1990 in video games

Events

• August – Publication of Swedish language video game magazine Nintendomagasinet begins.
• March 8 – the Nintendo World Championships begins.

  Business

• Nintendo v. Color Dreams lawsuit: Nintendo sues Color Dreams over unlicensed production of Nintendo video games.
• Toy Headquarters merges with Trinity Acquisition Corporation forming THQ.
• New companies: Eidos, Interactive Studios, Team17, Natsume, Revolution Software
• Defunct: Tynesoft

  Notable releases

• Bonk's Adventure is released for NEC's TurboGrafx-16 and is the first US appearance of Bonk, the mascot of the TurboGrafx-16.
• Namco releases Kyuukai Douchuuki, World Stadium '90, Final Lap 2, Pistol Daimyo no Bouken, which is a spin-off from Berabow Man, Souko Ban Deluxe, Dragon Saber, Rolling Thunder 2, Steel Gunner and Golly! Ghost!.
• February 12 – Nintendo releases the NES game Super Mario Bros. 3 in North America. It sells 17.28 million copies, making it one of the best-selling stand-alone video games of all time.
• April – Konami releases Snake's Revenge, a sequel to Metal Gear for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, developed without the involvement of Hideo Kojima.
• April – Williams releases Smash TV in arcades, a twin-stick shooter about an ultra-violent game show.
• April 20 – Nintendo releases ' in Japan, innovating the tactical role-playing genre.
• June 1 – Origin releases '
• July 12 – Nintendo of America publishes Final Fantasy for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America. This game started Square's popular and long-running Final Fantasy series.
• July 20 – for the MSX2 computer, is released exclusively in Japan. It is Konamis last major game for the hardware.
• July 27– Nintendo releases Dr. Mario for 3 Nintendo platforms.
• August – Pit Fighter from Atari Games introduces digitized sprites to arcade fighting games.
• September 26 – Origin releases the first Wing Commander game.
• September 28 – Capcom releases Mega Man 3 for NES in Japan, introducing the characters Rush and Proto Man, Mega Man's slide is introduced, and Capcom's character cameos.
• November 9 – Sierra On-Line releases King's Quest V.
• October 15 – LucasArts releases The Secret of Monkey Island
• November 1 – Mega Man 3 is released in the US.
• November 21 – Nintendo releases Super Mario World and F-Zero in Japan as launch titles for the Super Famicom. Super Mario World introduced Yoshi and F-Zero introduced Captain Falcon.
• December 14 – Commander Keen is released as shareware, the first major platformer on a PC.
• Sega releases the R-360 arcade game, featuring the first 3D – 360° gameplay that physically rotated the real world player.
• Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon, the first of the "Tycoon" games, is released by MicroProse.
• Infogrames releases Alpha Waves, the first 3D platform game.
• Mindscape publishes Captive.
• Konami releases Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Arcade Game, on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

  Hardware

• Camerica releases Codemasters' Game Genie adapter in Canada and the UK.
• NEC releases the TurboExpress handheld console.
• Nintendo releases the Super Famicom 16-bit console in Japan.
• SNK releases the Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System home console.
• October 6 – Sega's Game Gear color handheld is released in Japan. It is launched in North America in 1991 and Europe and Australia in 1992.
• November 30 – Sega's Mega Drive released in Europe.
• Amstrad halts production of the ZX Spectrum, ending that platform's 8-year dominance of the UK home computer market.
• Amstrad introduces its only console, the Amstrad GX4000, which fails to garner interest and is discontinued the following year.

  Critically acclaimed titles