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1996 in video games

1996 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Mario 64, Duke Nukem 3D, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Super Mario RPG, King's Field III, Virtua Fighter 3, along with new titles such as Blazing Heroes, NiGHTS into Dreams..., Crash Bandicoot, Pokémon Red/Green/Blue, Resident Evil, Dead or Alive, Soul Edge, Quake and Tomb Raider.

List of years in video games
+...

The year's best-selling video game console worldwide was the PlayStation, while the best-selling consoles in Japan were the Game Boy and Sega Saturn. The year's best-selling home video game worldwide was Super Mario 64, while highest-grossing arcade games in Japan were Street Fighter Zero 2 (Street Fighter Alpha 2) and Virtua Fighter 2.

Events

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Hardware

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Nintendo 64

Discontinuation

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1996 saw a major shakeup in the crowded home console market, with the Virtual Boy, Atari Jaguar, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, Sega CD, 32X, and CD-i all being discontinued.

Top-rated games

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Game of the Year awards

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The following titles won Game of the Year awards for 1996.

Awards Game of the Year Platform(s) Publisher Genre Ref
Chicago Tribune Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo Platformer [3]
Digitiser [4]
Electronic Gaming Monthly [5]
Game Informer [6]
Golden Joystick Awards [7]
Spotlight Awards [8]
CESA Awards Sakura Taisen (Sakura Wars) Sega Saturn Sega SRPG [9][10]
GameFan Megawards Tomb Raider Multi-platform Eidos Action-adventure [11]
Enemy Zero Sega Saturn Warp Adventure
Gamest Awards Street Fighter Zero 2 (Street Fighter Alpha 2) Arcade (CP System II) Capcom Fighting [12]
IAAPA Exhibit Awards Tokyo Wars Arcade
(Namco Super System 22) 		Namco Shooter [13]
VSDA Awards Donkey Kong Country 2 Super NES Nintendo Platformer [14]

Critically acclaimed titles

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Metacritic and GameRankings

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Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.

1996 games and expansions scoring at least 88/100 (MC) or 87.5% (GR)[15][16]
Game Publisher Release Date Platform(s) MC score GR score
Super Mario 64 Nintendo June 23, 1996 Nintendo 64 94/100 96.41%
Wipeout XL/2097 Psygnosis September 30, 1996 PlayStation 93/100 94.75%
Quake GT Interactive June 22, 1996 DOS 94/100 93.22%
Tekken 2 Namco March 29, 1996 PlayStation 89/100 92.50%
Civilization II MicroProse February 29, 1996 Microsoft Windows 94/100 91.29%
Wave Race 64 Nintendo September 27, 1996 Nintendo 64 92/100 90.67%
PaRappa the Rapper Sony Computer Entertainment December 6, 1996 PlayStation 92/100 88.31%
Realms of the Haunting Interplay December 31, 1996 DOS — 91.86%
Tomb Raider Eidos Interactive November 14, 1996 DOS — 91.67%
Soul Edge Namco December 20, 1996 PlayStation 89/100 91.46%
Tomb Raider Eidos Interactive October 25, 1996 PlayStation 91/100 90.02%
Resident Evil Capcom March 22, 1996 PlayStation 91/100 87.23%
Command & Conquer: Red Alert Virgin November 22, 1996 DOS 90/100 90.91%
Command & Conquer Sega December 18, 1996 Sega Saturn — 89.90%
Dragon Force Sega March 29, 1996 Sega Saturn — 89.64%
International Superstar Soccer 64 Konami December 20, 1996 Nintendo 64 — 89.23%
Guardian Heroes Sega January 26, 1996 Sega Saturn — 89.20%
Super Mario RPG Nintendo March 9, 1996 SNES — 89.12%
Descent II Interplay Productions March 13, 1996 DOS 89/100 —
Duke Nukem 3D GT Interactive January 29, 1996 DOS 89/100 88.50%
Star Control 3 Accolade August 31, 1996 DOS 89/100 —
NiGHTS into Dreams... Sega July 5, 1996 Sega Saturn — 88.56%
Pokémon Blue Version Nintendo October 15, 1996 Game Boy — 88.33%
Pokémon Red Version Nintendo February 27, 1996 Game Boy — 87.86%
Formula 1 Psygnosis September 30, 1996 PlayStation — 87.75%
Fighters Megamix Sega December 21, 1996 Sega Saturn — 87.67%
Pilotwings 64 Nintendo June 23, 1996 Nintendo 64 80/100 87.52%
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei Sega March 22, 1996 Sega Saturn — 87.50%

