Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller is the third video game in Sega's Crazy Taxi series. It was originally released for the Xbox, followed by an arcade release under the title Crazy Taxi: High Roller for the Sega Chihiro game board and then a Microsoft Windows release. It expands on the previous two games with additional locations, taxis and other features.
Need for Speed: Underground is a 2003 racing video game and the seventh installment in the Need for Speed series. It was developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. Three different versions of the game were produced: one for consoles and Microsoft Windows, and another for the Game Boy Advance. An arcade version was additionally developed by Global VR, and was published by Konami with assistance from Electronic Arts.
Crazy Taxi is a series of racing games developed by Hitmaker and published by Sega. It was first available as an arcade video game in 1999, then released for the Dreamcast console in 2000. It is the third best-selling Dreamcast game in the United States, selling over a million copies. The game was later ported to the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and IBM PC compatibles with sequels also appearing on the Xbox, Game Boy Advance, and PlayStation Portable systems.
Midtown Madness 3 is a 2003 open world racing video game developed by Digital Illusions CE and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox. It is the third and currently final game in the Midtown Madness series. A version for mobile phones was developed by In-Fusio and released in 2004. This marked a change from the developer of the first two games, Angel Studios, which had moved on to work on the Midnight Club series. The Xbox-exclusive console release and change of developer heralded a significant graphical improvement to maintain the console's graphical standards.
Driver: Parallel Lines is a video game developed by Reflections Interactive and is the fourth installment in the Driver video game series. It is a departure from previous titles in the series that focused on multiple cities, as the game takes place in New York City, within the periods of 1978 and 2006. It is also the only title not to involve the undercover cop, John Tanner, but instead focuses on a getaway driver named TK, who seeks revenge on a gang he worked with during his youth, after they framed him for the murder of a drug lord they held for ransom. Due to the underwhelming performance of Driver 3, particularly the often-derided on-foot sections, Parallel Lines returns to the formula used in earlier games in the series, focusing on driving, although shooting remains in the game, while the game is more open-ended than previous titles. It was released in March 2006 on PlayStation 2 and Xbox by Atari. Following Atari's sale of Reflections and the Driver series to Ubisoft, the latter released the game for Microsoft Windows and the Wii in June 2007.
Race Driver: Grid is a 2008 racing video game developed and published by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, arcade, Java ME and OS X. It is the first game in the Grid series.
The year 2015 saw releases of numerous video games as well as a follow-up to Nintendo's portable 3DS console, the New Nintendo 3DS. Top-rated games originally released in 2015 included Madden NFL 16, NBA 2K16, NBA Live 16, WWE 2K16, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Bloodborne, Undertale, and Fallout 4. Sales of video games in 2015 reached $61 billion, according to analysis firm SuperData, an 8% increase from 2014. Of this, the largest sector was in computer game sales and subscription services, accounting for $32 billion. Mobile games revenues were at $25.1 billion, a 10% increase from 2014. Digital sales on consoles made up the remaining $4 billion.
Numerous video games were released in 2016. New hardware came out as well, albeit largely refreshed and updated versions of consoles in the PlayStation 4 Pro, PlayStation 4 Slim, and Xbox One S. Commercially available virtual reality headsets were released in much greater numbers and at much lower price points than the enthusiast-only virtual reality headsets of earlier generations. Augmented reality also became mainstream with Pokémon Go. Top-rated games originally released in 2016 included Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Inside, Overwatch, Forza Horizon 3, Madden NFL 17, WWE 2K17, NBA 2K17, Dark Souls III, and Battlefield 1 and Doom 2016. The top five highest-grossing video games of 2016 were League of Legends, Honor of Kings/Arena of Valor, Monster Strike, Clash of Clans, and Dungeon Fighter Online.
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Australia, and South America in November 2013 and in Japan, China, and other European countries in September 2014. It is the first Xbox game console to be released in China, specifically in the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone. Microsoft marketed the device as an "all-in-one entertainment system", hence the name "Xbox One". An eighth-generation console, it mainly competed against Sony's PlayStation 4 and Nintendo's Wii U and later the Switch.
