1982

January

• In Las Vegas, Nevada, the Winter Consumer Electronics Show is held. Atari shows a prototype new game system with 16 kB memory. Mattel Electronics introduces twelve new cartridges for the Intellivision game system. Mattel also introduces the Intellivoice voice synthesis module for the Master Component. Commodore International announces the Commodore Ultimax game system. Release price is expected to be US$150. Astrovision shows the Professional Arcade, for US$299, plus a Zgrass-32 keyboard with Z-80 CPU for US$600 making it a home computer. Imagic launches its first three video game cartridges. North American Philips introduces K.C. Munchkin and Quest for the Rings video game cartridges. Coleco Industries introduces cartridges for the Atari VCS and Intellivision game systems: Phoenix, Mouse Trap, Venture, Donkey Kong, Vanguard, and Round-Up. Coleco also announces it will introduce a video game system later in year. Atari shows video game cartridges: Defender, Pac-Man, Berzerk, and three others. [10.64,66] [35.235] [89.112] (Commodore Unimax [39.17])
• Coleco Industries ships the Pac-Man tabletop game to stores. The unit measures 8 x 6 x 8 inches, and sells for US$55. [109.D14]

(month unknown)

• Walter Day begins the Twin Galaxies National Scoreboard, recording video game high scores. [866.140]
• Quote of Harold Vogel, financial analyst at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, about the home video game market: "The unrestrained growth will come to an end. There will be casualties as the business levels off, which should be fairly soon.". [89.136]

February 6

• The Ormond Beach Commission in Florida approves an ordinance prohibiting electronic games from being placed within 1000 feet of a school, church, or youth activity center in Ormond Beach. [107.59]

February 8

• Council of Bradley, Illinois, bars children under 16 from playing video arcade games. [292.7]

February 9

• The Boston suburb of Marlborough, Massachusettes, passes an ordinance barring the use of video games by anyone under age 18 during school class hours or late at night, and bans placement of the games within 1500 feet of public schools. [108.14] (February 8 [292.7])

February

• Parker Bros. enters the video game cartridge market. [288.32]

February 19

• Mattel Electronics introduces several of its Intellivision video games modified to play on the Atari VCS game system. [110.30]

February 23

• The US Supreme Court announces it will not decide on the Mesquite versus Alladin's Castle case. The Federal Appeals Court must determine if the circumstances of the case are specific to the Texas constitution, in which case the US Supreme Court would have no jurisdiction. [89.128] [111.A15]

March

• Imagic releases the Demon Attack video game cartridge. [120.D4] [121.D4] [283.55]
• Atari releases the Pac-Man video game cartridge for the Atari VCS system. Price is US$37. [109.D14] [113.D4] [279.48]
• Stern releases the Frenzy arcade video game. [89.188]

March 18

• Federal District Judge George Leighton in Chicago orders Magnavox Home Entertainment Center to take its K.C. Munchkin video game off the market because of similarity to Atari's Pac-Man. [112.D5]

January-March

• Unit sales of video game cartridges over the past three months: 14.3 million. [137.D1]

(month unknown)

• U.S. Games releases the Space Jockey video game cartridge for the Atari VCS system. [116.D3]

April

• Atari receives a patent for improved methods of generating moving objects on a video display screen. [114.39]
• MCA's Sidney Sheinberg claims the Donkey Kong video game infringes on Universal Studios' copyright for the movie King Kong. Nintendo is given 48 hours to turn over all profits from the game and destroy any unsold games. (By the end of the year, a judge will rule in Nintendo's favor.) [124.117]

April 20

• Gabriel Industries, a division of CBS/Columbia, announces a four-year agreement with Bally Manufacturing to market home video game versions of Bally arcade games. [115.D5]

April 22

• The Quaker Oats Company announces it has acquired the home video game assets of U.S. Games Corporation. [116.D3]

April 30

• New York Superior Court judge Milton Feller declares unconstitutional a community ordinance in Garwood, New Jersey, that required video game players to be at least 18 years old. [117.30]

May 3

• Walt Disney Productions files a suit against Williams Electronics for infringing Disney's Tron trademark, by the arcade video game Robotron. [118.D5]