Famitsu Platinum Hall of Fame

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The following video game releases in 1996 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40.[17]

Title Platform Developer Publisher Genre Score (out of 40)
Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Platformer 39
Resident Evil PlayStation Capcom Capcom Survival horror 38
Tekken 2 PlayStation Namco Namco Fighting 38
Fighting Vipers Sega Saturn Sega AM2 Sega Fighting 37
Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren GB Game Boy Aquamarine Chunsoft Roguelike 36
Dragon Quest III: Soshite Densetsu e... Super Famicom Heartbeat Enix Role-playing 36
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei Sega Saturn Sega Sega Rail shooter 35
J. League Victory Goal '96 Sega Saturn Sega Sega Sports 35
Fighters Megamix Sega Saturn Sega AM2 Sega Fighting 35

Financial performance

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Highest-grossing arcade games

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Japan

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In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1996.

Rank Gamest[12] Game Machine[18]
Title Manufacturer Title Type Points
1 Street Fighter Zero 2 (Street Fighter Alpha 2) Capcom Virtua Fighter 2 / 2.1 PCB 5541
2 Virtual On: Cyber Troopers Sega Puzzle Bobble 2 / 2X PCB 4782
3 The King of Fighters '96 SNK Print Club (Purikura) Other 4059
4 Virtua Fighter 3 Sega Rave Racer SD / DX / 2P 3780
5 Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara Capcom Tekken 2 PCB 3579
6 Psychic Force Taito Virtua Cop 2 Dedicated 3271
7 RayStorm Taito Virtual On: Cyber Troopers Dedicated 3208
8 X-Men vs. Street Fighter Capcom Alpine Racer Dedicated 2807
9 Real Bout Garō Densetsu (Real Bout Fatal Fury) SNK Fighting Vipers PCB 2555
10 Battle Garegga Eighting Street Fighter Zero 2 PCB 2543

United States

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In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1996.

Drasnin Communications[19] AMOA[20]
Title Developer Manufacturer Genre Dedicated cabinet Conversion kit
Daytona USA Sega AM2 Sega Racing Alpine Racer Area 51
Cruis'n USA Midway Games Midway Games Racing Area 51 Bust-A-Move Again
Tekken 2 Namco Namco Fighting Cruis'n USA Mortal Kombat 3
Area 51 Mesa Logic Atari Games Light gun shooter Daytona USA Soul Edge
Alpine Racer Namco Namco Sports Time Crisis Tekken 2
Die Hard Arcade Sega AM1 Sega Beat 'em up —
Metal Slug SNK SNK Run and gun
Point Blank Namco Namco Light gun shooter
DecAthlete Sega AM3 Sega Sports
Strikers 1945 Psikyo Psikyo Scrolling shooter

Australia

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On Australia's Timezone monthly arcade charts published in the March 1996 issue of Leisure Line magazine, Sega's Manx TT Super Bike was the top-grossing dedicated arcade cabinet and Namco's Point Blank was the top-grossing arcade conversion kit.[21]

Best-selling video game consoles

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Rank Manufacturer Game console Type Generation Sales
Japan United States Worldwide
1 Sony PlayStation Home 32-bit 2,200,000+[22] 2,044,000[23] 6,600,000+[22]
2 Nintendo Game Boy / Game Boy Pocket Handheld 8-bit 2,860,000[24] Un­known 4,000,000+[25]
Sega Sega Saturn Home 32-bit 2,300,000[24] 744,000[23] 4,000,000+[26][27]
4 Nintendo Nintendo 64 Home 64-bit 1,022,999[28] 1,736,000[23] 2,758,999+
5 Nintendo Super NES / Super Famicom Home 16-bit 620,000[24] 1,126,000[23] 1,746,000+
6 Sega Sega Genesis Home 16-bit Un­known 1,316,000[23] 1,316,000+
7 Nintendo NES / Famicom Home 8-bit 70,000[24] 468,000[23] 538,000+
8 Sega Game Gear Handheld 8-bit 100,000[24] Un­known 100,000+
9 NEC PC-FX Home 32-bit 50,000[24] Un­known 50,000+
Panasonic 3DO Interactive Multiplayer Home 32-bit 50,000[24] Un­known 50,000+

Best-selling home video games

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The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games (console games or computer games) worldwide in 1996.

