2000 in video games
2000 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games and several new titles such as Deus Ex, ', Paper Mario, Mario Tennis, Perfect Dark, ', SSX, TimeSplitters and The Sims.
Events
- January – Digital Illusions CE acquires Refraction Games and 90% of Synergenix Interactive.
- February 4 – Maxis releases The Sims, first game of a successful series.
- February 4 – 1st annual Dreamcast Championships.
- March – Game Network hosts the 2nd annual Independent Games Festival.
- March 4 – Sony's PlayStation 2 launches in Japan with 10 launch titles.
- April – Nintendo sells its 100 millionth Game Boy/Game Boy Color handheld console.
- April 14 – Reuters reports that the PlayStation 2 console will have export controls placed on it by the Trade Ministry of Japan since the PS2 is sophisticated enough for military applications.
- May 11 – The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts the 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards and inducts Hironobu Sakaguchi of Square into the AIAS Hall of Fame.
- May 11–13 – The 6th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is held along with the 3rd annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³.
- June 26 – International Game Developers Association renamed from Computer Game Developers Association.
- June 30 – Nintendo's Satellaview system ceases to receive broadcasts.
- July – IEMA hosts 1st annual Executive Summit.
- July 21 – Mario Tennis is released for the Nintendo 64 introducing Waluigi to the Mario series.
- August 11 – Paper Mario is also released for the Nintendo 64. It features a more crafty appearance of the Mushroom Kingdom. It served as Super Mario RPG's spiritual sequel and it kicked of a series of its own.
- September 10 – Sega.com launches SegaNet, their online console gaming network.
- NPD Group, Inc. reports that Electronic Arts ranks 1st in third-party video game publishing in the United States, ahead of Infogrames Entertainment SA.
- 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 .
- October 26 – Sony's PlayStation 2 launches in North America.
- November 17 – Sony's PlayStation 2 launches in Australia.
- November 24 – Sony's PlayStation 2 launches in Europe.
Notable releases
| Release | Title | Windows | 5th Gen | 6th Gen | Handheld | Arcade |
| January 24 | Crazy Taxi | DC, GCN, PS2 | ||||
| January 24 | Mario Party 2 | N64 | ||||
| January 27 | Dragon Warrior Monsters | GBC | ||||
| January 31 | Nox | |||||
| February 3 | ' | DC | ||||
| February 4 | The Sims | |||||
| February 10 | Vagrant Story | PS1 | ||||
| February 19 | SNK Gals' Fighters | NGP | ||||
| February 29 | BattleSphere | Jaguar | ||||
| February 29 | Dead or Alive 2 | DC | ||||
| February 29 | ' | PS1 | GBA | |||
| February 29 | ' | DC | ||||
| February 29 | ' | DC | ||||
| February 29 | Pokémon Stadium | N64 | ||||
| March 4 | Kessen | PS2 | ||||
| March 21 | ' | |||||
| March 21 | Wario Land 3 | GBC | ||||
| March 24 | ' | N64 | ||||
| March 27 | Soldier of Fortune | |||||
| March 31 | Tech Romancer | DC | ||||
| March 31 | MDK2 | |||||
| April 4 | ' | DC | ||||
| April 27 | ' | N64 | ||||
| April 28 | ' | DC | ||||
| April 30 | Excitebike 64 | N64 | ||||
| April 30 | The Misadventures of Tron Bonne | PS1 | ||||
| April 30 | Wild Arms 2 | PS1 | ||||
| May 4 | 4 Wheel Thunder | DC | ||||
| May 5 | ' | GBC | ||||
| May 9 | Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six | DC | ||||
| May 14 | Bomberman Max | GBC | ||||
| May 22 | Metal Slug 2nd Mission | NGP | ||||
| May 22 | Perfect Dark | N64 | ||||
| May 24 | Daikatana | |||||
| May 28 | ' | N64 | ||||
| June 1 | Ground Control | |||||
| June 4 | Space Channel 5 | DC | ||||
| June 7 | ' | |||||
| June 7 | ' | |||||
| June 12 | Tomb Raider | GBC | ||||