May

• Quote by George Ditomassi, senior Vice President of Milton Bradley: "You've got a bloodbath coming in cartridges.". [287.114]
• Quote by Raymond Kasar, chairman of Atari: "It's a ridiculous notion that [the video game market] is going to burn out.". [287.114]

(month unknown)

• Milton Bradley introduces the Pac-Man board game based on the video game. [109.D14] [786.76]

June

• At the Summer Consumer Electronics Show, Magnavox shows the Odyssey2 video game machine. [58.D1]

June 6

• At the Summer CES, 20th Century-Fox Film announces its entry into the video game industry, by forming a new division to create software for the Atari VCS game system. [57.D5] [152.D6]

June 15

• New York state Supreme Court justice Thomas Galligan rules that New York City could limit locations of video game arcades, saying that the games are not protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. [129.B3]

June

• Coleco Industries announces the ColecoVision video game system. [12]
• Commodore International releases the Commodore Max Machine game system. It has 16-color 40x25 screen capability. Price is US$179.95. Former name was Ultimax. It is sold only in Japan. [11.162] [35.237] [287.83]
• MCA files a lawsuit against Nintendo claiming copyright infringement of Donkey Kong against the film King Kong. [124.122]
• Atari announces a deal with Star Wars film producer Lucasfilm to market games designed by Lucasfilm. [289.60]

June 17

• Atari grants Centuri exclusive worldwide rights to manufacture and distribute the Tunnel Hunt arcade game. [130.D4]

June 30

• Video game machines are in about 8 million US homes. [59.D4]

June (month)

• Number one arcade game at end of June: Zaxxon by Sega Enterprises. [59.D4]

April-June

• Unit sales of video game cartridges over the past three months: 19.2 million. [137.D1]

(month unknown)

• Mattel Electronics ships several of its Intellivision video games modified to play on the Atari VCS game system. [110.30]
• Mattel Electronics introduces the Intellivision II video game system. [12]
• Astrovision renames the Bally Computer System as the Astrocade. [12]
• The Computer Software division of Walt Disney Productions produces the Tron video game for the Intellivision and Atari VCS systems. [75.100]
• Milton Bradley releases board games based on video games Donkey Kong and Zaxxon. [786.76]

July

• Sega Enterprises and Coleco ship the Donkey Kong video game cartridge. (Six million cartridges are sold, worth US$4.6 million.) [59.D4] [124.121]

July 9

• Bally Manufacturing debuts the TRON arcade game. [59.D4]

July

• Paramount airs television commercials promoting Sega Enterprises's Zaxxon arcade game. This is the first television commercial for an arcade game. [59.D4]

July 21

• Atari signs a deal to make a video game based on the film E.T. the Extraterrestrial. [348.48]

July 26

• Federal District judge George Leighton rules that Mattel Electronics had infringed patents of Magnavox on the Odyssey video game system. [61.D4]

August

• Coleco Industries introduces the Colecovision home video game system. [47.F6] [80.D1]

August 18

• Atari announces it has obtained exclusive worldwide rights to market video games based on the film E.T. the Extraterrestrial. [62.D6]

(month unknown)

• Milton Bradley buys General Consumer Electronics. [17.10] [293.40]

September

• Control Video company demonstrates the Gameline service, which can deliver video games over phone lines to a special modem cartridge in an Atari 2600 game system. [147.D5]

July-September

• Unit sales of video game cartridges over the past three months: 24.1 million. [137.D1]

(month unknown)

• Sega releases the Astron Belt laser-disc video game in Japan and Europe. This is the first game release to use full-motion video clips overlaid with computer graphics. [302.39] [960.22]

October

• Atari introduces the Atari 5200 video game system. Price is US$269. [80.D4] [280.57] [287.114] [289.60]
• Atari releases E.T. the Extraterrestrial game cartridge for the Atari 2600 game system. (4 million cartridges are produced, 2 million are sold, 1 million are returned. The game is considered one of the worst video games ever made. Millions of cartridges are later buried in a land-fill site.) [284.125] [348.48]

October 31

• To date, Coleco Industries has sold over 2.2 million table-top video-game machines. [80.D1]

(month unknown)

• Sales of Atari Pac-Man video game cartridges to date: 5 million. [120.D4]
• Entex Industries releases the AdventureVision game system, a US$75 standalone unit that can play US$15 cartridges. [286.44]

