1990
1990 was a year of continued expansion of the computers and video game console markets.
Home computers
The home computer market in the United States of America was dominated by IBM PC compatibles. These had an 84% market share, followed by Commodore 64, Apple Macintosh, Atari ST, and Commodore Amiga.
Intel released the i386 SL, a low-powered version of the i386 DX. It also released an update to the i486 DX which fixed a bug that could cause computers to hang.
Intel also filed a countersuit to AMD's 1987 arbitration over the loss of a contract to be a second-source manufacturer of Intel microchips. The countersuit sought to renegotiate the contract, which caused AMD to do a clean room design of their future chips without using any Intel microcode.
Video game consoles
The Nintendo Entertainment System still dominated the video game console market in most regions, but other 8-bit consoles were popular in other regions. The Sega Master System continued to dominate the market in Brazil.
The 16-bit console market was expanded. The NEC PC Engine was released in Spain. Likewise, the Sega Mega Drive saw a worldwide expansion in 1990 with releases in Brazil, Europe, Oceania, and South Korea. Additionally, Nintendo released the Super Famicom in Japan.
Arcade market
Arcade games remained popular. To regulate the market, a law in Japan was passed that required that all arcade cabinets had to be shipped with a working game so that purchasers could plug it in and immediately test whether the cabinet was functional.
Thus, companies created simple games with cheap hardware that could be included and then disposed of by the purchaser. Sega created Dottori-kun as the game that was included with its Astro City arcade candy cabinets.
Companies and organizations founded
On October 24, 1990, North Korea opened the Korea Computer Center (조선컴퓨터센터, Chosŏn Computer Center), the front-facing information technology research center run by the isolated nation.
In October 1990, the Japanese film company Matsushita Promotion was founded.
The American multimedia company, Lucasfilm, consolidated Lucasfilm Games, Industrial Light and Magic, and Skywalker Sound into LucasArts.
The following computer-related events occurred in 1990:
- Application software released in 1990
- Arcade games released in 1990
- Arcade hardware released in 1990
- Companies and organizations closed in 1990
- Companies and organizations formed in 1990
- Computers and consoles released in 1990
- Computer and video game conventions in 1990
- Computer and video game peripherals released in 1990
- Operating systems released in 1990
- Video games released in 1990
