1994 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country, Final Fantasy VI, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Virtua Fighter 2 and Doom II, along with new titles such as Daytona USA, Ace Driver, Alpine Racer and Tekken.
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The year's best-selling video game console was the Game Boy, while the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis remained the best-selling home console. The year's highest-grossing arcade video games were Super Street Fighter II X (Super Street Fighter II Turbo) and Virtua Fighter in Japan, and Daytona USA and Mortal Kombat II in the United States, while the year's best-selling home video game worldwide was Donkey Kong Country.
Events
- Nintendo proclaims "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".[1][2]
- Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.
- "Project Reality" is renamed the Nintendo Ultra 64. The console's design is revealed to the public for the first time in spring 1994.
- The second of two congressional hearings on video games takes place on March 5. Topics for discussion include the depiction of violence and sexual content in video games, their influence on children, and the prospect of governmental regulation of video game content.
- April – The Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) is founded in response to the hearings (name changed to the Entertainment Software Association in 2003); the IDSA founds the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in order to self-regulate content in video games in the mold of the Motion Picture Association of America film rating system.
- April 28 – Sega and MGM make a venture to create video games, movies, and television programs.
- June 24 – The Computer Game Developers Association is formed by Ernest W. Adams.
- November – Game Zero magazine drops their print format and becomes the first video game news magazine on the web.
- November 10 – William Higinbotham, creator of Tennis for Two (1958), dies at 84.
Hardware releases
- Aiwa releases the Aiwa Mega-CD multimedia home console in Japan only.
- Bandai releases the Playdia multimedia home console.
- NEC releases the PC-FX multimedia home console.
- Sega:
- introduces the North American cable TV Sega Channel in cooperation with Time Warner (AOL Time Warner); the subscription service provides Sega Genesis games via cable box to customers
- releases the Sega 32X add-on for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in Europe (November 14), North America (November 21) and Japan (December 3)
- releases the Sega Nomad handheld console in North America, a portable Sega Genesis.
- releases the Sega Saturn home console in Japan on November 22
- SNK releases the Neo Geo CD home console.
- Sony releases the PlayStation home console in Japan on December 3.
- Nintendo releases the Super Game Boy adapter for the Super NES home console.
- Atari Corporation discontinues the Lynx handheld system.
Top-rated games
Game of the Year awards
The following titles won Game of the Year awards for 1994.
Famitsu Platinum Hall of Fame
The following video game releases in 1994 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40.[9]
| Title | Platform | Developer | Publisher | Genre | Score (out of 40) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final Fantasy VI | Super Famicom | Squaresoft | Squaresoft | RPG | 37 |
| Ridge Racer | PlayStation | Namco | Namco | Racing | 37 |
| Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo (Mystery of the Emblem) | Super Famicom | Intelligent Systems | Nintendo | SRPG | 36 |
| Virtua Fighter | Sega Saturn | Sega AM2 | Sega | Fighting | 36 |
Financial performance
Highest-grossing arcade games
The best-selling arcade printed circuit board (PCB) worldwide in 1994 was SNK's Neo Geo MVS system.[10]
Japan
The following titles were the top ten highest-grossing arcade games of 1994 in Japan.
| Rank | Gamest[6] | Game Machine[11] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Manufacturer | Title | Type | Points | |
| 1 | Super Street Fighter II X: Grand Master Challenge | Capcom | Virtua Fighter | PCB / Deluxe | 5857 |
| 2 | Virtua Fighter | Sega | Super Street Fighter II / X | PCB | 5003 |
| 3 | Garō Densetsu Special (Fatal Fury Special) | SNK | Puyo Puyo | PCB | 3466 |
| 4 | Vampire: The Night Warriors (Darkstalkers) | Capcom | Ridge Racer | Deluxe | 3265 |
| 5 | The King of Fighters '94 | SNK | Super Real Mahjong PIV | PCB | 2909 |
| 6 | Super Street Fighter II | Capcom | Shanghai III | PCB | 2794 |
| 7 | Gokujo Parodius | Konami | Raiden II | PCB | 2718 |
| 8 | Ridge Racer | Namco | Lethal Enforcers | Dedicated | 2713 |
| 9 | Daytona USA | Sega | Tetris (Sega) | PCB | 2686 |
| 10 | Puyo Puyo | Compile | OutRunners | 2P cabinet | 2676 |
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the following titles were the highest-grossing games of each month in 1994.
