Hardware releases
| Month | Day | Console |
|---|---|---|
| March | 2 | Nintendo DS Lite JP |
| November | 11 | PlayStation 3 JP |
| November | 19 | Wii NA |
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|---|---|---|---|
| +... |
2006 saw the release of many sequels and prequels in video games, prominently including Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories , Madden NFL 07 , NBA Live 07 , NBA 2K7 , WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 , Tony Hawk's Project 8 , New Super Mario Bros. , Sonic the Hedgehog , and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess , alongside many prominent new releases including Bully , Company of Heroes , Dead Rising , Gears of War , Just Cause , Lost Planet: Extreme Condition , Ōkami , Prey , Resistance: Fall of Man , Saints Row , and Thrillville . Two new home consoles were released during the year: Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3.
The year's best-selling game console was the Nintendo DS, while the year's best-selling video game was New Super Mario Bros. for the DS. The year's most critically acclaimed title was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Nintendo's GameCube and Wii consoles.
| 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] |
| 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. [2] | ||
| Public schools in West Virginia will add Dance Dance Revolution by Konami to their curriculum, in an effort to combat obesity. [3] [4] | ||
| 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. [5] | |
| 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. [6] | ||
| The PlayStation Portable 2.01-2.50 firmware versions, previously considered unhackable, are hacked by Fanjita. [7] | ||
| The Los Angeles attorney's office sues Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive over the Hot Coffee mod. [8] | ||
| 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". [9] | |
| 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. [10] | ||
| 31 | Sony is reportedly building an Xbox Live-killer for the PlayStation 3. [11] | |
| StarForce, a DRM maker for computer games, threatens to sue popular weblog Boing Boing for criticising its products. [12] | ||
| 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." | ||
| Sony announces that ten servers will be merged with ten others on Everquest 2 . Players are cautiously optimistic. [13] [14] | ||
| February | 6 | After Tiger Telematics' bankruptcy, the Gizmondo handheld console is discontinued, only selling nearly 25,000 units. [15] |
| May | 10–12 | The 12th annual E3 is held in Los Angeles, California, United States. [16] |
| November | 7 | Left Behind Games releases Left Behind: Eternal Forces amid much controversy. |
| 17 | Sony releases the PlayStation 3 in North America. | |
| 19 | Nintendo releases the Wii. |
| Month | Date(s) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| January | 5 | Vivendi Universal Games acquires High Moon Studios (formerly Sammy Studios, Inc), which gained independence from Sammy in 2005. [17] |
| 9 | Take-Two Interactive acquires Irrational Games. | |
| 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. [18] | |
| Microsoft announces $293 million losses in its Home and Entertainment division, record revenues overall. [19] | ||
| Nintendo reports declining GameCube and Game Boy Advance sales but increased profits: ¥92.2 billion. [20] | ||
| 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. [21] | |
| 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. [22] Meanwhile, Microsoft postpones the Australian 360 launch from March 2 to 23, 2006 due to a "short term manufacturing challenge". [23] | ||
| 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. [24] [25] [26] | |
| 31 | CNET reports that Cisco Systems might be interested in buying Nintendo. [27] [28] | |
| February | 15 | ScrewAttack, a video game-related website is launched. |
| Unknown | Tiger Telematics, the manufacturer of the Gizmondo handheld console, files for bankruptcy. [29] | |
| 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. |
| July | Unknown | Atari plans to sell-off their game development studios. |
| October | Unknown | ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association) soft-launched. |
| Unknown | Esports organization OpTic Gaming is founded. | |
Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.
