- 2006 in video gaming
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Events
- January 26, 2006 -- 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][2]
- January 26, 2006 -- 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.[3]
- January 26, 2006 -- Public schools in West Virginia will add Dance Dance Revolution by Konami to their curriculum, in an effort to combat obesity.[4][5]
- January 27, 2006 -- 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.[6]
- January 27, 2006 -- 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.[7]
- January 27, 2006 -- The PlayStation Portable 2.01-2.50 firmware versions, previously considered unhackable, are hacked by Fanjita.[8]
- January 27, 2006 -- The Los Angeles attorney's office sues Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive over the Hot Coffee mod.[9]
- January 30, 2006 -- 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".[10]
- January 30, 2006 -- 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.[11]
- January 31, 2006 -- Sony is reportedly building a Xbox Live-killer for the PlayStation 3.[12]
- January 31, 2006 -- StarForce, a DRM maker for computer games, threatens to sue popular weblog Boing Boing for criticising its products.[13][14]
- January 31, 2006 -- 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."[15]
- January 31, 2006 -- Sony announces that ten servers will be merged with ten others on Everquest 2. Players are cautiously optimistic.[16][17]
- November 7, 2006 -- Left Behind Games releases Left Behind: Eternal Forces amid much controversy.
- November 11, 2006 -- Sony releases the PlayStation 3.
- November 19, 2006 -- Nintendo releases the Wii.
Business
- January 5, 2006 -- Vivendi Universal Games acquires High Moon Studios (formerly Sammy Studios, Inc), which gained independence from Sammy in 2005.[18]
- January 9, 2006 -- Take-Two Interactive acquires Irrational Games.[19]
- January 26, 2006 -- Sony reports that strong sales of the PlayStation Portable helped the company make a profit of 70 billion yen, the first time in 11 years that the company has managed to avoid an annual loss.[20][21]
- January 26, 2006 -- Microsoft announces $293 million losses in its Home and Entertainment division, record revenues overall.[22]
- January 26, 2006 -- Nintendo reports declining Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance sales but increased profits: Yen92.2 billion.[23]
- January 27, 2006 -- 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.[24]
- January 27, 2006 -- 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.[25] Meanwhile, Microsoft postpones the Australian 360 launch from March 2 to March 23, 2006 due to a "short term manufacturing challenge"/[26]
- January 30, 2006 -- 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.[27][28][29]
- January 31, 2006 -- CNET reports that Cisco Systems might be interested in buying Nintendo.[30][31]
- May - IEMA (Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association) successfully merged with VSDA (Video Software Dealers Association) to form combined organization EMA (Entertainment Merchants Association)
- July – ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association) formed.
- October – ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association) soft-launched.
Game releases
Video game platforms GBA Game Boy Advance GCN Nintendo GameCube Lin Linux Mac Macintosh / Mac OS NDS Nintendo DS PS2 PlayStation 2 PS3 PlayStation 3 PSP PlayStation Portable Wii Wii Win Microsoft Windows X360 Xbox 360 Xbox Xbox Release Date Title Systems February 9 Siren 2 (Japan) PS2 February 14 Empire Earth II: The Art of Supremacy PC February 18 Star Wars: Empire at War PC February 21 EverQuest II: Kingdom of Sky PC Sonic Riders GCN, PS2, Xbox February 27 Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords PC February 28 Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach PC Black PS2, Xbox March 2 The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II PC The Sims 2: Open for Business PC March 7 Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai PSP March 14 Driver: Parallel Lines PS2, Xbox March 15 Battlefield 2: Euro Force PC March 17 24: The Game PS2 March 20 Metroid Prime Hunters NDS Tetris DS NDS The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion PC, Xbox 360 March 21 The Godfather: The Game PC, PS2, Xbox March 26 Act of War: High Treason PC March 28 Kingdom Hearts II PS2 March 31 Animal Crossing: Wild World (Europe) NDS April 11 Tomb Raider: Legend PC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 Battlefield 2: Modern Combat Xbox 360 April 13 Auto Assault PC April 17 Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day NDS Dreamfall: The Longest Journey PC April 18 Dreamfall: The Longest Journey Xbox Final Fantasy XI Xbox 360 Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan PC, PS2 April 20 Mother 3 (Japan) GBA April 24 Black & White 2 - Battle of the Gods PC April 25 Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War PS2 OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast Xbox, PS2, PSP April 28 Guild Wars: Factions PC May 9 Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends PC May 10 SiN Episodes: Emergence PC May 15 New Super Mario Bros. NDS May 16 Heroes of Might and Magic V PC X-Men: The Official Game Xbox 360, PS2, PC, Xbox, NDS, GCN, GBA Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure PC May 23 Jaws: Unleashed PC, Xbox, PS2 Rockstar Games: Table Tennis Xbox 360 May 30 Hitman: Blood Money Xbox 360, PC, PS2, Xbox X2: The Threat Lin June 1 Half-Life 2: Episode One PC June 6 Battlefield 2: Armored Fury PC Cars