2004 in video gaming

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2004 saw many sequels and prequels in video games. New intellectual properties included Fable, Far Cry, Killzone, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Monster Hunter, Ninja Gaiden, Half-Life, and Red Dead Revolver.

Events

• January 20 — Wired's Vaporware Awards gives its first "Lifetime Achievement Award" to recurring winner Duke Nukem Forever.
• February 26 - Castle Wolfenstein creator Silas Warner dies at age 54.
• March 4 — Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Peter Molyneux into the AIAS Hall of Fame.
• March 22–26 — Game Developers Conference hosts 4th annual Game Developers Choice Awards and Gama Network's 6th annual Independent Games Festival (IGF).
• May 11 — Nintendo officially announces its "Revolution" (later named Wii) console.
• May 11–13 — The 10th annual E3 is held in Los Angeles, California, United States.^[1]
• July — IEMA (Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association) hosts 5th annual Executive Summit.
• August 3 — Doom 3 is released, restarting the breakthrough franchise, and featured complex graphics features such as unified lighting and shadowing, real-time fully dynamic per-pixel lighting and stencil shadowing. The game became id's best selling game to date.
• October 12 — EA Sports launches the multi-format FIFA Football 2005. It is the last major title to be released for the original PlayStation console.
• November — Counter-Strike: Source and Half-Life 2 are officially released on PC around the world, bringing in a new era for the First Person Shooter genre of video game, with advanced graphics & physics.
• November 5 — Nobuo Uematsu resigns from Square Enix and becomes a freelancer, starting his own business, called Smile Please Co., Ltd..
• November 17 — Atari Releases its first home game console since the Atari Jaguar, titled the Atari Flashback.
• November 21 — Nintendo launches its DS handheld in the United States.

Business

• January 12 — Ubisoft acquires Tiwak.
• February — Electronic Arts consolidates, rolls most of Maxis and all of Origin Systems into its Redwood Shores, California HQ.
• March — Microsoft announces XNA the successor of DirectX as the default API for "Longhorn", and Xenon.
• April 6 — Midway Games acquires Surreal Software.
• May — Sammy Corporation buys a controlling share in Sega Corporation at a cost of $1.1 billion creating the new company, "Sega Sammy Holdings Inc", one of the biggest gaming companies in the world.
• July — Square Enix restructures executive branches around the world.
• September 1 — Acclaim declares bankruptcy and closes its doors.
• October 11 — Midway Games acquires Inevitable Entertainment and renames it Midway Studios Austin.
• November 30 — Midway Games acquires developer Paradox Development.
• December 13 — Electronic Arts purchases a 5-year exclusive agreement for the rights to the NFL, which includes NFL teams, stadiums and players for use in EA's football video games.
• December 20 — Electronic Arts purchases 20% stake in Ubisoft. The purchase at the time was considered "hostile", by Ubisoft.

Notable releases

Video game platforms

GBA Game Boy Advance GCN Nintendo GameCube NDS Nintendo DS PS1 PlayStation PS2 PlayStation 2 PSP PlayStation Portable Win Microsoft Windows Xbox Xbox

