1997 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Final Fantasy VII, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, GoldenEye 007, Star Fox 64, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Quake II, Mega Man Legends, Riven, Tomb Raider II, Dark Rift, Tekken 3 and Virtua Striker 2, along with new games such as Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, Gran Turismo, Diablo, Grand Theft Auto, Fallout, and Postal.
Sony's PlayStation was the year's best-selling video game console worldwide for the second year in a row, while also being the annual best-selling console in Japan for the first time (overtaking the Game Boy and Sega Saturn). The year's best-selling home video game worldwide was Squaresoft's Final Fantasy VII for the PlayStation, while the year's highest-grossing arcade games in Japan were Sega's Virtua Fighter 3 and Print Club 2.
Legend
Hardware
Date SystemMarch 1Nintendo 64/April 25Dual Analog ControllerSeptember 12Game.com Article date is mislabeled as April 26, 2000; the correct date can be viewed by the article's headline on this page.October 20New-style Super NESNovember 20DualShock controller
Discontinued Date SystemApril 30Game GearUnknownGenesis/Mega Drive
Top-rated games
Game of the Year awards The following titles won Game of the Year awards for 1997.
Awards Game of the Year Platform(s) Genre Publisher CESA AwardsFinal Fantasy VIIPS1RPGSquaresoftJapan Media Arts FestivalElectronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)SonyGame InformerGameProHyperOrigins AwardsElectronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)GoldenEye 007N64FPSNintendoInteractive Achievement AwardsVideoGame AdvisorElectronic PlaygroundGameProNintendo PowerDigitiserSuper Mario 64N64PlatformerNintendoGolden Joystick AwardsComputer Gaming World Premier AwardsDiabloWIN / DOS Action RPG BlizzardStar Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces IIFPSLucasArtsGameSpotTotal AnnihilationWIN / DOSRTSCavedogGamest AwardsVampire Savior (Darkstalkers 3)ArcadeFightingCapcomJapan Media Arts FestivalIntelligent Qube (I.Q. / Kurushi)PS1PuzzleSonyOrigins AwardsSid Meier's Gettysburg!WIN / DOSWargameElectronic ArtsTomb RaiderAction-adventureEidos Interactive
Critically acclaimed titles
Metacritic and GameRankings Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are online aggregators of video game journalism reviews. Note that their coverage of print magazines at the time was limited, with numerous print magazines not listed on their sites.
+ 1997 games and expansions scoring at least 88/100 (MC) or 87.5% (GR) Game Publisher Release Date Platform(s) MC score GR score Gran Turismo Sony Computer Entertainment December 23, 1997 PS1 96/100 94.95% GoldenEye 007 Nintendo August 25, 1997 N64 96/100 94.7% Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Konami March 20, 1997 PS1 93/100 93.03% Final Fantasy VII Square January 31, 1997 PS1 92/100 92.35% Dungeon Keeper Electronic Arts June 26, 1997 WIN / DOS 92.2% Diablo Blizzard Entertainment January 3, 1997 WIN / DOS 94/100 89.07% Colony Wars Psygnosis October 31, 1997 PS1 91/100 92.09% Sid Meier's Gettysburg! Electronic Arts October 14, 1997 WIN / DOS 92/100 91% Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II LucasArts October 10, 1997 WIN / DOS 91/100 88.69% Myth: The Fallen Lords Bungie November 7, 1997 WIN / DOS 91/100 80.8% Blast Corps Nintendo March 21, 1997 N64 90/100 88.87% NFL GameDay 98 Sony Computer Entertainment September 4, 1997 PS1 90% Fallout Interplay Productions October 10, 1997 WIN / DOS 89/100 89.69% Carmageddon Sales Curve Interactive June 13, 1997 WIN / DOS 89.6% Formula 1 97 Psygnosis September 26, 1997 PS1 89.43% MDK Playmates Interactive May 5, 1997 WIN / DOS 89.2% Star Fox 64 Nintendo April 27, 1997 N64 88/100 89.01% The Curse of Monkey Island LucasArts November 1, 1997 WIN / DOS 89/100 89% Einhänder Square November 20, 1997 PS1 89/100 85% Total Annihilation GT Interactive September 26, 1997 WIN / DOS 86/100 88.85% Diddy Kong Racing Rare November 21, 1997 N64 88/100 88.65% Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Sony Computer Entertainment October 31, 1997 PS1 88.54% Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee GT Interactive September 18, 1997 PS1 85/100 87.94% Madden NFL 98 EA Sports August 26, 1997 SAT 87.90%
Famitsu Platinum Hall of Fame The following video game releases in 1997 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" for receiving Famitsu scores of at least 35 out of 40. TitlePlatformDeveloperPublisherGenreScore (out of 40)Final Fantasy VIIPS1SquaresoftSquaresoftRPG38Final Fantasy VII InternationalPS1SquaresoftSquaresoftRPG37Tobal 2PS1DreamFactorySquaresoftFighting36Star Fox 64N64Nintendo EADNintendoRail shooter36Derby StallionPS1ASCII CorporationASCII CorporationSimulation35Gran TurismoPS1Polys EntertainmentSonyRacing (sim)35
Financial performance
Highest-grossing arcade games in Japan In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1997.
