1988 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as '' Dragon Quest III'', ''

Super Contra ''Super Contra'', known as in Japan and ''Probotector II: Return of the Evil Forces'' in Europe, is a run-and-gun shooter video game by Konami, originally released as a coin-operated arcade game in December 1987. It is the sequel to the original ...

'', '' Super Mario Bros. 2'', '' Mega Man 2'', '' Double Dragon II: The Revenge'', and ''

Super Mario Bros. 3 ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was released for home consoles in Japan on October 23, 1988, in North America on February 12, 1990 and in Europe on ...

'', along with new titles such as ''

Assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cr ...

'', ''

Altered Beast ''Altered Beast'' is a 1988 beat 'em up arcade video game developed and manufactured by Sega. The game is set in Ancient Greece and follows a player character chosen by Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena from the demonic ruler of the underwo ...

'', ''

Capcom Bowling ''Capcom Bowling'' is a top down bowling sports simulation game developed by Incredible Technologies (under the brand name Strata) and released by Capcom to arcades in 1988. Up to 4 four players could play a single game playing alternately. The ...

'', ''

Ninja Gaiden is a series of action video games by Tecmo featuring the ninja Ryu Hayabusa as its protagonist. The series was originally known as in Japan. The word "gaiden" in the North American ''Ninja Gaiden'' title means "side story" in Japanese. The o ...

'', ''

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Fer ...

'', ''

Winning Run is a first-person arcade racing simulation game developed and published by Namco in late December 1988 in Japan, before releasing internationally the following year. The player pilots a Formula One racer, with the objective being to complete eac ...

'' and ''

Chase H.Q. is a vehicular combat racing game, originally released as an arcade video game by Taito in 1988. It is sometimes seen as a spiritual successor to Taito's earlier '' Full Throttle''. The player assumes the role of a police officer named Tony Gib ...

'' The year's highest-grossing

arcade games An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcad ...

were ''

After Burner is an arcade vehicular combat game developed and released by Sega in 1987. The player assumes control of an American F-14 Tomcat fighter jet, and must clear each of the game's eighteen unique stages by destroying incoming enemies, using both a m ...

'' and ''

After Burner II is an arcade vehicular combat game developed and released by Sega in 1987. The player assumes control of an American F-14 Tomcat fighter jet, and must clear each of the game's eighteen unique stages by destroying incoming enemies, using both a m ...

'' in Japan, ''

Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals. The origina ...

'' in the United States, ''

Operation Wolf is a light gun shooter arcade game developed by Taito and released in 1987. It was ported to many home systems. The game was critically and commercially successful, becoming one of the highest-grossing arcade games of 1988 and winning the G ...

'' in the United Kingdom, and ''RoboCop'' in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

. The year's bestselling home system was the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

(Famicom) for the fifth year in a row, while the year's best-selling home video games were ''Dragon Quest III'' in Japan and '' Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt'' in the United States.

Events

* ''

Out Run (also stylized as ''OutRun'') is an arcade driving video game released by Sega in September 1986. It is known for its pioneering hardware and graphics, nonlinear gameplay, a selectable soundtrack with music composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi (comp ...

'' wins

Game of the Year Game of the Year (GotY) is an award given by various award events and media publications to a video game that they feel represented the pinnacle of gaming that year. Events and ceremonies British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA Games Awards) ...

at the 5th Golden Joystick Awards, for the year 1987. *June –

Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...

releases the last issue (#7) of ''Nintendo Fun Club News''. *July –

releases the first issue of ''

Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...

'' magazine. *December - Namco releases their first 3D polygon video game, ''

'', running on the

Namco System 21 The Namco System 21 "Polygonizer" is an arcade system board unveiled by Namco in 1988 with the game ''Winning Run''. It was the first arcade board specifically designed for 3D polygon processing. The hardware went through significant evolution th ...

arcade board.

Financial performance

Highest-grossing arcade games

Japan

In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing

of 1988, according to the annual ''

Gamest was a Japanese video game magazine that specialized in covering arcade games. Published by Shinseisha, it first began in May 1986 and originally published bi-monthly, later changed to be a monthly-issued magazine in the late 1980s. The magazine al ...

'' and '' Game Machine'' charts.

Hong Kong and United States

In Hong Kong and the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1988.

United Kingdom

'' was the top-earning arcade game of 1988 in the United Kingdom. The following titles were the top-grossing games on the monthly arcade charts in 1988.

