2000 in video gaming

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

Events

• May 11–13 — 6th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3); the 3rd annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³.
• June 26 — International Game Developers Association renamed from Computer Game Developers Association.
• July - IEMA (Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association) hosts 1st annual Executive Summit.
• Reuters reports that the PlayStation 2 console will export controls by Trade Ministry of Japan since the PS2 is sophisticated enough for military application.
• NPD Group, Inc. reports that Electronic Arts ranks 1st in third-party video game publishing in the USA, ahead of Infogrames Entertainment SA.
• Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts the 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards inducts Hironobu Sakaguchi of Square Enix to the AIAS Hall of Fame.
• British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) hosts the 3rd annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards for multimedia technologies; 7 of 20 awards go to video games; awards David Bowie in part for his contributions to the video game Omikron: The Nomad Soul (for PC).
• Gama Network hosts the 2nd annual Independent Games Festival (IGF).
• Nintendo sells its 100 millionth Game Boy handheld console.
• Sega.com launches SegaNet, their online console gaming network.
  • 1st annual Dreamcast Championships (featuring the Sonic Adventure video game).
• Work on Sonic Riders, Lego Island 2 The Brickster's Revenge and Super Mario Sunshine began.

Hardware

• March 4 — Sony's PlayStation 2 (PS2) home console is released.
• June 30 — Nintendo's Satellaview system ceases to receive broadcasts.
• December 9 — Bandai's WonderSwan Color handheld in Japan is released.
• Sega's Naomi 2 arcade console is released.
• Toymax's Activision TV Games controller/console.

Business

• Electronic Arts Inc. acquires DreamWorks Interactive, LLC (games division of DreamWorks SKG).
• Infogrames, Inc. acquires Hasbro Interactive, Inc. (including the Game.com division and the rights to the Atari label); Infogrames also acquires Paradigm Entertainment, Inc.
• Microsoft Corporation acquires Bungie Software Products Corp.
• Nvidia Corporation acquires 3Dfx Interactive, Inc.
• Sony Corporation acquires Verant Interactive, Inc.
• Looking Glass Studios goes out of business.
• THQ Inc. acquires Volition.
• Ubi Soft Entertainment, Inc. acquires Red Storm Entertainment, Inc.
• SNK goes out of business.
• PopCap Games founded.
• 21-6 Productions founded.
• Sega Rosso renamed (formerly Sega's AM5 team).
• Smilebit founded (formerly Sega's AM6 R&D division).
• Yeti Interactive founded.
• Mattel, Inc. sells The Learning Company to Gores Technology Group.
• All of Sega's internal consumer research & development divisions become individual developer companies.
• Midway / Williams announces to cease the Atari Games label.

Lawsuits

• Nintendo of America, Sega America, Electronic Arts, Inc v. Yahoo!, Inc.; The lawsuit is over piracy negligence and profiting from counterfeit video game products sold on Yahoo! Auctions. The lawsuit is fully dropped in 2001 in order to cooperate against piracy.
• Nintendo commits over US$80 million to issuing gloves to over 1,000,000 children after numerous reports of serious hand injuries from the controllers while playing certain stages of Mario Party (for N64).

Notable releases

• January 22 - Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed (PS1, PC)
• February 3 - Resident Evil Code: Veronica (DC) (2001 for PS2, 2003 for GC)
• February 4 - The Sims (PC)
• February 10 - Vagrant Story (PS1)
• February 27 - Rayman 2: The Great Escape (DC)
• February 29 - Resident Evil Code: Veronica (DC)
• March 4 - Kessen (PS2)
• March 21 - Thief II: The Metal Age (PC)
• March 24 - Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (N64)
• March 24 - Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed
• March 27 - Soldier of Fortune (PC)
• April 27 - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)
• May 22 - Perfect Dark (N64)
• June 7 - Dracula: Resurrection (PC)
• June 13 - Shogun: Total War (PC)
• June 26 - Deus Ex (PC)
• June 29 - Diablo II (PC)
• June 29 - Icewind Dale (PC)
• June 29 - Jet Set Radio (DC)
• June 29 - Marvel vs Capcom 2 (DC)
• June 30 - Homeworld: Cataclysm (PC)
• July 7 - Final Fantasy IX (PS1)
• July 20 - Crash Bash (PS1)
• August 7 - Pokemon Stadium (N64)
• August 16 - Chrono Cross (PS1)
• August 24 - Age of Empires II: The Conquerors (PC)
• August 26 - Dragon Quest VII (PS1)
• September 15 - Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force (PC) (2001 for PS2)
• September 19 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PS1)
• September 24 - Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (PC)
• October 5 - Skies of Arcadia (DC)
• October 6 - American McGee's Alice (PC)
• October 23 - Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (PC)
• October 25 - Spyro: Year of the Dragon (PS1)
• November 6 - Escape from Monkey Island (PC)
• November 9 - The Operative: No One Lives Forever (PC) (2002 for PS2)
• November 17 - Sacrifice (PC)
• November 20 - Banjo Tooie (N64)
• November 23 - MechWarrior 4: Vengeance (PC, Arcade)
• December 6 - Grandia II (DC) (2002 for PS2, PC)
• December 7 - Giants: Citizen Kabuto (PC)
• December 7 - Mario Party 3 (N64)
• December 14 - Dark Cloud (PS2)
• December 21 - Phantasy Star Online (DC) (2001 for PC)