Rank Gamest alternate url Game MachineTitleManufacturerGenre TitleManufacturer Type Points1Virtua Fighter 3SegaFightingPrint Club 2AtlusOther40682Tekken 3NamcoFightingVirtua Fighter 3SegaDedicated39953X-Men vs. Street FighterCapcomFightingTekken 3NamcoPCB37574Street Fighter III: New GenerationCapcomFightingVirtual On: Cyber TroopersSegaDedicated29695Vampire Savior (Darkstalkers 3)CapcomFightingX-Men vs. Street FighterCapcomPCB27766Samurai Spirits 4: Amakusa KōrinSNKFightingPuzzle Bobble 3TaitoPCB26267Real Bout Garō Densetsu SpecialSNKFightingDensha de Go!TaitoDedicated26148Virtual On: Cyber TroopersSegaShooterTime CrisisNamcoDedicated24599The King of Fighters '97SNKFightingGallop RacerTecmoPCB242010DoDonPachiAtlusBullet hellRave RacerNamcoDedicated2399
Best-selling video game consoles RankManufacturerGame consoleTypeGenerationSalesJapanUnited StatesWorldwide1SonyPS1Home32-bit5,050,000+6,750,000+17,200,000+2NintendoGBHandheld8-bit4,220,00010,370,0003NintendoN64Home64-bit1,110,0009,420,0004NintendoSNESHome16-bit190,000,0002,040,0005SegaSATHome32-bit800,000,0001,800,0006SegaGENHome16-bit,000478,000+7NintendoNESHome8-bit30,000,000111,0008NECPCFXHome32-bit30,00030,000
Best-selling home video games Final Fantasy VII was the best-selling home video game worldwide in 1997. It sold more than copies worldwide by 1998, becoming the best-selling PlayStation game up until then.
The following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games (console games or computer games) of 1997 in Japan and the United States.
Rank Title Platform Sales Japan United States Combined1Final Fantasy VIIPS13,447,500+1,500,000+4,947,500+2Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / BlueGB3,995,988 3,995,9883Mario Kart 64N64731,3851,000,000+1,731,385+4Derby StallionPS11,581,138 1,581,1385Star Fox 64N64373,4791,000,000+1,373,479+6Super Mario 64N64361,3021,000,000+1,361,302+7Minna no Golf (Everybody's Golf)PS11,327,000 1,327,0008Final Fantasy TacticsPS11,239,000 1,239,0009Diddy Kong RacingN64217,2591,000,000+1,217,259+10SaGa FrontierPS11,057,263 1,057,263
United States In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1997.
Rank Title Platform Developer Publisher Genre Sales 1 Mario Kart 64 N64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Racing (kart) 1,000,000+ 2Star Fox 64 N64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Rail shooter 1,000,000+ 3 Super Mario 64 N64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo Platformer 1,000,000+ 4 Diddy Kong Racing N64 Rare Rare Racing (kart) 1,000,000+ 5GoldenEye 007 N64 Rare Nintendo FPS 1,000,000+ 6 Final Fantasy VII PS1 Squaresoft Sony RPG 1,500,000+ 7 NFL GameDay 98 PS1 Sony Interactive Sony Sports (football) 8 Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire N64 LucasArts Nintendo Action 9 Madden NFL 98 PS1 Tiburon Entertainment EA Sports Sports (football) 10 Crash Bandicoot PS1 Naughty Dog Sony Platformer
Japan In Japan, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1997.
