Events
Notable releases
- February 12 - Nintendo releases the Super Mario Bros. 3 video game in North America. It sells 17.28 million copies, making it the bestselling, standalone video game of all time.
- November 21 - Nintendo releases Super Mario World in Japan as a launch titles for the Super Famicom (released for the SNES in North America in August 1991). It introduced the Yoshi character.
- Nintendo of America introduces Squaresoft's Final Fantasy video game series to North America.
- Sega releases the R-360 arcade game, featuring the first 3D - 360° gameplay.
- Origin releases the first Wing Commander game. It pioneers cinematic storytelling in computer games and eventually led to a movie, TV show, and a series of books.
- Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon, the first of the "Tycoon" games, is released by MicroProse.
- December 14 - Commander Keen is released as shareware. John Carmack's smooth-scrolling graphics engine helps it become the first major platformer on a PC.
- Capcom releases Mega Man III for NES, introducing the Rush and Proto Man characters, Mega Man's slide, and Capcom's character cameos.
Hardware
Business
- Nintendo v. Color Dreams lawsuit: Nintendo sues Color Dreams over unlicensed production of Nintendo video games
- THQ Inc.: Toy Head-Quarters merges with Trinity Acquisition Corporation
- New companies: Eidos Interactive, Team17 Software Limited, Natsume Inc.
