2006 in video gaming
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2006 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games and several new titles such as Bully, Company of Heroes, Dead Rising, Gears of War, Just Cause, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Prey, Resistance: Fall of Man and Saints Row,
Events
| Month | Date(s) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| January | 26 | Nintendo announces its newly redesigned handheld, the Nintendo DS Lite. The new model is lighter, smaller, has configurable brightness and features an improved user interface.[1][2] |
| Konami Corp. announces the list of titles it expects to ship in 2006, ranging from Beatmania to Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, and covering multiple platforms.[3] | ||
| Public schools in West Virginia will add Dance Dance Revolution by Konami to their curriculum, in an effort to combat obesity.[4][5] | ||
| 27 | Players of the Horde clan from World of Warcraft start the "Gamers Against No Kash" charity, to pay the subscription fees for valuable players strapped for cash.[6] | |
| Microsoft of Japan made a statement to Japanese game magazine Famitsu regarding the Xbox 360 launch. "It was a lot more difficult than we had imagined. We couldn't prepare the launch titles that we had promised, and it made an impact," said Microsoft of Japan Xbox chief of operations Yoshihiro Maruyama. At the launch of the first Xbox in Japan, more units were sold in three days than have been sold of the Xbox 360 in one month.[7] | ||
| The PlayStation Portable 2.01-2.50 firmware versions, previously considered unhackable, are hacked by Fanjita.[8] | ||
| The Los Angeles attorney's office sues Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive over the Hot Coffee mod.[9] | ||
| 30 | A mandatory update for Xbox Live on the Xbox 360 was released. Microsoft claimed the update was for bugfixes and improvements. Members of the modding community claim that "the true purpose of this update was to halt the progress of the modding community".[10] | |
| Nintendo released a statement regarding the Red Tulip phenomenon on Animal Crossing: Wild World, stating "We have isolated the problem and determined that there was a temporary error with the upload tool when this letter was posted". Earlier, there had been speculation that the tulips were a result of black hat hackers.[11] | ||
| 31 | Sony is reportedly building a Xbox Live-killer for the PlayStation 3.[12] | |
| StarForce, a DRM maker for computer games, threatens to sue popular weblog Boing Boing for criticising its products.[13][14] | ||
| Blizzard Entertainment responds to the LGBT debate happening in World of Warcraft. The company stated: "To promote a positive game environment for everyone and help prevent such harassment from taking place as best we can, we prohibit mention of topics related to sensitive real-world subjects in open chat within the game, and we do our best to take action whenever we see such topics being broadcast."[15] | ||
| Sony announces that ten servers will be merged with ten others on Everquest 2. Players are cautiously optimistic.[16][17] | ||
| February | 6 | After Tiger Telematics' bankruptcy, the Gizmondo handheld console is discontinued, only selling nearly 25,000 units.[18] |
| May | 10-12 | The 12th annual E3 is held in Los Angeles, California, USA.[19] |
| November | 7 | Left Behind Games releases Left Behind: Eternal Forces amid much controversy. |
| 11 | Sony releases the PlayStation 3 | |
| 19 | Nintendo releases the Wii. |
Business
| Month | Date(s) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| January | 5 | Vivendi Universal Games acquires High Moon Studios (formerly Sammy Studios, Inc), which gained independence from Sammy in 2005.[20] |
| 9 | Take-Two Interactive acquires Irrational Games.[21] | |
| 26 | Sony reports that strong sales of the PlayStation Portable helped the company make a profit of ¥70 billion, the first time in 11 years that the company has managed to avoid an annual loss.[22][23] | |
| Microsoft announces $293 million losses in its Home and Entertainment division, record revenues overall.[24] | ||
| Nintendo reports declining Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance sales but increased profits: ¥92.2 billion.[25] | ||
| 27 | The Nintendo DS returns to the top of the weekly Japanese charts, with 64,515 units sold compared to 38,271 for the PlayStation Portable. The PlayStation 2 is third with 26,135 units sold, while the Xbox 360 continues to sell poorly (just 3,616, less than the GameCube). The five best-selling games were Brain Training for Adults 2, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Super Mario Strikers, Brain Training for Adults and Mario Kart DS, all published by Nintendo.[26] | |
