 |
Video Game Newsroom Time MachineAuthor: Karl Kuras
Monthly show looking back at video game news headlines from 30, 40, and 50 years ago from around the globe. Follow us on Twitter @videonewsr2 and consider supporting our patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/user?u7594060 Language: en Genres: History, Leisure, Video Games Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
Listen Now...
October 1994
Wednesday, 18 February, 2026
Japan goes after arcades, Nintendo's Famicon gets its first licensee & Gamers come together online These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in October 1994. As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events. Alex Smith of They Create Worlds is our cohost. Check out his podcast here: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/ and order his book here: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/book Get us on your mobile device: Android: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly92aWRlb2dhbWVuZXdzcm9vbXRpbWVtYWNoaW5lLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz iOS: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/video-game-newsroom-time-machine And if you like what we are doing here at the podcast, don't forget to like us on your podcasting app of choice, YouTube, and/or support us on patreon! https://www.patreon.com/VGNRTM Send comments on Mastodon @videogamenewsroomtimemachine@oldbytes.space Or twitter @videogamenewsr2 Or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vgnrtm Or videogamenewsroomtimemachine@gmail.com Links: If you don't see all the links, find them here: 7 Minutes in Heaven: Mortal Kombat 2 (SNES, Genesis, Game Gear, Game Boy) Video Version: https://youtu.be/KI-X2NobWF0 https://www.mobygames.com/game/600/mortal-kombat-ii/ Corrections: September 1994 Ep - https://youtu.be/CvMg_FUb3p0 Ethan's fine site The History of How We Play: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131646/ https://www.mobygames.com/company/8/software-toolworks-inc-the/ Console Wars Readthrough - https://youtu.be/wYhpTBPXZkI LGR Never Obsolete PC - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQo0yOqOb_4 George Morrow - Krzysztof Kieslowski - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001425/ 1994 Nintendo caves to E3 Nintendo of America to attend E3 show in Los Angeles, Business Wire, October 4, 1994, Tuesday CES interactive postponed Nintendo of America to attend E3 show in Los Angeles, Business Wire, October 4, 1994, Tuesday Nintendo lowers investor expectations NINTENDO TO SEE 2ND SALES, PROFIT DROPS, Jiji Press Ticker Service, OCTOBER 4, 1994, TUESDAY Nintendo revises FY '94 performance downward, Report From Japan, October 5, 1994 Nintendo sales, profits to post 2nd yearly fall,The Daily Yomiuri, October 5, 1994, Wednesday Nikkei lower on new issue worries, Financial Times (London,England), October 5, 1994, Wednesday, London, Section: World Stock Markets (Asia Pacific); Pg. 41, Byline: By EMIKO TERAZONO SEGA HITS '94 LOW ON TSE,Jiji Press Ticker Service,OCTOBER 4, 1994, ,TUESDAY Thornton warns of UK video game market decline THORNTON ISSUES WARNING AS VIDEO GAMES SALES PLUMMET, The Guardian (London), October 6, 1994, Section: THE GUARDIAN , CITY PAGE; Pg. 19 CentreGold buys Core CentreGold picks up Core, The Independent (London), October 27, 1994, Thursday, Section: BUSINESS & CITY PAGE; Page 42 Convergance is the name of the game Merging on The Information Superhighway The New Comfort Zone Where Public Meets Private - Correction Appended, The New York Times, Correction Appended, Distribution: Home Design MagazineHome Design Magazine, Section: Section 6; ; Section 6; Part 2; Page 40; Page 21; Column 3; Column 2; Home Design MagazineHome, Design Magazine ; Part 2; ; Column 3; Column 2;Byline: By Phil Patton; By JULIE V. IOVINE "Media Futures: SRI denounces superhighway claims, Financial Times (London,England), October 31, 1994, Monday, Section: Pg. 13 Length: 507 words, Byline: By RAYMOND SNODDY" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Simon Microsoft to buy Intuit Microsoft To Acquire Intuit, Shareholder Sues, Newsbytes News Network, October 14, 1994 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Money BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY; Banks