Editorial: Gaming in 2000

The year 2000, a starting point for the new millennium as told by Lusipurr thanks to the Year 0 that many know and love. None of that was true, but 2000 was still a monumental year thanks to events including Jennifer Lopez creating Google Images, and the fourth book in the “Harry Potter” franchise being released. That being said, this is still primarily a video game news, reviews, and stews (thanks Lane!) website so it is time to get into the video game news of 2000.

To start things off it is time to get into the hottest games released in the year 2000, and not just by temperature but also by popularity. Although, when it comes to temperature games like Diablo II which was released in 2000 for Windows and MacOS take the cake thanks to the inclusion of Hell, a place often known for its heat. 2000 also saw the release of many Dreamcast titles such as the port of the arcade title Crazy Taxi, the swashbuckling RPG Skies of Arcadia, and the out of this world Space Channel 5. Although these titles were not enough to keep SEGA in the console market, they did still help cement the Dreamcast as being a great console that unfortunately did not do as well as it should have. The Dreamcast had Jet Set Radio for Pete’s sake, what more is there to want? What exclusives did the PlayStation 2 have in the year 2000 aside from TimeSplitters (in America at least)? Keeping in mind that the Dreamcast also had Resident Evil – Code: Veronica, one of the most critically acclaimed games in the “Resident Evil” franchise. Meanwhile, the PlayStation saw the release of Final Fantasy IX, Mega Man Legends 2 and The Misadventures of Tron Bonne. The Nintendo 64 was also still kicking in the year 2000 with the release of titles such as Perfect Dark, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. and Pokemon Stadium. But who could forget the always growing PC market with games including American McGee’s Alice, Hitman: Codename 47, Deus Ex and The Sims? All in all, 2000 was another great year for video games, especially since none of them had to deal with the punishment that is DLC.

Now it is time to get into the biggest hardware releases of the year 2000 starting off with none other than the Sony PlayStation 2. Launched in the year 2000, the PlayStation 2 went on to be sold up until it was discontinued in 2013 with over 155 million units sold worldwide in that thirteen year period. The PlayStation 2 had it all, processing power, a CD drive, backwards compatibility with the original PlayStation, and later in its life even internet play. Although it launched at the price of $299, the Sony PlayStation 2 flew off of store shelves when it was first released and then just two years later with a price drop of $100 the PS2 continued to be extremely popular. To be fair, it wasn’t purchased in troves for government architecture the same way the PlayStation 3 was but it was still pretty dang powerful for the time. Also released in the year 2000 was the WonderSwan Color which was nowhere near as popular or fun as the PlayStation 2 but it was also released in the year 2000 so it is only fair that it gets a single sentence of recognition. SEGA also released the NAOMI 2 arcade board in 2000 which was a great improvement over the original NAOMI thanks to increased RAM and the fact that SEGA brought back the GD-ROM drive.

To close out this editorial, companies will be discussed as per the standard of what readers have come to expect (and love) over time. For one company to succeed, it means another must fall as stated in the laws of Economics as taught by Adeki. This is unfortunately what happened when it comes to the companies PopCap Games and Looking Glass Studios. Although PopCap Games was originally founded in the year 2000 to be later be known for games such as Bejeweled, and Plants vs Zombies (along with an unfortunate purchase by Electronic Arts), this meant that a company had to then shut down. Originally known as Looking Glass Technology in 1990, the studio now known as Looking Glass Studios shut down in the year 2000 due to a lack of game sales in spite of critical acclaim for games such as System Shock, Thief: The Dark Dark Project, and the famous title System Shock 2. However, critical acclaim was not enough to keep Looking Glass Studios afloat any many of the employees had to move on to greener pastures, some of these pastures being companies like Harmonix, Irrational Games, and even Valve. Now, fans of games like System Shock can turn to Night Dive Studios which recently announced a remake of the title soon to come along with plans to create a third installment in the franchise.

So there it is, the true ending of an era in regards to editorials made about gaming in the 90’s (and also the year 2000). Do you feel cheated? Bamboozled? Did you learn something interesting or did you know it all already? Are you upset that one obscure game was left out? Whatever the case maybe, make sure to leave a comment below and let us know what you think!