1997 in video games
| List of years in video games |
|---|
This article may misquote or misrepresent many of its sources. Please see the cleanup page for more information. (August 2022) |
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
[edit]| Arcade | Arcade video game | DOS | DOS / MS-DOS | GB | Game Boy |
| N64 | Nintendo 64, iQue Player | NEO | Neo Geo AES | NEOCD | Neo Geo CD |
| NES | Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom | PCFX | PC-FX | PS1 | PlayStation 1 |
| SAT | Sega Saturn | SNES | Super Nintendo / Super Famicom / Super Comboy | WIN | Microsoft Windows, all versions Windows 95 and up |
| Action | Action game | Action-adventure | Action-adventure game | Fighting | Fighting game |
| FPS | First-person shooter | Platformer | Platformer | Puzzle | Puzzle video game |
| Racing | Racing game | Rhythm | Rhythm game | Roguelike | Roguelike |
| RPG | Role-playing video game | RTS | Real-time strategy | Shooter | Shooter game |
| Simulation | Simulation video game | Sports | Sports video game | Tactical RPG | Tactical role-playing game |
| Virtual pet | Pet-raising simulation |
Hardware
[edit]
| Date | System |
|---|---|
| March 1 | Nintendo 64EU/AU |
| April 25 | Dual Analog ControllerJP |
| September 12 | Game.comNA |
| October 20 | New-style Super NESNA |
| November 20 | DualShock controllerJP |
Discontinued
[edit]| Date | System |
|---|---|
| April 30 | Game Gear |
| Unknown | Genesis/Mega Drive |
Top-rated games
[edit]Game of the Year awards
[edit]The following titles won Game of the Year awards for 1997.
| Awards | Game of the Year | Platform(s) | Genre | Publisher | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CESA Awards | Final Fantasy VII | PS1 | RPG | Squaresoft | [1] |
| Japan Media Arts Festival | [2] | ||||
| Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) | Sony | [3] | |||
| Game Informer | [4] | ||||
| GamePro | [5] | ||||
| Hyper | [6] | ||||
| Origins Awards | [7] | ||||
| Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) | GoldenEye 007 | N64 | FPS | Nintendo | [8] |
| Interactive Achievement Awards | [9] | ||||
| VideoGame Advisor | [10] | ||||
| Electronic Playground | [11] | ||||
| GamePro | [5] | ||||
| Nintendo Power | [12] | ||||
| Digitiser | Super Mario 64 | N64 | Platformer | Nintendo | [13] |
| Golden Joystick Awards | [14] | ||||
| GameSpot | Total Annihilation | WIN / DOS | RTS | Cavedog | [15] |
| Gamest Awards | Vampire Savior (Darkstalkers 3) | Arcade | Fighting | Capcom | [16] |
| Japan Media Arts Festival | Intelligent Qube (I.Q. / Kurushi) | PS1 | Puzzle | Sony | [2] |
| Origins Awards | Sid Meier's Gettysburg! | WIN / DOS | Wargame | Electronic Arts | [7] |
| Tomb Raider | Action-adventure | Eidos Interactive |
Critically acclaimed titles
[edit]Metacritic and GameRankings
[edit]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.
| Game | Publisher | Release Date | Platform(s) | MC score | GR score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gran Turismo | Sony Computer Entertainment | December 23, 1997 | PS1 | 96/100[19] | 94.95%[20] |
| 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%[21] |
| 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[19] | 85%[20] |
| 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%[22] |
Famitsu Platinum Hall of Fame
[edit]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.[23]
| Title | Platform | Developer | Publisher | Genre | Score (out of 40) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final Fantasy VII | PS1 | Squaresoft | Squaresoft | RPG | 38 |
| Final Fantasy VII International | PS1 | Squaresoft | Squaresoft | RPG | 37 |
| Tobal 2 | PS1 | DreamFactory | Squaresoft | Fighting | 36 |
| Star Fox 64 | N64 | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | Rail shooter | 36 |
| Derby Stallion | PS1 | ASCII Corporation | ASCII Corporation | Simulation | 35 |
| Gran Turismo | PS1 | Polys Entertainment | Sony | Racing (sim) | 35 |
Financial performance
[edit]Highest-grossing arcade games in Japan
[edit]In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1997.