Rank Title Platform Sales
Japan United States[29][30] Europe[31][32] Worldwide
1 Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 903,000[33] 2,000,000+[34] — 2,903,000+
2 Tekken 2 PlayStation 1,200,000+[35] 1,000,000+ 420,000 2,620,000+
3 Resident Evil (Biohazard) PlayStation 1,016,000[33] 1,000,000+ 300,000+ 2,316,000+
4 Super Mario RPG Super NES 995,898[36] 1,000,000+ — 1,995,898+
5 Donkey Kong Country 3 Super NES 674,000[33] 1,000,000+ Un­known 1,674,000+
6 Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / Blue Game Boy 1,663,861[36] — — 1,663,861
7 Donkey Kong Country 2 Super NES 612,000[33] 1,000,000+ Un­known 1,612,000+
8 Wave Race 64 Nintendo 64 154,682[36] 1,000,000+ — 1,154,682+
9 Dragon Quest III: Soshite Densetsu e... Super Famicom 1,071,000[33] — — 1,071,000
10 Madden NFL 97 PlayStation — 1,000,000+ Un­known 1,000,000+

Japan

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In Japan, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1996.

Rank Title Platform Developer Publisher Genre Sales Ref
1 Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / Blue Game Boy Game Freak Nintendo RPG 1,663,861 [36]
2 Tekken 2 PlayStation Namco Namco Fighting 1,200,000+ [35]
3 Dragon Quest III: Soshite Densetsu e... Super Famicom Heartbeat Enix RPG 1,071,000 [33]
4 Biohazard (Resident Evil) PlayStation Capcom Capcom Survival horror 1,016,000
5 Super Mario RPG Super Famicom Squaresoft Nintendo RPG 995,898 [36]
6 Derby Stallion '96 PlayStation ASCII ASCII Simulation 960,000 [33]
7 Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Platformer 903,000
8 Arc the Lad II PlayStation ARC Entertainment Sony RPG 818,000
9 Tobal No. 1 PlayStation DreamFactory Squaresoft Fighting 752,000
10 Rage Racer PlayStation Namco Namco Racing 701,000

United States

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In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1996.[29]

Rank Title Platform Publisher Genre Sales[29][30] Revenue Inflation
1 Super Mario 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo Platformer 2,000,000+[34] $140,000,000[34] $272,000,000
2 Donkey Kong Country 2 Super NES Nintendo Platformer 1,000,000+ Un­known Un­known
3 Donkey Kong Country 3 Super NES Nintendo Platformer 1,000,000+ Un­known Un­known
4 Madden NFL 97 PlayStation EA Sports Sports 1,000,000+ Un­known Un­known
5 Wave Race 64 Nintendo 64 Nintendo Racing 1,000,000+
6 Super Mario RPG Super NES Nintendo RPG 1,000,000+
7 Tekken 2 PlayStation Namco Fighting 1,000,000+ Un­known Un­known
8 Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Nintendo 64 Nintendo Action 1,000,000+ Un­known Un­known
9 Resident Evil PlayStation Capcom Survival horror 1,000,000+[30] Un­known Un­known
10 Myst PC Broderbund Adventure 853,765[37] $28,800,000[37] $56,000,000

Europe

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In Europe, the following titles were the best-selling home video games of 1996.

Rank All platforms PlayStation[31]
Title Publisher Title EU sales[32] UK revenue[38] UK revenue (inflation)
1 Formula 1[39] Psygnosis Formula 1 420,000+ £15,000,000+ ($23,000,000+) $45,000,000+
2 Un­known Tekken 2 420,000 £15,000,000+ ($23,000,000+) $45,000,000+
3 Un­known FIFA 97 300,000+ Un­known Un­known
4 Un­known Resident Evil 300,000+
5 Un­known Crash Bandicoot 300,000 £15,000,000+ ($23,000,000+) $45,000,000+
6 Un­known Destruction Derby Un­known
7 Un­known Ridge Racer Revolution
8 Un­known Tekken
9 Un­known Ridge Racer
10 Un­known Tomb Raider

In addition to the PlayStation games listed above, the following titles were the year's best-selling Sega Saturn and PC games in the United Kingdom.