| June 13 | ' | |||||
| June 22 | ' | DC | ||||
| June 22 | ' | DC | ||||
| June 26 | Deus Ex | |||||
| June 28 | Xtreme Sports | PS1 | ||||
| June 29 | ' | |||||
| June 29 | Diablo II | |||||
| June 29 | Icewind Dale | |||||
| June 29 | Jet Set Radio | DC | ||||
| June 29 | Marvel vs Capcom 2 | DC | ||||
| June 30 | ' | |||||
| June 30 | ' | PS1 | ||||
| July 3 | Dark Reign 2 | |||||
| July 18 | Threads of Fate | PS1 | ||||
| July 29 | Strider 2 | PS1 | ||||
| July 31 | Spirit of Speed 1937 | DC | ||||
| August 3 | Shin Sangoku Musou | PS2 | ||||
| August 15 | Chrono Cross | PS1 | ||||
| August 24 | ' | |||||
| August 26 | Dragon Quest VII | PS1 | ||||
| August 28 | Mario Tennis | N64 | ||||
| August 30 | Spider-Man | PS1, GBC, N64 | DC | |||
| August 30 | WWF Royal Rumble | DC | ||||
| September 12 | Parasite Eve II | PS1 | ||||
| September 13 | Lego Stunt Rally | |||||
| September 15 | PS2 | |||||
| September 19 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 | PS1 | ||||
| September 24 | ' | |||||
| September 24 | ' | GBC | ||||
| September 25 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | GBC | ||||
| September 25 | Vampire Hunter D | PS1 | ||||
| September 26 | Destruction Derby Raw | PS1 | ||||
| September 27 | Dragon Warrior I & II | GBC | ||||
| October | ' | |||||
| October 5 | Skies of Arcadia | DC | ||||
| October 19 | ' | PS1, N64 | PS2, DC | GBC | ||
| October 22 | Quake III Arena | DC | ||||
| October 23 | ' | |||||
| October 23 | TimeSplitters | PS2 | ||||
| October 24 | Mega Man Legends 2 | PS1 | ||||
| October 25 | ' | PS2 | GBA | |||
| October 25 | Ridge Racer V | PS2 | ||||
| October 25 | ' | PS1 | ||||
| October 26 | FantaVision | PS2 | ||||
| October 26 | Madden NFL 2001 | PS2 | ||||
| October 26 | SSX | PS2 | ||||
| October 26 | Tekken Tag Tournament | PS2 | ||||
| October 27 | Bust-a-Move Millennium | GBC | ||||
| October 31 | The Grinch | DC | ||||
| November 6 | ' | PS1 | DC | |||
| November 6 | Crash Bash | PS1 | ||||
| November 6 | Incredible Crisis | PS1 | ||||
| November 6 | ' | PS1, N64 | GBC | |||
| November 6 | Shenmue | DC | ||||
| November 8 | Escape from Monkey Island | PS2 | ||||
| November 9 | ' | PS2 | ||||
| November 9 | Counter-Strike | Xbox, Retail and Steam | Linux, Mac OS X | |||
| November 10 | Timeline | |||||
| November 13 | Final Fantasy IX | PS1 | ||||
| November 13 | Madden NFL 2001 | GBC | ||||
| November 13 | The [Emperor's New Groove | PS1 | GBC | |||
| November 14 | ' | GBC | ||||
| November 14 | The Powerpuff Girls: Bad Mojo Jojo | GBC | ||||
| November 16 | Blues Brothers 2000 | N64 | ||||
| November 17 | Tomb Raider Chronicles | PS1 | DC | |||
| November 17 | Sacrifice | |||||
| November 19 | ' | |||||
| November 20 | 007 Racing | PS1 | ||||
| November 20 | Banjo-Tooie | N64 | ||||
| November 20 | ' | PS1 | GBC | |||
| November 20 | Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX | DC | ||||
| November 22 | ' | PS1 | ||||
| November 23 | ' | |||||
| November 23 | ' | |||||
| November 27 | Xtreme Sports | DC | ||||
| November 30 | Scooby-Doo! Classic Creep Capers | N64 | ||||
| December 1 | Disney's Aladdin in Nasira's Revenge | PS1 | ||||
| December 4 | ' | PS1 | ||||
| December 4 | Pokémon Puzzle Challenge | GBC | ||||
| December 5 | American McGee's Alice | |||||
| December 6 | Grandia II | DC | ||||
| December 7 | ' | |||||
| December 7 | Mario Party 3 | N64 | ||||
| December 10 | Monster Rancher Hop-A-Bout | PS1 | ||||
| December 13 | N64 | |||||
| December 14 | Dark Cloud | PS2 | ||||
| December 14 | Pokémon Crystal | GBC | ||||
| December 21 | Phantasy Star Online | DC | ||||
| December 30 | ECW Anarchy Rulz | DC |
Hardware
- March 4
- December 9 – Bandai's WonderSwan Color handheld in Japan is released.