Titanfall is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for Windows and Xbox One on March 11, 2014; an Xbox 360 version ported by Bluepoint Games was released April 8, 2014. The game was anticipated as the debut title from developers formerly behind the Call of Duty franchise.
The Crew is an online-only racing video game co-developed by Ubisoft Ivory Tower and Ubisoft Reflections and published by Ubisoft. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, with an Xbox 360 port developed by Asobo Studio in December 2014, and for Amazon Luna in November 2020. It features a persistent open world environment for free-roaming across a scaled-down recreation of the Contiguous United States and includes both role-playing and large-scale multiplayer elements.
TowerFall is an action indie video game created by Maddy Thorson through her company Maddy Makes Games. In the game, players control up to four archers in a multiplayer platform fighter. It was released on the Ouya microconsole in June 2013 and was later ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux, OS X, and Windows as TowerFall Ascension and to the Nintendo Switch under its original title of TowerFall.
Rogue Legacy is a 2013 platform game with roguelike elements developed and published by Cellar Door Games. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Linux, OS X, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and iOS. A sequel, Rogue Legacy 2, was released on April 28, 2022 for Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One.
The Bridge is a 2013 video game designed by American developer Ty Taylor for Microsoft Windows, Linux, OS X, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Ouya, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch. It was developed by The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild. The player controls an Escher-like character and the rotation of the 2D environment, which affects gravity based on the changing orientation of the landscape.
BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea is a two-part single-player expansion to the first-person shooter video game BioShock Infinite. It was developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K Games for PlayStation 3, OS X, Windows, Xbox 360, and Linux platforms. Episode One was released digitally on November 12, 2013, followed by Episode Two on March 25, 2014. A retail version was released as part of BioShock Infinite: The Complete Edition, and later included in BioShock: The Collection for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
The Xbox system software is the operating system developed exclusively for Microsoft's Xbox home video game consoles. Across the four generations of Xbox consoles, the software has been based on a version of Microsoft Windows and incorporating DirectX features optimized for the home consoles. The user interface, the Xbox Dashboard, provides access to games, media players, and applications, and integrates with the Xbox network for online functionality.
Dark Souls II: The Lost Crowns is a set of three downloadable content packs for the 2014 action role-playing game Dark Souls II. The first of the trio, Crown of the Sunken King was released in July 2014 and was followed by Crown of the Old Iron King in August and Crown of the Ivory King in September. The DLC, developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, were met with positive reception and drew praise for returning to the complex interlocking and looping level design of Dark Souls.
Adrift is a first-person adventure video game developed by Three One Zero and published by 505 Games. It was released on March 28, 2016 for Microsoft Windows and July 15, 2016 for PlayStation 4. An Xbox One version of the game was planned but has been cancelled. The story follows an astronaut, who floats through the wreckage of a destroyed space station with no memory of the incident. Over the course of the game, players find clues that piece together the events of the incident, and attempt to repair the escape vehicle to return home.
Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is a compilation of first-person shooter video games developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K. The Handsome Collection consists of both Borderlands 2 (2012) and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (2014) for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, along with all of their accompanying downloadable content, enhanced local multiplayer, and the ability to transfer save data from their respective PlayStation 3 /Vita/PSVR and Xbox 360 versions. A port to the Nintendo Switch entitled Borderlands Legendary Collection was released in North America on May 29, 2020 along with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, which additionally includes the first Borderlands. For The Handsome Collection, Borderlands 2 was ported by Iron Galaxy Studios and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel by Armature Studio. The Legendary Collection port was handled by Turn Me Up Games and Behaviour Interactive.
Dark Souls is a series of action role-playing games developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It began with the release of Dark Souls (2011) and has seen two sequels, Dark Souls II (2014) and Dark Souls III (2016). The series was created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and has received critical acclaim, with its high level of difficulty being among its most discussed aspects, while the first Dark Souls is often cited as one of the greatest games of all time. By 2022, the series had shipped over 33 million copies. Other FromSoftware games, including Demon's Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, share several related concepts and are commonly grouped together as Soulsbornes.
