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Events

• January 26, 2006 -- Nintendo announces its newly redesigned handheld, the Nintendo DS Lite. The new model is lighter, smaller, has configurable brightness and features an improved user interface.^[1][2]
• January 26, 2006 -- Konami Corp. announces the list of titles it expects to ship in 2006, ranging from Beatmania to Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, and covering multiple platforms.^[3]
• January 26, 2006 -- Public schools in West Virginia will add Dance Dance Revolution by Konami to their curriculum, in an effort to combat obesity.^[4][5]
• January 27, 2006 -- Players of the Horde clan from World of Warcraft start the "Gamers Against No Kash" charity, to pay the subscription fees for valuable players strapped for cash.^[6]
• January 27, 2006 -- Microsoft of Japan made a statement to Japanese game magazine Famitsu regarding the Xbox 360 launch. "It was a lot more difficult than we had imagined. We couldn't prepare the launch titles that we had promised, and it made an impact," said Microsoft of Japan Xbox chief of operations Yoshihiro Maruyama. At the launch of the first Xbox in Japan, more units were sold in three days than have been sold of the Xbox 360 in one month.^[7]
• January 27, 2006 -- The PlayStation Portable 2.01-2.50 firmware versions, previously considered unhackable, are hacked by Fanjita.^[8]
• January 27, 2006 -- The Los Angeles attorney's office sues Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive over the Hot Coffee mod.^[9]
• January 30, 2006 -- A mandatory update for Xbox Live on the Xbox 360 was released. Microsoft claimed the update was for bugfixes and improvements. Members of the modding community claim that "the true purpose of this update was to halt the progress of the modding community".^[10]
• January 30, 2006 -- Nintendo released a statement regarding the Red Tulip phenomenon on Animal Crossing: Wild World, stating "We have isolated the problem and determined that there was a temporary error with the upload tool when this letter was posted". Earlier, there had been speculation that the tulips were a result of black hat hackers.^[11]
• January 31, 2006 -- Sony is reportedly building a Xbox Live-killer for the PlayStation 3.^[12]
• January 31, 2006 -- StarForce, a DRM maker for computer games, threatens to sue popular weblog Boing Boing for criticising its products.^[13][14]
• January 31, 2006 -- Blizzard Entertainment responds to the LGBT debate happening in World of Warcraft. The company stated: "To promote a positive game environment for everyone and help prevent such harassment from taking place as best we can, we prohibit mention of topics related to sensitive real-world subjects in open chat within the game, and we do our best to take action whenever we see such topics being broadcast."^[15]
• January 31, 2006 -- Sony announces that ten servers will be merged with ten others on Everquest 2. Players are cautiously optimistic.^[16][17]
• November 11, 2006—Sony releases the PlayStation 3.
• November 19, 2006—Nintendo releases the Wii.

Business

• January 5, 2006 -- Vivendi Universal Games acquires High Moon Studios (formerly Sammy Studios, Inc), which gained independence from Sammy in 2005.^[18]
• January 9, 2006 -- Take-Two Interactive acquires Irrational Games.^[19]
• January 26, 2006 -- Sony reports that strong sales of the PlayStation Portable helped the company make a profit of 70 billion yen, the first time in 11 years that the company has managed to avoid an annual loss.^[20][21]
• January 26, 2006 -- Microsoft announces $293 million losses in its Home and Entertainment division, record revenues overall.^[22]
• January 26, 2006 -- Nintendo reports declining Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance sales but increased profits: Yen92.2 billion.^[23]
• January 27, 2006 -- The Nintendo DS returns to the top of the weekly Japanese charts, with 64,515 units sold compared to 38,271 for the PlayStation Portable. The PlayStation 2 is third with 26,135 units sold, while the Xbox 360 continues to sell poorly (just 3,616, less than the GameCube). The five best-selling games were Brain Training for Adults 2, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Super Mario Strikers, Brain Training for Adults and Mario Kart DS, all published by Nintendo.^[24]
• January 27, 2006 -- Microsoft lowers its estimate of Xbox 360 sales in its first 90 days from 2.75-3.0 million units to 2.5 million due to supply shortage. The yearly estimate (4.5 to 5.5 million) is unchanged since Microsoft plans to increase its console production with the help of a new manufacturer, Celestica.^[25] Meanwhile, Microsoft postpones the Australian 360 launch from March 2 to March 23, 2006 due to a "short term manufacturing challenge"/^[26]
• January 30, 2006 -- Shares of Take-Two Interactive, the controversial creator of the Grand Theft Auto series, rose Monday after news that the company was in takeover talks with an unnamed buyer.^[27][28][29]
• January 31, 2006 -- CNET reports that Cisco Systems might be interested in buying Nintendo.^[30][31]
• May - IEMA (Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association) successfully merged with VSDA (Video Software Dealers Association) to form combined organization EMA (Entertainment Merchants Association)
• July – ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association) formed.
• October – ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association) soft-launched.

