2005 in video gaming

Traditionally when hardware manufacturers are planning their next-generation console launches, there is always a systemtic market lull as consumers wait for the next generation to arrive. 2005 was no different than previous industry lulls (the last one being 1999-2000, right before the end of Nintendo 64's life cycle and before PlayStation 2's debut.), and like other industry lull, it was a time where innovative software took the lead as developers have mastered the platform and attempted to sqeeze every bit of extra power from the aging systems. The end of 2005 also saw the first entrance into the Next Generation Console group with Microsoft's Xbox 360. Although the system suffered from major supply shortage, it still managed to become 2005's must have gift.

However, in contrast to the diminished home console segment, the Handheld arena overachieved beyond all expectations. After Nintendo DS's worldwide launch in 2004 (which was described as mediocre Japan or even abysmal North America) and Sony PlayStation Portable's "Paper Launch" in Japan, both handheld manage to perform better than expected, carrying the game market through 2005 with innovative titles and pinnacle franchises. What was even more surprising was the performance of Game Boy Advance and it's two redesign iterations: Game Boy Advance SP and Game Boy micro, which manage to outsell the combine sales of the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable.

On the PC side, hardware news was dominated by two major announcement/product releases: Ageia's dedicated physics card PhysX; and the ongoing battle for video card supremacy between nVidia's GeForce 7 Series video cards and ATI's Radeon X1000 Series video cards.

Ageia's announcement of their PhysX Dedicated physics processing card created a stir as industry observers debated on the viability of a dedicated physics card in gaming machines, and how well the adoption rate of such technology will be. Although the product won't be released until 2006, many PC developers have expressed interest in the card and have pledge support of such an expansion card when it arrives.

In contrast, PC Software can be described by one video game: World of Warcraft, which remains the talk of the industry, breaking 5 Million suscribers worldwide, becoming the biggest MMORPG and drawing in newbies to the genre who have never played a MMORPG before. The emphesis of highly detailed, rich graphics and atmosphere created by First-person shooters in 2004 like Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 fell wayside as many players have yet to upgrade to the latest video cards by nVidia or ATI (hardware shortage again is the culprit). Some were also wary of the continuous flood of first-person shooter video games, even though there has been numerous AAA titles such as F.E.A.R., Battlefield 2, and Quake 4.

Duke Nukem Forever is now in its 8th year of production, and now slated for a 2006 release.

GamePark Holdings

 * GP2X
 * South Korea - November 10

Microsoft
The Xbox 360 arrived towards the end of the year becoming one of this years most sought after Christmas gifts. The 360 quickly sold out in the western world leaving only those who were willing to pay exorbitant amounts of money on eBay able to get one. It was, however, a different story altogether in Japan where new consoles sat on shelves quietly waiting for buyers that never arrived. The 360 is what could be called the next logical step for Microsoft to take in the home console market. It takes a leap in computing power that all next gen consoles take and features a removable hard drive, an upgraded Live service that would feature downloadable content and would create a new virtual marketplace, as well as what could be described as a more refined Controller S.
 * Xbox 360 (360)
 * North America/Puerto Rico - November 22
 * Europe - December 2
 * Japan - December 10

The launch titles for the 360 were diverse, if you exclude RPG's, with some lacking in quality and some in features. Perfect Dark Zero for example, the much anticipated FPS released by Rare, was met with less than stellar criticism. This coming from a developer that many gamers held dear from the N64 days. Rare redeemed themselves with the release of Kameo: Elements of Power, an action game for the 360 which was met with positive reviews and praise among gamers. Call of Duty 2 by EA also hit the street at launch and was applauded for its immersive single player campaign but criticized for lacking a lobby system, among other issues with online play, that Xbox Live players are so accustomed to. Another title during the launch came from left field, Gun, released by Neversoft who are known for their Tony Hawk games, set in the wild west. The game based on the remake of King Kong titled Peter Jackson's King Kong came out a shook some of the stereotype that all movie inspired games are horrible.