November 7

• United Features Syndicate sues Creative Computing for copyright infringement, asking Creative Computing to stop selling the computer game Snoopy and destroy existing video cartridges. [81.D4]

November 9

• Mattel Electronics announces it would offer converter hardware allowing the Intellivision to play Atari 2600 cartridges. [80.D4]

November 13

• Scott Safran of Pennsylvania scores a world record 41,336,440 in Asteroids. (The record continues to hold through 2005.) [778.45]

November 15

• Atari signs an agreement with Nintendo for the world-wide license of Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Junior video games for Atari home computers. [119.D5]

November

• Video game maker Games by Apollo of Richardson, Texas, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. [126.D5]

November 29

• Atari files a copyright infringement suit against Imagic, claiming Demon Attack is a copy of Centuri's Phoenix game, which Atari has the exclusive right to produce for the home game market. [121.D4] [285.76]

(month unknown)

• General Consumer Electronics introduces the Vectrex, the first home gaming system with a built-in 9-inch monochrome vector monitor. It uses a Motorola 68A09 processor. Price: US$200. [12] [16.82] [26.92]
• Emerson introduces the Arcadia 2001 video game system. Price is US$99. [286.43] [1091.92]
• Milton Bradley announces a voice-command unit for video game systems. [293.40]
• Quote by an Atari executive: "I can put horse**** in a cartridge and sell a million of them.". [598.18]

December 2

• Atari signs a long-term agreement with Destron, to market home video game versions of Destron's arcade games. [125.D5]

December 7

• Atari announces that sales of Video Computer Systems are not meeting predicted levels. [644.200]

December 8

• Atari sues Coleco Industries for US$350 million, charging patent infringement, for Coleco's Expansion Module No. 1, which allows Atari 2600 cartridges to be played on the ColecoVision system. Coleco countersues for US$500 million claiming Atari violates antitrust laws. [127.D5] [285.76]
• Warner Communications announces that fourth quarter earnings would be substantially below expectations, due to sluggish sales in its Atari video games division. [47.F6] [48.D8] [123.D4] [288.31]

December 9

• Mattel announces it expects a fourth-quarter loss due to increased competition in video games, and a general slump in the retail industry. [122.41] [123.D4]
• Warner Communications loses one-third of its market value in stock trading. [123.D4]

December 10

• Imagic postpones its public stock offering from mid-December to early next year due to "unsettled market conditions". [122.41]
• Mattel loses one-third of its market value in heavy stock trading. [122.41]

December

• In the New York District Court, judge Robert Sweet rules in favor of Nintendo over MCA Universal in the case of copyright infringement of the film King Kong by the video game Donkey Kong. Judge Sweet grants a summary dismissal, as MCA did not own the rights to King Kong, and even if they did, the game is considered completely different from the movie. (The case is appealed to the US Supreme Court, but the ruling stands. Nintendo is awarded US$1.8 million.) [124.124]

December 16

• The ABC TV network airs the half-hour animated special Christmas Comes to Pac-Land. [678.S2.25] [679.C27]

December 31

• Unit sales of home video game systems to date: 15 million. [54.D2]

October-December

• Unit sales of video game cartridges over the past three months: 24.4 million. [137.D1]

Year

• Arcade video game shipments for the year: 480,000. [53.D9] [145.C11]
• Arcade video game revenue (from coins) for the year: US$7.3 billion. [53.D1] [145.C11]
• Sales of arcade video game machines during the year: US$4.5 billion. [305.37]
• Unit sales of home video game systems during the year: 8 million, worth US$1.3 billion. [52.D1] [150.D4] [162.1] [300.104] [303.78] (US$900 million [18.9])
• Atari makes a net profit of US$300 million for the year, on US$1.7 billion in sales. [27.D5] [190.1-5]
• Unit sales of Colecovision game systems during the year: about 500,000. [147.D5] [300.31]
• Unit sales of video game cartridges during the year: about 60 million, worth US$1.6 billion. [49.C17] [52.D1] [303.78] (65 million [150.D4]) (75 million [162.1]) (82 million [137.D1]) (worth US$1.1 billion [18.9])
• Sales of video game systems and cartridges in the US during the year: US$3.2 billion. [164.S3.6] [167.D23] [190.1-7] [312.39]