1997 in video gaming
| List of years in video gaming (table) |
|---|
| ... 1987 . 1988 . 1989 . 1990 . 1991 . 1992 . 1993 ... 1994 1995 1996 -1997- 1998 1999 2000 ... 2001 . 2002 . 2003 . 2004 . 2005 . 2006 . 2007 ... |
| Art . Archaeology . Architecture . Literature . Music . Philosophy . Science +... |
Events
- October 4 — Gunpei Yokoi (1941–1997) dies after a double car accident.
- November – Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) launched.
- 3rd annual E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo)
- 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 | 5th Gen | 6th Gen | Handheld | Arcade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 31 | Final Fantasy VII | 1998 | PS1 | N/A | N/A | |
| February 10 | Mario Kart 64 | N/A | N64 | N/A | N/A | |
| February 28 | Turok: Dinosaur Hunter | November 30 | N64 | N/A | N/A | |
| February 28 | Blast Corps | N/A | N64 | N/A | N/A | |
| March 20 | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | N/A | PS1, SAT (June 25) | N/A | N/A | |
| March 20 | Tekken 3 | N/A | PS1 (1998) | N/A | N/A | Arcade |
| March 26 | Vandal Hearts | N/A | PS1 | N/A | N/A | |
| March 30 | The Last Express | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| April 27 | Dungeon Keeper | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| April 30 | Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| May 31 | MDK | Yes | PS1 (1998) | N/A | N/A | |
| June 20 | Final Fantasy Tactics (Japan) | N/A | PS1 | N/A | N/A | |
| July 1 | Star Fox 64 | N/A | N64 | N/A | N/A | |
| July 30 | Carmageddon | Yes | PS1 (1999); N64 (2000) | N/A | N/A | |
| August 25 | GoldenEye 007 | N/A | N64 | N/A | N/A | |
| August 31 | Hexen II | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| September 19 | Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee | Yes | PS1 | N/A | N/A | |
| September 24 | Ultima Online | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| September 29 | Croc: Legend of the Gobbos | N/A | PS1 | N/A | N/A | |
| September 30 | Fallout | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| September 30 | Total Annihilation | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| September 30 | Poy Poy | N/A | PS1 | N/A | N/A | |
| October | Grand Theft Auto | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| October 9 | Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| October 15 | Age of Empires | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| October 15 | Mortal Kombat 4 | 1998 | N64, PS1 (1998) | DC (1999) | N/A | Arcade |
| October 28 | Shipwreckers | Yes | PS1 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| October 29 | Riven | Yes | PS1 (November 30); SAT | N/A | N/A | |
| October 31 | Colony Wars | N/A | PS1 | N/A | N/A | |
| October 31 | The Curse of Monkey Island | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| October 31 | Zork: Grand Inquisitor | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| October 31 | PaRappa the Rapper | N/A | PS1 | N/A | N/A | |
| November 1 | Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back | N/A | PS1 | N/A | N/A | |
| November 18 | Tomb Raider II | Yes | PS1 | N/A | N/A | |
| November 24 | Diddy Kong Racing | N/A | N64 | N/A | N/A | |
| November 25 | Myth: The Fallen Lords | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| November 30 | Wing Commander: Prophecy | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| November 30 | One | N/A | PS1 | N/A | N/A | |
| December 6 | Quake II | Yes | PS1, N64 (1999) | N/A | N/A | |
| December 18 | Mega Man Legends (Japan) | 2001 | PS1; N64 (2000) | N/A | PSP (2005) | |
| December 21 | Yoshi's Story | N/A | N64 | N/A | N/A | |
| December 23 | Gran Turismo | N/A | PS1 | N/A | N/A | |
| December 31 | Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero | N/A | N64 | N/A | N/A |
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 Studios West formed by Bungie Software Products Corp.
- 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 Head-Quarters, 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.
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