July in gaming history

Before I get into this, I wanted to give a brief introduction to this feature. I plan on rounding up significant events in gaming, and posting them each month. I was originally planning on doing it every day, but unfortunately I can't find enough events to do this every day. So, I'm switching to a monthly format. Also, I plan on listing game releases, but I can't list the release of every single game. So I'm trying to keep it to more significant releases.

I hope everyone enjoys this segment.

Now onto the first installment of This Month In Gaming History.

JULY

1st --
1983 – Dragon's Lair is released in the arcades, and becomes the first laser-disc coin-operated arcade game.

3rd --
1999 – Billy Mitchell plays the arcade game Pac-Man approximately six hours on one coin, and plays the “perfect” game. His score at the end was 3,333,360. The score can only be achieved by eating every dot, fruit, and ghost on all 256 levels without dying. After level 256, the level counter causes a glitch that turns half the screen into “gibberish,” and thus makes levels beyond that unplayable.

6th --
1984 – Warner Communications sells the home video game and computer system divisions of Atari to Jack Tramiel.

12th --
1990 – Final Fantasy is released on the NES.

15th --
1983 – Nintendo releases the Famicom in Japan. Launch titles include Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Popeye.
1985 – James Vollandt plays the arcade game Joust for over 67 hours (including four 20-minute breaks) on a single coin, setting a world record for any arcade game. His score at the end was 107,216,700 points.
2003 – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic released on Xbox.

19th --
1991 – Final Fantasy IV is released on the Super Famicom in Japan. The game would be released in North America later that year as Final Fantasy II.
2001 – Final Fantasy X is released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan.
PlayStation 2 HDD released in Japan.

20th --
2005 – After the infamous “Hot Coffee” scandal, the ESRB re-rates Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The game is given an Adults-Only rating. Game retailers start taking the game off the shelves, and Take-Two announces they will re-release the game later that year, with the content fully removed.

21st --
1982 – Atari signs a deal to make the game, E.T., which is often credited for the downfall of the home video game market in the United States.

29th --
2001 – Pokemon Crystal is released for the Game Boy Color.

31st --
1997 – Sonic Jam, a collection of Sonic The Hedgehog games from the Genesis, is released on the Sega Saturn.
2006 – The Entertainment Software Association announces that E3 will be “downsized” in the years to come.