2004 in video gaming
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Notable events of 2004 in video gaming. See also history of computer and video games.
Contents |
[edit] Events
- January 20 — Wired's Vaporware Awards gives its first "Lifetime Achievement Award" to recurring winner Duke Nukem Forever.
- March 4 — Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Peter Molyneux into the AIAS Hall of Fame
- March 22-26 — Game Developers Conference hosts 4th annual Game Developers Choice Awards and Gama Network's 6th annual Independent Games Festival (IGF)
- May 11 — Nintendo officially announces its "Revolution" (later named Wii) console.
- July - IEMA (Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association) hosts 5th annual Executive Summit
- October 12 — EA Sports launches "FIFA Soccer 2005". It's officially the last game in the history of PlayStation
- November 5 — Nobuo Uematsu resigns from Square Enix and becomes a freelancer, starting his own business, called Smile Please Co., Ltd..
- November 21 — Nintendo launches its DS handheld in the US
[edit] Business
- January 12 — Ubisoft acquires Tiwak
- February — EA consolidates, rolls most of Maxis and all of Origin Systems into its Redwood Shores, California HQ
- March — Microsoft announces XNA the successor of DirectX as the default API for Windows Vista and Xenon.
- April 6 — Midway Games acquires Surreal Software
- May — Sammy Corporation buys a controlling share in Sega Corporation at a cost of $1.1 billion creating the new company, "Sega Sammy Holdings Inc", one of the biggest gaming companies in the world.
- July — Square Enix restructures executive branches around the world.
- August 30 — Acclaim declares bankruptcy and closes its doors
- October 11 — Midway Games acquires Inevitable Entertainment and renames it Midway Studios Austin.
- November 30 — Midway Games acquires developer Paradox Development.
- December 13 — Electronic Arts purchases a 5-year exclusive agreement for the rights to the NFL, which includes NFL teams, stadiums and players for use in EA's football videogames.
- December 20 — Electronic Arts purchases 20% stake in Ubisoft. The purchase at the time was considered "hostile", by Ubisoft.
[edit] Notable releases
| Platform key | |
| DC | Dreamcast |
| GB | Game Boy |
| GBA | Game Boy Advance |
| GBC | Game Boy Color |
| GCN | Nintendo GameCube |
| Mac | Apple Macintosh personal computer |
| NDS | Nintendo DS |
| PS1 | PlayStation |
| PS2 | PlayStation 2 |
| PS3 | PlayStation 3 |
| PSP | PlayStation Portable |
| Wii | Wii |
| Win | Windows-based personal computer |
| XB | Xbox |
| X360 | Xbox 360 |
North American release dates:
- February 9 — EverQuest: Gates of Discord (PC)
- March 2 — Ninja Gaiden (Xbox)
- March 9 — Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Athena Sword (PC)
- March 14 — Battlefield Vietnam (PC)
- March 16 — Unreal Tournament 2004 (PC)
- March 23 — Far Cry (PC)
- March 23 — Final Fantasy XI (North America) (PS2)
- March 23 — Sonic Heroes (GC, PS2, Xbox)
- April 12 — Painkiller (PC)
- April 20 — Hitman: Contracts (PC, PS2, Xbox)
- April 27 — City of Heroes (PC)
- April 27 — Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots (PC)
- May 6 — Samurai Warriors (PS2)
- May 25 — Thief: Deadly Shadows (PC, Xbox)
- June 1 — The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (Xbox)
- June 15 — Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising (PC)
- July 13 — Tales of Symphonia (GC)
- August 3 — Doom 3 (PC)
- August 18 — Astro Boy: Omega Factor (GBA)
- August 30 — Pikmin 2 (GC)
- September 7 — Burnout 3: Takedown (PS2) (Xbox)
- September 7 — Silent Hill 4: The Room (PC, PS2, Xbox)
- September 9 — Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (GBA)
- September 13 — EverQuest: Omens of War (PC)
- September 14 — Call of Duty: United Offensive (PC)
- September 14 — Fable (Xbox)
- September 14 — The Sims 2
- September 20 — Def Jam: Fight for NY (GC, PS2, Xbox)
- September 20 — Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (PC)
- September 21 — Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia (PC, PS2)
- September 21 — Star Wars Battlefront (PS2, Xbox)
- September 22 — Katamari Damacy (PS2)
- September 22 — Rome: Total War (PC)
- September 28 — Myst IV: Revelation (PC)
- October 4 — Mortal Kombat: Deception (PS2, Xbox)
- October 4 — Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (GBA, GC, PC, PS2, Xbox)
- October 11 — Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GC)
- October 25 — Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (PS2)
- October 25 — OutRun 2 (Xbox)
- October 26 — Dead or Alive Ultimate (Xbox)
- October 26 — Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed (PC)
- October 29 — Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
- November 2 — Killzone (PS2)
- November 2 — Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault (PC)
- November 3 — Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (PS2)
- November 8 — EverQuest II (PC)
- November 9 — Halo 2 (Xbox)
- November 9 — Jak 3 (PS2)
- November 15 — Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GC)
- November 15 — Need for Speed: Underground 2 (PS2)
- November 16 — Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (PS2)
- November 16 — Half-Life 2 (PC)
- November 16 — Joint Operations: Escalation (PC)
- November 16 — Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (PC)
- November 17 — Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
- November 21 — Super Mario 64 DS (NDS)
- November 23 — World of Warcraft (PC)
- November 30 — Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (GC, PC, PS2, Xbox)
- December 1 — Painkiller: Battle out of Hell (PC)
- December 6 — Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Xbox)
- December 6 — The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth (PC)
- December 8 — The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (PC)
[edit] Trends
In 2004, the total U.S. sales of video game hardware, software and accessories was $9.9 billion compared with $10 billion in 2003. Total software sales rose 8 percent over the previous year to $6.2 billion. Additionally, sales of portable software titles exceeded $1 billion for the first time. Hardware sales were down 27 percent for the year due in part to shortages during the holiday season and price reductions from all systems.
[edit] Video game consoles
- Nintendo GameCube
- Microsoft Xbox
- Sony PlayStation 2
- Sony released an internal hard drive for the PlayStation 2 on March 23
- The third major hardware revision of the PlayStation 2 (model number SCPH-70000) was released in Japan on November 1
[edit] Handheld game systems
The dominant handheld systems in 2004 were:
Additionally, Nokia released an updated version of their original N-Gage, called the N-Gage QD. Nintendo released the Nintendo DS on November 21 in the United States. In Japan Sony released the PlayStation Portable on December 12.
[edit] Video game sales
Based on figures from the NPD Group.
| Rank | Title | Console | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | PS2 | Take-Two Interactive |
| 2 | Halo 2 | Xbox | Microsoft |
| 3 | Madden NFL 2005 | PS2 | Electronic Arts |
| 4 | ESPN NFL 2K5 | PS2 | Take-Two Interactive |
| 5 | Need For Speed: Underground 2 | PS2 | Electronic Arts |
| 6 | Pokémon Fire Red with adapter | GBA | Nintendo of America |
| 7 | NBA Live 2005 | PS2 | Electronic Arts |
| 8 | Spider-Man 2 | PS2 | Activision |
| 9 | Halo: Combat Evolved | Xbox | Microsoft |
| 10 | ESPN NFL 2K5 | Xbox | Take-Two Interactive |
[edit] References
- ^ The NPD Group Reports Annual 2004 U.S. Video Game Industry Retail Sales. NPD Group (2005-01-18). Archived from the original on 2006-11-25. Retrieved on 2008-02-28.
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