1981 In Video Gaming
Article Index for
1981 In
Website Links For
1981
Information About
1981 In Video Gaming
APPAREL
BABY
BEAUTY
BOOKS
CAR TOYS
CELL PHONES
DVD'S
ELECTRONICS
GOURMET FOOD
GROCERIES
HEALTH & PERSONAL
HOME & GARDEN
JEWELRY
MUSIC
MUSIC INSTRUMENTS
OFFICE PRODUCTS
SOFTWARE
SPORTING GOODS
TOOLS & HARDWARE
TOYS
VIDEO GAMES
SHOPPING HOME
MORE SHOPPING...
EVENTS
November -
--- - The British video game magazine
Computer And Video Games
(C&VG) starts.
--- -
Game & Watch
- released in
Sweden
.
Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel found ''
Electronic Games
'', the first magazine on video games and generally recognized as the beginning of
Video Game Journalism
.
Notable releases
Midway
releases the ''
Gorf
'' arcade game
Sega
releases the ''
Frogger
'' video game, which was developed by
Konami
Namco
releases ''
New Rally-X
'', ''
Warp And Warp
'', ''
Galaga
'', ''
Ms. Pac-Man
'' and ''
Bosconian
'', which is the first game to have a continue feature.
Nelsonic
releases the ''
Space Attacker
'' watch LCD game
Nintendo
releases
Shigeru Miyamoto
's ''
Donkey Kong
'' arcade game
Williams Electronics
releases
Eugene Jarvis
's ''
Stargate
'' arcade game
IBM
and
Microsoft
include the game ''
DONKEY.BAS
'' with the
IBM PC
, arguably the first
IBM PC Compatible
game.
''
Ultima
'' and ''
Wizardry
'' are released, starting two of the most successful lines of
CRPGs
Hardware
Astrovision
Inc. distributes the
Bally Computer System
after buying the rights from
Bally
/
Midway
Acorn Computers Ltd
releases the
BBC Micro
home computer, which brought the game ''
Elite
'' to prominence
Coleco
Industries releases the
Total Control 4
home console
Commodore Business Machines
releases the
Commodore VIC-20
home computer
SEGA
test markets the
SG-1000
home console in
Japan
Sinclair Research
releases the
ZX81
home computer, the first widely available 'domestic' computer to play games in the UK. Shortly,
J.K. Greye Software
publishes ''
3D Monster Maze
'' written by
Malcolm Evans
– the first computer game featuring real-time
3D Graphics
without using specialized
Vector Graphics
hardware
Business
APF
Electronics Inc. goes defunct