Sega Saturn PC[40]
HMV[41] Rank Title
Athlete Kings Tomb Raider 1 Grand Prix 2
Bust-A-Move 2 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 2 Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Daytona USA: Circuit Edition Virtua Cop 3 FIFA 97
Euro 96 Virtua Fighter 2 4 Command & Conquer
Exhumed Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 5 Civilization II
Fighting Vipers — 6 Quake
Guardian Heroes — 7 Theme Park
Nights into Dreams — 8 Rally Championship
Sea Bass Fishing — 9 Championship Manager 2
Sega Rally Championship — 10 Worms

Top game rentals in the United States

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In the United States, the following games were the top video game rentals of each month, according to the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA).

Month Game Ref
January Un­known
February Un­known
March Un­known
April Un­known
May Super Mario RPG [42]
June
July
August
September Un­known
October Un­known
November Un­known
December Un­known

Notable releases

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Video game platforms
DOS MS-DOS
GB Game Boy
N64 Nintendo 64
Neo Neo Geo
NeoCD Neo Geo CD
Pippin Apple Pippin
3DO 3DO Interactive Multiplayer
PS1 PlayStation
Sat Saturn
SNES Super NES
Win Windows
SMD Mega Drive / Genesis
Notable releases of the year 1996
Release Title System Developer/Publisher Notes
January 25 Guardian Heroes Sat Treasure/Sega a beat-em-up game developed by Treasure
January 26 Mystaria: The Realms of Lore Sat Micro Cabin/Sega a tactical RPG
January 29 Duke Nukem 3D DOS 3D Realms/GT Interactive a popular first-person shooter
January 31 Mega Man X3 SNES Capcom third X installment in popular Mega Man franchise.
February 9 Bahamut Lagoon SNES SquareSoft Tactical RPG spin-off in the Final Fantasy series, before Final Fantasy Tactics.
February 23 Front Mission: Gun Hazard SNES SquareSoft Sequel to strategy Super Famicom RPG Front Mission.
February 27 Pokémon Red and Green GB Game Freak/Nintendo launched a wildly popular game series
February 29 Civilization II Win MicroProse acclaimed sequel to the highly influential 1991 4X game
February 29 Ripper (video game) DOS Take Two Interactive Interactive movie, Point-and-click adventure Single Player game
February 29 Rise 2: Resurrection Win, Sat, PS1 Mirage/Acclaim the sequel to the fighting game, Rise of the Robots.
February 29 Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri DOS Looking Glass Studios critically acclaimed FPS
February 29 Zork: Nemesis Win Activision 11th game in the Zork series, employing 360-degree views of environment
March 9 Super Mario RPG SNES SquareSoft/Nintendo beginning of the long-running series of Mario RPGs
March 21 Kirby Super Star SNES HAL Labs/Nintendo considered to be one of the best games in the Kirby franchise.
March 22 Resident Evil Win (1997), PS1, Sat (1997) Capcom one of the foundational games in the survival horror genre, for a time it held the record for best-selling PlayStation game
March 22 Panzer Dragoon II Zwei Sat Team Andromeda/Sega an acclaimed rail shooter
March 24 Someone's in the Kitchen! Win The Neverhood Inc./DreamWorks DreamWorks Interactive's first video game.[43]
March 29 Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension SNES TOSE/Bandai the last Super Famicom game in the Dragon Ball Z franchise.
April 20 Barbie Fashion Designer Win Digital Domain/Mattel Media The game's strong sales sparked a renewed interest in developing games targeting girls.
April 26 Jumping Flash! 2 PS1 Exact/SCEA Sequel to the first true 3D platformer.
April 26 The Legend of Oasis Sat Sega/Ancient Prequel to the Genesis Zelda-style action game Beyond Oasis.
April 30 Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures Win, Mac LucasArts Adventure game developed by LucasArts in the popular Indiana Jones franchise specifically to run in windowed form.
May 14 Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu SNES Intelligent Systems/Nintendo the fourth game in the popular Fire Emblem series.
May 13 Kirby's Block Ball GB HAL Labs/Nintendo North American release of Breakout-inspired game in popular Kirby franchise
May 24 Metal Slug Neo SNK the first in the Metal Slug series that proved popular in the arcades.
May 31 Final Doom DOS id Software Despite the name, it would be followed less than a year later by Doom 64.