Nintendo
At this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, Nintendo shocked the audience with the announcement of Game Boy micro, another revision of the Game Boy Advance hardware. Riding on the wave of portable electronic miniaturization, the Game Boy micro is roughly the size of three Game Boy Advance cartridges. The new portable system has a brighter screen, longer battery life than the Game Boy Advance SP, and a new digital volume control buttons (doubles as Start/Select button during gameplay) that replace the volume slider control in previous Game Boys. However, these upgrades are at the expense of a smaller screen and lack of Original Game Boy and Game Boy Color compatibility.
 * Game Boy micro (GBM)
 * Japan - September 13
 * North America - October 2
 * Europe - November 4
 * Australia - November 3

On the day of Game Boy micro's launch, some stores also received a new batch of Game Boy Advance SPs with a different packaging, stating that it has a brighter screen. The official packaging has the words, "Now with a Brighter Screen" and a whiter highlight glowing out of the Game Boy Advance SP. It was officially revealed that Nintendo has phased out the Game Boy Advance SP and is replacing them with a brighter screen, the same ones found on the Game Boy micro. Beyond the brightness functionality, it is no different than existing Game Boy Advance SP.
 * Game Boy Advance SP ver2 (GBASP2)
 * Japan - September 13
 * North America - October 2

Sony

 * PlayStation Portable (PSP)
 * North America - March 24
 * Europe/Australia - September 1

Tiger Telematics

 * Gizmondo
 * United Kingdom - March 19
 * North America - October 22

Notable Software Releases (Jan-June)

 * January 11 - Resident Evil 4 (GameCube/PS2(late 2005))
 * First original main Resident Evil game since Resident Evil 0, it was ported to PS2 in late 2005 as Capcom breaks it's exclusive deal with Nintendo.


 * January 25 - Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath (Xbox)
 * Critically acclaimed title met with underwhelming sales, Oddworld Inhabitants's decision for making this title platform exclusive is often pointed as the source of failure. Lorne Lanning, co-founder and president, has since announced his departure from the gaming world.


 * February 14 - WarioWare: Touched! (DS)
 * The first big killer app for the Nintendo DS, this game demonstrates the full potential of the touch screen and microphone with it's large variety of microgames.


 * February 22 - Gran Turismo 4 (PS2)
 * Sony's long running Gran Turismo franchise is in it's fourth iteration. New this year: Photo mode - take pictures of cars and transfer them to USB devices; and 24 Hour Endurance race, a 24 hour endurance race.


 * February 24 - Tekken 5 (PS2)
 * Largely considered the best Tekken yet, at the time of it's release.


 * March 1 - Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening (PS2)
 * A highly difficult action game that brought the Devil May Cry series back to its roots.


 * March 21 - TimeSplitters: Future Perfect (PS2, Xbox, GameCube)
 * Another critically acclaimed title met with underwhelming sales, EA's lack of marketing for this title and their inability to wrestle attention away from platform exclusive First-person shooter titles such as Halo 2(Xbox) or even Killzone(PS2) is often cited as the source of failure.


 * March 22 - God of War (PS2)
 * Innovative, violent, Game of the Year candidate by designer David Jaffe.


 * March 22 - Lumines (PlayStation Portable)
 * Coinciding the launch of the North American PlayStation Portable, Tetsuya Mizuguchi's first title under his Q Entertainment label was considered one of the big three killer app for the PlayStation Portable.


 * March 22 - WipEout Pure (PlayStation Portable)
 * One of the PSP's launch titles and the first PSP game to feature downloadable content.


 * March 22 - Ridge Racers (PlayStation Portable)
 * A graphicaly impressive launch title for the PSP developed by Namco.


 * March 22 - The Matrix Online (PC)
 * The long awaited MMORPG based on the Matrix universe finally arrives after being dropped from Ubisoft. 


 * April 12 - Jade Empire (Xbox)
 * Original release by BioWare following up their Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic success.


 * April 19 - Psychonauts (Xbox/PS2/PC)
 * The first game developed by Double Fine Productions, this game from Tim Schafer featured stunning art direction and a unique story. It was met with horrible sales. Some gamers have said it would have faired better on the GameCube, the one platform it was not released on.