| Rank | Gamest[16] | Game Machine[24] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Manufacturer | Genre | Title | Manufacturer | Type | Points | |
| 1 | Virtua Fighter 3 | Sega | Fighting | Print Club 2 | Atlus | Other | 4068 |
| 2 | Tekken 3 | Namco | Fighting | Virtua Fighter 3 | Sega | Dedicated | 3995 |
| 3 | X-Men vs. Street Fighter | Capcom | Fighting | Tekken 3 | Namco | PCB | 3757 |
| 4 | Street Fighter III: New Generation | Capcom | Fighting | Virtual On: Cyber Troopers | Sega | Dedicated | 2969 |
| 5 | Vampire Savior (Darkstalkers 3) | Capcom | Fighting | X-Men vs. Street Fighter | Capcom | PCB | 2776 |
| 6 | Samurai Spirits 4: Amakusa Kōrin | SNK | Fighting | Puzzle Bobble 3 | Taito | PCB | 2626 |
| 7 | Real Bout Garō Densetsu Special | SNK | Fighting | Densha de Go! | Taito | Dedicated | 2614 |
| 8 | Virtual On: Cyber Troopers | Sega | Shooter | Time Crisis | Namco | Dedicated | 2459 |
| 9 | The King of Fighters '97 | SNK | Fighting | Gallop Racer | Tecmo | PCB | 2420 |
| 10 | DoDonPachi | Atlus | Bullet hell | Rave Racer | Namco | Dedicated | 2399 |
Best-selling video game consoles
[edit]| Rank | Manufacturer | Game console | Type | Generation | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | United States | Worldwide | |||||
| 1 | Sony | PS1 | Home | 32-bit | 5,050,000+[25] | 6,750,000+[25] | 17,200,000+[25] |
| 2 | Nintendo | GB | Handheld | 8-bit | 4,220,000[26] | Unknown | 10,370,000[26] |
| 3 | Nintendo | N64 | Home | 64-bit | 1,110,000[26] | 4,488,000[27] | 9,420,000[26] |
| 4 | Nintendo | SNES | Home | 16-bit | 190,000[26] | 593,000[27] | 2,040,000[26] |
| 5 | Sega | SAT | Home | 32-bit | 800,000[28] | 249,000[27] | 1,800,000[29][30] |
| 6 | Sega | GEN | Home | 16-bit | Unknown | 478,000[27] | 478,000+ |
| 7 | Nintendo | NES | Home | 8-bit | 30,000[26] | 81,000[27] | 111,000 |
| 8 | NEC | PCFX | Home | 32-bit | 30,000[28] | — | 30,000 |
Best-selling home video games
[edit]Final Fantasy VII was the best-selling home video game worldwide in 1997.[31] It sold more than 6 million copies worldwide by 1998, becoming the best-selling PlayStation game up until then.[32]
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[33][34] | Combined | |||
| 1 | Final Fantasy VII | PS1 | 3,447,500+[35] | 1,500,000+[34] | 4,947,500+ |
| 2 | Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / Blue | GB | 3,995,988[36] | — | 3,995,988 |
| 3 | Mario Kart 64 | N64 | 731,385[36] | 1,500,000+ | 2,231,385+ |
| 4 | Star Fox 64 | N64 | 373,479[37] | 1,500,000+ | 1,873,479+ |
| 5 | Super Mario 64 | N64 | 361,302[37] | 1,500,000+ | 1,861,302+ |
| 6 | Diddy Kong Racing | N64 | 217,259[38] | 1,500,000+ | 1,717,259+ |
| 7 | Derby Stallion | PS1 | 1,581,138[37] | — | 1,581,138 |
| 8 | Minna no Golf (Everybody's Golf) | PS1 | 1,327,000[39] | — | 1,327,000 |
| 9 | Final Fantasy Tactics | PS1 | 1,239,000[39] | — | 1,239,000 |
| 10 | SaGa Frontier | PS1 | 1,057,263[37] | — | 1,057,263 |
United States
[edit]In the United States, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1997.[40][41][42]
| Rank | Title | Platform | Developer | Publisher | Genre | Sales[33][34] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mario Kart 64 | N64 | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | Racing (kart) | 1,500,000+ |
| 2 | Star Fox 64 | N64 | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | Rail shooter | 1,500,000+ |
| 3 | Super Mario 64 | N64 | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | Platformer | 1,500,000+ |
| 4 | Diddy Kong Racing | N64 | Rare | Rare | Racing (kart) | 1,500,000+ |
| 5 | GoldenEye 007 | N64 | Rare | Nintendo | FPS | 1,500,000+ |
| 6 | Final Fantasy VII | PS1 | Squaresoft | Sony | RPG | 1,500,000+[34] |
| 7 | NFL GameDay 98 | PS1 | Sony Interactive | Sony | Sports (football) | Unknown |
| 8 | Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire | N64 | LucasArts | Nintendo | Action | Unknown |
| 9 | Madden NFL 98 | PS1 | Tiburon Entertainment | EA Sports | Sports (football) | Unknown |
| 10 | Crash Bandicoot | PS1 | Naughty Dog | Sony | Platformer | Unknown |
Japan
[edit]In Japan, the following titles were the top ten best-selling home video games of 1997.