| Month | Dedicated arcade cabinet | Printed circuit board (PCB) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | Ridge Racer | [12][13] | |
| March | Ridge Racer | Super Street Fighter II Turbo | [14] |
| April | [15] | ||
| May | Daytona USA | [16] | |
| June | [17] | ||
| July | Daytona USA | [18] | |
| August | [19] | ||
| September | [20] | ||
| October | Daytona USA | Gunbird | [21] |
Virtua Fighter by Sega AM2 was also one of the UK's most popular coin-ops of the year.[22]
United States
In the United States, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade video games of 1994.
| Rank | Play Meter | AAMA[23][24] | AMOA[25][26] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Award | Dedicated arcade cabinet | Arcade conversion kit | ||
| 1 | Daytona USA, Mortal Kombat II[27] | Daytona USA (Twin) Cruis'n USA, Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat II, Neo Geo MVS | Diamond | Mortal Kombat II | |
| 2 | Lethal Enforcers, Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, NBA Jam: Tournament Edition, Virtua Fighter | NBA Jam: Tournament Edition, Raiden II, Super Street Fighter II, Samurai Shodown | |||
| 3 | Unknown | ||||
| 4 | |||||
| 5 | |||||
| 6 | Unknown | NBA Jam: Tournament Edition | Platinum | — | |
| 7 | Unknown | Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, Raiden II, Revolution X | Gold | — | |
| 8 | |||||
| 9 | |||||
| 10 | Unknown | Alien vs. Predator, Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom, Super Street Fighter II Turbo | Silver | ||
| 11 | |||||
| 12 | |||||
Best-selling video game consoles
| Rank | Manufacturer | Game console | Type | Generation | Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | USA | Europe | Elsewhere | Worldwide | |||||
| 1 | Nintendo | Game Boy | Handheld | 8-bit | 1,140,000[28] | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | 7,500,000+[29] |
| 2 | Sega | Mega Drive / Genesis | Home | 16-bit | 500,000[30] | 4,000,000+[31] | 1,540,000[30] | 1,000,000[30] | 7,040,000+ |
| 3 | Nintendo | Super NES | Home | 16-bit | 2,200,000[30] | 2,058,000[32] | 1,060,000[30] | 900,000[30] | 6,218,000 |
| 4 | Sega | Sega CD / Mega-CD | Home | 16-bit | 150,000[30] | 550,000[30] | 205,000[30] | — | 905,000[30] |
| 5 | Sega | Game Gear | Handheld | 8-bit | 350,000[28] | 500,000+[31] | Unknown | Unknown | 850,000+ |
| 6 | Sega | Sega Saturn | Home | 32-bit | 840,000[28] | — | — | — | 840,000 |
| 7 | Sega | 32X | Home | 32-bit | 270,000[33] | 500,000[31] | 65,000[30] | — | 835,000 |
| 8 | Panasonic | 3DO | Home | 32-bit | 450,000[28] | 160,000[30] | 15,000[30] | 5,000+[30] | 630,000+ |
| 9 | Sony | PlayStation | Home | 32-bit | 600,000[28] | — | — | — | 600,000 |
| 10 | Nintendo | NES / Famicom | Home | 8-bit | 280,000[28] | 268,000[32] | Unknown | Unknown | 548,000+ |
Best-selling home video games
The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games (console games or computer games) worldwide in 1994.
| Rank | Title | Platform(s) | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan[34] | USA[35] | Worldwide | |||
| 1 | Donkey Kong Country (Super Donkey Kong) | Super NES | 956,000 | 2,057,006 | 6,000,000[36] |
| 2 | Street Fighter II | Multi-platform | 941,000+ | 989,178+[a] | 3,709,090+[b] |
| 3 | Final Fantasy VI (Final Fantasy III) | Super NES | 2,550,000+[41] | 275,952 | 2,825,952+ |
| 4 | Mortal Kombat II | Multi-platform | Unknown | 1,929,494+ | 2,500,000+[42] |
| 5 | NBA Jam | Sega Genesis, Super NES | Unknown | 2,313,526 | 2,313,526+ |
| 6 | Sonic 3 & Knuckles | Mega Drive/Genesis | Unknown | 1,473,730 | 1,473,730+ |
| 7 | Madden NFL 95 | Sega Genesis, Super NES | — | 811,568 | 811,568+ |
| 8 | Super Metroid | Super NES | 531,000 | 256,262+[43] | 787,262+ |
| 9 | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers | Sega Genesis, Super NES | — | 731,910 | 731,910+ |
| 10 | J.League Excite Stage '94 (Capcom's Soccer Shootout) | Super Famicom | 714,000 | Unknown | 714,000+ |
Japan
In Japan, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1994.
