1983 in video games

Highest-grossing arcade games

Pole Position, a racing game by Namco, was the most successful arcade game of 1983.^[4]

Best-selling home video games

The following titles were the best-selling home video games of 1983.

Best-selling home systems

Games

Arcade

• January – Namco releases Xevious.
• March – Sega releases Astron Belt in the Japanese market, the second laserdisc video game. It uses pre-rendered, computer-animated film footage as backdrops, overlaid with sprite graphics.
• May – Atari releases Star Wars, a color vector graphics game based on the popular film franchise.^[51]
• Konami releases Gyruss in Japan. Centuri distributes the game in North America.^[52]
• June 14 – Nintendo releases Mario Bros., which features the first appearance of Mario's brother, Luigi.
• June 19 – Cinematronics releases Advanced Microcomputer Systems's Dragon's Lair,^[53] the third laserdisc video game, and the first in the American market.
• June – Data East releases Bega's Battle, a laserdisc video game.^[54] It uses anime FMV cut scenes to develop a story between the game's shooting stages, which would later become the standard approach to video game storytelling.^[55]
• August – Sega releases Astron Belt in Europe, as the first laserdisc game in the region.^[56]
• September – Konami releases Track & Field.
• November – Sega releases Astron Belt in the United States.^[57]
• December – Namco releases Pole Position II, adding three additional tracks.
• Atari releases the trackball-controlled Crystal Castles.
• Bally/Midway releases Spy Hunter.^[58] They also release Jr. Pac-Man and quiz game Professor Pac-Man without Namco's authorization, and the latter is an immediate flop.
• Williams releases Blaster, which was originally programmed on an Atari 8-bit computer.

Personal computer

• June – Yuji Horii releases The Portopia Serial Murder Case for the NEC PC-6001 in Japan. It is an influential adventure game that lays the foundations for the visual novel genre.^[59]
• July 8 – Infocom releases Planetfall, which becomes one of their top sellers.
• August 23 – Origin Systems publishes Ultima III: Exodus, one of the first role-playing video games to use tactical, turn-based combat. It is released for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and IBM PC.^[48]
• ASCII releases Bokosuka Wars for the Sharp X1 in Japan. It is a precursor to the tactical role-playing game^[60] and real-time strategy^[61] genres.
• Koei releases Nobunaga's Ambition for Japanese computers. Its combination of role-playing, turn-based grand strategy and management simulation elements sets a standard for the historical simulation and strategy RPG genres.^[62]
• Electronic Arts publishes its first five titles: Hard Hat Mack, Pinball Construction Set, Archon: The Light and the Dark, M.U.L.E., and Worms?.^[63]
• Bug-Byte releases Matthew Smith's Manic Miner, a platform game, for the ZX Spectrum.^[64]
• Ultimate Play the Game, later known as Rare, releases its first video games, Jetpac and Atic Atac, for the ZX Spectrum.^[65]
• Hudson Soft releases Bomberman for the MSX and FM-7.
• Psion releases Chequered Flag, the first driving game published for the ZX Spectrum,^[66] one of the first computer car simulators, and the first driving game with selectable cars.^[67]
• The 4-player simultaneous Dandy is released for the Atari 8-bit computers. It directly inspires 1985's Gauntlet arcade game.
• Muse Software releases a port of Castle Wolfenstein for the MS-DOS.

Console

• December 12 – Nintendo publishes Donkey Kong Jr. Math, for the Famicom.
• Mattel Electronics publishes World Series Baseball for the Intellivision, one of the first video games to use multiple camera angles.^[68]
• Activision's final big year of Atari 2600 releases includes Enduro, Decathlon, Keystone Kapers, Robot Tank, and Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space.

Hardware

Arcade

• May – Sega Laserdisc hardware releases, as the first laserdisc video game hardware.
• July – Sega System 1 releases, with Star Jacker game.^[69] Its graphics chips are later used in the Sega System 16 and Sega Space Harrier boards.
• December – Namco Libble Rabble (System 16 Universal) releases, as Namco's second arcade system board to use a 16-bit microprocessor.

Console

• July 15 – Sega releases the SG-1000 console in Japan,^[70] on the same day as the Famicom.
• July 15 – Nintendo releases the Family Computer (Famicom) console in Japan. Shortly after its release, complaints begin to surface about rampant system instability, prompting Nintendo to issue a product recall and to rerelease the machine with a new motherboard.^[43] It would later be released worldwide as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
• October – Casio launches the Casio PV-1000 in Japan. It does not remain on the market for long.
• October – Gakken launches the Compact Vision TV Boy in Japan. It's the last second generation console released. It was expensive and obsolete at launch, being discontinued shortly after.
• GameLine, a combination modem and dialup game distribution service for the Atari 2600, is announced but never ships.

Personal computer

• January – Apple Computer releases the Apple IIe, which becomes their most popular 8-bit machine.
• June 16 – Microsoft Japan releases MSX, an early standardized home computer architecture.
• March – Atari releases the poorly received 1200XL computer. Late in the year it and the rest of the Atari 8-bit computer series are replaced by the 600XL and 800XL.
• June – Mattel Electronics releases the Aquarius home computer, originally designed by Radofin Electronics Far East.^[71]
• October – Coleco releases the Adam home computer.^[72] It is only on the market for 15 months.
• October – Mattel discontinues the Aquarius.
• Acorn Computers release the Acorn Electron, a cut down version of their BBC Micro to compete in the under £200 home computer market. Problems in manufacture see only 1 in 8 presales being delivered for the Christmas market.
• Sega releases the SC-3000, a personal computer version of the SG-1000 console, in Japan.^[70]