| Rank | Title | Platform | Developer | Publisher | Genre | Sales | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pocket Monsters: Red / Green / Blue | GB | Game Freak | Nintendo | RPG | 3,995,988 | [36] |
| 2 | Final Fantasy VII | PS1 | Squaresoft | Squaresoft | RPG | 3,447,500+ | [35] |
| 3 | Derby Stallion | PS1 | ASCII | ASCII | Simulation | 1,581,138 | [37] |
| 4 | Minna no Golf (Everybody's Golf) | PS1 | Camelot Software Planning | Sony | Sports (golf) | 1,327,000 | [39] |
| 5 | Final Fantasy Tactics | PS1 | Squaresoft | Squaresoft | Tactical RPG | 1,239,000 | |
| 6 | SaGa Frontier | PS1 | Squaresoft | Squaresoft | RPG | 1,057,263 | [37] |
| 7 | Gran Turismo | PS1 | Polys Entertainment | Sony | Racing (sim) | 905,000 | [39] |
| 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 | [36] |
Europe
[edit]In Europe, the following titles were the top-selling home video games of each month in 1997.
| Month(s) | United Kingdom | Platform | France | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Die Hard Trilogy [43] | PS1 | Unknown | Unknown |
| February | Cool Boarders [44] | PS1 | ||
| March | Super Mario 64 [45] | N64 | ||
| April | Wave Race 64 [46] | N64 | ||
| Micro Machines V3 [47] | PS1 | |||
| May | Soul Blade [48] | PS1 | ||
| June | Mario Kart 64 [49] | N64 | ||
| July | International Superstar Soccer 64 [50] | N64 | ||
| August | V-Rally [51][52] | PS1 | ||
| September | ||||
| October | Formula 1 97 [53] | PS1 | ||
| Lylat Wars [54] | N64 | |||
| November | Final Fantasy VII [55] | PS1 | ||
| December | FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 [56] | PS1, WIN / DOS | ||
| 1997 | Tomb Raider 2[57] | |||
Events
[edit]- 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.[58]
- October:
- Video game retailer FuncoLand opens its first Greater Cincinnati locations.[59]
- 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
[edit]- Activision acquires CentreSoft Ltd. and Raven Software
- Electronic Arts Inc. acquires Maxis
- GameTek filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed its doors in July 1998
- 2015, Inc. founded
- 4D Rulers Software, Inc. founded
- September – 4HEAD Studios created
- Bungie West formed by Bungie
- Conspiracy Entertainment Corporation founded
- Crave Entertainment, Inc. formed
- August – Human Head Studios, Inc. formed
- Illusion Softworks, a.s. founded
- April 15 – Irem Software Engineering Inc. founded
- Irrational Games LLC founded
- Mythic Entertainment renames itself from Interworld Productions after name dispute with another "Interworld" company
- THQ renamed from Toy Headquarters, Inc.
- Warthog PLC founded
Lawsuits
[edit]- Nintendo vs Games City: Nintendo sues Games City for selling the Game Doctor and Doctor V64 backup devices for the SNES and N64 consoles. Nintendo wins the suit.
- Nintendo vs Prima Publishing: Nintendo sues Prima over copyrights to maps of the N64 video game GoldenEye 007. Nintendo loses the suit.
- Nintendo vs Sony Video Games: Nintendo sues Sony over copyrights about Mario games.
