1980Games
Pac-Man releases
Namco's Pac-Man becomes a cultural icon and one of the highest-grossing arcade games of all time.
Explore by Decade
Gaming in the 1980s
Boom, crash, and revival — from Pac-Man to the NES rescuing the market.
Key Events
1981Games
Donkey Kong introduces Mario
Shigeru Miyamoto's Donkey Kong debuts 'Jumpman' — later renamed Mario — launching gaming's most famous mascot.
1983Companies
The North American video game crash
Market saturation and low-quality titles trigger a collapse that wipes out much of the U.S. console industry.
Milestone: Reset the industry and opened the door for Nintendo's revival.
1985Consoles
NES launches in North America
Nintendo revives the home console market with the NES and Super Mario Bros.
Milestone: Rebuilt the console market after the 1983 crash.
1989Consoles
Game Boy launches with Tetris
Nintendo's Game Boy popularizes handheld gaming, bundled with the addictive puzzle game Tetris.
Consoles of the 1980s
Gen 3
- Released
- 1983
- Units Sold
- 61.91 million
Show specifications ▾Hide specifications ▴
- CPU
- Ricoh 2A03 @ 1.79 MHz
- Memory
- 2 KB RAM
- Media
- ROM cartridges
- Launch Price
- $179
Revived the North American console market after the 1983 crash and established Nintendo's licensing model, the D-pad, and franchises like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda.
Super Mario Bros.Duck HuntThe Legend of Zelda
1980s · Discontinued 1995
Details →Games of the 1980s
Maze1980
Pac-Man
Namco
Guide Pac-Man through a maze eating pellets while avoiding four distinct ghosts.
ArcadeAtari 2600
View details →Platformer1981
Donkey Kong
Nintendo
Jumpman climbs construction sites to rescue a lady from a giant ape.
ArcadeNES
View details →Puzzle1984
Tetris
Alexey Pajitnov
Arrange falling tetromino blocks to complete and clear lines.
Electronika 60Game BoyMulti-platform
View details →Platformer1985
Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo
Mario journeys through the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser.
NES
View details →Action-adventure1986
The Legend of Zelda
Nintendo
Link explores the land of Hyrule, solving dungeons to rescue Princess Zelda.
NES
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