Video Game History: On This Day July 23rd

On this day in history, July 23rd …

1985

Commodore International introduces the new Commodore Amiga, or Amiga 1000. The system features a multitasking, windowing operating system, color graphics with a 4096-color palette and TV output, stereo sound, a Motorola 68000 CPU, 256kB RAM, and a 880kB 3.5-inch disk drive. In a 1994 profile, Byte Magazine will later call the Amiga 1000 “the first multimedia computer.” Price: US$1,295

The prosecution of Cathy Morris begins in Santa Clara, California. Morris, a former secretary at Atari, is accused of allegedly stealing US$15,970 with forged checked by her former employer, Anton “Tony” Bruehl, former president of Atari’s international division. Morris pleads innocence, claiming that allegation arose only after Bruehl’s wife discovered that the two were having an affair. A week later, Judge R. Donald Chapman will dismiss the charges due to insufficient evidence.

1993

Sega releases The Super Shinobi II for the Sega Genesis in Japan.

1997

Microsoft announces that its next Windows operating system, which has previously been code-named Memphis, will be named Windows 98.

1999

Yuji Nishizawa, age 28, hijacks an All Nippon Airways Jumbo Jet at knife-point at approximately 11:00 am. The Tokyo resident uses a twenty centimeter knife to force a flight attendant into letting him into the cockpit. He then forces the co-pilot to leave and stabs the pilot. Shortly after noon, the crew overpower the man, but a doctor who is also passenger on the flight pronounces the pilot dead soon after the plane’s landing. In the course of the investigation following the dramatic events, it was discovered that Nishizawa, who was allegedly obsessed with flight simulators, had hijacked the plane under the influence of a high dose of antidepressants in order to fly under Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo Bay. In 2005, the man will be sentenced to life in prison for premeditated murder.

2001

Atari releases the real-time tactics game Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive, set in the old west, for Windows in the US. (ESRB: T)

Sony Computer Entertainment (SOE) releases the survival horror game Extermination for the Sony PlayStation 2 in North America. The game was one of those used to promote the PlayStation 2 before the system’s release. Because of its use for demonstrations and the fact that the game is the system’s first survival horror game at a time when the genre is in vogue, Extermination receives an enormous amount of publicity, but it’s reception by critics and consumers will be indifferent. ESRB: M (Mature)

2002

Sega releases the racing game Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller for the Microsoft Xbox in the US. (ESRB: T)

2003

The Adventure Company releases the British first-person horror game Dark Fall for Windows globally.

2005

Data Design Interactive releases the platform game Ninjabread Man for Windows in Europe. (PEGI: 3+)

Nintendo releases the Nintendo DS handheld video game system in China. Nintendo also releases the puzzle game Polarium for the Nintendo DS in China. Nintendo releases WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! for the Game Boy Advance in China.

2007

EA Sports releases the racing game NASCAR 08 for the Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in the US. It is the fourteenth game in the EA Sports NASCAR series. (ESRB: E)