Rank Title Platform Developer Publisher Genre Sales 1 Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / Blue GB Game Freak Nintendo RPG 3,995,988 2 Final Fantasy VII PS1 Squaresoft Squaresoft RPG 3,447,500+ 3 Derby Stallion PS1 ASCII ASCII Simulation 1,581,138 4 Minna no Golf (Everybody's Golf) PS1 Camelot Software Planning Sony Sports (golf) 1,327,000 5 Final Fantasy Tactics PS1 Squaresoft Squaresoft Tactical RPG 1,239,000 6 SaGa Frontier PS1 Squaresoft Squaresoft RPG 1,057,263 7 Gran Turismo PS1 Polys Entertainment Sony Racing (sim) 905,000 8 Game de Hakken!! Tamagotchi GB Tom Create Bandai Virtual pet 808,000 9 Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon PS1 Squaresoft Squaresoft Roguelike 801,000 10 PaRappa the Rapper PS1 NanaOn-Sha Sony Rhythm 761,621
United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, the following titles were the top-selling home video games of each month in 1997.
Month(s) Title Platform January Die Hard Trilogy PS1 February Cool Boarders PS1 March Super Mario 64 N64 April Wave Race 64 N64 Micro Machines V3 PS1 May Soul Blade PS1 June Mario Kart 64 N64 July International Superstar Soccer 64 N64 August V-Rally PS1 September October Formula 1 97 PS1 Lylat Wars N64 November Final Fantasy VII PS1 December FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 PS1, WIN / DOS
Events March 6 - Sega opens Sega World Sydney in Australia. It is the second Sega World park to open outside of Japan, with the first opening as part of the London Trocadero the previous year. June 19–21 – The 3rd annual E3 is held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. October: Video game retailer FuncoLand opens its first Greater Cincinnati locations. 4 – Gunpei Yokoi (1941–1997) dies after a double car accident. November – Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) launched. December 16 – A scene from the Pokémon anime (based upon the highly successful games) causes 685 Japanese children to have seizures. Nintendo makes a statement proclaiming the safety of the Pokémon games from fear that the games would cause a similar effect, the episode to be permanently removed from circulation, and the featured Pokémon in the episode (Porygon) has not made an appearance in the Pokémon anime since. TSR, Inc., the owner of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game, was acquired by Wizards of the Coast. 3D Realms begins production of Duke Nukem Forever, winner of numerous vaporware awards. The gaming portal Cool Math Games went online for the first time. Sony releases PlayStation development software for IBM compatible PCs
Business April 7 – Warthog Limited founded April 15 – Irem Software Engineering Inc. founded May 5 – Irrational Games LLC founded Requires search for "Irrational Games, Inc." with "Exact match" search type to locate the actual data. June 4 – Electronic Arts Inc. acquires American video game developer Maxis August 7 – Activision acquires American video game developer Raven Software August 14 – Intermetrics. Inc and Looking Glass Studios announce the merger of their gaming operations to form Intermetrics/Looking Glass Studios, LLC. which was renamed to Intermetrics Entertainment Software, LLC on September 17 August 28 – Human Head Studios, Inc. formed Requires search for "Human Head Studios, Inc." to locate the actual data. September 19 – 4HEAD Studios created Requires search for "AHEAD Entertainment Software" with the "You can also find closed register sheets..." option checked; the actual data is available under the "HD" link in the found entry. November 21 – Conspiracy Entertainment Corporation founded A search for "Conspiracy Entertainment Corporation" is required to locate the data December 2 – Activision acquires British software distributor CentreSoft Ltd. Article date is mislabeled as April 26, 2000; the correct date can be viewed by the article's headline on this page. December 3 – GameTek files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closes its doors in July 1998 2015 founded 4D Rulers Software, Inc. founded; the company was legally incorporated on January 29, 1998 Bungie West formed by Bungie Crave Entertainment, Inc. formed Illusion Softworks, a.s. founded Mythic Entertainment renames itself from Interworld Productions after name dispute with another "Interworld" company THQ renamed from Toy Headquarters, Inc.
Lawsuits