2001 in video gaming

List of years in video gaming (table)
… 1991 ^. 1992 ^. 1993 ^. 1994 ^. 1995 ^. 1996 ^. 1997 … 1998 1999 2000 -2001- 2002 2003 2004 … 2005 ^. 2006 ^. 2007 ^. 2008 ^. 2009 ^. 2010 ^. 2011 …
Related time period or subjects
… 1998 ^. 1999 ^. 2000 - 2001 - 2002 ^. 2003 ^. 2004 … … 1970s ^. 1980s ^. 1990s -2000s- 2010s ^. 2020s ^. 2030s … 20th century ^. 21st century ^. 22nd century …
Art ^. Archaeology ^. Architecture ^. Literature ^. Music ^. Science +...

1 Events
2 Trends

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
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) hosts the 4th annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards for multimedia technologies; 15 of 21 awards go to video games
May 17–19 — 7th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3); the 4th annual Game Critics Awards For The Best Of E3
July - IEMA (Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association) hosts 2nd annual Executive Summit
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 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 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 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 video games.

Business

Dynamix (1984–2001) is closed by its parent company Sierra Entertainment on August 14, 2001 as part of Sierra's restructuring under Vivendi Universal. Several veterans of the studio stay in Eugene and found a new studio / electronic publisher, GarageGames.
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 were released for it in the same year.
Zylom founded in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Indrema in April 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.
August — Loki Software declares Chapter 11 Bankruptcy over internal financial troubles, before going defunct next January. In response Michael Simms of the Tux Games retailer and former Loki game tester founds Linux Game Publishing alongside ex-Loki employee Mike Philips on October 15 to keep games coming to Linux.
November 23 — GamePark releases the GP32 (GamePark 32) wireless-multiplayer multimedia handheld console in South Korea
December — Panasonic's Q multimedia console

Lawsuits

Sega of America Inc. v. Kmart Corporation; Sega sues Kmart over an unpaid debt of over US$2 million dollars
Uri Geller v. Nintendo; Geller sues Nintendo over his resemblance to a Pokémon character. The suit is dismissed.

Notable releases

Video game platforms

DC	Dreamcast
GBA	Game Boy Advance
GCN	Nintendo GameCube

N64	Nintendo 64
PS1	PlayStation / PSone
PS2	PlayStation 2

Win	Microsoft Windows
Xbox	Xbox
GBC	Game Boy Color

January 4 - RuneScape (PC)
January 21 - Phantasy Star Online (DC)
February 5 - Paper Mario (N64)
February 7 - Clive Barker's Undying (PC)
February 16 - Final Fantasy IX (PS1) PAL & Europe
February 27 - The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages (GBC)
March 1 - Lego Island 2 The Brickster's Revenge (GBA, PS1, Win, GBC)
March 5 - Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)
March 9 - Sonic Shuffle (DC)
March 12 - Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo (Windows, North America)
March 13 - Onimusha: Warlords (PS2)
March 21 - Tribes 2 (PC)
March 21 - Serious Sam: The First Encounter (PC)
March 23 - Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo (Windows, Europe)
March 25 - Black & White (PC)
March 30 - Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo (Nintendo 64, Europe)
May 22 - Red Faction (PS2)
May 30 - Bejeweled (PC)
June 5 - Sonic Adventure 2 (DC)
June 8 - Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (GBA)
June 11 - Super Mario Advance (GBA)
June 18 - Twisted Metal: Black (PS2)
June 21 - Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (PC)
June 22 - Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (PC)
June 29 - Final Fantasy Chronicles (PS1)
July 10 - Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (PS2)
July 19 - Final Fantasy X (PS2)
July 23 - Max Payne (PC)
August 8 - Shogun: Total War: Mongol Invasion (PC)
August 21 - Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (PC)
August 27 - Mario Kart Super Circuit (GBA)
August 29 - Alchemy (PC)
September 9 - Advance Wars (GBA)
September 24 - Silent Hill 2 (PS2)
September 30 - Ico (PS2)
October 10 - Dark Age of Camelot (PC)
October 17 - Devil May Cry (PS2)
October 21 - Stronghold (PC)
October 22 - Grand Theft Auto III (PS2)
October 28 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS2)(GC)
October 30 - Aliens versus Predator 2 (PC)
October 30 - Civilization III (PC)
November 1 - Dragon Warrior VII (PS1)
November 5 - SSX Tricky (PS2, GC, Xbox)
November 9 - Project Gotham Racing (Xbox)
November 11 - Golden Sun (GBA)
November 12 - Empire Earth (PC)
November 14 - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2)
November 15 - Dead or Alive 3 (Xbox)
November 15 - Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)
November 17 - Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (GC)
November 18 - Super Monkey Ball (GC)
November 18 - IL-2 Sturmovik (PC)
November 19 - WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It (PlayStation 2)
November 20 - FreQuency (PS2)
November 20 - Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC)
December 3 - Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (PS2)
December 3 - Pikmin (GC)
December 3 - Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC)
December 4 - Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (PS2)
December 17 -Luigi's Mansion (GC)
December 20 - Final Fantasy X (PS2)

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).

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).

Video game sales

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

**Top Grossing Video Games of 2001**
Rank	Title	Platform	Publisher
1	Grand Theft Auto III	PS2	Rockstar Games
2	Madden NFL 2002	PS2	Electronic Arts
3	Pokémon Crystal	GBC	Nintendo
4	Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty	PS2	Konami
5	Super Mario Advance	GBA	Nintendo
6	Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec	PS2	Sony
7	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3	PS2	Activision
8	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2	PS1	Activision
9	Pokémon Silver	GBC	Nintendo
10	Driver 2	PS1	Infogrames

Computer game sales

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

**Top Grossing Computer Games of 2001**
Rank	Title	Publisher
1	The Sims	Electronic Arts
2	Roller Coaster Tycoon	Infogrames
3	Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone	Electronic Arts
4	Diablo II: Lord of Destruction	Vivendi Universal
5	The Sims: House Party	Electronic Arts
6	The Sims: Livin' Large	Electronic Arts
7	The Sims: Hot Date	Electronic Arts
8	Diablo II	Vivendi Universal
9	Sim Theme Park	Electronic Arts
10	Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings	Microsoft

History of video games

By generation	First (1972–1977) · Second (1976–1984) · Third (1983–1992) · Fourth (1987–1996) · Fifth (1993–2006) · Sixth (1998–) · Seventh (2005–) · Eighth (2012–)

By decade	1980s · 1990s · 2000s · 2010s

By year	Years prior to 1972 · 1970 1971 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 2010 · 2011 · 2012

By system	Arcade game history (Golden age of video arcade games · Timeline of video arcade game history) · Video game console history (North American video game crash of 1983) · PC game history

By genre	Action game history · Action-adventure game history · Adventure game history · History of role-playing video games · Sports game history · Strategy video game history