1986 in video gaming

Events

Notable releases

*Namco releases "Sky Kid Deluxe", "Hopping Mappy", "Toy Pop", "The Return of Ishtar", which is the sequel to "Tower of Druaga", "Genpei Tōma Den", and "Rolling Thunder".
*August 6 — "Metroid" by Makoto Kanoh, the first in the Metroid series.
*February 21 — "The Legend of Zelda" (designed by Shigeru Miyamoto for the Nintendo Famicom Disk System), the first in The Legend of Zelda series, a spiritual forerunner of console role-playing games
*"Arkanoid" (Taito, arcade), spawned many sequels and remakes
*"Bubble Bobble" (Taito, arcade), spawned many sequels
*"" was released in October
*"Dragon Quest" (Enix, Famicom), usually considered the foremost console role-playing game, the first in a series that has been phenomenally successful in Japan

Hardware

*Namco releases the Namco System '86 arcade system board
*Atari releases the Atari 7800 home console two years after its original test market date
*Sega releases the Sega Master System home console in the United States; releases the "Out Run" arcade game
*Sharp releases the Twin Famicom home console
*Nintendo releases the Famicom Disk System (an add-on for the Famicom) in Japan only

Business

*New companies: Acclaim, Majesco, Ubi Soft
*June 13 - Activision merges with Infocom Inc.
*Activision acquires Gamestar Software
*Sinclair Research Ltd. is acquired by Amstrad