | Sega Mega Drive | Electronic Arts | Sports | 400,000 |
| 6 | Ecco the Dolphin | Sega Mega Drive | Sega | Action-adventure | 250,000+ |
| 7 | Super Mario Kart | Super NES | Nintendo | Kart racing | 250,000+ |
| 8 | Jurassic Park | Multi-platform | Ocean Software | Action | 250,000+ |
| 9 | Jungle Strike | Game consoles | Electronic Arts | Shoot 'em up | 250,000 |
| 10 | PGA Tour Golf II | Sega Mega Drive | Electronic Arts | Sports | 200,000 |
United States
In the United States, the following titles were the top two highest-grossing home video game franchises in 1993.
| Franchise | Publisher | Revenue | Inflation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mario | Nintendo | $700,000,000 | $1,050,000,000 |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | Sega | $500,000,000 | $1,050,000,000 |
The following titles were the best-selling home video games of each month for video game consoles (home consoles and handheld consoles) in 1993, according to Babbage's (reported by Electronic Gaming Monthly and Electronic Games), Mega (for the Sega Genesis in January), and The NPD Group (for the Super NES and Genesis in July).
The following titles were the year's top six best-selling PC games on CD-ROM format in the United States.
| Rank | Title | Publisher | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The 7th Guest | Virgin Interactive | Interactive movie |
| 2 | Star Wars: Rebel Assault | LucasArts | Rail shooter |
| 3 | King's Quest VI | Sierra On-Line | Adventure |
| 4 | Return to Zork | Activision | |
| 5 | Just Grandma & Me | Brøderbund | |
| 6 | Dracula Unleashed | Viacom New Media |
Events
- March – In Sweden, the Swedish video game magazine Super Play (SP) starts. The original name is Super Power.
- April 27 – The book Game Over by David Sheff, devoted to the history of Nintendo, is published by Random House.
- May 11 – The first FuncoLand location in McHenry County, Illinois opens in Crystal Lake, bringing the chain's total number of locations to 62.
- May 24 – Sega of America introduces the first ever video game content rating system, the Videogame Rating Council.
- August 4 – FuncoLand parent company Funco Inc leases space for new locations in six shopping centers in the New York City area.
- October – Edge is a multi-format video game magazine published by Future plc, which began publication.
- October 1 – Nintendo and Silicon Graphics collaborate and begin work on "Project Reality".
- December 7 – The first of two congressional hearings on video games takes place. Topics for discussion include the depiction of violence and sexual content in video games, their influence on children, and the prospect of governmental regulation for video game content.
Business
- New companies: Croteam, nVidia, Take-Two Interactive, Shiny
- Defunct companies: DK'Tronics, Epyx
- Magnavox is acquired by the Carlyle Group
- MicroProse is acquired by Spectrum HoloByte
Notable releases
Arcade
| Date | Title | Dev. / Pub. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| July | Samurai Shodown | SNK | '93 Game Of The Year voted on by Electronic Gaming Monthly. |
| August | Daytona USA | Sega | One of the most impactful racing games of all time. |
| October | Virtua Fighter | Sega | The first fully polygonal fighting game and a major influence on subsequent 3D fighting games. |
| October | Ridge Racer | Namco | |
| November | Mortal Kombat II | Midway | Overshadowed the critical and commercial success of the original Mortal Kombat, becoming one of the most well-known fighting games of all time. |
| December | NBA Jam | Midway | Being one of the first sports games with official licensed teams and players, it became a cult classic. It was also the highest-earning arcade game of all time in the sports genre. |
Home
| Date | Title | Dev. / Pub. | Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | X-Wing | LucasArts | PC | |
| February 21 | Star Fox | Nintendo | SNES | The first game to use the Super FX chip and is widely acclaimed as a classic in the rail shooter genre with one of the greatest video game soundtracks ever made. |
| March 23 | Kirby's Adventure | Nintendo | NES | Introduced Kirby's ability to take on the powers of enemies he has eaten, which would go on to become a staple of the franchise. |
| April 1 | The 7th Guest | Virgin Interactive | PC | Sold over two million copies and was widely regarded as one of three "killer apps" that accelerated the sales of CD-ROM drives (the other two being Myst & Doom). |
| June | Dalek Attack | Alternative Software | ZX Spectrum | The last full price game released for the platform by a mainstream publisher. |
| June 6 | The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening | Nintendo | Game Boy | |
| June 6 | Syndicate | Electronic Arts | PC | |
| June 25 | Day of the Tentacle | LucasArts | PC | |
| July 14 | Super Mario All-Stars | Nintendo | SNES | Featured upgraded 16-bit versions of the first four Super Mario games. |
| August | Return to Zork | Activision | PC | |
| September 6 | Master of Orion | MicroProse | PC | |
| September 23 | Sonic CD | Sega | Sega CD | |
| September 24 | Myst | Cyan / Broderbund | PC | The best selling PC title until 2002, with 6 million units sold. Widely regarded as one of three "killer apps" that accelerated the sales of CD-ROM drives (the other two being The 7th Guest & Doom). |
| November | Sam & Max Hit the Road | LucasArts | PC | |
| November 11 | Disney's Aladdin | Virgin Interactive | Genesis | Crowned "Genesis Game of The Year" at the Electronic Gaming Awards (aka the Arcade Awards aka the Arkies) voted on by the public. |
| December 10 | Doom | Id Software | PC | Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential games of all time, especially in the first-person shooter genre. |
| December 17 | Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers | Sierra On-Line | PC | |
| December 17 | Mega Man X | Capcom | SNES | |
| December 17 | Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium | Sega | Genesis |
Hardware
- Sega releases the Model 2, an arcade system board that introduces 3D texture filtering. It becomes their most popular arcade system board.
- Fujitsu releases the FM Towns Marty in Japan, as the first 32-bit home console, starting the fifth console generation.
- Panasonic, GoldStar and Sanyo release the first versions of the 3DO 32-bit console
- Atari Corporation releases the Jaguar home console, calling it the first 64-bit video game system.
- Commodore Business Machines releases the Amiga CD32 multimedia home console.
- Nintendo releases a smaller redesigned NES, which allows cartridges to be inserted at the top of the console, instead of the front.
- Pioneer releases the LaserActive multimedia home console
- Sega's Mega-CD released in Europe and Australia.
See also
References
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