2001 in video gaming

List of years in video gaming       (table)
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Art . Archaeology . Architecture . Literature . Music . Philosophy . Science +...

Events

• 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.
• March 21, 2001 – The Game Boy Advance, a handheld video game console by Nintendo is released.
• May 17–19, 2001 – 7th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3); the 4th annual Game Critics Awards For The Best Of E3
• June 23, 2001 - Sonic the Hedgehog celebrates his 10th anniversary.
• 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.
• Spring – 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.
• August – 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.
• September 14, 2001 – Nintendo releases the Gamecube.
• November 15, 2001 – The Microsoft Xbox is introduced.
• December 31, 2001 – Jez San is awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours, becoming the first person awarded specifically for services to video games.

Business

• Dynamix (1984–2001) is closed by its parent company Sierra Entertainment on August 14, 2001 as part of Sierra's restructuring under Vivendi Universal. Several veterans of the studio stay in Eugene and found a new studio / electronic publisher, GarageGames.
• 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.
• August – Loki Software declares Chapter 11 Bankruptcy over internal financial troubles, before going defunct next January. In response Michael Simms of the Tux Games retailer and former Loki game tester founds Linux Game Publishing alongside ex-Loki employee Mike Philips on October 15 to keep games coming to Linux.
• November 23 – GamePark releases the GP32 (GamePark 32) wireless-multiplayer multimedia handheld console in South Korea.
• December – Panasonic's Q multimedia console.

Lawsuits

• Sega of America Inc. v. Kmart Corporation; Sega sues Kmart over an unpaid debt of over US$2 million dollars
• Uri Geller v. Nintendo; Geller sues Nintendo over his resemblance to a Pokémon character. The suit is dismissed.

Notable releases

Video game platforms

DC Dreamcast GBA Game Boy Advance GCN Nintendo GameCube N64 Nintendo 64 PS1 PlayStation PS2 PlayStation 2 Win Microsoft Windows Xbox Xbox GBC Game Boy Color

Notable releases of the year 2001

Release	Title	Windows	5th Gen	6th Gen	Handheld
January 4	RuneScape	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
January 10	Mega Man 64	PC (July 14)	N64, PS1 (1998)	N/A	N/A
January 21	Phantasy Star Online	N/A	N/A	DC	N/A
January 31	Mega Man X5	PC (2002)	PS1	N/A	N/A
February 5	Paper Mario	N/A	N64	N/A	N/A
February 7	Clive Barker's Undying	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
February 16	Final Fantasy IX	N/A	PS1 (PAL & EU)	N/A	N/A
February 27	The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBC
March 1	Lego Island 2 The Brickster's Revenge	Win'98	PS1	N/A	GBC, GBA
March 5	Conker's Bad Fur Day	N/A	N64	N/A	N/A
March 9	Sonic Shuffle	N/A	N/A	DC	N/A
March 12	Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo	Windows (US)	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 13	Onimusha: Warlords	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
March 21	Tribes 2	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 21	Serious Sam: The First Encounter	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 22	Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
March 23	Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo	Windows (EU)	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 25	Black & White	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 30	Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo	N/A	N64 (EU)	N/A	N/A
May 7	Mario Party 3	N/A	N64	N/A	N/A
May 22	Red Faction	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
May 30	Bejeweled	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
June 8	Castlevania: Circle of the Moon	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
June 10	Super Mario Advance	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
June 11	F-Zero: Maximum Velocity	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
June 11	Super Mario Advance	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
June 18	Twisted Metal: Black	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
June 19	Sonic Adventure 2	N/A	N/A	DC	N/A
June 21	Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
June 22	Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
June 29	Final Fantasy Chronicles	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A
July 10	Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
July 19	Final Fantasy X	N/A	N/A	PS2 (JAP)	N/A
July 23	Max Payne	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
July 29	"Pokemon Crystal"	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
August 8	Shogun: Total War: Mongol Invasion	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
August 21	Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
August 27	Mario Kart Super Circuit	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
August 29	Alchemy	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
September 9	Advance Wars	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
September 24	Silent Hill 2	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
September 30	Ico	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
October 10	Dark Age of Camelot	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 17	Devil May Cry	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
October 21	Stronghold	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 22	Grand Theft Auto III	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
October 28	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3	N/A	N/A	PS2, GC	N/A
October 29	Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox, GC	N/A
October 30	Aliens versus Predator 2	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 30	Civilization III	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 30	Mega Man Xtreme 2	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBC
November 1	Dragon Warrior VII	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A
November 5	SSX Tricky	N/A	N/A	PS2, GC, Xbox	N/A
November 9	Project Gotham Racing	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
November 11	Golden Sun	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
November 12	Empire Earth	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 14	Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
November 15	Dead or Alive 3	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
November 15	Halo: Combat Evolved	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
November 17	Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader	N/A	N/A	GC	N/A
November 18	Super Monkey Ball	N/A	N/A	GC	N/A
November 18	IL-2 Sturmovik	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 19	WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
November 20	FreQuency	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
November 20	Return to Castle Wolfenstein	PC	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 21	Super Smash Bros. Melee	N/A	N/A	GC (NTSC-J)	N/A
December 3	Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
December 3	Pikmin	N/A	N/A	GC	N/A
December 3	Super Smash Bros. Melee	N/A	N/A	GC (NTSC-U)	N/A
December 3	Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
December 7	Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles	N/A	N/A	PS2 (PAL & EU)	N/A
December 17	Luigi's Mansion	N/A	N/A	GC	N/A
December 17	Dark Rift (North America)	N/A	N64	N/A	N/A
December 20	Final Fantasy X	N/A	N/A	PS2 (US)	N/A

Trends

Video game consoles

The dominant video game consoles in 2001 were:

• Sony's PlayStation 2

Additionally, Nintendo released the Nintendo GameCube on September 14 in Japan (U.S. on November 18 and in Europe on May 3, 2002). Microsoft released the Xbox video game console in the U.S. on November 15 (in Europe on March 14, 2002).

• 

  The Nintendo GameCube

• 

  The Microsoft Xbox

Handheld game systems

The dominant handheld systems in 2001 were:

• Nintendo's Game Boy Color

Additionally, Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance (GBA) in Japan on March 21 (in the U.S. on June 11 and Europe on June 22).

• 

  The Game Boy Advance

Video game sales

The top 10 selling console video games in 2001 in the United States ranked by units sold, according to NPD, were:

Top Grossing Video Games of 2001

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

The top 10 selling computer games in 2001 in the United States ranked by units sold, according to NPD, were:

Top Grossing Computer Games of 2001

Rank	Title	Publisher
1	The Sims	Electronic Arts
2	RollerCoaster 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