Notable releases of the year 2004

Release	Title	PC	5th Gen	6th Gen	Handheld
January 5	Sonic Battle	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
January 13	Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
January 14	.hack//Quarantine Part 4	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
January 20	Maximo vs. Army of Zin	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
January 28	Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
January 29	Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
February 2	R-Type Final	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
February 8	Franny's Feet The Movie Activity Center	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
February 9	Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
February 9	Metroid: Zero Mission	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
February 9	EverQuest: Gates of Discord	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
February 10	Nightshade	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
February 10	Unreal II: The Awakening	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
February 10	Wrath Unleashed	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
February 10	Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament 2004	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
February 17	Jet Li: Rise to Honor	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
February 17	Pro Evolution Soccer 3	Windows	N/A	PS2	N/A
February 24	Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
February 27	Steel Battalion: Line of Contact	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
March 2	Drakengard	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
March 2	Lifeline	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
March 2	Ninja Gaiden	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
March 2	Scooby-Doo: Mystery Mayhem	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox, GCN	GBA
March 8	The Suffering	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
March 2	MTX Mototrax	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
March 9	Firefighter F.D.18	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
March 9	Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
March 9	Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Athena Sword	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 10	Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
March 12	Seven Samurai 20XX	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
March 14	Battlefield Vietnam	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 15	Wade Hixton's Counter Punch	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
March 16	Unreal Tournament 2004	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 19	Sacred[2]	Windows (EU)	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 23	Far Cry	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 23	Final Fantasy XI	N/A	N/A	PS2 (US)	N/A
March 23	Mission: Impossible – Operation Surma	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
March 23	Sonic Heroes	Windows	N/A	PS2, Xbox, GCN	N/A
March 24	Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku	N/A	N/A	PS2, GCN	N/A
March 25	Sacred[2]	Windows (NA)	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 31	Resident Evil Outbreak	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
April 1	Destruction Derby Arenas	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
April 5	Alias	Win	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
April 5	Fight Night 2004	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
April 12	Painkiller	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
April 12	Serious Sam Advance	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
April 13	TOCA Race Driver 2	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
April 20	Hitman: Contracts	Windows	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
April 20	Manhunt	Windows	N/A	Xbox	N/A
April 27	City of Heroes	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
April 27	Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
May 4	La Pucelle: Tactics	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
May 4	Rallisport Challenge 2	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
May 6	Samurai Warriors	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
May 7	Future Tactics: The Uprising	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox, GCN	N/A
May 21	Way of the Samurai 2	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
May 24	Mario vs. Donkey Kong	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
May 25	Metal Slug 3	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
May 25	Thief: Deadly Shadows	Windows	N/A	Xbox	N/A
June 1	The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
June 2	Classic NES Series: Ice Climber	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
June 7	Sonic Advance 3	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
June 7	The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
June 8	Ribbit King	N/A	N/A	GCN, PS2	N/A
June 14	Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy	Win	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
June 15	Front Mission 4	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
June 15	Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
June 21	Driver 3	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
June 22	Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
June 27	Mega Man Battle Network 4	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
June 29	CT Special Forces 2: Back in the Trenches	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
June 29	Spider-Man 2 (video game)	Windows US 06/28/04, EU 07/09/04	N/A	N/A	N/A
July 2	Yu-Gi-Oh! Power of Chaos: Joey the Passion	Win	N/A	N/A	N/A
July 5	Around the World in 80 Days	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
July 13	Tales of Symphonia	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
July 14	Athens 2004	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
July 20	Catwoman	Windows	N/A	GCN, PS2, Xbox	GBA
July 20	Puyo Pop Fever	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
July 20	Sudeki	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
July 21	Crimson Tears	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
July 22	Bujingai	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
August 1	NFL GameDay 2005	N/A	PS1	N/A	N/A
August 3	Doom 3	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
August 5	Cartoon Network: Block Party	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
August 18	Astro Boy: Omega Factor	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
August 24	Starsky & Hutch	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
August 24	Viewtiful Joe	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
August 30	Pikmin 2	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
August 30	WWE Day of Reckoning	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
August 31	Street Racing Syndicate	N/A	N/A	GCN, PS2, Xbox	N/A
September 2	Terminator 3: The Redemption	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
September 3	Digimon Rumble Arena 2	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
September 6	Digimon Rumble Arena 2	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
September 7	Burnout 3: Takedown	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
September 7	Silent Hill 4: The Room	Windows	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
September 8	Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
September 8	The Fairly OddParents: Shadow Showdown	Windows	N/A	GCN, PS2	GBA
September 9	Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
September 9	King of Colosseum II	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
September 12	Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
September 13	Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums	N/A	N/A	GCN, Xbox	N/A
September 13	Digimon Racing	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
September 13	EverQuest: Omens of War	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
September 13	The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius: Attack of the Twonkies	N/A	N/A	GCN, PS2	GBA
September 14	Advance Guardian Heroes	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
September 14	Gradius V	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
September 14	Bad Boys: Miami Takedown	N/A	N/A	GCN, PS2, Xbox	N/A
September 14	Call of Duty: United Offensive	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
September 14	Fable	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
September 14	Sly 2: Band of Thieves	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
September 14	The Sims 2	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
September 17	Crisis Zone	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
September 20	F-Zero: GP Legend	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
September 20	Def Jam: Fight for NY	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox, GCN	N/A
