1993 in video gaming

## Events

* March — In Sweden, the Swedish video game magazine Super PLAY (SP) starts. The original name is *Super Power*.
* Midway Games embroiled in controversy for its game *Mortal Kombat* from 1992 when the game is launched for video game consoles in 1993.
* The first use of motion control photography in video games, used by Stormfront Studios in Eagle Eye Mysteries, produced by Scott Orr and published by Electronic Arts

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### Notable releases

* Microprose releases the Strategy Game of the Year *Master of Orion*.
* Namco releases *Super World Stadium '93*, *Emeraldia*, *Nettou! Gekitou! Quiztou!!*, *Numan Athletics*, *Ridge Racer*, *Great Sluggers '93*, *Final Lap R*, *Cyber Sled* and *Tinkle Pit*.
* June: Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle is released by Lucasarts as a sequel to Maniac Mansion and is notable for being one of the acclaimed early titles by designer Tim Schafer.
* July: Domark release Championship Manager 93 the second of the series.
* August — Nintendo releases *The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening* (Game Boy), which becomes the best-selling handheld game in the series.
* August: Infocom and Activision release Return to Zork.
* September 24 — Broderbund releases the *Myst* computer game, which goes on to become one of the bestselling games of all time.
* December 10 — id Software releases *Doom*, a seminal first-person shooter that advanced 3D graphics for computer games.
* Nintendo releases the game *Star Fox* for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the first game to use the Super FX Chip.
* Sega releases the *Virtua Fighter* (by AM2) arcade game, which is later displayed at the Smithsonian Institution.
* Stellar Crisis is released, making it the first free multi-player wargame that is entirely browser based.
* Squaresoft releases *Secret of Mana* for the SNES, the second in a series of role-playing games (the first technically being Final Fantasy Adventure for the Game Boy in 1991).
* Nintendo releases *Kirby's Adventure*, the second Kirby game and the only one for the NES.
* Nintendo releases the game *Super Mario All-Stars* for the Super NES. It features the first 3 Super Mario Bros. games together on one. Also, it's the first time the Japanese version of *Super Mario Bros. 2* is playable in North America.
* March 15 — Sunsoft releases *Blaster Master 2* for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.
* Maxis releases *SimCity 2000*, sequel to the tremendously popular *SimCity*.
* December 17 — Sierra On-Line releases *Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers*. It is the first game in the *Gabriel Knight* series and features the voices of Tim Curry, Mark Hamill, Michael Dorn, and Leah Remini.
* December 31 - Microprose releases X-Com: Enemy Unknown.

### Hardware

* Atari Corp. releases the Jaguar home console, calling it the first 64-bit video game system
* Commodore Business Machines releases the Amiga CD32 multimedia home console
* Goldstar, Panasonic, and Sanyo release their versions of the 3DO, the first 32-bit home console
* Intel releases the first Pentium chip for the PC, creating a new generation of personal computers.
* Nintendo releases a smaller redesigned NES, which allows cartridges to now 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.
* Tandy releases the Video Information System (VIS) multimedia home console

### Business

* Magnavox is acquired by the Carlyle Group
* Microprose Inc. is acquired by Spectrum Holobyte
* New companies: nVidia Corporation, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., Croteam Ltd.