2000 in Video Games — 20 Classic Releases

The PlayStation 2 Launches as the Classic Era Closes

Sony launched the PlayStation 2 in Japan in March and in the West that autumn, while the PlayStation, N64 and Dreamcast had some of their best games: Perfect Dark, Majora's Mask, Final Fantasy IX and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. Pokémon was the best-selling home video game franchise for a third year running.

PlayStation 2 (4 March)

Sony released the PlayStation 2 in Japan on 4 March, in North America on 26 October and in Europe on 24 November. It went on to sell more than 160 million units. The smaller PS one revision of the original PlayStation followed in July.

Studios Change Hands

Microsoft bought Bungie in June, THQ bought Volition in August, Electronic Arts bought DreamWorks Interactive, and Nvidia bought 3dfx in December. Looking Glass Studios closed in May.

New Series Begin

Counter-Strike, Deus Ex, Hitman, Jet Set Radio, Paper Mario, Perfect Dark, The Sims, SSX, TimeSplitters and Total War all started in 2000.

100 Million Game Boys (April)

Nintendo sold its 100 millionth Game Boy and Game Boy Color, and Pokémon Gold and Silver were the year's best-selling games worldwide.

A Late Peak for the Fifth Generation

The consoles of the 1990s finished strongly. On the N64, Perfect Dark scored 97 on Metacritic and Majora's Mask 95; Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was the year's highest-rated game at 98 on PlayStation. Final Fantasy IX won Game of the Year from Electronic Gaming Monthly, Chrono Cross from GameSpot, and Vagrant Story received a perfect 40 from Famitsu. Dragon Quest VII sold more than 3.9 million copies in Japan. The Dreamcast had Crazy Taxi and Resident Evil – Code: Veronica, but the PlayStation 2's arrival pointed to the next generation.

PC Games and a Changing Industry

The PC had one of its strongest years. Deus Ex won Game of the Year awards from BAFTA and GameSpy, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn scored 95 on Metacritic, Diablo II won an Interactive Achievement Award, and The Sims and Counter-Strike both started long-running series. The industry around those games was changing: the Computer Game Developers Association renamed itself the International Game Developers Association, Sega turned its internal R&D divisions into separate developer companies, and PopCap Games was founded. Bosnan's archive mostly stops here, with a handful of late releases for era hardware.