| Rank | Title | Platform | Publisher | Genre | Sales | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Final Fantasy VI | Super Famicom | Squaresoft | RPG | 2,550,000+ | [41] |
| 2 | Super Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Country) | Super Famicom | Nintendo | Platformer | 956,000 | [34] |
| 3 | Super Street Fighter II | Super Famicom | Capcom | Fighting | 941,000 | |
| 4 | J.League Excite Stage '94 (Capcom's Soccer Shootout) | Super Famicom | Epoch Co. | Sports | 714,000 | |
| 5 | Super Bomberman 2 | Super Famicom | Hudson Soft | Maze | 713,000 | |
| 6 | Super Momotarō Dentetsu III | Super Famicom | Hudson Soft | Simulation | 610,000 | |
| 7 | Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 3 | Super Famicom | Bandai | Fighting | 595,000 | |
| 8 | Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo (Mystery of the Emblem) | Super Famicom | Nintendo | Tactical RPG | 563,000 | |
| 9 | Super Metroid | Super Famicom | Nintendo | Metroidvania | 531,000 | |
| 10 | Mother 2: Gīgu no Gyakushū (EarthBound) | Super Famicom | Nintendo | RPG | 518,000 |
United States
In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1994.[44]
| Rank | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher(s) | Genre | Sales | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NBA Jam | Sega Genesis, Super NES | Acclaim Entertainment | Sports | 2,313,526 | [35] |
| 2 | Donkey Kong Country | Super NES | Nintendo | Platformer | 2,057,006 | |
| 3 | Mortal Kombat II | Sega Genesis, Super NES | Acclaim Entertainment | Fighting | 1,929,494 | |
| 4 | Sonic 3 & Knuckles | Sega Genesis | Sega | Platformer | 1,473,730 | [35] |
| 5 | Street Fighter II | Sega Genesis, Super NES | Capcom | Fighting | 989,178+ | [a] |
| 6 | Madden NFL 95 | Sega Genesis, Super NES | EA Sports | Sports | 811,568 | [35] |
| 7 | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers | Sega Genesis, Super NES | Sega, Bandai | Action | 731,910 | |
| 8 | The Lion King | Sega Genesis, Super NES | Virgin Interactive | Platformer | 619,399 | |
| 9 | NBA Live 95 | Sega Genesis, Super NES | EA Sports | Sports | 542,758 | |
| 10 | Disney's Aladdin | Super NES | Capcom | Platformer | 421,996+ | [44][35] |
United Kingdom
HMV, a British entertainment retailer, released a monthly list of the chain's highest-selling home video game titles. The following titles topped the monthly all-formats charts, as reported by Computer and Video Games.
| Month | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher | Genre | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Sensible Soccer | Mega Drive | Sony | Sports (football) | [45] |
| February | SimCity 2000 | PC, Mac | Mindscape | City-building | [46] |
| March | NBA Jam | Mega Drive, SNES, GG | Acclaim | Sports (basketball) | [47] |
| April | Doom | PC | Id Software | FPS | [48] |
| May | World Cup Striker | SNES | U.S. Gold | Sports (football) | [49] |
| June | World Cup USA '94 | Mega Drive, SNES, GG | U.S. Gold | Sports (football) | [50] |
| July | Star Wars: TIE Fighter | PC | Virgin Interactive | Space combat | [51] |
| August | Super Street Fighter II | Mega Drive | Sega | Fighting | [52] |
| September | Mortal Kombat II | SNES, SMD, SMS, GG, GB | Acclaim | Fighting | [53] |
| October | Doom II | PC | Virgin Interactive | FPS | [54] |
| November | FIFA Soccer 95 | Mega Drive | EA Sports | Sports (football) | [55] |
| December | [56] |
Notable releases
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|
| Release | Title | System | Developer/Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2 | Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | SMD | Sega | Third installment of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Introduces Knuckles the Echidna. |
| March | X-COM: UFO Defense | DOS | Mythos Games/MicroProse | |
| March 19 | Super Metroid | SNES | Nintendo | Third in the Metroid series; distributed on a 24-megabit cartridge. Noted as the "best game of all time" by Electronic Gaming Monthly in 2002. |
| March 25 | The Elder Scrolls: Arena | DOS | Bethesda | Open-world action role-playing game, and the first game in the Elder Scrolls series |
| April 2 | Final Fantasy VI | SNES | Square Co. | Sixth title in the Final Fantasy series. Released on October 11 in the US. |
| May 6 | Magic Carpet | DOS, PS1, Sega Saturn | Bullfrog Productions | Action video game developed by Bullfrog Productions, a title deemed innovative and visually impressive at the time of its release, which features 3D real-time visuals. |