 * May 23 - Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA)
 * The 2nd Fire Emblem game released in North America, first in series to allow replaying maps.


 * May 23 - WarioWare: Twisted! (GBA)
 * This GBA game came in a cartridge with a built in gyro sensor that allowed for all new crazy microgames.


 * June 13 - Kirby: Canvas Curse (DS)
 * First in wave of critically acclaimed DS games after post-launch drought.


 * June 21 - Battlefield 2 (PC)
 * Critically acclaimed sequal to hit multiplayer craze, Battlefield: 1942.


 * June 27 - Meteos (DS)
 * A popular puzzle game by developer Q Entertainment.

Notable Software Releases (July-Dec)

 * August 8 - Madden NFL 06 (PS2, DS, GameCube)
 * Another entry in the best-selling Madden series.


 * August 22 - Nintendogs (DS)
 * Japanese sleeper-hit that got 40/40 in Famitsu reaches western shores, to see if it would meet the same level of success.


 * August 22 - Advance Wars: Dual Strike (DS)
 * October 7 - Black & White 2 (PC)
 * Sequal to the critically acclaimed Black & White, this 


 * October 17 - F.E.A.R. (PC)
 * October 18 - Quake 4 (PC, Xbox 360)
 * October 18 - Age of Empires III (PC)
 * Third entry in the famous Age of Empires series in over 5 years.


 * October 18 - Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
 * First game by the development team since the cult hit ICO.


 * October 19 - Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (GameCube)
 * The first 3D Fire Emblem, and first to be on a home console since the SNES.


 * October 25 - Call of Duty 2 (PC)
 * October 25 - Civilization IV (PC)
 * October 25 - Soul Calibur III (PS2)
 * November 7 - Kameo: Elements of Power (Xbox 360)
 * After numerous delays and three platform moves (This game began life as a Nintendo 64 title, then moved to GameCube and eventually XBox), the long awaited game makes it debut as a launch title on the Xbox 360.


 * November 8 - The Matrix: Path of Neo (PS2, Xbox, GameCube), (PC)
 * November 9 - Resident Evil: Archives: Umbrella's Virus Uncovered (Paperback Book)
 * November 14 - Mario Kart DS (Nintendo DS)
 * This title marks Nintendo's first online enabled game on the Nintendo DS and the launch of the Nintendo WiFi service.


 * November 14 - Shadow the Hedgehog (PS2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube)
 * Shadow's first starring role in a game.


 * November 17 - Perfect Dark Zero (Xbox 360)
 * December 5 - Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo DS)
 * The 2nd Nintendo WiFi Connection game for the DS.


 * December 12 - Final Fantasy IV (GBA)

Key Events

 * March 6 &mdash; The television show 60 Minutes tackles issues within video game controversy. This segment of 60 Minutes has been criticized by video game players for encouraging video game censorship.
 * March 7–March 11 &mdash; Game Developers Conference:
 * Nintendo keynote speech: "The Heart of the Gamer" by Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo.
 * Microsoft keynote speech: "The Future of Games: Unlocking the Opportunity" by J Allard, corporate vice president and chief XNA architect.
 * May 11 &mdash; The global version of Maplestory is launched.
 * May 12 &mdash; The Xbox 360 was officially announced on MTV in a special hosted by Elijah Wood.
 * May 16 &mdash; The PlayStation 3 was unveiled by Sony during a pre-E3 press conference, at 21:25 GMT. At the same time, the press release was released through the Japanese PlayStation website.
 * May 17-May 20 &mdash; E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) takes place in Los Angeles, California. Four hundred exhibiting companies and 70,000 industry professionals representing 79 countries attended. Next-generation systems from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft were unveiled.
 * June 1 &mdash; IBM held the first virtual video game on-demand conference in which game developers and manufacturers were able to come together to discuss issues with online games, including management and distribution.
 * July - IEMA (Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association) hosts 6th annual Executive Summit.
 * September 16 &mdash; September 18 &mdash; Tokyo Game Show takes place at Makuhari Messe. One hundred-thirty companies are expected to show with 1,429 booths.
 * Nintendo keynote speech by Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo.
 * During Iwata's keynote speech, the Wii controller is unveiled.
 * Microsoft keynote speech by Robert J. Bach, chief Xbox officer and senior vice president, Home and Entertainment Division at Microsoft.
 * November 14 &mdash; Nintendo's first mainstream online service (Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection) is launched with Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk's American Sk8land.
 * November 22 &mdash; Microsoft's Xbox 360 is released.
 * December 16 &mdash; The Family Entertainment Protection Act (FEPA) is introduced by Senators Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh. The bill calls for a federal mandate enforcement of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings system for video games in order to protect children from inappropriate content.

