2002 in video gaming
| 2001 in video gaming | 2002 | 2003 in video gaming |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 in games |
Notable events of 2002 in computer and video games. See also history of computer and video games.
Table of contents |
Events
- Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts the 5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Will Wright of Maxis to the AIAS Hall of Fame
- BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) holds 5th annual BAFTA Interactive Awards for multimedia technologies; 10 of 21 awards go to video games; awards Ian Livingstone the BAFTA Interactive Special Award
- 8th annual E³ (Electronic Entertainment Expo); the 5th annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³
- Eidos Interactive selects Dutch model Jill De Jong as the new digitized Lara Croft character
- G4 Media, LLC (subsidiary of Comcast Corporation) launches the G4 cable television video game network channel
- Gama Network hosts the 4th annual Independent Games Festival (IGF)
- Game Developers Conference hosts the 2nd annual Game Developers Choice Awards
- SEGA establishes the Sega Mobile division to develop, produce, and distribute video games for mobile phones and PDAs; establishes the Sega.com Business Solutions division to service video game developers and publishers
- Rockstar Games embroiled in moral panic for its Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City video games
- March 22 – The Sims overtakes Myst as all-time best-selling computer game, having sold 6.3 million units [1]
Notable releases
- July 3 – Blizzard Entertainment releases Warcraft III (Windows), which adds RPG elements to its RTS gameplay.
- October 27 – Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2), the best-selling game of the year in the United States.
Business
- Activision acquires Luxoflux Corporation, Gray Matter Interactive Studios, Shaba Games LLC, and Z-Axis Ltd.
- Empire Interactive PLC acquires eJay AG (renamed eJay Entertainment GmbH)
- Infogrames Entertainment SA acquires Eden Studios and Shiny Entertainment
- Microsoft acquires Rare Ltd.
- PCCW: Jaleco USA merges with its VR1 Entertainment (renamed Jaleco Entertainment) division
- Sony Corporation acquires Aiwa Corporation
- Vivendi Universal acquires Massive Entertainment
- Bankrupt/Defunct: Encore Software, Inc. (assets acquired by Navarre Corporation)
- February 19 – Sierra Entertainment, Inc. renamed from Sierra On-Line
- .400 Software Studios founded
- May 10 – Tiwak renamed from Yeti Interactive
Trends
The market research company NPD estimated that video game hardware, software, and accessories sold about US$10.3 billion in 2002. This was a 10% increase over the 2001 figure.
Video game consoles
No new major video game consoles were introduced in 2002.
The dominant consoles in 2002 were:
Top-selling games
Screenshot of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
The top 10 selling console video games in 2002 in the United States ranked by units sold, according to NPD, were:
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, by Rockstar Games, for PlayStation 2
- Grand Theft Auto 3, by Rockstar Games, for PlayStation 2
- Madden NFL 2003, by Electronic Arts, for PlayStation 2
- Super Mario Advance 2, by Nintendo, for Game Boy Advance
- Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, by Sony, for PlayStation 2
- Medal of Honor: Frontline, by Electronic Arts, for PlayStation 2
- Spider-Man: The Movie, by Activision, for PlayStation 2
- Kingdom Hearts, by Squaresoft, for PlayStation 2
- Halo: Combat Evolved, by Microsoft, for Xbox
- Super Mario Sunshine, by Nintendo, for GameCube
Categories: 2002 computer and video games