| Microsoft lowers its estimate of Xbox 360 sales in its first 90 days from 2.75-3.0 million units to 2.5 million due to supply shortage. The yearly estimate (4.5 to 5.5 million) is unchanged since Microsoft plans to increase its console production with the help of a new manufacturer, Celestica.[27] Meanwhile, Microsoft postpones the Australian 360 launch from March 2 to March 23, 2006 due to a "short term manufacturing challenge".[28] | ||
| 30 | Shares of Take-Two Interactive, the controversial creator of the Grand Theft Auto series, rose Monday after news that the company was in takeover talks with an unnamed buyer.[29][30][31] | |
| 31 | CNET reports that Cisco Systems might be interested in buying Nintendo.[32][33] | |
| February | Unknown | Tiger Telematics, the manufacturer of the Gizmondo handheld console, files for bankruptcy.[34] |
| May | Unknown | IEMA (Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association) successfully merged with VSDA (Video Software Dealers Association) to form combined organization EMA (Entertainment Merchants Association) |
| July | Unknown | ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association) formed. |
| October | Unknown | ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association) soft-launched. |
Notable releases
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Hardware and software sales
United States
- Based on figures from the NPD Group:
Best-selling video games of 2006 in the US [37]
| Place | Title | Console | Units sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madden NFL 07 | PS2 | 1.8 million |
| 2 | New Super Mario Bros. | NDS | 1.5 million |
| 3 | Kingdom Hearts II | PS2 | 1.5 million |
| 4 | Gears of War | X360 | 1 million |
| 5 | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter | X360 | 913,000 |
| 6 | Final Fantasy XII | PS2 | 895,000 |
| 7 | Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories | PS2 | 860,000 |
| 8 | NCAA Football 07 | PS2 | 849,000 |
| 9 | Madden NFL 07 | X360 | 826,000 |
| 10 | Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! | NDS | 792,000 |
Best-selling video games of 2006 by platform[38]
| Place | Xbox 360[38] | Wii[45] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft) |
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo) |
| 2 | Madden NFL 07 (Electronic Arts) |
Red Steel (Ubisoft) |
| 3 | Gears of War (Microsoft) |
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (Sega) |
| 4 | The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks / 2K Games) |
Rayman Raving Rabbids (Ubisoft) |
| 5 | Fight Night Round 3 (Electronic Arts) |
Call of Duty 3 (Activision) |
| 6 | Saints Row (THQ) |
Madden NFL 07 (Electronic Arts) |
| 7 | Dead Rising (Capcom) |
Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Atlus) |
| 8 | NCAA Football 07 (Electronic Arts) |
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Activision) |
| 9 | Call of Duty 3 (Activision) |
Excite Truck (Nintendo) |
| 10 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Ubisoft) |
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (Majesco) |
Japan
- Based on figures from Enterbrain:
Best-selling video games of 2006 in Japan [46]
| Place | Title | Console | Units sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pokémon Diamond and Pearl | NDS | 4,302,815 |
| 2 | New Super Mario Bros. | NDS | 3,818,214 |
| 3 | Brain Training 2 | NDS | 3,748,638 |
| 4 | Animal Crossing: Wild World | NDS | 2,485,264 |
| 5 | Final Fantasy XII | PS2 | 2,322,329 |
| 6 | Brain Training | NDS | 1,991,116 |
| 7 | English Training | NDS | 1,529,618 |
| 8 | Mario Kart DS | NDS | 1,115,082 |
| 9 | Winning Eleven 10 | PS2 | 1,050,236 |
| 10 | Tetris DS | NDS | 985,246 |
Europe
- Based on estimates from Electronic Arts:
Video game console sales of 2006 in Europe[47][48]
| Place | Console | Units sold |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nintendo DS | 6.4 million |
| 2 | PlayStation 2 | 6 million |
| 3 | PlayStation Portable | 4 million |
| 4 | Xbox 360 | 2 million |
| 5 | Wii | 0.7 million |
Highest critically reviewed games (Metacritic)
| Number | Video Game | Publisher | Platform | Release Date | Average score | Number of reviews | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess | Nintendo | GameCube | December 11 | 96 | 13 reviews | [49] |
| 2 | Out of the Park Baseball 2007 | Sports Interactive | PC | March 23 | 96 | 5 reviews | [50] |
| 3 | The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion | 2K Games | Xbox 360 | March 20 | 94 | 90 reviews | [51] |
| 4 | Gears of War | Microsoft Game Studios | Xbox 360 | November 7 | 94 | 88 reviews | [52] |
| 5 | Okami | Capcom | Playstation 2 | September 19 | 93 | 69 reviews | [53] |
| 6 | Company of Heroes | THQ | PC | September 13 | 93 | 55 reviews | [54] |
| 7 | Guitar Hero II | RedOctane | Playstation 2 | November 7 | 92 | 69 reviews | [55] |