Notable software releases

North American release dates:

Release Date	Title	Systems
February 9	Siren 2	PS2
February 14	Empire Earth II: The Art of Supremacy	PC
February 18	Star Wars: Empire at War	PC
February 21	EverQuest II: Kingdom of Sky	PC
	Sonic Riders	GCN, PS2, Xbox
February 27	Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords	PC
February 28	Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach	PC
March 2	The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II	PC
	The Sims 2: Open for Business	PC
March 7	Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai	PSP
March 15	Battlefield 2: Euro Force	PC
March 17	24: The Game Driver: Parallel Lines	PS2
March 20	Metroid Prime Hunters	NDS
	Tetris DS	NDS
	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	PC, Xbox 360
March 21	The Godfather: The Game	PC, PS2, Xbox
March 26	Act of War: High Treason	PC
March 28	Kingdom Hearts II	PS2
March 31	Animal Crossing: Wild World (Europe)	NDS
April 11	Tomb Raider: Legend	PC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360
	Battlefield 2: Modern Combat	Xbox 360
April 13	Auto Assault	PC
April 17	Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day	NDS
	Dreamfall: The Longest Journey	PC
April 18	Dreamfall: The Longest Journey	Xbox
	Final Fantasy XI	Xbox 360
	Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan	PC, PS2
April 20	Mother 3	GBA
April 24	Black & White 2 - Battle of the Gods	PC
April 25	Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War	PS2
	OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast	Xbox, PS2, PSP
April 28	Guild Wars: Factions	PC
May 9	Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends	PC
May 10	SiN Episodes: Emergence	PC
May 15	New Super Mario Bros.	NDS
May 16	Heroes of Might and Magic V	PC
	X-Men: The Official Game	Xbox 360, PS2, PC, Xbox, NDS, GCN, GBA
May 23	Jaws: Unleashed	PC, Xbox, PS2
	Rockstar Games: Table Tennis	Xbox 360
May 30	Hitman: Blood Money	Xbox 360, PC, PS2, Xbox
	X2: The Threat	Lin
June 1	Half-Life 2: Episode One	PC
June 6	Battlefield 2: Armored Fury	PC
	Cars	PS2, Xbox, GCN, PSP, NDS, PC
	Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories	PS2
	The Movies: Stunts & Effects	PC
June 12	Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War	PC
June 13	Armored Core: Last Raven (USA)	PS2
June 15	Gorky 17	Lin
June 21	Tomb Raider: Legend	PSP
June 26	Titan Quest	PC
June 29	Panzer Command	PC
July 5	The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II	Xbox 360
July 11	Chromehounds	Xbox 360
	Prey	PC, Xbox 360
July 20	AFL Premiership 2006	PS2
July 24	CivCity: Rome	PC
	Civilization IV: Warlords	PC
August 1	Flatout 2 (USA)	PC
	Dungeon Siege II: Broken World	PC
	Super Monkey Ball Adventure (USA)	GCN, PS2, PSP
August 4	Cold War	Lin
August 8	Dead Rising	Xbox 360
August 15	Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII	PS2
	Ninety-Nine Nights	Xbox 360
August 22	King of Fighters	PS2
August 28	Star Fox Command	NDS
August 29	Enchanted Arms	Xbox 360
	Saints Row	Xbox 360
	Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra	PS2
September 5	LocoRoco	PSP
September 12	Joint Task Force	PC
	LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy	NDS, GCN, PC, PS2, PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360
September 13	Company of Heroes	PC
September 18	Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team	NDS
	Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team	GBA
September 19	Ōkami	PS2
	The Godfather: The Game	PSP, Xbox 360
	EverQuest: The Serpent's Spine	PC
September 25	Baten Kaitos Origins (North America)	GCN
	Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis	NDS
September 26	Caesar IV	PC
September 28	Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (Japan)	NDS
	Kingdom Hearts II (Australia, Europe)	PS2
September 29	DEFCON (Europe)	PC
