October 1984

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 1984. 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: and order his book here: Get us on your mobile device: Android: iOS: 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! Send comments on Mastodon @videogamenewsroomtimemachine@oldbytes.space Or twitter @videogamenewsr2 Or Instagram Or videogamenewsroomtimemachine@gmail.com Links: If you don't see all the links, find them here: 7 Minutes in Heaven: Lazy Jones Video Version: Corrections: September 1984 Ep - Ethan's fine site The History of How We Play: 1944 Coinmen looking forward to VE Day pg. 1 pg. 3 pg. 2 pg. 2 pg. 5 First National Electronics Conference held 1954 Popular Electronics debuts pg. 52 Von Neumann joins Atomic Energy Commission New York Magistrate resigns to head Comics Code Authority 1964 UNIVAC experiments with airflow computing Big Tech hit by defense spending cuts Bowling gets computerized pg. 46 1974 ASCII code extensions proposed pg. 26 Atari Debuts Touch Me pg. 31 Sega sponsors video game tournament pg. 45 1984: Hasbro buys Milton Bradley Toys Hobbies & Crafts, October 1984 Warner returns to profitability "Posts $24.4 Million Profit Compared With Loss a Year Ago, The Associated Press October 23, 1984, Tuesday, AM cycle, Section: Business News" Atari Games Inc. established Replay, October 1984, pg. 15 Jack is looking for cash The second time around, Forbes, October 8, 1984, Section: COMPANIES; Pg. 42, Byline: By Anne Bagamery Electronic Games, October 1984, pg. 12 Gerard Leaves as Warner Co-President, The Associated Press, October 16, 1984, Tuesday, AM cycle, Section: Business News Commodore financials break records Apple numbers soar Apple earnings soar six-fold in quarter, Financial Times (London,England), October 19, 1984, Friday, Section: SECTION II; International Companies; Pg. 21 TI settles investor suit Suit costs TI $12 million, Computerworld, October 15, 1984, Section: COMPUTER INDUSTRY; Pg. 116 Ocean buys Imagine Sinclair buys rights to bandersnatch Activision to spend big as computer game maker ACTIVISION; Details pre-Christmas advertising and promotion plans, Business Wire, October 24, 1984, Wednesday ACTIVISION; Financial results, Business Wire, October 29, 1984, Monday PCS going into bankruptcy Konami goes public KONAMI INDUSTRY TRADED FIRST AT 8,300 YEN, Copyright 1984 Jiji Press Ltd.Jiji Press Ticker Service, OCTOBER 1, 1984, MONDAY Japanese Arcade law Japanese arcades diversify Chuck E. Cheese operations normalize Play Meter, October 15, 1984, pg. 9 Fighting games are all the rage Replay, October 1984, pg. 16 AMOA set to be the battle of the carts Replay, October 1984, pg. 27, pg. 31 Video Games donated to Smithsonian pg. 38 Namco moves to Famicom Parker Bros may be getting out Tom Dusenberry - Parker Brothers - Hasbro - Atari - Adam woes continue Cabbage Patch Sales Boost Coleco's 3rd-Qtr Profit, The Associated Press, October 25, 1984, Thursday, AM cycle, Section: Business News No Headline In Original, United Press International, October 24, 1984, Wednesday, BC cycle, Section: Financial Adam promotion costs hit earnings at Coleco, Financial Times (London,England), October 30, 1984, Tuesday, Section: SECTION II; International Companies; Pg. 15 Oric on the ropes GEC drops MSX plans Sega to launch MSX in UK Amstrad bullish on CPC Amstrad stays Sugar sweet, The Guardian (London), October 4, 1984, Byline: By MAGGIE BROWN Commodore prepping 128 Sinclair denies rumors of expanded speccy Sinclair announces Spectrum+ Home computers have the price right, just not the power Byte, October 1984, pg. 6 Final bonanza for home micros / Sales of cheap home computers, The Guardian (London), October 8, 1984, Byline: By PETER LARGE Games on cassette are dead Bookware mania explodes! Toy & Hobby World, October 1984, pg. 8 Visi On sold to CDC Microsoft delays Windows... again PERIPHERALS; SPECIAL INSURANCE COVERAGE COULD PREVENT COSTLY LOSSES, The New York Times, October 30, 1984, Tuesday, Late City Final Edition, Section: Section C; Page 6, Column 5; Science Desk Ensoniq plans ad campaign No Headline In Original, ADWEEK, October 22, 1984, Eastern Edition, Section: ACCOUNT ACQUISITIONS; New England Crackers get organized Playnet Launches nationwide PLAYNET; Launches national access to its in-home, on-line network, Business Wire, October 30, 1984, Tuesday Comp-U-Card hits 1 million COMP-U-CARD-INTL; Announces individual membership base exceeds one million, Business Wire, October 18, 1984, Thursday Micronet to take on Compunet in the UK Futures (Micro Guardian): Search and you will find / The World Reporter full text news and current affairs database, The Guardian (London), October 18, 1984 Videotex or videotext? Business World;Infant videotext industry has identity problems in pitching home information systems to consumer, United Press International, October 21, 1984, Sunday, BC cycle, Section: Domestic News, Byline: By SUSAN POSTLEWAITE, UPI Business Writer Business World; Infant videotext industry has identity problems in pitching home information systems to consumer; First question: What does it do?; Second question: Why do I want it?; Third question: Can I afford it?, United Press International, October 21, 1984, Sunday, BC cycle, Section: Financial, Byline: By SUSAN POSTLEWAITE, UPI Business Writer Game creators get chatty ISBN adds software Byte, October 1984, pg. 10 Antic Reviews The Art of Computer Game Design Nintendo beats Universal on appeal "Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, May 23, 1984, Argued ; October 4, 1984, Decided, No. 84-7095 On the Light Side, The Associated Press, October 11, 1984, Thursday, PM cycle" MCA sues Atari Commodore runs afoul of the FTC Byte, October 1984, pg. 9 Learn to speculate - the Video Game! INVESTMENT WATCH, The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 31, 1984 Wednesday, Section: BUSINESS; Pg. A-13, Byline: Janet Lowe, TRIBUNE FINANCIAL EDITOR Acorn dives into Laserdiscs Venture in video discs,Financial Times (London,England), October 31, 1984, Wednesday, Section: SECTION I; Technology; Education; Pg. 15, Byline: EDITED BY ALAN CANE RIP HESWare Jay Balakrishnan - HESWare, Radical, Dynamics, Solid State Software - No Headline In Original, United Press International, October 8, 1984, Monday, BC cycle, Section: Financial, Dateline: EUGENE, Ore. Quote of the month: Recommended Links: The History of How We Play: Gaming Alexandria: They Create Worlds: Digital Antiquarian: The Arcade Blogger: Retro Asylum: Retro Game Squad: Playthrough Podcast: Retromags.com: Games That Weren't - Sound Effects by Ethan Johnson of History of How We Play. Copyright Karl Kuras

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October 1984 is an episode from Video Game Newsroom Time Machine by Karl Kuras.

This episode is 03:01:46 long.

This episode was published on Aug 26, 2025.

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