1988 in video gaming

Console Hardware Releases

 * Mega Drive released in Japan on October 29.

Game Releases

 * The first commercial versions of Tetris are released.
 * Namco releases World Stadium, Assault, which is the first game to use sprite scaling and massive sprite rotation, Assault Plus, Berabow Man, Marchen Maze, Bakutotsu Kijuutei, which is the sequel to Baraduke, Ordyne, Metal Hawk, World Court, Splatterhouse, which is the first game to get a parental advisory disclaimer, Mirai Ninja, Face Off and Phelios.
 * Electronic Arts releases John Madden Football for the Apple II, starting its highly successful line of American football games. It is also the first major football game to feature full 11-man teams.
 * Capcom releases Mega Man 2 in Japan, the highest-selling installment to date (August 2006) in the entire Mega Man franchise with a total of 1.5 million copies sold. It was honored in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Nintendo Games Ever list, coming in at number 33. As well, it is considered by many fans as the best game in the Classic series.
 * Pool of Radiance (SSI), the first of the "Gold Box" games, the first computer RPG based on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
 * Origin Systems releases Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny. This was the first game in the Ultima series to implement a time-of-day system with day/night cycles and daily schedules for non-player characters.
 * Altered Beast (SEGA, arcade), later ported to the Mega Drive/Genesis where it was packaged with the console in North America and Europe.
 * SEGA releases Phantasy Star for the Master System, the first in the company's most successful series of RPGs.
 * Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Famicom in Japan.

Key Events

 * Nintendo releases the Nintendo Power magazine in July.
 * New companies: KOEI Co., Ltd., Visual Concepts, Stormfront Studios, Walt Disney Computer Software
 * Defunct companies: Coleco Industries Inc.
 * Activision renamed to Mediagenic.
 * Nintendo vs. Camerica Ltd. lawsuit: Nintendo sues Camerica over the clone production of an Advantage joystick controller for the NES console.