| June 14 | Donkey Kong 94 | GB | Nintendo | Remake of the first four stages of the original game, adding 96 puzzle based levels and new mechanics |
| July | TIE Fighter | DOS | LucasArts | |
| August 2 | Earthworm Jim | SNES, SMD | Shiny Entertainment | |
| August 25 | The King of Fighters '94 | Neo | SNK | First title in the King of Fighters series |
| August 27 | EarthBound | SNES | Nintendo | The only title in the series to be localized until Mother was released in the United States as EarthBound Beginnings in 2015. Also introduces Ness. |
| September | Master of Magic | DOS | MicroProse | |
| September 9 | Mortal Kombat II | SNES | Sculptured Software/Acclaim Entertainment | Released with all blood and fatalities left intact, the first major release on any Nintendo console at that point to have such content. |
| September 22 | System Shock | DOS | Looking Glass Studios/Origin Systems | |
| October 10 | Doom II | DOS | id Software | Sequel to the original first-person shooter DOOM. |
| Doom | Lin | Dave D. Taylor/id Software | Port of the original game, becoming the first major game for the Linux operating system. | |
| October 17[57] | Sonic & Knuckles | SMD | Sega | The sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog 3, allowing players to play as either Sonic or Knuckles. The cartridge features an adapter that can connect to Sonic 3, allowing the two games to be played consecutively. |
| October 28 | Killer Instinct | Arcade | Rare | The first arcade machine with an internal hard disk. |
| November 15 | Warcraft: Orcs & Humans | DOS | Blizzard Entertainment | The first game in the Warcraft franchise. Adapted into the 2016 film of the same name. |
| November 15 | NFL '95 | Sega Genesis and Sega Game Gear | Double Diamond Software Genesis and Blue Sky Software Game gear | Sixth game in the Joe Montana Football/NFL series. |
| November 21 | Donkey Kong Country | SNES | Rare/Nintendo | The first in the Donkey Kong Country series. Features 3D pre-rendered graphics. Also introduces Diddy Kong and King K. Rool. |
| November 23 | King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride | DOS | Sierra On-Line | First in the series to use SVGA graphics. |
| December[58] | The Need for Speed | 3DO | Electronic Arts | Launched one of the most successful racing game franchises of all time. |
| December | Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger | DOS | Origin | Space combat simulator game that adds interactive movie elements with big-name actors. One of the most expensive games developed for the time, costing about $4 million to produce.[59] |
| December 9 | Tekken | Arcade | Namco | Namco's first 3D fighting game, spawning the Tekken franchise. |
| December 10 | Wario's Woods | NES | Nintendo | The last official game to be released on the NES in North America before Nintendo would officially discontinue production of the console. |
| December 16 | King's Field | PS1 | FromSoftware | Released in Japan only, first in the King's Field series and the first 3D action RPG to be developed for a home console. Considered to be the predecessor of the Dark Souls series. Introduced the Moonlight Sword. |
| December 17 | Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium | SMD | Sega | |
| December 21 | Marathon | Mac | Bungie | One of the earliest original (non-ported) first-person shooters for the Mac computer. |
| December 27 | Heretic | DOS, Mac | Raven Software/id Software | First in the Heretic/Hexen series and also the first game bundled with DWANGO, one of the earliest online multiplayer services |
Business
- New companies: Neversoft
- Defunct: Commodore, Tradewest
- September 14 – Video gaming magazine Nintendomagasinet is cancelled after four years. Number 9 of 1994 would have been released on this day, but instead the magazine joins Super Power.
- Apogee establishes the 3D Realms Entertainment division.
- Blizzard Entertainment is renamed from Silicon & Synapse.
- SSI sold to Mindscape
- Alpex Computer Corp. v. Nintendo lawsuit: Alpex sues Nintendo over patent infringements related to the NES. Nintendo loses the case. (In 1996 this ruling was reversed by an appeals court, which determined that no patents had been infringed upon.)[60][61]
- Nintendo of America, Inc. v. Dragon Pacific Intern