2001 in video gaming

Notable events of 2001 in computer and video games. See also history of computer and video games.

Events

• Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts John Carmack of id Software to the AIAS Hall of Fame
• BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) hosts the 4th annual BAFTA Interactive Awards for multimedia technologies; 15 of 21 awards go to video games
• May 17-19 - 7th annual E³ (Electronic Entertainment Expo); the 4th annual Game Critics Awards For The Best Of E³
• Gama Network hosts the 3rd annual Independent Games Festival (IGF)
• Game Developers Conference hosts the 1st annual Game Developers Choice Awards
• Reuters reports that the Sega Dreamcast console has an estimated 800,000 online users playing its various online games already by midyear
  • reports that Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and SEGA are cooperating to allow online users for the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast consoles to play each other via the 1st ever cross-console network
• Sony cooperates with AOL to incorporate Internet features with the PlayStation 2 console; which include a browser, email, and instant messaging capabilities
• 2nd annual Sega Dreamcast Championships (featuring the Crazy Taxi 2 video game)
  • 1st place: Lindsay Gall ($15,000 & Jamaica resort trip)
  • 2nd place: Michael Pirring ($10,000)
  • 3rd place: Roger Mogle ($5,000)
• Nikkei News reports that the video game Phantasy Star Online (for Sega Dreamcast) has had 300,000 worldwide users login already by midyear
• December 31 - Jez San is awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours, becoming the first person awarded specifically for services to computer and video games.

Notable releases

• Microsoft publishes Halo: Combat Evolved by Bungie Studios. It becomes the Xbox's "killer app" and is the most popular console first-person shooter since GoldenEye 007 (1997).
• Squaresoft releases Final Fantasy X, which is the first game in the series for the PlayStation 2, to exclusively use 3D graphics, and to have a direct sequel (Final Fantasy X-2, 2003).
• Ico, is published by Sony Computer Entertainment and released for the PlayStation 2.
• Konami releases Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, one of the most anticipated games of all time.
• Super Monkey Ball for the Nintendo GameCube marks the first game released by Sega as a third-party developer.

Business

• SEGA announces that it will no longer develop home consoles, in order to focus on game development. The Dreamcast is waiting to finish the production in May. But a lot of games was released fot it in the same year.
• Indrema in Aperil closes and its L600 Entertainment System multimedia home console is never released.
• Activision acquires Treyarch Invention LLC
• PCCW (Pacific Century CyberWorks Japan Co., Ltd.) acquires VR1 Entertainment
• Midway Games announces that it will no longer manufacture arcade games
• Sega of America Inc. v. Kmart Corporation; Sega sues Kmart over an unpaid debt of over USD$2 million dollars
• Uri Geller v. Nintendo; Geller sues Nintendo over his resemblance to a Pokémon character. The suit is dismissed.
• November 23 - GamePark releases the GP32 (GamePark 32) wireless-multiplayer multimedia handheld console in South Korea
• December - Panasonic's Q multimedia console

Trends

Video game consoles

The dominant video game consoles in 2001 were:

• Sony's PlayStation 2

Additionally, Nintendo released the Nintendo GameCube on September 14 in Japan (U.S. on November 11 and in Europe on May 3, 2002). Microsoft released the Xbox video game console in the U.S. on November 15 (in Europe on March 14, 2002).

The Nintendo GameCube

The Microsoft Xbox

Handheld game systems

The dominant handheld systems in 2001 were:

• Nintendo's Game Boy Color

Additionally, Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance (GBA) in Japan on March 21 (in the U.S. on June 11 and Europe on June 22).

The Game Boy Advance

Video game sales

#1 best selling video game in 2001

The top 10 selling console video games in 2001 in the United States ranked by units sold, according to NPD, were:

Computer game sales

#1 best selling computer game in 2001

The top 10 selling computer games in 2001 in the United States ranked by units sold, according to NPD, were: