1996 in video gaming

March — The Swedish video game magazine Super Power, started in 1993, changes its name to Super PLAY.
May 16-18 — 2nd annual E³
August 8 — John Romero leaves id Software, forming Ion Storm in Dallas, Texas in November with Tom Hall (who had left id in 1993).
August 15 — Gunpei Yokoi resigns from Nintendo and founds his own company, Koto, on September 11.
DigiPen Institute of Technology receives accreditation, making it the first school in the world to offer college degrees in video game development.
December 19 — VGMusic.com debuts on the web, specializing in video game MIDI.

January 29 — Duke Nukem 3D, successor to the simple side-scrolling originals, and a genre-redefining title for first person shooters. (PC)
March — Capcom releases Resident Evil for the PlayStation in Japan and the United States. It is believed to have invented the term "survival horror" and it popularized the genre.
May 31 — id releases Quake, advancing 3D graphics technology on the PC and starting a franchise that has sold more than 4 million games.
June 23 — Nintendo releases Super Mario 64, the first 3D Mario game, in Japan as the flagship for their new Nintendo 64 system.
September 3 — Sony releases Crash Bandicoot video game. Crash Bandicoot is used as the mascot for their PlayStation console.
September 27 — 3DO publicly launches Meridian 59, widely regarded as the first MMORPG.
October — Red Alert, the second major title in the Command & Conquer fanchise, and the most popular one yet. (PC)
November 15 — Tomb Raider is released for the PC, Sony Playstation, and the Sega Saturn. It spawns a series of sequels as well as a series of movies.
November 30 — Diablo is released. It is the first chapter in Blizzard Entertainment's enormously popular series. (PC)
December 3 — Shadows of the Empire (video game) is released for N64 and PC. It is part of a large cross-media project by LucasArts.

Crusader: No Regret, the critically acclaimed sequel to Origin's innovative Crusader: No Remorse. (PC)
Daggerfall, a notable evolution of the sandbox RPG started with The Elder Scrolls: Arena. (PC)
Final Doom, the final release of the original Doom series. Contains 2 large and original storylines. (PC)
Master of Orion II, the sequel to the revolutionary original. (PC)
MechWarrior 2 Mercenaries, a successful sequel to the well-received MechWarrior 2. (PC)
Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh, a controversial sequel to the controversial original. (PC)
Rebel Assault II - The Hidden Empire, sequel to the innovative original, and the final interactive movie-based Star Wars game. (PC)
The first console emulators appear.

Bandai's Tamagotchi virtual pet handheld
Nintendo:
- Nintendo 64 64-bit home console
- Game Boy Pocket (GBP) handheld console (30% smaller version of the previous Game Boy handheld console)
SEGA's Net Link modem for the Sega Saturn home console
SNK's Neo Geo CDZ (Japan only)
Namco's Alpine Racer arcade game, including a new type of user interface

February — Blizzard Entertainment acquires a development group known as Condor, renaming it Blizzard North.
February 13 — Atari Corporation announces a plan to merge with JTS Corp..
April — Eidos acquires Centregold plc, which holds Core Design (creator of the Lara Croft character) and U.S. Gold.
June — Firaxis Games is formed By Jeff Briggs with Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds.
November 13 — Tom Clancy and Virtus Corp. found Red Storm Entertainment, headed by Doug Littlejohns.
Infogrames Entertainment SA acquires Ocean Software Ltd.
Midway Games, Inc. (subsidiary of WMS Industries, formerly known as Williams Electronics) acquires Atari Games Corp. from Warner Communications Inc. (AOL Time Warner in 2000)
Technos Japan Corporation, originator of the Nekketsu Kouha Kunio Kun series and Double Dragon series, goes out of business (assets acquired by Atlus Corporation)
Black Isle Studios forms as a division by Interplay; doesn't use Black Isle name until 1998
Game Park Inc. founded in South Korea
The company formed by Microprose and Spectrum Holobyte in 1993 starts branding using only the Microprose name.
Overworks, Ltd. formed
Zed Two Limited formed
Nintendo of America, Inc. v. Computer & Entertainment, Inc.

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