Notable releases in 1997
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "「CESA大賞'97」受賞作品一覧" ["CESA Awards '97" Winners List]. Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on June 28, 2003. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ a b "1997 Japan Media Arts Festival Awards" (in Japanese). Japan Media Arts Plaza, Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
- ^ "Readers' Choice Awards". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 104. March 1998. p. 100.
- ^ "25 Years Of Game Informer's GOTY Awards". Game Informer. January 2, 2017. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
- ^ a b "You Have Spoken!". GamePro. No. 118. July 1998. pp. 38–9.
- ^ "The Hyper Reader Awards 97-98". Hyper. No. 63. January 1999. pp. 38–41.
- ^ a b "Origins Awards winners". Origins Awards, RPGnet. July 6, 1998. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2011.
- ^ "Editors' Choice Awards". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 104. Ziff Davis. March 1998. pp. 86–96.
- ^ "Academy of Interactive Arts & Science Game of the Year 1997". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
- ^ Wilton Magazine Gives Awards. The Wilton Bulletin. December 10, 1997.
the awards go to: Best Overall Game — GoldenEye 007 (Nintendo); Best Nintendo 64 Game — GoldenEye 007 (Nintendo);
- ^ "Electric Playground: FEATURE - EP's Best of 1997: The "Blister" Awards - Pg. 1". Electronic Playground. February 11, 1998. Archived from the original on February 11, 1998. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
Game of the Year Winner - GoldenEye (Nintendo 64) - His name's Bond, James Bond. And our name is absolutely hooked on his game. Rare Entertainment hit the stratosphere with this one. With tons of detailed missions and multiplayer games that were impossible to stop playing, Goldeneye became the title that halted production at EP.
- ^ "Nintendo Power Issue 108: Power Award Winners". Nintendo Power. May 1998. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
The Best Games of 1997: GoldenEye 007 (Nintendo 64) - With more than 5 times the number of votes of second place Diddy Kong Racing, the Game of the year proved to be GoldenEye 007
- ^ "Digitiser's Top Games of 1997". Digitiser. January 13, 1998. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
- ^ "1997 Golden Joysticks Awards: The Winners!". Computer and Video Games. No. 195 (February 1998). January 14, 1998. p. 6.
- ^ "GameSpot PC Game of the Year 1997". February 13, 1998. Archived from the original on February 13, 1998. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ a b "第11回 ゲーメスト大賞" [11th Gamest Awards]. Gamest (in Japanese). Vol. 212 (January–February 1998). December 26, 1997. pp. 34–102. alternate url
- ^ "Best Video Games for 1997". Metacritic. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- ^ "Highest-Ranking Games of 1997 (with at least 5 reviews)". GameRankings. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ a b "Best Video Games for 1998". Metacritic. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
- ^ a b "Highest-Ranking Games of 1998 (with at least 20 reviews)". GameRankings. Archived from the original on October 7, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
- ^ "Sid Meier's Gettysburg! for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ "Madden NFL '98 Reviews". GameRankings. Archived from the original on October 27, 2004. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
- ^ "週刊ファミ通クロスレビュープラチナ殿堂入りソフト一覧" [Weekly Famitsu Cross Review Platinum Hall of Fame Software List]. Geimin (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 27, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ Akagi, Masumi, ed. (February 1, 1998). ""Tekken 3", "Virtua Fighter 3" Top Videos" (PDF). Game Machine. No. 557. Amusement Press, Inc. p. 22.
- ^ a b c "Cumulative Production Shipments of Hardware / PlayStation". Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Sony. December 31, 2003. Archived from the original on April 22, 2004. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Consolidated Sales Transition by Region" (PDF). Nintendo. Nintendo Co., Ltd. September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Clements, Matthew T.; Ohashi, Hiroshi (October 2004). "Indirect Network Effects and the Product Cycle: Video Games in the U.S., 1994–2002" (PDF). NET Institute. pp. 12, 24. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
- ^ a b 小川 (Ogawa), 純生 (Sumio) (December 14, 2010). "テレビゲーム機の変遷 —ファミコン、スーパーファミコン、プレステ、プレステ2、Wiiまで—" [Recent Developments in Video Game Technology in Japan — Famicom, Super Famicom, Play Station, Play Station 2 and Wii —] (PDF). 経営論集 (Keiei Ronshū) (in Japanese) (77) (published March 2011): 1–17 (2). ISSN 0286-6439. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2021 – via Toyo University Academic Information Repository (Toyo University).
