2002 in video gaming

Events

Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts the 5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Will Wright of Maxis to the AIAS Hall of Fame
BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) holds 5th annual BAFTA Interactive Awards for multimedia technologies; 10 of 21 awards go to video games; awards Ian Livingstone the BAFTA Interactive Special Award
8th annual E³ (Electronic Entertainment Expo); the 5th annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³
Eidos Interactive selects Dutch model Jill De Jong as the new digitized Lara Croft character
G4 Media, LLC (subsidiary of Comcast Corporation) launches the G4 cable television video game network channel
Gama Network hosts the 4th annual Independent Games Festival (IGF)
Game Developers Conference hosts the 2nd annual Game Developers Choice Awards
SEGA establishes the Sega Mobile division to develop, produce, and distribute video games for mobile phones and PDAs; establishes the Sega.com Business Solutions division to service video game developers and publishers
Rockstar Games embroiled in controversy for its Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City video games
March 22 — The Sims overtakes Myst as all-time best-selling computer game, having sold 6.3 million units ^*

Notable releases

January 22 - Allied Assault (PC)
February 11 - Ghosts to Glory (PS2)
March 4 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (GBA, Xbox)
March 26 - Jedi Outcast (PC)
March 28 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PC)
March 31 - Dungeon Siege (PC)
April 30 - Resident Evil (GC)
May 2 - Morrowind (PC)
May 16 - Final Fantasy XI (Japan) (PS2)
May 20 - Grand Theft Auto III (PC)
May 20 - Double Helix (PC)
May 28 - Frontline (PS2)
June 6 - The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Xbox)
June 16 - Neverwinter Nights (PC)
July 3 - Reign of Chaos (PC)
August 13 - '' Primal Hunt (PC)
August 19 - Total War (PC)
August 25 - Super Mario Sunshine (GC)
August 25 - Super Monkey Ball 2 (GC)
August 27 - U.S. Navy SEALs (PS2)
August 29 - The City of Lost Heaven (PC)
September 4 - Icewind Dale II (PC)
September 10 - Battlefield 1942 (PC)
September 15 - Animal Crossing (GC)
September 23 - Tekken 4 (PS2)
September 24 - Unreal Championship (Xbox)
September 30 - Point of Impact (PS2)
September 30 - ''No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way (PC)
September 30 - Unreal Tournament 2003 (PC)
October 1 - Silent Assassin (GC, PC, PS2, Xbox)
October 9 - ''TimeSplitters 2 (PS2)
October 15 - ''Red Faction II (PS2)
October 16 - TimeSplitters 2 (GC, Xbox)
October 22 - Dark Alliance (Xbox)
October 23 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (GC, PS2, Xbox)
October 25 - Play the World (PC)
October 27 - Vice City (PS2)
October 28 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (GBA)
November 1 - Age of Mythology (PC)
November 4 - Substance (Xbox)
November 4 - Ratchet & Clank (PS2)
November 6 - Tribunal (PC)
November 10 - Medal of Honor: Frontline (GC, Xbox)
November 10 - Resident Evil 0 (GC)
November 10 - Serious Sam (Xbox)
November 11 - MechAssault (Xbox)
November 11 - '' Allied Assault#Expansion packs (PC)
November 15 - Metroid Prime (GC)
November 18 - Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (GC)
November 18 - Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (Xbox)
November 20 - Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (GC, Xbox)
December 13 - The Wind Waker (Japan) (GC)

Business

February 19 — Sierra Entertainment, Inc. renamed from Sierra On-Line
May 10 — Tiwak renamed from Yeti Interactive
November 15 — Xbox Live, the largest online network for video game consoles just start works.
November 26 — Squaresoft and Enix announces a fusion. The new name is Square Enix.
Activision acquires Luxoflux Corporation, Gray Matter Interactive Studios, Shaba Games LLC, and Z-Axis Ltd.
Empire Interactive PLC acquires eJay AG (renamed eJay Entertainment GmbH)
Infogrames Entertainment SA acquires Eden Studios and Shiny Entertainment
Microsoft acquires Rare Ltd.
PCCW: Jaleco USA merges with its VR1 Entertainment (renamed Jaleco Entertainment) division
Sony Corporation acquires Aiwa Corporation
Vivendi Universal acquires Massive Entertainment
Bankrupt/Defunct: Encore Software, Inc. (assets acquired by Navarre Corporation)
.400 Software Studios founded

Trends

The market research company NPD estimated that video game hardware, software, and accessories sold about US$10.3 billion in 2002. This was a 10% increase over the 2001 figure.

Video game consoles

The dominant video game consoles in 2002 were:

Handheld game systems

The dominant handheld system in 2002 was Nintendo's Game Boy Advance.

Video game sales

The top 10 selling console video games in 2002 in the United States ranked by units sold, according to NPD, were:

align=top | **Top Grossing Video Games of 2002**
Rank	Title	Platform	Publisher
1	Vice City	PS2	Rockstar Games
2	Grand Theft Auto III	PS2	Rockstar Games
3	Madden NFL 2003	PS2	Electronic Arts
4	Super Mario Advance 2	GBA	Nintendo
5	A-Spec	PS2	Sony
6	Frontline	PS2	Electronic Arts
7	Spider-Man: The Movie	PS2	Activision
8	Kingdom Hearts	PS2	Squaresoft
9	Combat Evolved	Xbox	Microsoft
10	Super Mario Sunshine	GameCube	Nintendo

2002 en jeu vidéo | Datorspelsåret 2002