Going Interactive to Fend Off New Rivals, The New York Times, October 19, 1994, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final, Distribution: Financial Desk, Section: Section D; ; Section D; Page 1; Column 3; Financial Desk ; Column 3; First Virtual Holdings brings banking into cyberspace A Credit Card for On-Line Sprees, New York Times (National Edition), October 15, 1994, Business and Industry, Section: Pg. Y17; Vol. 144; No. 49,850; ISSN: 0362-4331 https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/first-virtual https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einar_Stefferud HOME SHOPPING NETWORK STORE LAUNCH ON PRODIGY SUCCESSFUL, PR Newswire, October 18, 1994, Tuesday - 10:04 Eastern Time, Section: Financial News MicroTime Media is bringing ads to games Media: Watch out Sonic, the admen are coming; Maggie Brown meets the founder of an advertising agency that is putting commercials into computer games, The Independent (London), October 18, 1994, Tuesday, Section: MEDIA PAGE; Page 29 https://danielbobroff.com/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/1777/push-over/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/581/james-pond-2-codename-robocod/ Dreamworks announced Spielberg, Katzenberg, Geffen Troika Launch Entertainment Venture. The Associated Press. October 13, 1994, Thursday, PM cycle. Section: Business News. Byline: By JOHN HORN, AP Entertainment Writer https://archive.org/details/menwhowouldbekin0000lapo Sega expands Model 2 offerings https://archive.org/details/edge-013-october-1994/page/10/mode/1up?view=theater https://segaretro.org/Sega_Model_2 Namco's Empire of Egg ups the ante https://archive.org/details/edge-013-october-1994/page/16/mode/1up?view=theater https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Eggs Sega VR parks coming to Canada --The Business Report--, Broadcast News (BN), October 25, 1994 Tuesday https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playdium https://web.archive.org/web/19970223190650/http://www.playdium.com/ Aussie arcades go family friendly ARCADE GAMES ARRIVE, The Courier Mail (Australia), October 30, 1994 Sunday, 2 - STATE, Section: Pg. 13, Byline: VEITCH C Next Gen battle lines drawn at Japan Electronics Show Next-Generation Game Machines Battle at Japan Electronics Show, The Associated Press, October 4, 1994, Tuesday, AM cycle, Section: Business News, Byline: By DAVID THURBER, Associated Press Writer https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_063_October_1994 pp178 JVC to Enter Video Game Machine Market Through Sega OEM, Japan Industrial Journal, October 5, 1994 https://segaretro.org/JVC JVC to market Sega's Saturn video game machines, Japan Economic Newswire, OCTOBER 24, 1994, MONDAY, Dateline: TOKYO, Oct. 24 Kyodo https://segaretro.org/Sega_Saturn#Models Sega announces Saturn launch price Sega to sell new generation of video game machines, Japan Economic Newswire, OCTOBER 7, 1994, FRIDAY SEGA SHARES FALL BELOW 5,000 YEN ON TSE,Jiji Press Ticker Service, OCTOBER 17, 1994, MONDAY, Dateline: TOKYO, OCT. 17 SEGA HITS NEW 1994 LOW ON TSE, Jiji Press Ticker Service, OCTOBER 24, 1994, MONDAY, Dateline: TOKYO, OCT. 24 Shanghai A shares decline by 8.1 per cent, Financial Times (London,England), October 27, 1994, Thursday, Section: World Stock Markets (Asia Pacific);,pg. 49, Byline: By EMIKO TERAZONO https://archive.org/details/edge-013-october-1994/page/9/mode/1up?view=theater https://archive.org/details/edge-013-october-1994/page/7/mode/1up?view=theater Matsushita announces cheaper 3DO Matsushita introduces cheaper game machine, The Daily Yomiuri, October 21, 1994, Friday, Byline: Yomiuri Shimbun https://archive.org/details/egm-2-october-1994/page/n39/mode/1up Sony announces PSX price Sony to Launch New Video Game Machine, Associated Press Worldstream, October 27, 1994; Thursday 08:44 Eastern Time Sony to introduce next-generation video game machine, Report From Japan, October 28, 1994 NEC reveals PC-FX launch date and price NEC joins video game war, Agence France Presse -- English, October 31, 1994 05:54 Eastern Time 3DO to charge developers $3 fee 3DO kicks off holiday season with aggressive national advertising campaign, Business Wire, October 21, 1994, Friday 