| Rank | Console | Manufacturer | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan [35] | Europe & North America [36] | Combined | |||
| 1 | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 8,862,969 | 11,700,000 | 20,562,969 |
| 2 | PlayStation 2 | Sony | 1,547,866 | 10,700,000 | 12,247,866 |
| 3 | PlayStation Portable | Sony | 1,946,911 | 7,000,000 | 8,946,911 |
| 4 | Xbox 360 | Microsoft | 208,697 | 5,900,000 | 6,108,697 |
| 5 | Wii | Nintendo | 998,118 | 1,800,000 | 2,798,118 |
| 6 | PlayStation 3 | Sony | 466,716 | 700,000 | 1,166,716 |
| Rank | Console | Manufacturer | Units sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nintendo DS Lite | Nintendo | 7,526,038 |
| 2 | PlayStation Portable | Sony | 1,946,911 |
| 3 | PlayStation 2 | Sony | 1,547,866 |
| 4 | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 1,336,931 |
| 5 | Wii | Nintendo | 998,118 |
| 6 | PlayStation 3 | Sony | 466,716 |
| 7 | Game Boy Advance SP | Nintendo | 275,779 |
| 8 | Xbox 360 | Microsoft | 208,697 |
| 9 | Game Boy Micro | Nintendo | 157,557 |
| 10 | GameCube | Nintendo | 89,775 |
| Rank | Console | Manufacturer | Units sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 6,400,000 |
| 2 | PlayStation 2 | Sony | 6,000,000 |
| 3 | PlayStation Portable | Sony | 4,000,000 |
| 4 | Xbox 360 | Microsoft | 2,000,000 |
| 5 | Wii | Nintendo | 700,000 |
| Rank | Console | Manufacturer | Units sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 5,300,000 |
| 2 | PlayStation 2 | Sony | 4,700,000 |
| 3 | Xbox 360 | Microsoft | 3,900,000 |
| 4 | PlayStation Portable | Sony | 3,000,000 |
| 5 | Wii | Nintendo | 1,100,000 |
| 6 | PlayStation 3 | Sony | 700,000 |
| Rank | Title | Platform(s) | Sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | United States | Europe | Worldwide | |||
| 1 | New Super Mario Bros. | Nintendo DS | 3,840,296 [38] | 2,000,000 [39] | 1,000,000+ [40] | 8,640,000 [41] |
| 2 | Madden NFL 07 | Multi-platform | 2,063+ [42] | 3,900,000+ [39] | 5,000,000+ [43] | |
| 3 | Pokémon Diamond / Pearl | Nintendo DS | 4,355,495 [38] | — | — | 4,355,495 |
| 4 | Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (Winning Eleven 10) | Multi-platform | 1,292,472+ [44] | 3,000,000+ [45] | 4,292,472+ | |
| 5 | Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (Brain Training) | Nintendo DS | 1,991,116 [44] | 1,100,000 [39] | 1,000,000+ [40] | 4,091,116+ |
| 6 | Final Fantasy XII | PlayStation 2 | 2,400,000+ [46] | 1,500,000+ [46] | — | 4,000,000 [47] |
| 7 | More Brain Training (Brain Age 2) | Nintendo DS | 3,748,638 [44] | — | — | 3,748,638 |
| 8 | Animal Crossing: Wild World (Oideyo Dōbutsu no Mori) | Nintendo DS | 2,485,264 [44] | Unknown | 1,000,000+ [40] | 3,485,264+ |
| 9 | FIFA 07 | Multi-platform | 3,000,000+ [48] | |||
| Need for Speed: Carbon | Multi-platform | 24,904+ [42] | 871,600+ [39] | 3,000,000+ [48] | ||
| The Sims 2: Pets | Multi-platform | 2,229+ [42] | 3,000,000+ [48] | |||
| Rank | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher | Sales | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pokémon Diamond / Pearl | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 4,355,495 | [38] |
| 2 | New Super Mario Bros. | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 3,840,296 | |
| 3 | More Brain Training (Brain Age 2) | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 3,748,638 | [44] |
| 4 | Oideyo Dōbutsu no Mori (Animal Crossing: Wild World) | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 2,485,264 | |
| 5 | Final Fantasy XII | PlayStation 2 | Square Enix | 2,400,000+ | [46] |
| 6 | Brain Training (Brain Age) | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 1,991,116 | [44] |
| 7 | English Training | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 1,662,573 | [38] |
| 8 | Winning Eleven 10 (Pro Evolution Soccer 6) | PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable | Konami | 1,292,472 | [44] |
| 9 | Mario Kart DS | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 1,115,082 | |
| 10 | Tetris DS | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 985,246 |
| Rank | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher | Sales | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madden NFL 07 | PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 | EA Sports | 3,900,000 | [39] |
| 2 | New Super Mario Bros. | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 2,000,000 | |
| 3 | Gears of War | Xbox 360 | Microsoft Game Studios | 1,800,000 | |
| 4 | Kingdom Hearts II | PlayStation 2 | Square Enix | 1,700,000 | |
| 5 | Final Fantasy XII | PlayStation 2 | Square Enix | 1,500,000+ | [46] |
| 6 | The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess | Wii, GameCube | Nintendo | 1,500,000 | [39] |
| 7 | Guitar Hero II | PlayStation 2 | RedOctane | 1,300,000 | |
| 8 | Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! | Nintendo DS | Nintendo | 1,100,000 | |
| Call of Duty 3 | Multi-platform | Activision | 1,100,000 | ||
| 10 | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter | Xbox 360 | Ubisoft | 1,000,000 | |
| NCAA Football 07 | PlayStation 2 | EA Sports | 1,000,000 |
| Platform | Title | Publisher | Sales | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GameCube | Sonic Riders | Sega | Unknown | [49] [39] |
| Nintendo DS | New Super Mario Bros. | Nintendo | 2,000,000 | [50] [51] |
