2000S IN VIDEO GAMES

The '2000s in video gaming' is the current decade of video games. This decade has been primarily dominated by Sony, Nintendo, the newcomer Microsoft and their respected systems. Overall the decade has seen the last of the blocky 3D pixels of the 1990s and has entered the realm of true High Definition 3D games, intelligent AI, introducing realistic physics into games, and also interaction in gameplay.

Consoles of the 2000s

=== Sixth generation consoles ===
The sixth generation of video games officially began in 1998 with the introduction of the short lived Dreamcast. The sixth generation improved on the 3D graphics of the fifth generation consoles as an era of many 128-bit games. Some of the new features in the consoles included bulit-in DVD Players and Hard drives. The PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox were the best selling systems of this generation, dropping Nintendo and eliminating Sega from the console war. Nintendo releases the Game Boy Advance series, which dominates as the most widely played handheld system, despite growing competition. In 2003, Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance SP which features a flip-top design and a front-lit screen. Another even smaller version of the GBA was released as the Game Boy Micro in 2005 . The internet begins to become a resource for gamers through the new Xbox Live feature that allows players to play anyone around the world.
'Home systems'

★ Dreamcast (''1998'')

★ PlayStation 2 (''2000'')

★ Nintendo GameCube (''2001'')

★ Xbox (''2001'')
'Handheld systems'

★ Game Boy Advance (''2001'')

★ N-Gage (''2003'')
=== Seventh generation consoles ===
The seventh generation of video games began in late-2005 as the Microsoft's Xbox 360 was released. This generation is sometimes known as the "''HD era''" of video games. Some of the new features include HD ready graphics, Media Centers, and Blu-Ray compatibility as seen with the PlayStation 3. Sega did not return to release a home console dropping out of the console war in 2001 after the failure of the Dreamcast. Nintendo's Wii introduced new motion-sensor controllers making video games a more active activity. In response, the PlayStation 3 also features tilt-sensitive controllers.
'Home systems'

★ Xbox 360 (''2005'')

★ PlayStation 3 (''2006'')

★ Wii (''2006'')
'Handheld systems'

★ Nintendo DS (''2004'')

★ PlayStation Portable (''2005'')

★ GameBoy Micro (''2006'')

Interactive Gaming

Interactive gaming becomes one of the many features in video games in the late-2000s with systems such as the Wii Remote using motion as a method of controlling your character; the PS3 later releases a similar feature. The Music video game genre found in many video arcades such as beatmania and later Dance Dance Revolution caught on extremely well in the early-2000s with smaller home versions appearing by the mid-2000s being popular throughout the decade. Guitar Hero, a game that allows players to play songs using a guitar-like controller is released in 2005 and quickly becomes a best seller. The Guitar Hero series ended however in 2007 with the release of its third installment, , but the makers will be releasing a later game named Rock band based on the same principle.

Computer games in the 2000s

As the market continues to favor the home console over the personal computer, video games designed for the PC begin to fall out of favor. The PC becomes the primary system for strategy based games, simulators, and several popular first person shooter games. The Sims released in 2000, along with its numerous expansions and the help from many companies, such as Electronic Arts, Maxis, and Disney, becomes the best-selling PC game of all time. The Sims 2, released in 2004 becomes almost as popular.
MMORPGs, originating in the mid-to-late 1990s, become a popular PC trend and virtual online worlds become a reality as games such as ''EVE Online'' (2003), ''Final Fantasy XI'' (2003), '' (2003), ''World of Warcraft'' (2004), and ''Everquest II'' (2004) are released. These worlds come complete with their own economies and social organization as directed by the players as a whole. The persistent online worlds allow the games to remain popular for many years. ''World of Warcraft'' remains one of the most popular games in PC gaming.

Controversial Mature-Content in Gaming

The AO-rating is very rare and is often banned in stores like Wal-Mart and Target

Mature content in video gaming is nothing new to the gaming world. In 1999, the Columbine High School massacre sparked many widespread debates regarding video games and their effects on children's minds. Doom (''1994'') was brought up a lot during those debates as a scapegoat. Usually, violence and sexual content are brought up the most when talking of video games, but language and pornography are also sometimes mentioned.
The Grand Theft Auto series sparks a fad of Mature-rated video games based on including gang warfare, drug use, and perceived "senseless violence" into the gameplay. The Hot Coffee controversy, when a sex mini-game was discovered in , caused widespread controversy and have fueled efforts to ban the sale of Mature-rated games to minors. The effort has been spearheaded by mothers, lawmakers, and activists (such as Jack Thompson), although all such efforts to pass any laws concerning this have been firmly struck down.

Other

★ Gamers who were kids in the 1980s and 1990s are now adults and continue to play video games. The average age for video game players rises into the mid to late 20s as videogames become mainstream global entertainment.

★ Video games like ''Halo'' (2001) and ''Half-Life 2'' (2004) with its Source engine revolutionize the physics aspect of gameplay. ''Red Faction'' in 2001 became among the first games to feature destructible environments on any level. ''Age of Empires III'' (2005) becomes the first real-time strategy (RTS) game to use the Havok Physics engine and thus feature realistic physics. ''Company of Heroes'', an RTS released in 2006, was the first game of any genre to feature fully-destructible environments. ''Crysis'', expected to be released in 2007, will push physics technology one step further, featuring an environment that can be affected in nearly every way by its surroundings.

★ 3d games become the staple of the video-game industry, with 2d games nearly fading from the market. Partially 3d and fully 2d games were still common in the industry early in the decade, but these have now become rare as developers look almost exclusively for fully 3d games to satisfy the increasing demand for them in the market.

★ Sequels and spin-offs began to dominate the video game industry early in the decade and led to the decline in the number of successful original titles. The Grand Theft Auto series has become among the most popular franchises, beginning with ''Grand Theft Auto III'' in 2001 . It has since spawned 4 sequels, with a fifth slated for 2007 . All of the GTA games have been best-sellers. In 2004, both ''Doom 3'' and ''Half-Life 2'' were released as sequels to some of the most popular franchises in video game history, while ''Halo'', released in 2001, has spawned another best-selling franchise. A third and final installment is slated for 2007 . It was followed up by ''Halo 2'', which was also released in 2004 . The Final Fantasy and Zelda series remain among the most popular.

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