June Last Bronx Arcade Sega Ported to the Sega Saturn (1997) and Windows (1998)
June 22 Quake DOS id Software advanced 3D graphics technology and started a franchise that has sold more than 4 million games
June 23 Super Mario 64 N64 Nintendo One of two Nintendo 64 U.S. launch games.[44] An archetype for nearly every 3D platformer which followed it, from the day of release it was widely hailed as one of the greatest games of all time.
June 26 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Sat, SMD, SNES Acclaim Entertainment, GT Interactive, Midway, Williams Entertainment Console ports of the standalone update of Mortal Kombat 3
July 5 NiGHTS into Dreams... Sat Sega The advertising campaign features the rebirth of the Sega Saturn; August 21 (US)
July 19 Saturn Bomberman Sat Hudson
July 19 Star Ocean SNES tri-ace/Enix the first game in the Star Ocean series.
July 25 The King of Fighters '96 Neo, NeoCD, Sat SNK an entry in the popular King of Fighters series.
July 26 Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition Sat, PS1 Taito/Acclaim The first home versions of the popular arcade puzzle game.
July 31 Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh DOS, Win Sierra On-Line a controversial sequel to the controversial Phantasmagoria.
July 31 Virtua Fighter Kids Sat, Arcade Sega AM2 a spin-off in the Virtua Fighter series
August 25 Tekken 2 PS1 Namco the second game in the popular fighting game series Tekken
August 26 Azrael's Tear MS-DOS Intelligent Games Innovative adventure game, at the time featuring full 3D real-time rendering.
August 31 Die Hard Trilogy Win, PS1, Sat Probe Entertainment/Fox Interactive 3 original games in 1 disk, each based on a different movie in the series.
August 31 Tetris Attack SNES, GB Intelligent Systems/Nintendo first release of the popular Panel de Pon series in the US.
August 31 Madden NFL 97 SMD, PS1, Win, SNES, Sat, GB EA Sports/Electronic Arts The first Madden game on gen 5 platforms.
August 31 Beyond the Beyond PS1 Camelot/SCEA The first traditional Japanese-style RPG for the PlayStation
August 31 Jet Moto PS1 SingleTrac/SCEA A futuristic motocross style hoverbike racing game.
September Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games DOS Sir-Tech The second installment in the Jagged Alliance series.
September Virtua Fighter 3 Arcade Sega AM2 A fighting game considered to have the most technically impressive graphics at the time.
September 8 Magic Carpet 2[45] DOS Bullfrog Productions Action game developed by Bullfrog Productions, sequel to the well received Magic Carpet from 1994.
September 9 Crash Bandicoot PS1 Naughty Dog/Universal/Sony Crash was used as the mascot for the PlayStation console.
September 14 GunGriffon Sat Game Arts/Sega critically acclaimed mech game, first in its series.
September 20 Revelations: Persona PS1 Atlus first game in the Persona series, a spin-off series of the Megami Tensei series. Also the first Megami Tensei-related game to release outside Japan
September 20 The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall Win Bethesda Softworks an evolution of the sandbox RPG started with The Elder Scrolls: Arena
September 29 Pilotwings 64 N64 Nintendo One of two Nintendo 64 U.S. launch games.[44]
September 27 Meridian 59 Win 3DO one of the first MMORPGs.
September 30 Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars Win, PS1 Revolution Software/Virgin Interactive acclaimed point and click adventure that started an iconic series.
September 30 Wipeout XL/2097 PS1 Psygnosis a poster child of the PlayStation for pop culture infusions and sleek extreme action
September 30 Shattered Steel DOS BioWare/Interplay first game developed by BioWare
September 30 Street Fighter Alpha 2 Arcade, SNES, PS1, Sat Capcom second game in the Street Fighter Alpha spin-off series
September 30 Mr. Bones Sat Zono/Sega platformer for the Saturn
September 30 Tobal No. 1 PS1 DreamFactory/SCEA fighting game famous for including a demo for Final Fantasy VII.
September 30 Formula 1 PS1 Bizarre Creations/SCEA first racing game developed by Bizarre.
September 30 Donkey Kong Land 2 GB Rare/Nintendo second Donkey Kong Land game
October 1 Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars DOS, Win New World Computing/3DO Second installment of the Heroes of Might and Magic series. Typically credited as the breakout game for the series.