| PC | World of Warcraft | Blizzard Entertainment | Unknown | [52] |
| PlayStation 2 | Madden NFL 07 | Electronic Arts | 2,800,000 | [53] [51] |
| PlayStation 3 | Resistance: Fall of Man | Sony Computer Entertainment | Unknown | [54] |
| Xbox | Madden NFL 07 | Electronic Arts | Unknown | [55] |
| Xbox 360 | Gears of War | Microsoft Game Studios | 1,800,000 | [51] |
| Wii | The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess | Nintendo | Unknown | [56] |
| Rank | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FIFA 07 | EA Sports |
| 2 | Pro Evolution Soccer 6 | Konami |
| 3 | Need for Speed: Carbon | EA Games |
| 4 | Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories | Rockstar Games |
| 5 | Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy | LucasArts |
| 6 | The Sims 2: Pets | EA Games |
| 7 | Cars | THQ |
| 8 | Tomb Raider: Legend | Eidos Interactive |
| 9 | The Sims 2 | EA Games |
| 10 | WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 | THQ |
| Month | Day | Console |
|---|---|---|
| March | 2 | Nintendo DS Lite JP |
| November | 11 | PlayStation 3 JP |
| November | 19 | Wii NA |
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| Title | Date | Director | Distributor(s) | Franchise | Original game publisher | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grandma's Boy | January 6, 2006 | Nicholaus Goossen | 20th Century Fox | — | — | [61] |
| Silent Hill | April 21, 2006 | Christophe Gans | Alliance Atlantis (Canada) Metropolitan Filmexport (France) | Silent Hill | Konami | [62] |
| Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea | July 15, 2006 | Kunihiko Yuyama | Toho | Pokémon | Game Freak | [63] |
| Viva Piñata | August 26, 2006 | Paul Griffin | 4Kids Entertainment | Viva Piñata | Rare | [64] |
| DOA: Dead or Alive | September 7, 2006 | Corey Yuen | Dimension Films | Dead or Alive | Team Ninja | [ citation needed ] |
| Dance Revolution | September 16, 2006 | Keegan Martin | CBS | Dance Dance Revolution | Konami | [65] |
| Mega Man Star Force | October 7, 2006 | Takao Kato | Xebec | Mega Man | Capcom | [ citation needed ] |
| Gekijōban Dōbutsu no Mori | December 16, 2006 | Jōji Shimura | Toho | Animal Crossing | Nintendo | [66] |
The Wii is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006 in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, following the GameCube and is a seventh-generation console alongside Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.
In the history of video games, the sixth generation era is the era of computer and video games, video game consoles, and handheld gaming devices available at the turn of the 21st century, starting on November 27, 1998. Platforms in the sixth generation include consoles from four companies: the Sega Dreamcast (DC), Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2), Nintendo GameCube (GC), and Microsoft Xbox. This era began on November 27, 1998, with the Japanese release of the Dreamcast, which was joined by the PlayStation 2 on March 4, 2000, the GameCube on September 14, 2001 and the Xbox on November 15, 2001, respectively. On March 31, 2001, the Dreamcast was among the first to be discontinued. Xbox in 2006, GameCube in 2007 and PlayStation 2 was the last, in January 2013. Meanwhile, the seventh generation of consoles started on November 22, 2005, with the launch of the Xbox 360.
Cars is a 2006 adventure racing game published by THQ. The game is based on the 2006 film of the same name. It was released for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable in June 2006, with versions for the Xbox 360 and Wii released later that year. The Wii version includes functionality geared towards its Wii Remote controller and was a launch game for the system. Taking place after the events of the film, the game follows Lightning McQueen as he participates in the new racing season with his goal set on finally winning the Piston Cup. While doing so, he races and trains with the local community of Radiator Springs.
Madden NFL 07 is an American football video game based on the NFL that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the first in the video game series to debut for the PlayStation 3 and Wii consoles as launch titles and the last Madden game to be released on the Game Boy Advance. Former Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander is on the cover.
2007 saw many new installments in established video game franchises, such as Madden NFL 08, NBA Live 08, NBA 2K8, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, Super Mario Galaxy, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Halo 3, God of War II, Team Fortress 2, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. New intellectual properties included Assassin's Creed, BioShock, Crackdown, Crysis, Mass Effect, Portal, Rock Band, Skate, The Darkness, The Witcher, and Uncharted.
Wii Sports is a 2006 sports simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game was released in North America along with the Wii on November 19, 2006, and in Japan, Australia, and Europe the following month. It was included as a pack-in game with the console in all territories except Japan, making it the first sports game included with the launch of a Nintendo system since Mario's Tennis for the Virtual Boy in 1995. The game was later released on its own as part of the Nintendo Selects collection of games.
