2008 in video gaming

Events

* June 28: Blizzard Entertainment announces "Diablo III" at Paris, France.

Notable releases

*January 31 - "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", the successor to the GameCube's best-selling game, "Super Smash Bros. Melee", [cite press release |title=At Long Last, Nintendo Proclaims: Let the Brawls Begin on Wii! |publisher=Nintendo of America Inc. |date=2008-03-10 |accessdate=2008-03-16 |url=http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/1u0FthaPxTSSeJelWm4Jt8TI0VJlTt5j] [cite press release |title=Nintendo Reveals Its Next Engaging Experiences |publisher=Nintendo of America Inc. |date=2008-02-20 |url=http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/9ecTTNYePHMMnXqfuH789XA-56vcAQdi |accessdate=2008-03-16] was released in Japan for the Wii. The game is a product of a landmark joint cooperation between former rival companies, Nintendo and Sega, along with the help of Konami. [cite web |url=http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/characters/sonic.html |title=Sonic |accessdate=2007-10-10 |last=Sakurai |first=Masahiro |date=2007-10-10 |work=Smash Bros. DOJO!! |publisher=Smashbros.com] [cite web|url = http://kotaku.com/gaming/nintendo/e306-super-smash-bros-brawl-qa-173071.php|title = E306: Super Smash Bros. Brawl Q&A|accessdate = 2007-09-18|last = Mcwhertor |first = Michael |date = 2006-05-11 |publisher = Kotaku] It is the first Wii game to strongly support online play. [cite web|url= http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/gamemode/wi-fi/wi-fi01.html|title=Wi-Fi Play|author=Sakurai, Masahiro|date=2007-11-16|publisher=Smash Bros. DOJO!!] It dominated sales during its first week in Japan and the United States, selling 820,000 in Japan and becoming the fastest-selling video game in Nintendo of America's history with 1.4 million sold in the US. [cite web |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17272 |title=Nintendo’s Brawl Smashes Open Japanese Charts |author=David Jenkins |publisher=Gamasutra |date=2008-02-07 |accessdate=2008-05-22] [cite web |url=http://kotaku.com/353711/super-smash-bros-brawl-sells-820k-in-its-debut-week |title=Super Smash Bros. Brawl Sells 820K In Its Debut Week |author=Michael McWhertor |publisher=Kotaku |date=2008-02-07 |accessdate=2008-05-22] [cite press release |url=http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/AU8xLess7wISKbSMpYCj_HThii8UiBzG |title=Super Smash Bros. Brawl Smashes Nintendo Sales Records |publisher=Nintendo |date=2008-03-17 |accessdate=2008-08-03]
*April 29 - "Grand Theft Auto IV" was released simultaneously for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A few Hollywood producers have set precedent by beginning to browse video game release dates to check for conflicts due to "Grand Theft Auto IV"'s potential harm to the May 2 2008 release of "Iron Man". [cite web |url=http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/games/story.html?id=00fb5015-0575-4889-817c-c79f4f4cf176&k=64752 |title=Grand Theft Auto could be Hollywood's biggest summer competition |accessdate=2008-04-28 |author=Nick Lewis |date=2008-04-28 |publisher=Canada.com] The PS3 and Xbox 360 version has taken the third and fourth positions of Game Rankings' best-rated games of all time, respectively;cite web |title=All-Time Top 20 | publisher=Game Rankings |url=http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/bestworst.asp |accessdate=2008-06-05] as well as being the first console game since vgy|1999 to receive a perfect rating from IGN, [cite web|url=http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/869/869381p7.html |title=IGN: Grand Theft Auto IV Review |date=2008-04-25 |accessdate=2008-06-09 |page=7] and the first title to receive a perfect rating from GameSpot since vgy|2001. [cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews.html?type=reviews&mode=all&sort=score&dlx_type=all&sortdir=asc |title=All Reviews |accessdate=2008-06-09 |publisher=GameSpot]
*June 12 - "" for the PlayStation 3 was released to critical acclaim, earning a 10 out of 10 from both IGN and GameSpot, [cite web|url=http://ps3.ign.com/articles/881/881472p1.html |title=Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Review| date=2008-06-12| first=Jeff| last=Haynes| publisher=IGN| accessdate=2008-07-09] [cite web| url=http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/adventure/metalgearsolid4/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;review| title=Metal Gear Solid 4 review| date=2008-06-13| first=Kevin| last=VanOrd| publisher=GameSpot| accessdate=2008-07-09] and a 94% Metacritic rating. [cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/metalgearsolid4gunsofthepatriots| title=Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on Metacritic| publisher=Metacritic| accessdate=2008-07-09] As of June 26 2008, the game has shipped 3 million copies worldwide, [cite web |url=http://ps3.ign.com/articles/884/884552p1.html |title=Three Million for Metal Gear Solid 4 |author=John Tanaka |date=2008-06-26 |publisher=IGN |accessdate=2008-06-27] [cite web |url=http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/metal-gear-solid-4-ships-3-million-worldwide/|title=Metal Gear Solid 4 Ships 3 Million Worldwide |author=James Brightman |date=2008-06-26 |publisher=GameDaily |accessdate=2008-06-27] selling 1 million in Europe [cite web |url=http://www.mcvuk.com/news/30959/Metal-Gear-Solid-4-hits-a-million-in-first-week |date=2008-06-24 |accessdate=2008-06-24 |publisher=Market for Home Computing and Video Games |title=Metal Gear Solid 4 hits 1m sales in first week |author=Neil Long] over 500,000 in Japan, [cite web |url=http://kotaku.com/5022003/portable-horse-training-fever-sweeps-japan |publisher=Kotaku |title=Portable Horse Training Fever Sweeps Japan |author=Michael McWhertor |date=2008-07-03 |accessdate=2008-07-05] and 1 million in US. [cite web |url=http://www.gamespot.com/news/6194691.html |title=NPD: PS3 sales spike on MGS4 |author=Tom Magrino |date=2008-07-17 |publisher=GameSpot |accessdate=2008-08-03]

Business

*July 15 to July 17 - E3 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, U.S.A.
*July 31 to August 3 - QuakeCon 2008 at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, U.S.A.
*October 2 to October 4 - Nintendo conference held in San Francisco, USA and Tokyo, Japan.

Open to the public

*August 21 to August 24 - Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany.
*October 3 to October 5 - E for All at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, U.S.A.
*October 9 to October 12 - Tokyo Game Show at the Makuhari Messe International Convention in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Japan. [ [http://www.jeux-france.com/news21964_le-tgs-2008-en-octobre.html Le TGS 2008 en octobre ] ]
*October 9 to October 12 - Games Convention Asia in Singapore.
*October 10 to October 11 - Blizzcon 2008 in Anaheim, California, U.S.A.

cheduled releases

Best-selling Wii games in the US (first eight months of 2008) [cite web |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3795/2008s_topselling_games_so_far.php?page=3 |title=2008's Top-Selling Games So Far: How They Stack Up |author=Matt Matthews |date=2008-09-23 |publisher=Gamasutra |pages=p. 3 |accessdate=2008-09-24]

References