October 6	Heroes of Annihilated Empires	PC
October 8	Scarface: The World Is Yours	PS2, Xbox, PC
October 9	Mortal Kombat: Armageddon	PS2, Xbox
	Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade	PC
October 17	Age of Empires III: The War Chiefs	PC
	Battlefield 2142	PC
	Bully	PS2
	Sid Meier's Railroads! (North America)	PC
	The Sims 2: Pets	PC
	Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent	Xbox 360
October 18	Football Manager 2007	PC, Mac
October 24	Dark Messiah of Might and Magic	PC
	F.E.A.R. Extraction Point	PC
	Marvel: Ultimate Alliance	GBA, PC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360
	Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption	PC
	Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent	GCN, PS2, Xbox
October 26	Guild Wars Nightfall	PC
October 30	Pokémon Ranger (North America)	NDS
October 31	Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories	PSP
	Final Fantasy XII (United States)	PS2
	Killzone: Liberation	PSP
	Need for Speed: Carbon	GCN, PC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360,PS3
	Neverwinter Nights 2	PC
November 6	Lumines II	PSP
November 7	Call of Duty 3	PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360
	Guitar Hero II	PS2
	Gears of War	Xbox 360
	SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Combined Assault	PS2
	Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent	PC
	Tony Hawk's Project 8	PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360
November 13	EverQuest II: Echoes of Faydwer	PC
	Medieval 2: Total War	PC
	Yoshi's Island DS	NDS
November 14	Final Fantasy III	NDS
	Heroes of Might and Magic V: Hammers of Fate	PC
	Left Behind: Eternal Forces	PC
	Sonic the Hedgehog	Xbox 360
	Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis	GBA
	Tomb Raider: Legend	GBA, GCN, NDS
	Xiaolin Showdown	PS2, PSP
	Warhammer: Mark of Chaos	PC
	WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007	PS2, Xbox 360
November 15	Xiaolin Showdown	Xbox
November 17	Call of Duty 3	PS3
	Marvel: Ultimate Alliance	PS3
	Resistance: Fall of Man	PS3
	Ridge Racer 7	PS3
	Tony Hawk's Project 8	PS3
November 19	Call of Duty 3 (America)	Wii
	Excite Truck (America)	Wii
	Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (America)	Wii
	Red Steel (America)	Wii
	Rayman Raving Rabbids (America)	Wii
	Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (America)	Wii
	The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (America)	Wii
	Trauma Center: Second Opinion (America)	Wii
	Wii Sports (America)	Wii
November 20	Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas	Xbox 360
	Superman Returns: The Videogame	GCN, PS2, Xbox 360, NDS
November 21	The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine	PC
	Tony Hawk's Project 8	PSP
November 28	The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king	PC
	Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent	Wii
	Xiaolin Showdown	NDS
November 30	Final Fantasy VI Advance (Japan)	GBA
December 5	Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops	PSP
	Star Trek: Legacy	PC
	WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007	PSP
	Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin	NDS
December 13	The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess	GCN
December 29	Ape Escape: Million Monkeys	PS2

Hardware and software sales

United States

• Based on figures from the NPD Group:

Best-selling video games of 2006 in the US ^[32]

• Based on figures from the NPD Group via IGN;^[33] the games' publishers are listed in brackets:

Best-selling video games of 2006 by platform^[33]

Japan

• Based on figures from Enterbrain:

Best-selling video games of 2006 in Japan ^[41]

Europe

• Based on estimates from Electronic Arts:

Video game console sales of 2006 in Europe^[42][43]

References