The North American video game crash of 1983 (known as the Atari shock in Japan) was a large-scale recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985. Revenues had peaked at around $3.2 billion in 1983,then fell to around $100 million by 1985 (a drop of almost 97 percent). The crash was a serious event that brought an abrupt end to what is retrospectively considered the second generation of console video gaming in North America.

The crash decimated the then-booming industry, and led to the bankruptcy of several companies producing home computers and video game consoles in the region. It lasted about two years. Analysts of the time expressed doubts about the long-term viability of video game consoles and software. The North American video game console industry recovered a few years later, mostly due to the widespread success of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which was soft launched in New York City in late 1985 and had become extremely popular in North America by 1987.

The crash had several causes, including saturation of the market. The full effects of the industry crash would not be felt until 1985.

Many thing that contributed to the crash was too many consoles competing and flooding the market, too many games that are carbon copies of each other, games that are of very bad quality, and game developers loss of publishing control. Nintendo deserves upmost respect because the NES helped save the gaming industry in North America.