Super Paper Mario is a 2007 action role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the third installment in the Paper Mario series and the first Mario game on the Wii. The game follows Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Luigi as they attempt to collect Pure Hearts and stop Count Bleck and his minions from destroying the universe.
Kororinpa is a video game for Nintendo's Wii video game console. It was released in Japan on December 2, 2006 as a launch title for the Wii, then in Europe on February 23, 2007 and North America on March 20, 2007.
Madden NFL 08 is a 2007 American football video game based on the National Football League that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the 19th installment in the Madden NFL video game franchise. It features Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young on the cover; San Diego Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo was the cover athlete for the Spanish-language version. This was the first Madden game made for 11 different platforms, it was released on August 14, 2007, for Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, GameCube and Microsoft Windows. There was also a version for Mac released on September 1, 2007. This was the last version of Madden to be released for Microsoft Windows until Madden NFL 19, and the last video game for the GameCube produced and released in North America.
TMNT is an action video game featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable, as well as for Microsoft Windows on March 20, 2007. It is based on the 2007 film of the same name.
2008 saw many new installments in established video game franchises, such as Grand Theft Auto IV, Fallout 3, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Gears of War 2, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Persona 4, Fable II, Call of Duty: World at War, Mario Kart Wii, Madden NFL 09, NBA Live 09, NBA 2K9, and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009. New intellectual properties included Army of Two, Dead Space, Left 4 Dead, LittleBigPlanet, Mirror's Edge, iRacing, Race Driver: Grid, and Spore.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2008 in Asia and sometimes called World Soccer: Winning Eleven 11 (PS2) in North America, is an association football video game in the Pro Evolution Soccer series by Konami. The game was announced on 18 June 2007. Its title is different from the other Pro Evolution Soccer games in that it is of a year and not a version; this was due to EA Sports' FIFA series naming their titles with two digit numbers, which would seem that PES was a year behind FIFA. It was released for Windows, Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 And mobile. The game sold 6.37 million units worldwide. PES 2008 was succeeded by Pro Evolution Soccer 2009. This was the first game of the series to be released for the PS3 and Wii, as well as the first game in the series to be internationally available on a Nintendo home console.
The seventh generation of home video game consoles began on November 22, 2005, with the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360 home console. This was followed by the release of Sony's PlayStation 3 on November 17, 2006, and Nintendo's Wii on November 19, 2006. Each new console introduced new technologies. The Xbox 360 offered games rendered natively at high-definition video (HD) resolutions, the PlayStation 3 offered HD movie playback via a built-in 3D Blu-ray Disc player, and the Wii focused on integrating controllers with movement sensors as well as joysticks. Some Wii controllers could be moved about to control in-game actions, which enabled players to simulate real-world actions through movement during gameplay. By this generation, video game consoles had become an important part of the global IT infrastructure; it is estimated that video game consoles represented 25% of the world's general-purpose computational power in 2007.
Def Jam Rapstar is a music video game based on rapping, developed by 4mm Games and Terminal Reality. It was released on October 5, 2010 in North America and on November 26, 2010 in Europe.
Just Dance 3 is a 2011 dance rhythm game released on the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 with Kinect and Move support respectively for the latter two. It is part of the Just Dance video game series published by Ubisoft originally on the Wii and the third main installment of the series. Just Dance 3 was announced shortly after the release of Just Dance 2 and was released for the Wii and Xbox 360 on October 7, 2011 in North America and October 11, 2011 in Australia and Europe and for the PlayStation 3 on December 6, 2011 in North America, December 8, 2011 in Australia and December 9, 2011 in Europe. Just Dance 3 received positive reviews from critics and is the best-selling third-party Wii game of all-time, with sales of 9.92 million.
Majesco Entertainment Company is an American video game publisher and distributor based in Hazlet, New Jersey. The company was founded as Majesco Sales in Edison, New Jersey in 1986, and was a privately held company until acquiring operation-less company ConnectivCorp in a reverse merger takeover, becoming its subsidiary and thus a public company on December 5, 2003. ConnectivCorp later changed its name to Majesco Holdings Inc. on April 13, 2004.
Guilty Gear X2 is a 2D fighting video game developed by Arc System Works, and published by Sammy Studios. It was first released on May 23, 2002 for Japanese arcades, and later ported to the PlayStation 2 for North America in 2003. The game received updated versions for several platforms, each containing various adjustments: Guilty Gear X2 #Reload (2003), Guilty Gear XX Slash (2005), Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (2006), Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus (2008), and Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R (2012).
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