2005 in video gaming

Notable events of 2005 in computer and video games. See also history of computer and video games.

Events

• March 6 — The television show 60 Minutes tackles issues within video game controversy. This segment of 60 Minutes has been criticized by video game players for encouraging video game censorship.
• March 7 - March 11 — Game Developers Conference;
  • Nintendo keynote speech: "The Heart of the Gamer" by Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo.
  • Microsoft keynote speech: "The Future of Games: Unlocking the Opportunity" by J Allard, corporate vice president and chief XNA architect.
• May 12 - The Xbox 360 was officially announced on MTV in a special hosted by Elijah Wood.
• May 16 - The PlayStation 3 was unveiled by Sony during a pre-E3 press conferece, at 21:25 GMT. At the same time, the press release was released through the Japanese PlayStation website.
• May 17 - May 20 — Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) takes place in Los Angeles, California. 400 exhibiting companies and 70,000 industry professionals representing 79 countries attended. Next-generation systems from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft were unveiled.
• June 1 - IBM held the first virtual video game on-demand conference in which game developers and manufacturers were able to come together to discuss issues with online games, including management and distribution.

Business

Xbox 360 on TIME Magazine.

• January 6 - French publisher Titus Interactive, owner of Interplay Entertainment, is declared bankrupt after being in receivership since October 2004.
• January 12 - Video game companies and players worldwide donate money to the UNICEF South Asian Tsunami Relief Fund for rescue and reconstruction efforts upon the South Asian tsunami disaster. Electronic Arts pledges to donate $250,000 to the UNICEF South Asian Tsunami Relief Fund. CCP, the publisher of EVE Online, establishes a fund that video game players can contribute to.
• January 17 - Electronic Arts and ESPN announced a 15-year partnership that would give EA access to ESPN's broadcast, print and online content.
• January 20 - Activision announced that it acquired developer Vicarious Visions known best as a developer of Game Boy games as well as for their middleware program, Alchemy.
• January 24 - Major League Baseball and Take Two Interactive sign exclusive seven year deal that gives Take-Two the rights among third-party publishers to develop games based on the MLB license.
• January 25 - Take Two Interactive announced that it acquired developer Visual Concepts and their wholly-owned subsidiary Kush Games from Sega for $24 million. Additionally, Take Two also announced the start of another publishing label named 2K Games.
• March 2 - The Entertainment Software Rating Board or ESRB added the rating of "E10+" to its ratings system. E10+ was created in order to divide E ratings for younger and older children.
• March 7 - Sammy Studios breaks away from Sammy and renames itself High Moon Studios.
• March 9 - Sega acquires Creative Assembly.
• March 23 - Vivendi Universal Games buys developer Radical Entertainment. Radical is best known for developing The Simpsons Hit & Run.
• April 2 - Keiji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man series, was promoted from corporate officer to senior corporate officer.
• May - Buena Vista Games announces that it had bought the rights to the Turok video game franchise and will be publishing new games. The rights were originally held by bankrupt Acclaim Entertainment.
• July 20 - After coming under heavy fire from many politicians, most notably Hillary Clinton, the Entertainment Software Rating Board re-rated Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Adults Only 18+ (AO) due to the sexually explicit minigame mod "Hot Coffee". Additionally, Rockstar Games ceased production of the game and has announced plans to offer a new version of the game that can't be affected by the mod, and plans to patch the PC version.
• July 27 - Sony Computer Entertainment released the first major update in Japan for their video game handheld, the PlayStation Portable. Version 2.00 includes an web browser, A-B repeat mode, Wi-Fi picture sending, as well as additional audio & video support among other features.

Notable releases

• January 11 - Resident Evil 4 (GCN)
• February 22 - Gran Turismo 4
• February 24 - Tekken 5
• March 22 - God of War

The Matrix Online (US)

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect

• March 31 - Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
• April 3 - Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
• April 12 - Jade Empire
• April 15 - The Matrix Online (Europe)
• April 19 - Psychonauts
• June 13 - Kirby: Canvas Curse
• June 21 - Battlefield 2

Expected releases

• Age of Empires III
• Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
• Call of Duty 2
• Civilization IV
• F.E.A.R.
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Madden NFL 06
• Mario Superstar Baseball
• Medal of Honor: European Assault
• Quake 4
• Resident Evil 4 (PS2)
• Soul Calibur III (PS2)

Trends

Video game systems

• Microsoft Xbox
• Nintendo GameCube
• Sony PlayStation 2

Additionally, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Nintendo Revolution were officially unveiled during or just prior to E3. Only the Xbox 360 is expected for release in 2005.

The Xbox 360

The PlayStation 3

The Nintendo Revolution

Handheld game systems

• Nintendo DS
• Sony PlayStation Portable

Additionally, the Game Boy Micro was unveiled and is expected for release in the fall of 2005.

The Game Boy Micro

Video game sales

The current #1 best selling video game of 2005.

Compared to the first half of 2004, the computer and video game industry saw a 21% increase largely due to the release of Nintendo's Nintendo DS and Sony's PSP. Handheld games increased 11% while handheld hardware increased by 181%. Computer games continued its trend and declined by 10.5% for the first half of 2005 ^[1].

References

• ^  "Video game industry sales up 21% in 1H." Accessed July 28, 2005.

External links

• NPD Funworld sales tracking