1992 in video gaming

Treasure found
Treasure Co. Ltd., a Japanese game developer consisting of ex-Konami employees, is founded on June 19, 1992. The company would come to be known for extremely difficult shmup (shoot 'em up) Ikaruga, originally released for Sega Dreamcast, and Silpheed: The Lost Planet, a PlayStation 2 remake of the Sega CD shmup classic Silpheed.

Silicon Knights arrive in shining armor
Canada-based Silicon Knights is founded by Denis Dyack in July 1992 with the release of Cyber Empire for PC. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem for Nintendo GameCube is one of the company's most famous titles. Long-in-development Too Human is expected to be released in 2008 for the Xbox 360.

Top 5 publishers by European market share
The following companies were the top 5 biggest video game publishers in Europe this year by peak market share:


 * 1) Sega - 22.9%
 * 2) Nintendo - 11.4%
 * 3) Virgin - 10.6%
 * 4) Electronic Arts - 7.4%
 * 5) U.S. Gold - 7%

Notable software releases
Unknown dates:
 * Cyber Empire (PC, US)
 * Famed developer Silicon Knights' first release puts the company on the map.

January:
 * January 21 - Metroid II: Return of Samus (Game Boy, JP)
 * Samus Aran ventures to the Metroids home planet in this all-new adventure.

April:
 * April 11 - Super Mario World (SNES, EU)
 * New to the classic Mario series were Yoshi and the Super Feather, a Raccoon Suit-like powerup giving Mario a cape and allowing him to fly.


 * April 13 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES, NA)
 * With a return to the classic style of The Legend of Zelda, Link to the Past became one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time.

August:
 * August 27 - Super Mario Kart (Super Famicom, JP)
 * Race karts with one of eight characters from the Mario universe.

September:
 * September 1 - Super Mario Kart (SNES, NA)
 * The first Mario racer comes to North America.


 * September 24 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES, EU)
 * Innovation in dungeon design &mdash; utilizing multiple floors and basements &mdash; is just one of the new features in the third Zelda game.


 * September 27 - Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu no Hanayome (Super Famicom, JP)
 * Shortly before the fourth game is released in the US, the fifth game comes out in Japan.

October:
 * Unknown day - Dragon Quest IV (as Dragon Warrior IV, NES, NA)
 * The fourth Dragon Quest role-playing game hits North America.


 * October 10 - Metroid II: Return of Samus (Game Boy, NA)
 * Boasting new skills like the Space Jump and items such as the Plasma Beam, Metroid II was initially thought to be a good game, but is now considered the weakest title in the series.

November:
 * November - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (November 21 - Sega Genesis, US; November 21 - Sega Mega Drive, JP; November 24 - Sega Mega Drive, EU)
 * Along with Sonic CD, this was the first game to feature Sonic's famous spindash.

December:
 * December 6 - Final Fantasy V (Super Famicom, JP)