2000 in video gaming

Notable events of 2000 in video gaming. See also history of computer and video games.

Events

• May 11-13 — 6th annual E³ (Electronic Entertainment Expo); 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 Sony 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
• BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) 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 100,000,000th Game Boy handheld console
• Sega.com launches SegaNet, their online console gaming network
  • 1st annual Sega Dreamcast Championships (featuring the Sonic Adventure video game)

Hardware

• Bandai's WonderSwan Color handheld in Japan
• SEGA's Naomi 2 arcade console
• Sony's PlayStation 2 (PS2) home console
• 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
• Summer — 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 Learning Co. to Gores Technology Group
• All of SEGA's the 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 USD$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

North American release dates:

• January 31 - The Sims (PC)
• February 29 - Dead or Alive 2 (DC)
• February 29 - Resident Evil Code: Veronica (DC)
• March 31 - EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark (PC)
• May 15 - Vagrant Story (PS)
• May 22 - Perfect Dark (N64)
• June 1 - Evolva (PC)
• June 13 - Shogun: Total War (PC)
• June 25 - Deus Ex (PC)
• June 29 - Diablo II (PC)
• June 29 - Icewind Dale (PC)
• June 30 - Homeworld: Cataclysm (PC)
• July 7 - Final Fantasy IX (Japan) (PS)
• August 16 - Chrono Cross (PS)
• August 24 - Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion (PC)
• August 26 - Dragon Quest VII (Japan) (PS)
• August 27 - The Sims: Livin' Large (PC)
• September 19 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PS)
• September 24 - Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (PC)
• September 30 - RollerCoaster Tycoon: Loopy Landscapes (PC)
• October 15 - Pokémon Gold and Silver (Game Boy Color)
• October 21 - Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (PC)
• October 25 - Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore (PS2)
• October 26 - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)
• October 26 - Tekken Tag Tournament (PS2)
• November 8 - Counter-Strike (PC retail version)
• November 8 - Escape from Monkey Island (PC)
• November 9 - The Operative: No One Lives Forever (PC)
• November 13 - Kessen (PS2)
• November 13 - Skies of Arcadia (DC)
• November 14 - Final Fantasy IX (North America) (PS)
• November 16 - Sacrifice (PC)
• November 16 - The Longest Journey (PC)
• November 20 - Banjo Tooie (N64)
• November 23 - MechWarrior 4: Vengeance (PC)
• December 4 - EverQuest: The Scars of Velious (PC)
• December 6 - Grandia II (DC)