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
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Nintendo
- 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