Best-selling home systems

Best-selling home video games

Japan

The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1988 in Japan, according to the annual '' Family Computer Magazine'' (''Famimaga'') charts.

United Kingdom and United States

In the United States, the NES Action Set bundled with '' Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt'' was the best-selling toy of 1988. The same year, '' Super Mario Bros. 2'' became one of the best-selling cartridges of all time, ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' and '' Zelda II: The Adventure of Link'' were the top-selling cartridges during the holiday season, and ''

The Legend of Zelda ''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-relea ...

'' and ''

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out originally titled is a 1987 boxing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Part of the ''Punch-Out!!'' series, it is an adaptation of the arcade video games ''Punch-Out!!'' (1984) and ''Supe ...

'' each crossed sales between 1987 and 1988. The following titles were the top-selling home video games of each month in the United Kingdom and United States during 1988.

Top-rated games

Major awards

Japan

United Kingdom

United States

''Famitsu'' Platinum Hall of Fame

The following 1988 video game releases entered ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...

'' magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving

Famitsu scores The Japanese video game magazine ''Famitsu'' reviews video games by having four critics each assign the game a score from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest score. The scores of are then added together for a maximum possible score of 40. , twenty- ...

of at least 35 out of 40.

Business

*New companies:

Eurocom Eurocom (formerly Eurocom Entertainment Software) was a British video game developer founded in October 1988 by Mat Sneap, Chris Shrigley, Hugh Binns, Tim Rogers and Neil Baldwin, to specifically develop games for the Nintendo Entertainment Sys ...

Image Works Image Works was a British video game publisher that served as a publishing label for Mirrorsoft between 1988 and 1992, when the parent company went bankrupt. History The first two games published under the Image Works label were '' Fernandez M ...

, Koeo, Stormfront,

Visual Concepts Visual Concepts Entertainment is an American video game developer based in Novato, California. Founded in May 1988, the company is best known for developing sports games in the ''2K'' franchise, most recently ''NBA 2K'' and '' WWE 2K'', and pr ...

Walt Disney Computer Software Walt is a masculine given name, generally a short form of Walter, and occasionally a surname. Notable people with the name include: People Given name * Walt Arfons (1916-2013), American drag racer and competition land speed record racer * Walt Be ...

*Defunct: Aackosoft,

Coleco Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consol ...

, Sente,

Spectravideo Spectravideo International (SVI) was an American computer manufacturer and software house. It was originally called SpectraVision, a company founded by Harry Fox in 1981. The company produced video games and other software for the VIC-20 home c ...

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...

renamed to

Mediagenic Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

vs. Camerica lawsuit: Nintendo sues Camerica over the clone production of an Advantage joystick controller for the NES console

Notable releases

Arcade

*April –

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiun ...

releases ''

'', which may be the first game to use hardware rotation of sprites and the background. * August –

Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

releases ''

'', later ported to the

Mega Drive/Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

where it was packaged with the console in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. * December –

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It has created a number of multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being '' Resident Evil'', '' Monster Hunter'', '' Street Fighter'', ''Mega Man'', ''De ...

releases ''

Ghouls 'n Ghosts ''Ghouls 'n Ghosts'', known as in Japan, is a side-scrolling platform game developed by Capcom, released as an arcade game in 1988 and subsequently ported to a number of home platforms. It is the sequel to '' Ghosts 'n Goblins'' and the second ...

'', the sequel to ''

Ghosts 'n Goblins ''Ghosts 'n Goblins'', known in Japan as , is a run-and-gun platform video game series created by Tokuro Fujiwara and developed by Capcom. The first entry in the series was '' Ghosts 'n Goblins'', released in arcades on July 7, 1985. The serie ...

''. * December – Namco releases ''

'', the first polygonal 3D arcade racing game. * December –

Technōs Japan was a Japanese video game developer, best known for the ''Double Dragon'' and ''Kunio-kun'' franchises (the latter including '' Renegade'', ''Super Dodge Ball'' and ''River City Ransom'') as well as ''Karate Champ'', '' The Combatribes'' and ''V ...

releases '' Double Dragon II: The Revenge'', the first sequel to ''

'', released during the previous year. *

Atari Games Atari Games Corporation, known as Midway Games West Inc. after 1999, was an American producer of arcade games. It was formed in 1985 when the coin-operated arcade game division of Atari, Inc. was transfered by Warner Communications to a join ...

releases an official arcade version of ''

Tetris ''Tetris'' (russian: link=no, Тетрис) is a puzzle video game created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute over the appro ...

