This Day in Video Game History: September 26

This Day in Video Game History: September 26
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This Day in Video Game History

1937

The half-hour radio program The Shadow, starring Orson Welles, premiered. It would go on to become one of the most popular radio dramas of the day, and the popularity of its pulp hero would be a motivating force behind the growth of the comic industry, which in turn will be one of the driving force behind the early video game industry.

1982

At the Tilt Arcade in Las Vegas, Nevada, Kenneth Vance, age 18, scored 722,500 points playing Atari’s Gravitar after having played the game for two hours and thirty-nine minutes according to Twin Galaxies records.

1991

Broderbund released the single-player side-scrolling adventure game The Battle of Olympus for the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe.

1996

Nintendo released the platform game Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64 in North America. It was the first 3D game in the Mario franchise, and it established the future gold standard for the genre. It’s camera system in particular was hailed as revolutionary, and it was frequently duplicated in future platform games. Overall, the game is cited to this day as one of the best and most influential in the history of video games. (ESRB: K-A)

1997

NEC Home Electronics released Comic Road for the NEC PC-FX video game console.

1998

Actual Entertainment released the racing game GUBBLE 2 for personal computers. Price: US$39.95

2000

Midway releases the racing game Destruction Derby Raw for the PlayStation in North America. (ESRB: E)

The video game distributor Navarre acquired two divisions of Beamscope, a Candian distributor of video game accessories and devices.

2001

Capcom releases the beat-em up arcade-style game Final Fight for the Game Boy Advance in North America. (ESRB: T)

2002

The 3DO Company released the expansion pack Heroes of Might and Magic IV: The Gathering Storm for the turn-based strategy game Heroes of Might and Magic IV for Windows in the U.S. The expansion features four new creatures, six new campaigns, sixteen new artifacts, and twenty new maps. (ESRB: E)

Electronic Arts released the racing game Drome Racers for Windows, the Game Boy Advance, GameCube, and PlayStation 2 in the U.S. The game offered LEGO gameplay with the ability to build custom vehicles. (ESRB: E)

2003

Electronic Arts releases the first-person shooter Medal of Honor Allied Assault Breakthrough for personal computers. It was the third game in the Medal of Honor series. The game was based on the Quake III Arena game engine and modification borrowed from Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.². (ESRB: T)

2004

Vivendi Universal released the first-person shooter Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter for the personal computer, the PlayStation 2, and Xbox in Europe. It’s most notable feature is the ability to swiftly switch between an individual character and vehicular combat without pause. (PEGI 16+)

2006

Bandai Namco Games released the racing game The Fast and the Furious, based on the film franchise, for the PlayStation 2 in North America. (ESRB: T)

Square Enix released the roleplaying game (RPG) Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria for the PlayStation 2 in North America. (ESRB: T)

2007

Activision’s Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Enhanced becomes one of Microsoft’s Platinum Hits.

Halo 3

Microsoft Game Studios released the first-person shooter Halo 3 for the Xbox 360 in Europe. The game will be a smash hit, dubbed by some the “killer app” of the XBox 360. Within the first week of its release, it would gross over three hundred million dollars. By January, it will have sold over 8.1 million copies, to become the best-selling game of the 2007. (BBFC: 15, PEGI: 16+)

Nintendo announced that over fifty million units of the Nintendo DS handheld video game system have been sold since the system’s release on November 21, 2004, making it the fastest-selling handheld game system in history.