- Sega's Naomi 2 arcade console is released.
- Toymax's Activision TV Games controller/console.
Business
- New companies: PopCap Games, 21-6 Productions, Yeti Interactive
- Defunct company: Looking Glass Studios, ASC Games
- Mattel, Inc. sells The Learning Company to Gores Technology Group.
- All of Sega's internal consumer research & development divisions become individual developer companies.
Acquisitions
- Electronic Arts acquires DreamWorks Interactive, LLC.
- Infogrames acquires Hasbro Interactive,, and Paradigm Entertainment.
- Microsoft acquires Bungie.
- Nvidia acquires 3dfx Interactive.
- Sony acquires Verant Interactive.
- THQ acquires Volition.
- Ubi Soft acquires Red Storm Entertainment.
Critically acclaimed titles
| Game | Publisher | Release Date | Platform | MC score | GR score |
| Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 | Activision | September 20, 2000 | PlayStation | 98/100 | 94.75% |
| Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 | Activision | November 7, 2000 | Dreamcast | 97/100 | 94.86% |
| Perfect Dark | Nintendo | May 22, 2000 | Nintendo 64 | 97/100 | 94.55% |
| NFL 2K1 | Sega | September 7, 2000 | Dreamcast | 97/100 | 94.5% |
| Metal Gear Solid | Konami | April 27, 2000 | Game Boy Color | N/A | 95.61% |
| ' | Interplay Entertainment | September 21, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 95/100 | 93.97% |
| ' | Nintendo | April 27, 2000 | Nintendo 64 | 95/100 | 91.95% |
| Final Fantasy IX | Square | July 7, 2000 | PlayStation | 94/100 | 92.72% |
| Jet Set Radio | Sega | June 29, 2000 | Dreamcast | 94/100 | 91.9% |
| Tony Hawk's Pro Skater | Crave Entertainment | May 22, 2000 | Dreamcast | N/A | 94% |
| ' | Capcom | February 2, 2000 | Dreamcast | N/A | 93.79% |
| ' | Ubisoft | March 21, 2000 | Dreamcast | N/A | 93.05% |
| SSX | EA Sports | October 30, 2000 | PlayStation 2 | 93/100 | 92.39% |
| Quake III Arena | Activision | October 22, 2000 | Dreamcast | 93/100 | 92.15% |
| Skies of Arcadia | Sega | October 5, 2000 | Dreamcast | 93/100 | 90.59% |
| NBA 2K1 | Sega | October 31, 2000 | Dreamcast | 93/100 | 89.69% |
| Le Mans 24 Hours | Sega | November 13, 2000 | Dreamcast | 93/100 | 89.5% |
| Paper Mario | Nintendo | August 11, 2000 | Nintendo 64 | 93/100 | 88.81% |
| Tony Hawk's Pro Skater | Activision | February 29, 2000 | Nintendo 64 | N/A | 92.4% |
| Vagrant Story | Square | February 10, 2000 | PlayStation | 92/100 | 91.97% |
| The Sims | Electronic Arts | January 31, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 92/100 | 89.74% |
| Dead or Alive 2 | Tecmo | February 29, 2000 | Dreamcast | N/A | 91.37% |
| Virtua Tennis | Sega | July 12, 2000 | Dreamcast | N/A | 91.37% |
| Banjo-Tooie | Nintendo | November 20, 2000 | Nintendo 64 | 90/100 | 91.31% |
| Deus Ex | Eidos Interactive | June 17, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 90/100 | 91.03% |
| Madden NFL 2001 | EA Sports | October 26, 2000 | PlayStation 2 | 91/100 | 90.78% |
| ' | Sony Computer Entertainment | October 24, 2000 | PlayStation | 91/100 | 90.59% |
| ' | Fox Interactive | November 9, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 91/100 | 88.34% |
| DOA2: Hardcore | Tecmo | October 26, 2000 | PlayStation 2 | 91/100 | 87.38% |
| Mario Tennis | Nintendo | July 21, 2000 | Nintendo 64 | 91/100 | 87.32% |
| Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 | Activision | October 25, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 91/100 | 85.77% |