'' as well as '' Cyberball'' and ''

Toobin' ''Toobin is an Atari Games and Midway Games video game originally released as an arcade game in 1988 and is based on the recreational sport tubing. It was later ported to systems such as NES, Amiga, Commodore 64, MSX, and Game Boy Color. In ...

''. *

releases ''

World Stadium ''World Stadium'' (full title: ), is a series of baseball arcade games that were released by Namco in the late 1980s and 1990s; they were spin-offs of the ''Family Stadium'' franchise, inspired by the 1986 Famicom game '' Pro Yakyū Family Stadi ...

'', ''

Berabow Man is a 1988 beat'em up arcade video game developed and published in Japan by Namco. Described as a "comical action game", the player controls the titular character, a bionic superhero with telescopic limbs, as he must defeat the villainous Dr. Bom ...

'', '' Marchen Maze'', '' Bakutotsu Kijuutei'', which is the sequel to ''

Baraduke also known as ''Alien Sector'', is a run-and-gun shooter arcade game originally released by Namco in 1985. Gameplay The player takes control of a spacewoman in a biohazard suit. Player 1 is Kissy and Player 2 is Takky. They must clear eight wor ...

'', '' Ordyne'', '' Metal Hawk'', ''

World Court The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

'', ''

Splatterhouse is a beat 'em up arcade game developed and published by Namco. It was the first in a series of games released in home console and personal computer formats. This cult classic would later spawn the parody '' Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti'', the ...

'', which is the first game to get a parental advisory disclaimer, '' Mirai Ninja'', '' Face Off'' and '' Phelios''. *Williams releases the violent, drug-themed '' NARC'', beginning a run of major hits for the company.

Home

*January 2 –

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

releases ''Wasteland''. *January 5 – shareware game '' The Adventures of Captain Comic'' is one of the first NES-style scrolling platform games for MS-DOS, setting the stage for a subsequent shareware boom. *January 8 –

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has ca ...

releases ''

''. *January 14 –

releases '' Konami Wai Wai World'' the first ever crossover game features cast of all star characters from various video game franchises & non-video game properties such as characters from blockbuster movies. *January 29 – the first commercial versions of ''

'' are released. *February 10 –

Enix was a Japanese video game publisher that produced video games, anime and manga. Enix is known for publishing the ''Dragon Quest'' series of role-playing video games. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975, as . Th ...

releases '' Dragon Quest III''. *March – ''

R.C. Pro-Am ''R.C. Pro-Am'' is a racing video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in North America in February 1988, and then in Europe on April 15. Presented in an overhead isometric perspe ...

'' is released and becomes a hit for the NES, drawing attention to UK developer Rare. *July 20 –

releases ''

Bionic Commando ''Bionic Commando'' is a video game franchise consisting of an original arcade game released in 1987 and several later versions and sequels. Background The original Japanese arcade game and its Famicom counterpart (''Hitler's Resurrection'') ...

'', for NES/Famicom based on the 1987 arcade game of the same title. *August – ''

Treasure Island Dizzy ''Treasure Island Dizzy'' is a puzzle video game published in 1989 by Codemasters for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum, and later ported to the Commodore 64, NES, Amiga, Atari ST and Atari Jaguar. ''Treasure Island Dizzy'' is the second game in ...

'' is released by

Codemasters The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in Oct ...

. * October 5 –

Origin Systems Origin Systems, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. It was founded on March 3, 1983, by Richard Garriott and his brother Robert Garriott, Robert. Origin is best known for their groundbreaking work in multiple genres ...

releases '' Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny'', which includes a time-of-day system and daily schedules for

non-player character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster ...

s. *October 9 –

revamps ''

Doki Doki Panic ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was first released in North America in October 1988, and in the PAL region in 1989. After the smash hit ''Super Mario ...

'' and releases it as '' Super Mario Bros. 2'', for the

in America and the PAL region.

