Notable events of 1986 in video gaming. See also history of computer and video games.
Events
Notable releases
Namco releases Sky Kid Deluxe, Hopping Mappy, Toy Pop, The Return of Ishtar, which is the sequel to Tower of Druaga, Genpei Tลma Den, and Rolling Thunder.
August 6 โ Metroid by Makoto Kanoh, the first in the Metroid series.
February 21 โ The Legend of Zelda (designed by Shigeru Miyamoto for the Nintendo Famicom Disk System), the first in The Legend of Zelda series, a spiritual forerunner of console role-playing games
Arkanoid (Taito, arcade), spawned many sequels and remakes
Bubble Bobble (Taito, arcade), spawned many sequels
Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter was released in October
Dragon Quest (Enix, Famicom), usually considered the foremost console role-playing game, the first in a series that has been phenomenally successful in Japan
Hardware
Namco releases the Namco System '86 arcade system board
Atari releases the Atari 7800 home console two years after its original test market date
Sega releases the Sega Master System home console in the United States; releases the Out Run arcade game
Sharp releases the Twin Famicom home console
Nintendo releases the Famicom Disk System (an add-on for the Famicom) in Japan only
Business
New companies: Acclaim, Majesco, Ubi Soft
Activision acquires Gamestar Software
Sinclair Research Ltd. is acquired by Amstrad
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History of video games
By generation
First generation (1972-1977) ยท Second generation (1976-1984) ยท Video game crash of 1983 ยท Third generation (1983-1992) ยท Fourth generation (1987-1996) ยท Fifth generation (1993-2002) ยท Sixth generation (1998-2006) ยท Seventh generation (2004-)
