2001 in video gaming
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Contents
Events[edit | edit source]
- Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts John Carmack of id Software to the AIAS Hall of Fame
- British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) hosts the 4th annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards for multimedia technologies; 15 of 21 awards go to video games
- May 17–19 — 7th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3); the 4th annual Game Critics Awards For The Best Of E3
- July - IEMA (Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association) hosts 2nd annual Executive Summit
- Gama Network hosts the 3rd annual Independent Games Festival (IGF)
- Game Developers Conference hosts the 1st annual Game Developers Choice Awards
- Reuters reports that the Dreamcast console has an estimated 800,000 online users playing its various online games already by midyear
- reports that Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and Sega are cooperating to allow online users for the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast consoles to play each other via the 1st ever cross-console network
- Sony cooperates with AOL to incorporate Internet features with the PlayStation 2 console; which include a browser, email, and instant messaging capabilities
- 2nd annual Dreamcast Championships (featuring the Crazy Taxi 2 video game)
- 1st place: Lindsay Gall ($15,000 & Jamaica resort trip)
- 2nd place: Michael Pirring ($10,000)
- 3rd place: Roger Mogle ($5,000)
- Nikkei News reports that the video game Phantasy Star Online (for Dreamcast) has had 300,000 worldwide users login already by midyear
- December 31 — Jez San is awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours, becoming the first person awarded specifically for services to video games.
Business[edit | edit source]
- Sega announces that it will no longer develop home consoles, in order to focus on game development. The Dreamcast is waiting to finish the production in May. But a lot of games were released for it in the same year.
- Zylom founded in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
- Indrema in April closes and its L600 Entertainment System multimedia home console is never released.
- Activision acquires Treyarch Invention LLC
- PCCW (Pacific Century CyberWorks Japan Co., Ltd.) acquires VR1 Entertainment
- Midway Games announces that it will no longer manufacture arcade games
- November 23 — GamePark releases the GP32 (GamePark 32) wireless-multiplayer multimedia handheld console in South Korea
- December — Panasonic's Q multimedia console
Lawsuits[edit | edit source]
- Sega of America Inc. v. Kmart Corporation; Sega sues Kmart over an unpaid debt of over USD$2 million dollars
- Uri Geller v. Nintendo; Geller sues Nintendo over his resemblance to a Pokémon character. The suit is dismissed.
Notable releases[edit | edit source]
North American release dates:
- January 21 - Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast)
- February 5 - Paper Mario (N64)
- February 7 - Clive Barker's Undying (PC)
- March 5 - Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)
- March 13 - Onimusha: Warlords (PS2)
- March 21 - Serious Sam: The First Encounter (PC)
- March 25 - Black & White (PC)
- May 22 - Red Faction (PS2)
- June 5 - Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast)
- June 8 - Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (GBA)
- June 11 - Super Mario Advance (GBA)
- June 12 - Half-Life: Blue Shift (PC)
- June 18 - Twisted Metal: Black (PS2)
- June 21 - Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (PC)
- June 22 - Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (PC)
- June 29 - Final Fantasy Chronicles (PS1)
- July 10 - Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (PS2)
- July 19 - Final Fantasy X (PS2)
- July 23 - Max Payne (PC)
- August 21 - Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (PC)
- August 27 - Mario Kart Super Circuit (GBA)
- August 29 - Alchemy (PC)
- September 9 - Advance Wars (GBA)
- September 24 - Silent Hill 2 (PS2)
- September 30 - Ico (PS2)
- October 17 - Devil May Cry (PS2)
- October 22 - Grand Theft Auto III (PS2)
- October 28 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS2)(GC)
- October 30 - Civilization III (PC)
- November 1 - Dragon Warrior VII (PS1)
- November 5 - SSX Tricky (PS2, GC, Xbox)
- November 9 - Project Gotham Racing (Xbox)
- November 11 - Golden Sun (GBA)
- November 12 - Empire Earth (PC)
- November 14 - Dead or Alive 3 (Xbox)
- November 14 - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2)
- November 15 - Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)
- November 17 - Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (GC)
- November 18 - Super Monkey Ball (GC)
- November 18 - IL-2 Sturmovik (PC)
- November 20 - FreQuency (PS2)
- November 20 - Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC)
- December 3 - Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (PS2)
- December 3 - Pikmin (GC)
- December 3 - Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC)
- December 4 - Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (PS2)
- December 18 - Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure (GC)
- December 20 - Final Fantasy X (PS2)
Video game sales[edit | edit source]
The top 10 selling console video games in 2001 in the United States ranked by units sold, according to NPD, were:
| Rank | Title | Platform | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Theft Auto III | PS2 | Rockstar Games |
| 2 | Madden NFL 2002 | PS2 | Electronic Arts |
| 3 | Pokémon Crystal | GBC | Nintendo |
| 4 | Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty | PS2 | Konami |
| 5 | Super Mario Advance | GBA | Nintendo |
| 6 | Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec | PS2 | Sony |
| 7 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 | PS2 | Activision |
| 8 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 | PS1 | Activision |
| 9 | Pokémon Silver | GBC | Nintendo |
| 10 | Driver 2 | PS1 | Infogrames |
Computer game sales[edit | edit source]
The top 10 selling computer games in 2001 in the United States ranked by units sold, according to NPD, were:
| Rank | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Sims | Electronic Arts |
| 2 | Roller Coaster Tycoon | Infogrames |
| 3 | Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone | Electronic Arts |
| 4 | Diablo II: Lord of Destruction | Vivendi Universal |
| 5 | The Sims: House Party | Electronic Arts |
| 6 | The Sims: Livin' Large | Electronic Arts |
| 7 | The Sims: Hot Date | Electronic Arts |
| 8 | Diablo II | Vivendi Universal |
| 9 | Sim Theme Park | Electronic Arts |
| 10 | Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings | Microsoft |
Video game releases[edit | edit source]
| Name | Release Date | Category | Region(s) | Platform(s)
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Hardware releases[edit | edit source]
| Name | Release Date | Category | Region(s) |
| Game Boy Advance | June 22, 2001 | Handheld console | Europe |
| Game Boy Advance | March 21, 2001 | Handheld console | Japan |
| Game Boy Advance | June 11, 2001 | Handheld console | North America |
| GameCube | September 14, 2001 | Home Console | Japan |
| GameCube | November 18, 2001 | Home Console | North America |
| GP32 | November 23, 2001 | Handheld Console | South Korea |
| Pokémon Mini | December 14, 2001 | Microconsole | Japan |
| Pokémon Mini | November 16, 2001 | Microconsole | North America |
| Xbox | November 16, 2001 | Home Console | North America |
