What caused the decline of the home console industry in 1983?

The decline of the home console industry in 1983 was primarily driven by a significant consumer backlash against the unpredictable quality of available game titles.1

By 1983, the market had become saturated with a flood of games for leading home consoles. Because the industry had moved toward using programmable ROM cartridges—a technical advancement that separated game development from hardware design—the market saw a proliferation of software that often failed to meet consumer expectations. This lack of quality control led to widespread dissatisfaction, resulting in a sharp downturn for the industry before it was eventually revitalized by a new generation of consoles from Japanese manufacturers like Nintendo Co., Ltd. and Sega Enterprises Ltd. in the mid-1980s.12