Birdo Birdo, known in Japanese as , is a fictional character in the ''Mario'' franchise. Her first appearance was as an enemy in '' Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic'', which was localized for English-language audiences as ''Super Mario Bros. 2''. Since th ...

made her debut in this game and released in Japan as ''Super Mario USA'' in 1992. *October 23 –

releases ''

'' for the

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redes ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. First appearance of the

Koopalings The (also known as in Japan and Europe or in Japan) are a fictional group of seven childlike characters in the ''Mario'' video game franchise by Nintendo. Their individual names are Larry Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr., Wendy O. Koopa, Iggy Koopa, ...

. * December 1 –

releases '' Zelda II: The Adventure of Link'' in America. The game had been released nearly two years earlier in Japan on the

Famicom Disk System The commonly shortened to the Famicom Disk System or just Disk System, is a peripheral for Nintendo's Family Computer home video game console, released only in Japan on February 21, 1986. It uses proprietary floppy disks called "Disk Cards" for ...

, before America even saw the first ''

''. * December 9 –

Tecmo , was a Japanese video game corporation founded in 1967. It had its headquarters in Kudankita, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Its subsidiary, Tecmo Inc, was located in Torrance, California. Tecmo was formerly known as Tehkan. Tecmo is known for the ''Captain ...

releases ''

'' for the NES/Famicom. * December 17 – Square Co. releases ''

Final Fantasy II * is a fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1988 for the Family Computer as the second installment of the '' Final Fantasy'' series. The game has received numerous enhanced remakes for the WonderSwan Color, th ...

'' for the

as the second installment of the

Final Fantasy series is a Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science fantasy role-playing video games. The fir ...

. * December 24 –

releases '' Mega Man 2'' in Japan, eventually becoming the highest-selling installment of the entire Mega Man franchise with a total of 1.5 million copies sold. *''

Pool of Radiance ''Pool of Radiance'' is a role-playing video game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D'') fantasy role-playing game for home computer ...

'' the first of the SSI Gold Box games is released, the first computer RPG officially based on ''

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Several different editions of the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the ...

''. *

Superior Software Superior Software Ltd (also known as Superior Interactive) is a video game publisher. It was one of the main publishers for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in the 1980s and early 1990s. It currently releases games for Microsoft Windo ...

release ''

Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

'' on the

Acorn Electron The Acorn Electron (nicknamed the Elk inside Acorn and beyond) was a lower-cost alternative to the BBC Micro educational/ home computer, also developed by Acorn Computers Ltd, to provide many of the features of that more expensive machine at a ...

and

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...

. A complex arcade adventure, it is the first with a full physics engine. *

releases ''

Phantasy Star is a series of console role-playing video games and other supplementary media created by Sega. The series debuted in 1987 on the Master System with '' Phantasy Star'', and continues into the present with ''Phantasy Star Online 2'' and other ex ...

'' outside Japan for the

Sega Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and ...

, the first in the company's most successful series of

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

s. *

releases '' John Madden Football'' for the

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

, starting its highly successful line of

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

games. * Interplay's animated chess program ''

Battle Chess ''Battle Chess'' is a computer game version of chess with animated three-dimensional graphics. It was originally developed and released by Interplay Entertainment for the Amiga in 1988 and subsequently on many other systems, including 3DO Inter ...

'' is released for the Amiga, then widely ported. *'' Pioneer Plague'' makes use of the Amiga's 4096 color

Hold-And-Modify Hold-And-Modify, usually abbreviated as HAM, is a display mode of the Commodore Amiga computer. It uses a highly unusual technique to express the color of pixels, allowing many more colors to appear on screen than would otherwise be possible ...

mode, something not thought possible for animated games. *AMC Verlag releases ''

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert ...

'' for the

Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

Hardware

*October 29 –

Sega Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan as ...

released in

. *Nintendo buys the rights to Bandai's ''Family Trainer'' and re-releases it as the

Power Pad The Power Pad (known in Japan as Family Trainer, and in Europe and briefly in the United States as Family Fun Fitness) is a floor mat game controller for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is a gray mat with twelve pressure-sensors embedded be ...

. *Namco releases the

, the first

arcade system board An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arc ...

specifically designed for 3D polygon graphics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1988 In video games Video games by year

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...

Events

Financial performance

Highest-grossing arcade games

Japan

Hong Kong and United States

United Kingdom

Best-selling home systems

Best-selling home video games

Japan

United Kingdom and United States

Top-rated games

Major awards

Japan

United Kingdom

United States

''Famitsu'' Platinum Hall of Fame

Business

Notable releases

Arcade

Home

Hardware

See also

References