October 10 Mortal Kombat Trilogy N64, PS1, R-Zone, Sat (1997) Avalanche, Midway, Point of View
October 15 Marathon Infinity Mac Bungie The last game in the Marathon trilogy.
October 30 The Neverhood Win The Neverhood Inc./DreamWorks The game is done almost entirely in claymation and has gained a sequel.
October 31 Command & Conquer: Red Alert DOS Westwood Studios the second major title in the Command & Conquer universe, and one of the most popular
October 31 Master of Orion II DOS Simtex/MicroProse
October 31 Toonstruck DOS Burst Studios/Virgin Interactive Entertainment
October 31 Drowned God Win Epic Multimedia Group/Inscape Adventure game.
October 31 SimCopter Win Maxis Flight simulation game in popular Sim series.
October 31 King's Field III PS1 FromSoftware/ASCII Entertainment the last of three games in the King's Field series released for the PlayStation.
October 31 DeathDrome Win Zipper Interactive/Viacom First game developed by Zipper Interactive.
October 31 WWF In Your House DOS, PS1, Sat Acclaim First WWF game developed specifically for consoles.
October 31 Twisted Metal 2 PS1 SingleTrac/SCEA Second game in the popular Twisted Metal franchise.
October 31 Destruction Derby 2 PS1 Reflections Interactive/SCEA Second game in the popular Destruction Derby franchise.
October 31 NBA Live 97 PS1, Sat, SNES, SMD Electronic Arts, EA Sports
October 31 Pandemonium! PS1, Sat, Win (1997) Electronic Arts, EA Sports
November 1 Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain PS1, Win Silicon Knights/Crystal Dynamics First game in the Legacy of Kain series.
November 14 Tomb Raider PS1, Sat, DOS Core Design/Eidos Action adventure game which was among the year's most critically acclaimed games and proved highly influential on both 3D games development and cinematic presentation
November 20 Disruptor PS1 Insomniac Games First video game produced by notable developer Insomniac Games
November 20 Sonic 3D Blast Sat, SMD Sega/Traveller's Tales Isometric platformer in the popular "Sonic the Hedgehog" series.
November 22 Donkey Kong Country 3 SNES Rare/Nintendo the third installment to the popular Donkey Kong Country franchise
November 25 Killer Instinct Gold N64 Rare/Nintendo a home fighting game based on the arcade's Killer Instinct 2.
November 25 Bubsy is 3D in "Furbitten Planet" PS1 Eidetic/Accolade Noted for its negative reception. Was the last title in the Bubsy series for 21 years.
November 26 Area 51 PS1, Win, Sat Mesa Logic/Atari Games Ported versions of the classic arcade shooter.
November 26 Dead or Alive Arcade, Sat (1997), PS1 (1998) Team Ninja/Tecmo The first game in the Dead or Alive series of fighting games.
November 30 Contra: Legacy of War Sat, PS1 Konami/Appaloosa Interactive the first true 3D entry in the popular Contra series
November 30 Dragon Force Sat Sega/Working Designs a combination of war simulation and RPG
November 30 Fighting Vipers Sat, Arcade Sega AM2 a popular fighting game.
November 30 Virtua Cop 2 Sat, Arcade Sega AM2 a popular light gun game
November 30 Virtual On: Cyber Troopers Sat, Arcade CRI/Sega the first game in the Virtual On series
November 30 Bug Too! Saturn, Win Sega/Realtime Associates a sequel to Bug!
November 30 FIFA Soccer 97 SMD, PS1, Win, SNES, Sat, GB EA Canada/Electronic Arts
December 3 Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire N64 LucasArts/Nintendo one of the first Nintendo 64 games, an action game in the popular Star Wars franchise.
December 12 Ignition DOS, Win Unique Development Studios/Virgin Interactive 3D racing game
December 14 Mario Kart 64 N64 Nintendo The Mario Kart series first 3D game.
December 16 Furcadia Windows Dragon's Eye Productions, Inc. First social MMORPG, longest-running online game of said genre[46]
December 17 Mega Man 8 PS1 Capcom The first Mega Man game to be released on PlayStation.
December 26 YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World NEC PC-98 ELF Corporation An influential visual novel credited with revolutionizing the genre.[47]
December 31 Death Rally DOS Remedy Entertainment/GT Interactive The first game developed by Remedy Entertainment.
December 31 NBA Hangtime SMD, PS1, Win, N64, Arcade, SNES Midway Arcade-style basketball game developed by Midway.