PS2, Xbox, GCN, PSP, NDS, PC Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories PS2 The Movies: Stunts & Effects PC June 12 Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War PC June 13 Armored Core: Last Raven (USA) PS2 June 15 Gorky 17 Lin June 21 Tomb Raider: Legend PSP June 26 Titan Quest PC June 29 Panzer Command PC July 5 The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II Xbox 360 July 11 Chromehounds Xbox 360 Prey PC, Xbox 360 July 20 AFL Premiership 2006 (AUS) PS2 July 24 CivCity: Rome PC Civilization IV: Warlords PC August 1 Flatout 2 (USA) PC Dungeon Siege II: Broken World PC Super Monkey Ball Adventure (USA) GCN, PS2, PSP August 4 Cold War Lin August 8 Dead Rising Xbox 360 August 15 Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII PS2 Ninety-Nine Nights Xbox 360 August 22 King of Fighters PS2 Pac-Man World Rally GameCube, PlayStation 2, PSP, Microsoft Windows August 28 Star Fox Command NDS August 29 Enchanted Arms Xbox 360 Saints Row Xbox 360 Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra PS2 September 5 LocoRoco PSP September 12 Joint Task Force PC LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy NDS, GCN, PC, PS2, PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360 September 13 Company of Heroes PC September 18 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team NDS Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team GBA, NDS September 19 Ōkami PS2 The Godfather: The Game PSP, Xbox 360 EverQuest: The Serpent's Spine PC September 25 Baten Kaitos Origins (North America) GCN Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis NDS September 26 Caesar IV PC September 28 Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (Japan) NDS Kingdom Hearts II (Australia, Europe) PS2 September 29 DEFCON: Everybody Dies (Europe) PC October 6 Heroes of Annihilated Empires PC October 8 Scarface: The World Is Yours PS2, Xbox, PC October 9 Mortal Kombat: Armageddon PS2, Xbox Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade PC October 17 Age of Empires III: The War Chiefs PC Battlefield 2142 PC Bully PS2 Sid Meier's Railroads! (North America) PC The Sims 2: Pets PC Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent Xbox 360 Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania PC Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Collection PC October 18 Football Manager 2007 PC, Mac October 24 Dark Messiah of Might and Magic PC F.E.A.R. Extraction Point PC Marvel: Ultimate Alliance GBA, PC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption PC Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent GCN, PS2, Xbox October 26 Guild Wars Nightfall PC October 30 Pokémon Ranger (North America) NDS October 31 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories PSP Final Fantasy XII (United States) PS2 Killzone: Liberation PSP Need for Speed: Carbon GCN, PC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3 Neverwinter Nights 2 PC November 6 Lumines II PSP November 7 Call of Duty 3 PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 Guitar Hero II PS2 Gears of War Xbox 360 SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Combined Assault PS2 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent PC Tony Hawk's Project 8 PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 November 13 EverQuest II: Echoes of Faydwer PC Medieval 2: Total War PC Yoshi's Island DS NDS November 14 Final Fantasy III NDS Heroes of Might and Magic V: Hammers of Fate PC Left Behind: Eternal Forces PC Sonic the Hedgehog Xbox 360 Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis GBA Tomb Raider: Legend GBA, GCN, NDS Xiaolin Showdown PS2, PSP Warhammer: Mark of Chaos PC WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007 PS2, Xbox 360 November 15 Xiaolin Showdown Xbox November 17 Call of Duty 3 PS3 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance PS3 Resistance: Fall of Man PS3 Ridge Racer 7 PS3 Tony Hawk's Project 8 PS3 November 19 Call of Duty 3 (America) Wii Excite Truck (America) Wii Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (America) Wii Red Steel (America) Wii Rayman Raving Rabbids (America) Wii Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (America) Wii The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (America) Wii Trauma Center: Second Opinion (America) Wii Wii Sports (America) Wii November 20 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas Xbox 360 Superman Returns: The Videogame GCN, PS2, Xbox 360, NDS November 21 The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine PC November 22 Superman Returns PS2, X360, Xbox, NDS Tony Hawk's Project 8 PSP November 28 The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king PC Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent Wii Xiaolin Showdown NDS November 30 Final Fantasy VI Advance (Japan) GBA December 5 Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops PSP Star Trek: Legacy PC WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007 PSP Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin NDS December 13 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess GCN December 29 Ape Escape: Million Monkeys PS2 Hardware and software sales
United States
- Based on figures from the NPD Group:
Best-selling video games of 2006 in the US [32]
Place Title Console Units sold 1 Madden NFL 07 PS2 1.8 million 2 New Super Mario Bros. NDS 1.5 million 3 Kingdom Hearts II PS2 1.5 million 4 Gears of War X360 1 million 5 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter X360 913,000 6 Final Fantasy XII PS2 895,000 7 Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories PS2 860,000 8 NCAA Football 07 PS2 849,000 9 Madden NFL 07 X360 826,000 10 Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! NDS 792,000 Best-selling video games of 2006 by platform[33]
