1990 in video gaming

List of years in video gaming (table)
... 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 ... 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 ... 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 ...
Art Archaeology Architecture Literature Music Philosophy Science +...

Events

• August, Publication of Swedish language video game magazine Nintendomagasinet begins.

Business

• Nintendo v. Color Dreams lawsuit: Nintendo sues Color Dreams over unlicensed production of Nintendo video games.
• Toy Headquarters merges with Trinity Acquisition Corporation forming THQ.
• New companies: Eidos plc, Interactive Studios, Team17, Natsume, Revolution Software
• Defunct: Tynesoft

Notable releases

• Bonk's Adventure is released for NEC's TurboGrafx-16 and is the first US appearance of Bonk, the mascot of the TurboGrafx-16.
• Namco releases Kyuukai Douchuuki, World Stadium '90, Final Lap 2, Pistol Daimyo no Bouken, which is a spin-off from Berabow Man, Souko Ban Deluxe, Dragon Saber, Rolling Thunder 2, Steel Gunner and Golly! Ghost! They also develop the unreleased prototype, Puzzle Club.
• February 12, Nintendo releases the NES game Super Mario Bros. 3 in North America. It sells 17.28 million copies, making it one of the best-selling stand-alone video games of all time.
• April, Konami releases Snake's Revenge, a sequel to Metal Gear for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, developed without the involvement of Hideo Kojima.
• June 1, Origin releases Ultima VI: The False Prophet
• July 12, Nintendo of America publishes Final Fantasy for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America. This game started Square's popular and long-running Final Fantasy series.
• July 20, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake for the MSX2 computer, is released exclusively in Japan. It's Konami's last major game for the hardware.
• July 27, Nintendo releases Dr. Mario for 3 Nintendo platforms.
• September 26 Origin releases the first Wing Commander game.
• September 28 Capcom releases Mega Man 3 for NES in Japan, introducing the characters Rush and Proto Man, Mega Man's slide is introduced, and Capcom's character cameos.
• November 9, Sierra On-Line releases King's Quest V.
• October 15 LucasArts releases The Secret of Monkey Island
• November 1 - Mega Man 3 was released in the US.
• November 21, Nintendo releases Super Mario World and F-Zero in Japan as launch titles for the Super Famicom. Super Mario World introduced the character, Yoshi and F-Zero introduced the character, Captain Falcon.
• December 14, Commander Keen is released as shareware, the first major platformer on a PC.
• Sega releases the G-LOC: Air Battle R-360 arcade game, featuring the first 3D - 360° gameplay that physically rotated the real world player.
• Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon, the first of the "Tycoon" games, is released by MicroProse.
• Infogrames releases Alpha Waves, the first 3D platform game.
• Mindscape publishes Captive.

Hardware

• Camerica releases Codemasters' Game Genie adapter in Canada and the UK (In the USA, it was released by Galoob).
• NEC releases the TurboExpress handheld console.
• Nintendo releases the Super Famicom 16-bit console in Japan.
• SNK releases the Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System (AES) home console.
• October 6, Sega Game Gear released in Japan, launched in North America in 1991 and Europe and Australia in 1992.
• November 30, Sega's Mega Drive released in Europe.
• Amstrad halts production of the ZX Spectrum, ending that platform's 8-year dominance of the UK home computer market.