1996 in video gaming

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Notable releases

• January 29 — Duke Nukem 3D, successor to the simple side-scrolling originals, and a genre-redefining title for first person shooters. (PC)
• February 27 — Nintendo releases Pokémon Red and Green for the Game Boy in Japan, launching a wildly popular game series.
• March 9 — Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars released in Japan, beginning a long-running series of Mario RPGs.
• March 22 — Capcom releases Resident Evil for the PlayStation. It is believed to have invented the term "survival horror" and remains one of the most popular examples to date.
• May 31 — id Software releases Quake, advancing 3D graphics technology on the PC and starting a franchise that has sold more than 4 million games.
• April — SNK releases Metal Slug for the Neo-Geo, the first in the Metal Slug series that has proved extremely popular in the arcades.
  

  

  Nintendo 64
• June 23 — Nintendo releases Super Mario 64, the first 3D Mario platformer, in Japan as the flagship for their new Nintendo 64 system.
• July 5 — Sega releases NiGHTS into Dreams... for the Sega Saturn in Japan (August 21 in North America and October 7 in Europe). The advertising campaign features the rebirth of the Sega Saturn.
• July 19 — Enix releases Star Ocean for the Super Famicon in Japan, the first of seven games in the Star Ocean series.
• August 25 — Namco releases Tekken 2 for the PlayStation. The game sold over 3,000,000 copies worldwide.
• August 31 — Bethesda Softworks releases The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, a notable evolution of the sandbox RPG started with The Elder Scrolls: Arena. (PC).
• September 3 — Sony releases Crash Bandicoot video game. Crash is used as the mascot for their PlayStation console.
• September 27 — 3DO publicly launches Meridian 59, one of the first MMORPGs.
• October 31 — Command & Conquer: Red Alert, the second major title in the Command & Conquer franchise, and one of the most popular. (PC)
• October 31 — Master of Orion II, the sequel to the revolutionary original. (PC)
• November 15 — Tomb Raider is released for the PC, PlayStation, and the Sega Saturn. It spawns a series of sequels as well as a series of movies.
• November 22: Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, the third installment to the popular Donkey Kong Country franchise is released.
• November 30 — Diablo is released. It is the first chapter in Blizzard Entertainment's enormously popular series. (PC)
• Final Doom, the final release of the original Doom series. Contains 2 large and original storylines. (PC)
• Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh, a controversial sequel to the controversial original. (PC)

Hardware

• Bandai's Tamagotchi virtual pet handheld
• Nintendo:
  • Nintendo 64 64-bit home console
  • Game Boy Pocket (GBP) handheld console (30% smaller version of the previous Game Boy handheld console)
• Sega's Net Link modem for the Sega Saturn home console
• SNK's Neo Geo CDZ (Japan only)
• Namco's Alpine Racer arcade game, including a new type of user interface

Business

• February — Blizzard Entertainment acquires a development group known as Condor, renaming it Blizzard North
• February 13 — Atari Corporation announces a plan to merge with JTS Corp.
• April — Eidos Interactive acquires CentreGold plc, which holds Core Design (creator of the Lara Croft character) and U.S. Gold
• May 1 — GameSpot and GameFAQs are launched
• June — Firaxis Games is formed By Jeff Briggs with Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds
• July — GT Interactive purchases Humongous Entertainment
• July 24 CUC International, Inc purchases Sierra On-Line, Blizzard Entertainment and Davidson & Associates for about $3 billion in a stock swap.
• November 13 — Tom Clancy and Virtus Corp. found Red Storm Entertainment, headed by Doug Littlejohns
• Infogrames Entertainment SA acquires Ocean Software Ltd.
• Midway Games, Inc. (subsidiary of WMS Industries, formerly known as Williams Electronics) acquires Atari Games Corp. from Warner Communications Inc. (AOL Time Warner in 2000)
• Technos Japan Corporation, originator of the Nekketsu Kouha Kunio Kun series and Double Dragon series, goes out of business (assets acquired by Atlus Corporation)
• Black Isle Studios forms as a division by Interplay; doesn't use Black Isle name until 1998
• Game Park Inc. founded in South Korea
• The company formed by Microprose and Spectrum Holobyte in 1993 starts branding using only the Microprose name
• Overworks, Ltd. formed
• Zed Two Limited formed
• Nintendo of America, Inc. v. Computer & Entertainment, Inc.
• The 3DO Company purchases New World Computing

Awards

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Discontinual

• Failed Virtual Boy and Atari Jaguar discontinued.