| Mario Tennis | Nintendo | November 1, 2000 | Game Boy Color | N/A | 90.78% |
| Donkey Kong Country | Nintendo | November 4, 2000 | Game Boy Color | N/A | 90.38% |
| Pokémon Puzzle Challenge | Nintendo | September 21, 2000 | Game Boy Color | N/A | 90.2% |
| Crazy Taxi | Sega | January 24, 2000 | Dreamcast | N/A | 90.19% |
| ' | Capcom | March 30, 2000 | Dreamcast | 90/100 | 90.15% |
| Colin McRae Rally 2.0 | Codemasters | July 7, 2000 | PlayStation | 90/100 | 88.82% |
| Grandia II | Game Arts | August 3, 2000 | Dreamcast | 90/100 | 88.81% |
| Madden NFL 2001 | EA Sports | August 22, 2000 | PlayStation | 90/100 | 88.65% |
| Jane's F/A-18 | Electronic Arts | January 11, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | N/A | 88.43% |
| NHL 2001 | EA Sports | September 28, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 90/100 | 86.75% |
| ' | Ubisoft | December 22, 2000 | PlayStation 2 | 90/100 | 85.17% |
| ' | THQ | November 21, 2000 | PlayStation | 90/100 | 84.27% |
| Wario Land 3 | Nintendo | March 21, 2000 | Game Boy Color | N/A | 90% |
| Phantasy Star Online | Sega | December 21, 2000 | Dreamcast | 89/100 | 89.88% |
| Sacrifice | Interplay Entertainment | November 17, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 89/100 | 89.53% |
| Counter-Strike | Sierra Entertainment | November 9, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 88/100 | 89.2% |
| Thief II | Eidos Interactive | March 23, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 87/100 | 89.14% |
| ' | Microsoft | August 24, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 88/100 | 89.11% |
| EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark | Sony Online Entertainment | April 24, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 86/100 | 89.08% |
| Excitebike 64 | Nintendo | April 30, 2000 | Nintendo 64 | 88/100 | 89.07% |
| ' | Sierra Entertainment | June 30, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 89/100 | 88.64% |
| Samba de Amigo | Sega | April 27, 2000 | Dreamcast | 89/100 | 86.15% |
| WWF No Mercy | THQ | November 17, 2000 | Nintendo 64 | 89/100 | 85.27% |
| Madden NFL 2001 | EA Sports | August 28, 2000 | Nintendo 64 | 89/100 | 84.82% |
| Metropolis Street Racer | Sega | November 3, 2000 | Dreamcast | 87/100 | 88.59% |
| Diablo II | Blizzard Entertainment | June 29, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 88/100 | 88.58% |
| MDK2 | Interplay Entertainment | March 31, 2000 | Dreamcast | N/A | 88.08% |
| ' | Battlefront.com | May 31, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | N/A | 88% |
| Ultimate Fighting Championship | Crave Entertainment | August 29, 2000 | Dreamcast | 88/100 | 87.8% |
| Superbike 2001 | EA Sports | October 6, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 88/100 | 87.32% |
| NHL 2001 | EA Sports | September 26, 2000 | PlayStation | 88/100 | 84.11% |
| Enemy Engaged: RAH-66 Comanche vs. KA-52 Hokum | Empire Interactive | July 31, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 86/100 | 87.96% |
| Eidos Interactive | January 27, 2000 | Dreamcast | N/A | 87.94% | |
| PGA Championship Golf 2000 | Sierra Entertainment | June 1, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | N/A | 87.77% |
| Steel Beasts | Shrapnel Games | September 24, 2000 | Microsoft Windows | 86/100 | 87.58% |