2001 in video games

List of years in video games
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2001 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Madden NFL 2002, NBA Live 2002, NBA 2K2, WWF Smackdown! Just Bring It, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Dead or Alive 3, Final Fantasy X, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, Grand Theft Auto III, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Myst III: Exile, Crazy Taxi 2, SSX Tricky, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Sonic Adventure 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, and Virtua Fighter 4. New intellectual properties include Ace Attorney, Advance Wars, Animal Crossing, Burnout, Gothic, Black & White, Devil May Cry, Fatal Frame, Ghost Recon, Halo, Jak and Daxter, Max Payne, Oni, Onimusha: Warlords, Operation Flashpoint, Pikmin, Pro Evolution Soccer, Red Faction, Serious Sam, and Tropico.

Three major video game systems were released in 2001: the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance by Nintendo, and the Xbox by Microsoft.[1] Sega, which had been a major competitor in the video game hardware market to this point, ended its involvement in the market after the failure of the Dreamcast.[2] The year 2001 is remembered for its influence on the video game industry with the release of many games recognized as classics.[3][4] Many video games released in 2001 defined or redefined their respective genres, including hack and slash game Devil May Cry,[5][6] first-person shooter game Halo: Combat Evolved,[7][8] and open world action-adventure game Grand Theft Auto III, which is regarded as an industry-defining work.[9][10]

The year has been retrospectively considered one of the best and most important in video game history due to the release of numerous critically acclaimed, commercially successful and influential titles across all platforms and genres at the time. It was the peak year for the sixth generation of video game consoles, with the launch of the GameCube and Xbox, the latter focusing on online games (following SegaNet the previous year), and the Dreamcast's last year of production with Sega's exit from console manufacturing. Storytelling and mature themes also became a more mainstream trend.[11][12] The year's best-selling video game worldwide was Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal, the fourth year in a row for the Pokémon series (since 1998). The year's most critically acclaimed titles were Gran Turismo 3 and Final Fantasy X in Japan, and Halo and Grand Theft Auto III in the West.

  1. ^ Hu, Jim. "Video game sales set record in 2001". CNET. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  2. ^ Watts, Jonathan (February 1, 2001). "Sega to end production of Dreamcast console". The Guardian. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  3. ^ Kelly, Andy (September 30, 2021). "2001 Was The Best Year Ever For Video Games". TheGamer. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  4. ^ Fillari, Alessandro (February 6, 2021). "Remembering 2001: The Biggest Games That Turn 20 This Year". GameSpot. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  5. ^ Madsen, Hayes (October 17, 2022). "21 years ago, Capcom changed action games forever". Inverse. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  6. ^ Figueiredo, Erick Duarte (October 2, 2022). "Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden: The Two Extremes of the Hack-and-Slash Genre". Superjump. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  7. ^ Carnley, Zackery Van (April 19, 2021). "How Halo Has Defined the Shooter Genre". Game Rant. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  8. ^ Plant, Mike. "In the loop: how Halo defined a new decade of first-person shooters". The Register. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  9. ^ Kelly, Andy (October 27, 2021). "Grand Theft Auto 3 Changed Video Games Forever". TheGamer. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  10. ^ Gordon, Jeremy (October 22, 2021). "After 'Grand Theft Auto III,' Open-World Games Were Never (and Always) the Same". The Ringer. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  11. ^ Kelly, Andy (September 30, 2021). "2001 Was The Best Year Ever For Video Games". TheGamer. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  12. ^ Fillari, Alessandro. "Remembering 2001: The Biggest Games That Turn 20 This Year". GameSpot. Retrieved November 1, 2021.