3DO devs revolt 3DO FACES REVOLT BY GAME DEVELOPERS OVER FEE TO CUT MANUFACTURERS' LOSSES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, October 24, 1994, Monday, Section: Section B; Page 3, Column 1, Byline: BY JIM CARLTON Toys R Us to stock Jaguar Toys R Us stocks up on Jaguar, the world's first 64-bit video game system; Atari launches multi-million dollar marketing campaign for Jaguar, Business Wire, October 10, 1994, Monday https://youtu.be/ndcTWeaVbLQ?si=kX5qo8st8oPI1wT0 https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_063_October_1994 pp178 https://songbird-productions.com/jagdomain/jvmfaq.html Nintendo retakes 16 bit crown "Nintendo Retakes 16-Bit Sales Crown, Wall Street Journal (3 Star, Eastern (Princeton, NJ) Edition), October 28, 1994, Business and Industry Section: Pg. B3; Vol. LXXVI; No. 11; ISSN: 0099-966" Nintendo nixes Play it Loud campaign PLAY IT GONE, ADWEEK, October 31, 1994, Western Advertising News Edition https://youtu.be/FArjEUhBgP4?si=JkfYhRH8hkeB8-_M Nintendo mails out 2 million video cassettes Mario Homes in on D-Base, Ad Day, October 10, 1994, Section: DMK; Pg. 14, Byline: By Terry Lefton https://youtu.be/Rv_YCSbWP78?si=jYmiIbfLxG87xjbv Video game king invades cyberspace jungle; Nintendo of America enters the information super highway to launch Donkey Kong Country, Business Wire, October 13, 1994, Thursday Nintendo Is Expecting Revenue From Game To Top $100 Million, Wall Street Journal (3 Star, Eastern (Princeton, NJ) Edition), October 26, 1994, Business and Industry, Section: Pg. B12; Vol. 224; No. 82; ISSN: 0099-9660 NINTENDO'S BIGGEST EVER GAMES LAUNCH AND BRITAIN IS AHEAD OF THE REST., PR Newswire Europe, October 28, 1994, Origin Universal News Services Limited, 1994, Section: GENERAL AND CITY NEWS Acclaims gets Marvel license TCI may form Acclaim alliance, United Press International, October 19, 1994, Wednesday, BC cycle, Section: Domestic News, Dateline: ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Oct. 19 TCI buys into Acclaim TCI to buy 10 percent of Acclaim, United Press International, October 20, 1994, Thursday, BC cycle, Section: Domestic News, Dateline: ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Oct. 20 Virtuality is virtually everywhere Atari plans to put virtual reality into home computer games, The Sunday Times (London), October 30, 1994, Sunday, Section: Features, Byline: Steve Boxer https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Project_Elysium_pg_1.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_VR Atari joins forces with Virtuality to offer home virtual reality games by,Christmas 1995, Business Wire, October 25, 1994, Tuesday https://en.namu.wiki/w/%EC%A0%84%EB%87%8C%EC%A0%84%EA%B8%B0%20%EB%84%B7%20%EB%A8%B8%ED%81%AC Laser Quest transforms itself to push virtual reality 'tag' game, The Financial Post (Toronto, Canada), October 15, 1994, Saturday,WEEKLY EDITION, Section: SECTION 4, SPECIAL REPORT: COMPUTERS; Pg. C26; PROFILE, Byline: Johanna Powell ESRB announces rating milestone ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE RATING BOARD ANNOU CES 100 INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTS RATED IN FIRST MONTH, PR Newswire, October 5, 1994, Wednesday - 19:40 Eastern Time RSAC rates Doom CONSUMER SOFTWARE RATING SYSTEM RECEIVING STRONG INDUSTRY SUPPORT, PR Newswire, October 6, 1994, Thursday - 07:00 Eastern Time Sega breaks budget records Video, Playback, October 10, 1994, Section: Pg.VI-1, byline: Laura Pratt Mobile phones set to be hot Xmas item in UK And only 75 shopping days to go . . ., The Independent (London), October 9, 1994, Sunday, Section: HOME NEWS PAGE; Page 6 Bible goes Gameboy Game Boy offers competition to Gideons, St. Petersburg Times (Florida), October 8, 1994, Saturday, City Edition, Section: CITY TIMES; Religion; Pg. 8 October 10th is Doomsday DOOM II: Hell On Earth now available, Business Wire, October 10, 1994, Monday Doom II' video game rates an 'M', USA TODAY, October 11, 1994, Tuesday, FINAL EDITION, Section: LIFE; Pg. 1D IBM falls to 4th place among Aptiva sell out "IBM Sells Out New Aptiva PC Shortage May Cost Millions in Potential Revenue, Wall Street Journal (3 Star, Eastern (Princeton, NJ) Edition), October 7, 1994, Business and Industry, Section: Pg. B4; Vol. 224; No. 69; ISSN: 0099-9660" TECHNO-POP; PCs Embrace Mass Market Promos, Partners, Ad Day, October 17, 1994, Section: PROMOTIONS; Pg. 1, Byline: By Karen Benezra and Gerry Khermouch IBM GETS BACK TO ITS ROOTS, The Australian Financial Review, October 24, 1994 Monday, Late Edition, Section: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY; Pg. 40, Byline: DAVID CROWE Packard Bell rises to 3rd place in PC biz Packard Bell's Surpirsing PC Rise, New York Times (National Edition), October 12, 1994, Business and Industry, Section: Pg. C1 https://vintage-packard-bell.fandom.com/wiki/Spectria_610_AN https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packard_Bell Microsoft Revenues jump! Computer Update, The Independent (London), October 24, 1994, Monday, Section: NETWORK PAGE; Page 27, Byline: TIM JACKSON Microsoft's Gates Heads Richest Americans List, Newsbytes, October 3, 1994, Monday, Section: NEWS Build to Order PCs boom THE GLOBAL GUARD: THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION; The young pretenders ready to stake their claim, The Guardian (London), October 20, 1994, Section: THE GUARDIAN FEATURES PAGE; Pg. T15 Hyundai and DLT see PC-to-TV as the future of multimedia Display Research In Technology Pact With Hyundai, Newsbytes, October 4, 1994, Tuesday, Section: NEWS, Dateline: KWAI CHUNG, HONG KONG FMV goes software only Full-motion, full-screen realism without MPEG chips in GameTek's Quarantine CD-ROM, using Duck TrueMotion video, Business Wire, October 10, 1994, Monday https://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.php/Duck_TrueMotion_1 https://segaretro.org/TrueMotion Mindscape buys SSI MINDSCAPE, INC. ACQUIRES STRATEGIC SIMULATIONS, INC.; ACQUISITION STRENGTHENS ENTERTAINMENT DEVELOPMENT, EFFORTS, PR Newswire, October 20, 1994, Thursday - 08:16 Eastern Time, Section: Financial News Corel gets into games Corel decides to spread its software bets around; Company moves, aggressively into new markets, The Ottawa Citizen, October 8, 1994, Saturday, FINAL EDITION, Section: BUSINESS; Pg. E1 https://www.mobygames.com/company/2075/cascade-parent-limited/ Will Wright working on Project X Meet Mr. SimCity, Newsweek, October 24, 1994 , UNITED STATES EDITION, Section: Pg. 48, Byline: BARBARA KANTROWITZ Politicians are concerned about the internet "Ottawa seeks advice about privacy Information highway raises new questions, paper says, The Toronto Star, October 15, 1994, Saturday, FINAL EDITION, Section: BUSINESS; Pg. C3, Byline: BY ROBERT BREHL TORONTO STARPRIVACY RIGHTS CANADA COMPUTER TELECOMMUNICATIONS Regulator may police culture at infohighway phone booths, The Ottawa Citizen, October 1, 1994, Saturday, FINAL EDITION, Section: BUSINESS; Pg. D1, Byline: ALANA KAINZ; CITIZEN" College kids are becoming email junkies "On campus, there's a letter in the e-mail, USA TODAY, October 5, 1994, Wednesday, FINAL EDITION, Section: LIFE; Pg. 6D; Education, Byline: Karla Price Internet the focus of Calgary computer sho Calgary Herald (Alberta, Canada), October 6, 1994, Thursday, FINAL EDITION, Section: COMPUTERS; Pg. D10, Byline: MEL DUVALL" Commercial services: where content is king, The Toronto Star, October 27, 1994, Thursday, METRO EDITION, Section: FAST FORWARD; Pg. J2 Compuserve to open service to the Internet DRIVE FOR INFORMATION, The Courier Mail (Australia), October 25, 1994 Tuesday, 2 - FIRST WITH THE NEWS, Section: Pg. 34, Byline: COX P Apple to Cyberdog it Secret Apple Cyberdog unleashed on Internet, USA TODAY, October 24, 1994, Monday, FINAL EDITION, Section: MONEY; Pg. 1B, Byline: James Kim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDoc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberdog The file format of the web is still in doubt Dial-a-catalog, Forbes, October 10, 1994, Section: ON THE COVER; Computers/Communications; Pg. 126, Byline: By David C. Churbuck Cybersquatting demo'd Computer Update, The Independent (London), October 24, 1994, Monday, Section: NETWORK PAGE; Page 27, Byline: TIM JACKSON Maryland's Sailor Project sees expansion need TESTIMONY OCTOBER 4, 1994 BARBARA G. SMITH ON BEHALF OF MARYLAND'S SAILOR PROJECT HOUSE SCIENCE/SCIENCE INTERNET ACCESS, Federal Document Clearing House Congressional Testimony, October 4, 