Business

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Laurence Zuckerman (July 16, 1996). "Sega's US Chief to Resign as Company Sales Fall Short". New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  2. ^ "Attendance and Stats". IGN. June 8, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
  3. ^ Carter, Chip; Carter, Jonathan (January 2, 1997). "For Game Quality, 1996 Was a Very Good Year". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  4. ^ "Digitiser's Top 14 Games Of 1996". Digitiser. January 3, 1997. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  5. ^ Electronic Gaming Monthly, issue 92 (March 1997), pages 82-90
  6. ^ "25 Years Of Game Informer's GOTY Awards". GameInformer.com. January 2, 2017. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  7. ^ "Golden Joysticks Awards' Ultimate List of Ultimate Games: 1983–2014". GamesRadar. Future plc. October 15, 2015. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  8. ^ "Archive 1997 Spotlight Awards". Game Developers Choice Awards. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  9. ^ CESA大賞'96 初の作品賞(大賞)はサクラ大戦が受賞！ [The CESA Grand Prize '96's top award (Grand Prize) was won by Sakura Wars!] (in Japanese). Japan Game Awards. 2017. Archived from the original on March 14, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  10. ^ "About Sakura Taisen". Red Entertainment. 2008. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved February 2, 2008.
  11. ^ GameFan, volume 5, issue 2 (February 1997), pages 34-36
  12. ^ a b "第10回 ゲーメスト大賞" [10th Gamest Awards]. Gamest (in Japanese). Vol. 188 (January–February 1997). December 27, 1996. pp. 46–63. alternate url
  13. ^ "IAAPA Exhibit Awards History (1990-2001)" (PDF). International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. November 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  14. ^ "Home Entertainment Awards – Video Games". Entertainment Merchants Association. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  15. ^ "Best Video Games for 1996". Metacritic. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  16. ^ "Highest-Ranking Games of 1996 (with at least 5 reviews)". GameRankings. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  17. ^ "週刊ファミ通クロスレビュープラチナ殿堂入りソフト一覧" [Weekly Famitsu Cross Review Platinum Hall of Fame Software List]. Geimin (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 27, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  18. ^ Akagi, Masumi, ed. (February 1, 1997). ""Tekken 2", "Virtua Cop 2" Top Videos '96" (PDF). Game Machine. No. 534. Amusement Press, Inc. p. 26.
  19. ^ "Top Ten Arcade Titles for 1996: According to a recent report, both Sega and Namco had three of top ten grossing arcade titles in 1996". Next Generation. December 17, 1996. Archived from the original on April 18, 1997. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  20. ^ "Coin Machine: AMOA Announces JB Award Nominees" (PDF). Cash Box. August 3, 1996. p. 26.
  21. ^ "Test Reports". Leisure Line. Leisure & Allied Industries. March 1996. p. 58. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  22. ^ a b "Cumulative Production Shipments of Hardware / PlayStation". Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Sony. December 31, 2003. Archived from the original on April 22, 2004. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  23. ^ a b c d e f Clements, Matthew T.; Ohashi, Hiroshi (October 2004). "Indirect Network Effects and the Product Cycle: Video Games in the U.S., 1994–2002" (PDF). NET Institute. pp. 12, 24. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
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