2005 in video gaming

Notable events of 2005 in computer and video games. See also history of computer and video games.

Events

• March 6 — The television show 60 Minutes tackles issues within video game controversy. This segment of 60 Minutes has been criticized by video game players for encouraging video game censorship.
• March 7 – March 11 — Game Developers Conference;
  • Nintendo keynote speech: "The Heart of the Gamer" by Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo.
  • Microsoft keynote speech: "The Future of Games: Unlocking the Opportunity" by J Allard, corporate vice president and chief XNA architect.
• May 12 – The Xbox 360 was officially announced on MTV in a special hosted by Elijah Wood.
• May 17 – May 20 — Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) takes place in Los Angeles, California. 400 exhibiting companies representing 80 countries are expected. Official unveilings of Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Project Revolution are expected as well as more in-depth detail from Microsoft about Xbox 360.

Business

• January 6 – French publisher Titus Interactive, owner of Interplay Entertainment, is declared bankrupt after being in receivership since October 2004.
• January 12 – Video game companies and players worldwide donate money to the UNICEF South Asian Tsunami Relief Fund for rescue and reconstruction efforts upon the South Asian tsunami disaster. Electronic Arts pledges to donate $250,000 to the UNICEF South Asian Tsunami Relief Fund. CCP, the publisher of EVE Online, establishes a fund that video game players can contribute to.
• January 17 – Electronic Arts and ESPN announced a 15-year partnership that would give EA access to ESPN's broadcast, print and online content.
• January 20 – Activision announced that it acquired developer Vicarious Visions known best as a developer of Game Boy games as well as for their middleware program, Alchemy.
• January 24 – Major League Baseball and Take Two Interactive sign exclusive seven year deal that gives Take-Two the rights among third-party publishers to develop games based on the MLB license.
• January 25 – Take Two Interactive announced that it acquired developer Visual Concepts and their wholly-owned subsidiary Kush Games from Sega for $24 million. Additionally, Take Two also announced the start of another publishing label named 2K Games.
• March 2 – The Entertainment Software Rating Board or ESRB added the rating of "E10+" to its ratings system. E10+ was created in order to divide E ratings for younger and older children.
• March 7 – Sammy Studios breaks away from Sammy and renames itself High Moon Studios.
• March 9 – Sega acquires Creative Assembly.
• March 23 – Vivendi Universal Games buys developer Radical Entertainment. Radical is best known for developing The Simpsons Hit & Run.
• April 2 – Keiji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man series, was promoted from corporate officer to senior corporate officer.

Notable Releases

• January 11 – Resident Evil 4 (GCN)
• March 22 – The Matrix Online (US)

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect

• March 31 – Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
• April 3 – Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
• April 12 – Jade Empire
• April 15 – The Matrix Online (Europe)
• April 18 – Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict

Expected releases

• Battlefield 2
• Battlefield: Modern Combat
• F.E.A.R.
• The Legend of Zelda
• Madden NFL 06
• Mario Baseball
• Medal of Honor: European Assault
• NCAA Football 06
• Quake IV
• Resident Evil 4 (PS2)

Trends

Video game systems

• Microsoft Xbox
• Nintendo GameCube
• Sony PlayStation 2
• Microsoft Xbox 360 – Expected release in November

Handheld game systems

• Nintendo DS
• Sony PlayStation Portable

Video game sales

External links

• NPD Funworld sales tracking