| 8 | Final Fantasy XII | Square Enix | Playstation 2 | October 31 | 92 | 64 reviews | [56] |
| 9 | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter | Ubisoft | Xbox 360 | March 9 | 90 | 78 reviews | [57] |
| 10 | GTR 2 | 10tacle Studios | PC | September 29 | 90 | 26 reviews | [58] |
References
- ↑ Nintendo Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ GameSpot Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ TeamXbox Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Reuters Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ GameSpot Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ "Gameshout". Gameshout. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
- ↑ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ PSP Updates Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Joystiq Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Boing Boing Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Edge Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Sony Archived October 11, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Darniaq Archived October 11, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Blake Snow (2007-07-30). "The 10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time". GamePro.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
- ↑ "Attendance and Stats". IGN. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ↑ Prnewswire Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Shacknews Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Herald Tribune Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Financial Times Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ GameSpot Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Media Create Archived 17 July 2007 at WebCite
- ↑ TeamXbox Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ "Yahoo". Games.yahoo.com. 2010-11-09. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
- ↑ Marketwatch Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ "TTWO Stock Chart". Finance.yahoo.com. 2005-04-12. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
- ↑ CNET Archived May 30, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ GameDaily.biz Archived October 4, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Gizmondo Europe goes into liquidation". Pocket-Lint. 2006-02-07. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
- ↑ http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/924617-the-king-of-fighters-2006/data
- 1 2 3 http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/923586-jaws-unleashed/data
- ↑ "Madden NFL Proves Best Selling Game of 2006: News from 1UP.com". Archived from the original on 2009-05-21. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
- 1 2 3 IGN Xbox 360 Team (2006-12-22). "Xbox 360 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ↑ IGN Staff (2006-12-18). "Nintendo DS 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ↑ The IGN GameCube Staff (2006-12-20). "GameCube 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ↑ Dan, Steve, and Charles (2006-12-20). "PC 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ↑ IGN PlayStation Team (2006-12-19). "PS2 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ↑ IGN PlayStation Team (2006-12-22). "PS3 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ↑ IGN Xbox Team (2006-12-19). "Xbox Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ↑ The IGN Wii Team (2006-12-22). "Wii 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ↑ "Gamasutra - News - Japanese Software Market Up 125% In 2006". Archived from the original on 2009-05-18. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
- ↑ Electronic Arts (2008-01-31). "Supplemental Segment Information" (PDF). Thomson Financial. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ↑ David Jenkins (2008-02-01). "EA Reveals European Hardware Estimates". Gamasutra. CMP Media. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ↑ "Reviews for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
- ↑ "Reviews for Out of the Park Baseball 2007". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
- ↑ "Reviews for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
- ↑ "Reviews for Gears of War". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
- ↑ "Reviews for Okami". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
- ↑ "Reviews for Company of Heroes". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
- ↑ "Reviews for Guiatar Hero II". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
- ↑ "Reviews for Final Fantasy XII". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
- ↑ "Reviews for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
- ↑ "Reviews for GTR 2". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
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