- ^ "Consumer Products" (PDF). Annual Report 1998. Sega Enterprises, Ltd. 1998. p. 7. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ Fontaine, Gilles (February 5, 1997). "Jeux vidéo : une industrie lourde est née" [Video games: a heavy industry is born]. L'Express (in French). Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ Classic Videogame Hardware Genius Guide. Imagine Publishing. p. 492. ISBN 978-1-908222-22-0.
- ^ The Oriental Economist Report. Toyo Keizai. 1998. p. 16.
Square's Final Fantasy VII software has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest selling Playstation software.
- ^ a b Johnston, Chris (December 22, 1997). "Give It 21 Days, It'll Give You a Million". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 5, 2000. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Thompson, Adam (October 22, 1997). "The pain of addiction". Oshkosh Advance-Titan. University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. p. 9. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
Last month Final Fantasy VII hit the stores and sold 1.5 million copies the first week.
- ^ a b "96年9月~97年8月" [1996.09~1997.08]. TV Game Ranking Databook: 1995.9~1998.8 (in Japanese). ベストセラーズ (Bestsellers). December 15, 1998. p. 17. ISBN 978-4-584-16090-9.
- ^ a b c d "1997 Top 30 Best Selling Japanese Console Games". The Magic Box. Archived from the original on February 18, 2007. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Ohbuchi, Yutaka (December 5, 1998). "Japan's Top Ten of '97". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 5, 1998. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
- ^ "1997年ゲームソフト年間売上TOP100" [1997 Game Software Annual Sales Top 100]. Famitsū Gēmu Hakusho 1998 ファミ通ゲーム白書1998 [Famitsu Game Whitebook 1998] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Enterbrain. 1998. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
- ^ a b c d "1997年のコンシューマーゲームソフトの売上Top100" [1997 Consumer Game Software Sales: Top 100]. Dengeki Oh (in Japanese). MediaWorks. Archived from the original on January 6, 2002. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
- ^ Famighetti, Robert (1998). "Top-Selling Video Games, 1997". The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1999. World Almanac Books. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-88687-832-0.
Source: The NPD TRSTS Video Game Tracking Service, The NPD Group, Inc., Port Washington, NY; ranked by units sold
- ^ "US Sales Top 10 for 1997". IGN. February 6, 1998. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- ^ "The Top 20 Games of the Year". IGN. January 30, 1998. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
- ^ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 184 (March 1997). EMAP. February 12, 1997. pp. 1-16 (1-2).
- ^ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 185 (April 1997). EMAP. March 12, 1997. pp. 1-16 (2-3).
- ^ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 186 (May 1997). EMAP. April 11, 1997. pp. 1-16 (2-3).
- ^ "Leisure Software All Formats (ELSPA Charts Compiled by Chart-Track)". Digitiser. May 1, 1997. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
- ^ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 187 (June 1997). EMAP. May 11, 1997. pp. 1-16 (2-3).
- ^ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 189 (August 1997). EMAP. July 11, 1997. pp. 1-16 (2-3).
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- ^ "Freeplay". Computer and Video Games. No. 193 (December 1997). EMAP. November 12, 1997. pp. 1-16 (2-3).
- ^ "Leisure Software All Formats (ELSPA Charts Compiled by Chart-Track)". Digitiser. October 18, 1997. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
- ^ "Leisure Software All Formats (ELSPA Charts Compiled by Chart-Track)". Digitiser. November 27, 1997. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
- ^ "Leisure Software All Formats (ELSPA Charts Compiled by Chart-Track)". Digitiser. December 31, 1997. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
- ^ Lemaire, Oscar. "Animal Crossing New Horizons est le jeu vidéo le plus vendu de l'année 2020 en France en physique" [Animal Crossing New Horizons is the best-selling video game of the year 2020 in France in physical]. Twitter (in French). Ludostrie. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
- ^ "Attendance and Stats". IGN. June 8, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
- ^ Koenig, Angela (October 15, 1997). "Funco Landstore coming". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Crash's Second Coming Has Arrived". PSN News Story. November 6, 1997. Archived from the original on January 18, 1998. Retrieved October 23, 2025.