2004 in video gaming

Duke Nukem Forever is now in its seventh year of production, and now slated for a 2005 release. Many, such as gaming website GameSpot, consider this year to be one of the strongest in terms of releases, due to block buster titles like Metroid Prime 2, Halo 2, Half-Life 2, Doom 3, Burnout 3: Takedown, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Ninja Gaiden, World of Warcraft and Rome: Total War. Plus Gungrave Overdose

Console Hardware Releases

 * Nintendo:
 * Nintendo DS
 * Sony:
 * PlayStation Portable (JP)

Gaming Related PC Hardware Releases

 * NVIDIA:
 * GeForce 6 Series launched
 * GeForce 6800 Series
 * GeForce 6600 Series

Notable Software Releases (July-Dec)

 * Aggressive Inline
 * Alien Hominid
 * Aliens Vs Predator: Extinction
 * All-Star Baseball 2005
 * American Chopper
 * Animal Crossing
 * Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
 * Beyond Good & Evil
 * Burnout 3: Takedown
 * City of Heroes
 * Custom Robo: Battle Evolution
 * Dawn of War
 * Dead or Alive: Ultimate
 * Dragon Quest V (JP)
 * Dragon Quest VIII (JP)
 * Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
 * Donkey Konga
 * Doom 3
 * Earthsiege 2
 * Espgaluda
 * Fable
 * Far Cry
 * Feel the Magic: XX/XY
 * Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword
 * Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
 * Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls
 * Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis
 * Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
 * Freedom Fighters
 * F-Zero: Climax
 * F-Zero: GP Legend
 * Gradius V
 * GunGrave Overdose
 * Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
 * Half-Life 2
 * Halo 2
 * Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
 * Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
 * Katamari Damacy
 * Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
 * Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
 * The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
 * The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
 * Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude
 * Madden NFL 2005
 * Manhunt
 * Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
 * Mario Party 6
 * Mario Pinball Land
 * Mario Power Tennis
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong
 * Mega Man Anniversary Collection
 * Mega Man X: Command Mission
 * Metal Gear Acid
 * Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
 * Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
 * Metroid: Zero Mission
 * Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! 3
 * Ninja Gaiden (Xbox)
 * Painkiller
 * Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
 * Phantom Brave
 * Phantom Dust
 * Pikmin 2
 * Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen
 * Polarium
 * Riviera: The Promised Land
 * Rome: Total War
 * RuneScape
 * The Sims 2
 * Spider-Man 2
 * Sudeki
 * Super Mario 64 DS
 * Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
 * Tales of Symphonia
 * Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2
 * Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
 * Tribes: Vengeance
 * Viewtiful Joe (PS2)
 * Viewtiful Joe 2
 * Wario World
 * WarioWare Inc.: Mega Party Game$
 * World of Warcraft
 * WWE Day of Reckoning
 * X-Men Legends
 * Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
 * Crimson Alive: Extreme Encounter

Key Events

 * March 4 - March 5 &mdash; DICE 2004 ?
 * March 7 - March 11 &mdash; Game Developers Conference;
 * May 12 - The Xbox 360 was officially announced on MTV in a special hosted by Elijah Wood.
 * May 16 - The PlayStation 3 was unveiled by Sony during a pre-E3 press conferece, at 21:25 GMT. At the same time, the press release was released through the Japanese PlayStation website.
 * May 17 - May 20 &mdash; Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) takes place in Los Angeles, California. 400 exhibiting companies and 70,000 industry professionals representing 79 countries attended. Next-generation systems from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft were unveiled.
 * September 16 - September 18 &mdash; Tokyo Game Show takes place at Makuhari Messe. 130 companies are expected to show with 1,429 booths.


 * DOOM 3 Engine
 * PAX
 * Xbox Live Arcade
 * ChatterBox