September 20	Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
September 21	Blood Will Tell	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
September 21	Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia	Windows	N/A	PS2	N/A
September 21	Second Sight	N/A	N/A	GCN, PS2, Xbox	N/A
September 21	Star Wars: Battlefront (2004 video game)	Windows	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
September 21	Star Wars Trilogy: Apprentice of the Force	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
September 22	Disney's Kim Possible 2: Drakken's Demise	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
September 22	Katamari Damacy	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
September 22	Rome: Total War	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
September 23	Crash Twinsanity	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
September 27	Shadow Hearts: Covenant	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
September 27	Shark Tale	Windows	N/A	GCN, PS2, Xbox	GBA
September 28	Armored Core: Nexus	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
September 28	Myst IV: Revelation	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 1	Scaler	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox, GCN	N/A
October 1	Crash Twinsanity	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
October 4	Tony Hawk's Underground 2	Windows	N/A	PS2, Xbox, GCN	GBA
October 5	Tribes: Vengeance	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 5	Conflict: Vietnam	Windows	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
October 5	Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude	Win	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
October 5	Mega Man Zero 3	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
October 5	Syberia II	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
October 11	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
October 12	BloodRayne 2	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
October 12	Lilo & Stitch 2: Hämsterviel Havoc	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
October 12	Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
October 12	Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox, GCN	GBA
October 12	FIFA Football 2005	Windows	PS1	PS2, GCN	GBA, PSP
October 12	Under the Skin	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
October 18	Kirby & the Amazing Mirror	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
October 19	Neo Contra	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
October 19	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus	Windows	PS1	PS2, GCN, Xbox	GBA, PSP
October 19	Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
October 20	Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
October 20	Tron 2.0	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
October 22	Sacred Plus[2] (EU)	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 25	Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
October 25	OutRun 2	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
October 26	Dead or Alive Ultimate	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
October 26	Grand Theft Auto	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
October 26	RollerCoaster Tycoon 3	Win	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 26	Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
October 26	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
October 26	Yu-Gi-Oh! Destiny Board Traveler	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
October 27	The Nightmare of Druaga: Fushigino Dungeon	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
October 27	The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie	Windows	N/A	GCN, PS2, Xbox	GBA
October 29	The Incredibles (video game)	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 1	Counter-Strike: Source	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 2	Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation S.O.D.A.	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
November 2	Killzone	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
November 2	Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 2	Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
November 2	The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age	N/A	N/A	GCN, PS2, Xbox	GBA
November 3	Spyro: A Hero's Tail	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox, GCN	N/A
November 3	The Incredibles: When Danger Calls	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 4	Godzilla: Save the Earth	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
November 5	Bejeweled 2	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 8	EverQuest II	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 9	EyeToy: AntiGrav	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
November 9	Halo 2	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
November 9	Jak 3	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
November 9	Shaman King: Master of Spirits	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
November 9	Shaman King: Power of Spirit	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
November 10	Hot Wheels: Stunt Track Challenge	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	GBA
November 10	Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (video game)	Windows	N/A	PS2, GCN, Xbox	GBA
November 15	Crash 'n' Burn	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
November 15	Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
November 15	Metroid Prime 2: Echoes	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
November 15	MTX Mototrax	Win	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 15	Need for Speed: Underground 2	Windows	N/A	PS2 GCN Xbox	GBA, NDS
November 16	Crash 'n' Burn	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
November 16	Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
November 16	Feel the Magic: XY/XX	N/A	N/A	N/A	NDS
November 16	Fight Club	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox	N/A
November 16	Half-Life 2	Windows	N/A	Xbox (2005)	N/A
November 16	Joint Operations: Escalation	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 16	Spider-Man 2	N/A	N/A	N/A	NDS
November 16	Starwberry Shortcake: Summertime Adventure	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
November 16	Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 17	Asphalt Urban GT	N/A	N/A	N/A	NDS
November 17	Castle Shikigami 2	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
November 17	Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
November 17	King Arthur	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
November 17	Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
November 17	Pac-Man World	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
November 18	Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
November 18	Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
November 18	Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
November 18	Yu Yu Hakusho: Tournament Tactics	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
November 19	Mario vs. Donkey Kong	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
November 21	Super Mario 64 DS	N/A	N/A	N/A	NDS
November 21	Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt	N/A	N/A	N/A	NDS
November 22	GoldenEye: Rogue Agent	N/A	N/A	PS2, Xbox, GCN	NDS
November 22	JFK: Reloaded	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 23	Alien Hominid	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
November 23	World of Warcraft	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
November 29	Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
November 30	Mr. Driller Drill Spirits	N/A	N/A	N/A	NDS
November 30	Prince of Persia: Warrior Within	Windows	N/A	PS2, Xbox, GCN	N/A
December 1	Painkiller: Battle out of Hell	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
December 1	Scrapland	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
December 1	Top Gun: Combat Zones	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
December 2	Metal Slug Advance	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
December 5	Mario Party 6	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
December 6	Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords	Windows	N/A	Xbox	N/A
December 6	The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
December 7	Growlanser Generations	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
December 7	Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
December 7	Kuon	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
December 7	It's Mr. Pants	N/A	N/A	N/A	GBA
December 7	Mega Man X8	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
December 7	Ridge Racer DS	N/A	N/A	N/A	NDS
December 8	The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A
December 8	Sprung	N/A	N/A	N/A	NDS
December 8	Viewtiful Joe 2	N/A	N/A	PS2	N/A
December 14	Gungriffon Allied Strike	N/A	N/A	Xbox	N/A
December 15	Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2	N/A	N/A	GCN	N/A
December 22	NFL Street 2	N/A	N/A	GCN, PS2, Xbox	N/A

