March 2006 in video gaming

[edit] March 31, 2006 (Friday)

• Citing poor sales, Microsoft sets to re-launch the Xbox 360 in Japan in June. [1]

[edit] March 29, 2006 (Wednesday)

• Ubisoft announces that Wolfpack Studios, the developer of the massive multiplayer online role-playing game Shadowbane, will close. [2]

[edit] March 28, 2006 (Tuesday)

• Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts II is released in North America.

[edit] March 21, 2006 (Tuesday)

• Bethesda Softworks releases the long-awaited and critically acclaimed Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for PC and Xbox 360.
• Electronic Arts and Digital Illusions CE announce Battlefield 2142, which is planned for release in Fall 2006.

[edit] March 15, 2006 (Wednesday)

• Sony announces that the release of the Playstation 3 has been put back until November 2006. [3]
• 2K Games acquired the rights to Gas Powered Games' Dungeon Siege series. Two Dungeon Siege games will be released this year, Broken World (expansion to Dungeon Siege II) and Throne of Agony (PSP). [4] [5]

[edit] March 13, 2006 (Wednesday)

Video game developers Shigeru Miyamoto, Michel Ancel and Frederick Raynal are inducted Chevalier ("Knight") into the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, by the French Minister of Culture and Communication, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres. It is the first time that video game developers are honored with this distinction.

[edit] March 2, 2006 (Thursday)

• The Nintendo DS lite sells-out on the Japanese launch. (Gamasutra)
• The Utah Senate drops the HB257 bill that would have equated mature rated games with pornography. (Gamasutra)
• Bandai Namco will launch a game-oriented mobile service in Japan. (Gamasutra)
• Children of Mana is released.

[edit] March 1, 2006 (Wednesday)

• The number of World of Warcraft subscribers has reached 6 million worldwide. (Gamasutra)