Place Xbox 360[33] Wii[40] 1 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
(Ubisoft)The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
(Nintendo)2 Madden NFL 07
(Electronic Arts)Red Steel
(Ubisoft)3 Gears of War
(Microsoft)Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
(Sega)4 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
(Bethesda Softworks / 2K Games)Rayman Raving Rabbids
(Ubisoft)5 Fight Night Round 3
(Electronic Arts)Call of Duty 3
(Activision)6 Saints Row
(THQ)Madden NFL 07
(Electronic Arts)7 Dead Rising
(Capcom)Trauma Center: Second Opinion
(Atlus)8 NCAA Football 07
(Electronic Arts)Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
(Activision)9 Call of Duty 3
(Activision)Excite Truck
(Nintendo)10 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
(Ubisoft)Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
(Majesco)Japan
- Based on figures from Enterbrain:
Best-selling video games of 2006 in Japan [41]
Place Title Console Units sold 1 Pokémon Diamond and Pearl NDS 4,302,815 2 New Super Mario Bros. NDS 3,818,214 3 Brain Training 2 NDS 3,748,638 4 Animal Crossing: Wild World NDS 2,485,264 5 Final Fantasy XII PS2 2,322,329 6 Brain Training NDS 1,991,116 7 English Training NDS 1,529,618 8 Mario Kart DS NDS 1,115,082 9 Winning Eleven 10 PS2 1,050,236 10 Tetris DS NDS 985,246 Europe
- Based on estimates from Electronic Arts:
Video game console sales of 2006 in Europe[42][43]
Place Console Units sold 1 Nintendo DS 6.4 million 2 PlayStation 2 6 million 3 PlayStation Portable 4 million 4 Xbox 360 2 million 5 Wii 0.7 million References
- ^ Nintendo Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ GameSpot Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ TeamXbox Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Reuters Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ GameSpot Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Gameshout
- ^ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ PSP Updates Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Joystiq Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Boing Boing Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Edge Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Sony Archived October 11, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Darniaq Archived October 11, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Prnewswire Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Shacknews Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Herald Tribune Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Financial Times Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ GameSpot Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Media Create Archived 17 July 2007 at WebCite
- ^ TeamXbox Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Gamasutra Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ Yahoo
- ^ Marketwatch Archived 21 February 2011 at WebCite
- ^ TTWO Stock Chart
- ^ CNET Archived May 30, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ GameDaily.biz Archived October 4, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Madden NFL Proves Best Selling Game of 2006: News from 1UP.com". Archived from the original on 2009-05-21. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3156114. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
- ^ a b c IGN Xbox 360 Team (2006-12-22). "Xbox 360 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/749/749547p2.html. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ IGN Staff (2006-12-18). "Nintendo DS 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. http://ds.ign.com/articles/749/749559p2.html. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ The IGN GameCube Staff (2006-12-20). "GameCube 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. http://cube.ign.com/articles/749/749561p2.html. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ Dan, Steve, and Charles (2006-12-20). "PC 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. http://pc.ign.com/articles/749/749585p2.html. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ IGN PlayStation Team (2006-12-19). "PS2 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. http://ps2.ign.com/articles/749/749553p2.html. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ IGN PlayStation Team (2006-12-22). "PS3 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/749/749556p2.html. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ IGN Xbox Team (2006-12-19). "Xbox Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. http://xbox.ign.com/articles/749/749549p2.html. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ The IGN Wii Team (2006-12-22). "Wii 2006 Year in Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. http://wii.ign.com/articles/749/749560p2.html. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ "Gamasutra - News - Japanese Software Market Up 125% In 2006". Archived from the original on 2009-05-18. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12379. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
- ^ Electronic Arts (2008-01-31). "Supplemental Segment Information" (PDF). Thomson Financial. pp. 4–5. http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/IROL/88/88189/Q3FY08SupSeg.pdf#page=4. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ David Jenkins (2008-02-01). "EA Reveals European Hardware Estimates". Gamasutra. CMP Media. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17206. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
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