1994, Tuesday, Section: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY Pearson buys Future PEARSON BUYS FUTURE PUBLISHING FOR 52.5 MLN STG: 2, Extel Examiner, October 24, 1994, Monday - 08:25 Eastern Time, Section: Company News; Takeovers and Acquisitions Ziff family sells Ziff Davis ZIFF FAMILY SELLS ZIFF-DAVIS PUBLISHING COMPANY TO FORSTMANN LITTLE FOR $1.4 BILLION, PR Newswire, October 27, 1994, Thursday - 12:52 Eastern Time Ziff Davis launches Family PC NEW COMPUTER MAGAZINE APPEALS TO FAMILIES, The Columbian (Vancouver, A.), October 09, 1994, Sunday, Section: Money; Byline: By MICHAEL J. HIMOWITZ The Baltimore Sun Computer Living breaks records in Australia Computer Living Largest Launch In Australian History, Newsbytes News Network, October 21, 1994 PC USERS RESUME AFFAIR WITH MAGS, Philadelphia Daily News, October 28, 1994 Friday PM EDITION, Section: BUSINESS , MONEYTALK; Pg. 75, Byline: Michael Connor, Reuters Supreme Court won't review Game Genie case No Headline In Original, WALL STREET JOURNAL, October 13, 1994, Thursday, Section: Section B; Page 2, Column 4 Mario Paint suit dismissed Nintendo claims victory in inventor's patent suit, The Toronto Star, October 15, 1994, Saturday, FINAL EDITION, Section: BUSINESS; Pg. C7 NINTENDO PREVAILS IN PATENT INFRINGEMENT CASE, PR Newswire, October 14, 1994, Friday - 11:00 Eastern Time, Section: Financial News Jail time first for software pirate https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1994/08/22/software-pirate-is-first-to-get-prison-time/ https://archive.org/details/PC-Player-German-Magazine-1994-10/page/n15/mode/2up Nintendo donates to epilepsy research Nintendo to help study video-epilepsy link, The Daily Yomiuri, October 15, 1994, Saturday, Byline: Yomiuri Shimbun UK to begin game preservation SuperMario and Aladdin meet Marlon Brando; The National Film and Television Archive, preserver of artistic heritage, is planning a collection of video games. Nick Wray reports, The Independent (London), October 10, 1994, Monday, Section: NETWORK PAGE; Page 24, Byline: NICK WRAY Home office furniture goes upscale COMPUTER STATIONS GO HIGH-STYLE HOME-ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEMS AND WORK PODS HIGHLIGHTED AT SHOW. / WANT A LOUIS XV ARMOIRE FOR YOUR TELEVISION SET AND SEREO AND VCR? JUST LIKE THOSE IN,THE 18TH-CENTURY FRENCH COURT?, The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 21, 1994 Friday FINAL EDITION, Section: FEATURES MAGAZINE: HOME & DESIGN; Pg. E01, Byline: Susan Caba, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Taco Bell gameifies employee performance Users eye game technology to spice up service, Computerworld, October 10, 1994, Section: NEWS; MULTIMEDIA; Pg. 24, Byline: Suruchi Mohan; CW Staff MK Album https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_63_October_1994_U/page/n157/mode/1up?view=theater MK Live coming to an arena near you Fishof Producing $2.5 Million Mortal Kombat Arena Show, Amusement Business, October 31, 1994, Business and Industry, Section: Pg. 14; Vol. 106; No. 43; ISSN: 0003-2344, Byline: Susan Ray https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_Kombat:_Live_Tour Raul Julia RIP Puerto Rico to salute late actor Raul Julia, USA TODAY, October 25, 1994, Tuesday, FINAL EDITION, Section: LIFE; Pg. 1D, Byline: Ann Oldenburg Quote of the month: CBS is No. 1 with older viewers, but other networks say 'So what?' The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec), October 2, 1994, Sunday, FINAL EDITION, Section: ENTERTAINMENT: SHOWCASE; Pg. F4, byline: ED BARK; DALLAS MORNING NEWS Recommended Links: The History of How We Play: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ Gaming Alexandria: https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/ They Create Worlds: https://tcwpodcast.podbean.com/ Digital Antiquarian: https://www.filfre.net/ The Arcade Blogger: https://arcadeblogger.com/ Retro Asylum: http://retroasylum.com/category/all-posts/ Retro Game Squad: http://retrogamesquad.libsyn.com/ Playthrough Podcast: https://playthroughpod.com/ Retromags.com: https://www.retromags.com/ Games That Weren't - https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/ Sound Effects by Ethan Johnson of History of How We Play. Copyright Karl Kuras