Trends

In 2004, the total U.S. sales of video game hardware, software and accessories was $9.9 billion compared with $10 billion in 2003. Total software sales rose 8 percent over the previous year to $6.2 billion. Additionally, sales of portable software titles exceeded $1 billion for the first time. Hardware sales were down 27 percent for the year due in part to shortages during the holiday season and price reductions from all systems.

Video game consoles

• Nintendo GameCube
• Xbox
• PlayStation 2
  • Sony released an internal hard drive for the PlayStation 2 on March 23
  • The third major hardware revision of the PlayStation 2 (model number SCPH-70000) was released in Japan on November 1

Handheld game systems

The dominant handheld systems in 2004 were:

• Game Boy Advance SP
• N-Gage

PlayStation Portable

Additionally, Nokia released an updated version of their original N-Gage, called the N-Gage QD. Nintendo released the Nintendo DS on November 21 in the United States. In Japan Sony released the PlayStation Portable on December 12.

Video game sales

Based on figures from the NPD Group.

Best-selling video games of 2004 in the United States^[3]

Rank	Title	Console	Publisher
1	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	PS2	Rockstar Games
2	Halo 2	Xbox	Microsoft Game Studios
3	Madden NFL 2005	PS2	EA Sports
4	ESPN NFL 2K5	PS2	Sega
5	Need For Speed: Underground 2	PS2	Electronic Arts
6	Pokémon Fire Red with adapter	GBA	Nintendo
7	NBA Live 2005	PS2	EA Sports
8	Spider-Man 2	PS2	Activision
9	Halo: Combat Evolved	Xbox	Microsoft Game Studios
10	ESPN NFL 2K5	Xbox	Sega

Highest critically reviewed games (Metacritic)

Number	Video Game	Publisher	Platform	Release Date	Average score	Number of reviews	Refs
1	Half-Life 2	Valve Corporation	PC	November 16	96	81 reviews	[4]
2	Halo 2	Microsoft Game Studios	Xbox	November 9	95	91 reviews	[5]
3	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	Rockstar Games	PlayStation 2	October 26	95	80 reviews	[6]
4	Burnout 3: Takedown	Electronic Arts	Xbox	September 7	94	76 reviews	[7]
5	Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow	Ubisoft	Xbox	March 23	93	74 reviews	[8]
6	World of Warcraft	Blizzard Entertainment	PC	November 23	93	53 reviews	[9]
7	Unreal Tournament 2004	Atari	PC	March 16	93	48 reviews	[10]
8	World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International	Konami	PlayStation 2	February 17	93	28 reviews	[11]
9	Metroid Prime 2: Echoes	Nintendo	GameCube	November 15	92	60 reviews	[12]
10	Rome: Total War	Activision	PC	September 22	92	58 reviews	[13]

References

1. "Attendance and Stats". IGN. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
2. http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/915057-sacred/data
3. "The NPD Group Reports Annual 2004 U.S. Video Game Industry Retail Sales". NPD Group. January 18, 2005. Archived from the original on November 25, 2006. Retrieved February 28, 2008.
4. "Reviews for Half-Life 2". Metacritic. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
5. "Reviews for Halo 2". Metacritic. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
6. "Reviews for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas". Metacritic. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
7. "Reviews for Burnout 3: Takedown". Metacritic. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
8. "Reviews forTom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow". Metacritic. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
9. "Reviews for World of Warcraft". Metacritic. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
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