Business

 * January 6 &mdash; French publisher Titus Interactive, owner of Interplay Entertainment, is declared bankrupt after being in receivership since October 2004.
 * January 12 &mdash; Video game companies and players worldwide donate money to the UNICEF South Asian Tsunami Relief Fund for rescue and reconstruction efforts upon the South Asian tsunami disaster. Electronic Arts pledges to donate $250,000 to the UNICEF South Asian Tsunami Relief Fund. CCP, the publisher of EVE Online, establishes a fund that video game players can contribute to.
 * January 17 &mdash; Electronic Arts and ESPN announced a 15-year partnership that would give EA access to ESPN's broadcast, print and online content.
 * January 20 &mdash; Activision announced that it acquired developer Vicarious Visions known best as a developer of Game Boy games as well as for their middleware program, Alchemy.
 * January 24 &mdash; Major League Baseball and Take-Two Interactive sign exclusive seven year deal that gives Take-Two the rights among third-party publishers to develop games based on the MLB license.
 * January 25 &mdash; Take-Two Interactive announced that it acquired developer Visual Concepts and their wholly owned subsidiary Kush Games from Sega for $24 million. Additionally, Take-Two also announced the start of another publishing label named 2K Games.
 * February &mdash; Troika Games defunct after being unable to get contracts for development work.
 * March 2 &mdash; The Entertainment Software Rating Board or ESRB added the rating of "E10+" to its ratings system. E10+ was created in order to divide E ratings for younger and older children.
 * March 7 &mdash; Sammy Studios breaks away from Sega Sammy Holdings and renames itself High Moon Studios.
 * March 9 &mdash; Sega acquires Creative Assembly.
 * March 23 &mdash; Vivendi Universal Games buys developer Radical Entertainment. Radical is best known for developing The Simpsons Hit & Run.
 * April 2 &mdash; Keiji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man series, was promoted from corporate officer to senior corporate officer.
 * May &mdash; Buena Vista Games announces that it had bought the rights to the Turok video game franchise and will be publishing new games. The rights were originally held by bankrupt Acclaim Entertainment.
 * July 20 &mdash; After coming under heavy fire from many politicians, most notably Hillary Clinton, the Entertainment Software Rating Board re-rated Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Adults Only 18+ (AO) due to the sexually explicit minigame mod "Hot Coffee". Additionally, Rockstar Games ceased production of the game and has announced plans to offer a new version of the game that can't be affected by the mod, and plans to patch the PC version.
 * July 27 &mdash; Sony Computer Entertainment released the first major update in Japan for their video game handheld, the PlayStation Portable. Version 2.00 includes an web browser, A-B repeat mode, Wi-Fi picture sending, as well as additional audio & video support among other features.
 * August 8&mdash; Abandon Mobile announces its formation through a partnership between Abandon Entertainment, Inc. and GF Capital Management and Advisors, LLC.
 * August 22 &mdash; Square Enix acquires Taito Corporation. That leads to Square Enix entering the arcade sector of the electronic game industry.
 * November &mdash; Pandemic Studios and BioWare partner to create BioWare/Pandemic Studios.
 * November 7 &mdash; Take-Two Interactive acquires Firaxis Games.
 * November 30 &mdash; Sony Computer Entertainment announce that PlayStation 2 breaks a record: the fastest console to reach cumulative shipment of 100 million units, beating the previous record holder, the PlayStation, by three years and nine months. The PS platform has until the present year the biggest sales of all times of video games history, with 120 million consoles shipped.
 * December 12 &mdash; Working Designs closes down.