2003 in video games explained

2003 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Tony Hawk's Underground, Madden NFL 2004, NBA Live 2004, ESPN NBA Basketball, , Final Fantasy X-2, , , , Sonic Heroes, Postal 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, , and WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain. New intellectual properties included Beyond Good & Evil, Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand, Call of Duty, Disgaea, Drakengard, Manhunt, PlanetSide, TrackMania, , and Viewtiful Joe.

The year's best-selling video game worldwide was Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire, the fifth time a Pokémon games was the annual worldwide top-seller (since 1998). The year's most critically acclaimed games were Grand Theft Auto Double Pack (compilation of Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City from previous years) and (North American release of 2002 game).

Events

February 27 – Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Yu Suzuki of Sega to the AIAS Hall of Fame.
March 6–9 – Game Developers Conference hosts 3rd annual Game Developers Choice Awards and Gama Network's 5th annual Independent Games Festival (IGF).
April 1 – Enix Corporation and Square Co., Ltd. officially merge, forming Square Enix Co., Ltd.
May 14–16 – 9th annual E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) held at Los Angeles^[1] Convention Center; 6th annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E3.
July – IEMA (Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association) hosts 4th annual Executive Summit.
July 16 – Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) renamed as Entertainment Software Association (ESA).
September 12 – Valve releases their game distribution software Steam out of beta.
October 1 – DreamWorks SKG and Tecmo announce a movie adaptation of the video game Fatal Frame has been fast-tracked with John Rogers and Steven Spielberg involvement.
October 20 – Families of Aaron Hamel and Kimberly Bede, two young adults shot by teens William and Josh Buckner (who in statements to investigators claimed their actions were inspired by Grand Theft Auto III), file a US$246 million lawsuit against developer Rockstar Games, publisher Take-Two Interactive Software, retailer Walmart, and console-maker Sony Computer Entertainment America.
October 31 – British Academy of Film and Television Arts announces that nominations for the 6th annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards will instead be split between the 1st annual BAFTA Games Awards for video game publications and (on November 24) the BAFTA Interactive Awards for multimedia technologies; ceremonies to be held in February 2004.
November – Kazushige Nojima resigns from Square Enix.
First PlayStation Portable prototype shown by Sony.
Nintendo states that its next generation console would be fully compatible with the GameCube.

Business

Early 2003 – Compile goes defunct.
February 19 – Microsoft announces a deal to buy Connectix Corporation.
Take-Two Interactive buys TDK Mediactive, Inc.
May 7 – Infogrames Entertainment, SA rebrands all its subsidiaries under the Atari brand.
Enix Corporation officially absorbs Square Co., Ltd., forming Square Enix Co., Ltd.
CNN Money reports that video games are a US$10 billion industry
April – Pan European Game Information (PEGI), a European video game content rating system, comes into use.
May – The 3DO Company announces bankruptcy and closes down its New World Computing subsidiary.
June 12 – Obsidian Entertainment founded.
August 1 – Virgin Interactive is renamed to Avalon Interactive by its owner Titus Software.
August – Microsoft announced ATI as the developer of the GPU for their next generation console, Project Xenon. Their previous contract with Nvidia was finished but the GPU of the Xbox continued in production.
September – Silicon Dreams Studio goes defunct.
December – Interplay closes its Black Isle Studios division.
Late 2003 – Nintendo buys shares from Japanese toy and animation conglomerate Bandai making Nintendo one of Bandai's top 10 shareholders.
Late 2003 – Data East goes defunct.

Hardware

Month	Day	System
February	14	Game Boy Advance SP
October	7	N-Gage

Discontinued

March 23 – Nintendo stops production of the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color worldwide.
September 23 – Nintendo stops production of the Family Computer and Super Famicom in Japan.^[2]

Trends

Computer games continue to lose ground to console video games with a US sales drop of 14% in 2003.^[3] Total 2003 entertainment software sales in the United States grew slightly to US$7 billion; console sales increased to $5.8 billion and computer games accounted for the remaining $1.2 billion.^[4]

Video game consoles

The dominant video game consoles in 2003 were:

Handheld game systems

The dominant handheld systems in 2003 were:

Nintendo's Game Boy Advance

Additionally, two new handheld consoles were introduced in 2003, the Game Boy Advance SP (an enhanced GBA) and Nokia's N-Gage.

Best-selling video games

Game! rowspan="2"
Japan	Publisher	USA	Europe	Worldwide
Platform	Publisher	Sales
Pokémon Ruby / Sapphire	GBA	Nintendo	1,704,458	2,200,000+^[5]	1,500,000+^[6]	6,120,000
	GameCube	Nintendo	567,849	1,000,000+^[7]		3,580,000
Final Fantasy X-2	PS2	Square Enix	2,000,000+^[8]	1,000,000^[9]		3,400,000
Pro Evolution Soccer 3 (World Soccer Winning Eleven 7)	PS2	Konami	1,160,000^[10]		1,550,000	2,710,000
	GBA	Nintendo	457,095	1,100,000+		2,590,000
Madden NFL 2004	PS2	EA Sports		2,300,000+^[11]		2,300,000+
Mario Party 5	GameCube	Nintendo	481,053			1,640,000
Enter the Matrix	PS2	Infogrames	92,459^[12]	1,000,000+	300,000+^[13]	1,392,459+
	GameCube	Nintendo	252,064	1,100,000+		1,352,064+
	PS2	Rockstar		1,000,000+	300,000+	1,300,000+

Japan


1	Final Fantasy X-2		Square Enix	Role-playing	2,000,000+
2	Pocket Monsters: Ruby / Sapphire (Pokémon Ruby / Sapphire)		The Pokémon Company	Role-playing	1,704,458
3	Shin Sangokumusou 3 (Dynasty Warriors 4)	PS2	Koei	Hack and slash	1,178,455
4	World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 (Pro Evolution Soccer 3)	PS2	Konami	Sports	1,160,000
5	Minna no Golf 4 (Everybody's Golf 4)	PS2	Sony	Sports	875,252
6		GBA	Square Enix	Role-playing	593,458
7	Mobile Suit Gundam: Meguriai Sora	PS2	Bandai	Third-person shooter	577,972
8			Nintendo	Kart racing	567,849
9	Made in Wario	GBA	Nintendo	Party	556,806
10	Dragon Ball Z (Dragon Ball Z: Budokai)	PS2	Bandai	Fighting	543,312

United States


1	Madden NFL 2004		EA Sports	Sports	2,300,000+
2	Pokémon Ruby / Sapphire		Nintendo	Role-playing	2,200,000+
3		GBA	Nintendo	Platformer	1,100,000+
4		GameCube	Nintendo	Action-adventure	1,100,000+
5		PS2	Rockstar Games	Action-adventure	1,000,000+
6		GameCube	Nintendo	Kart racing	1,000,000+
7	Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga	GBA	Nintendo	Role-playing	1,000,000+
8	Enter the Matrix	PS2	Infogrames	Action-adventure	1,000,000+
9		PS2	Electronic Arts	First-person shooter	1,000,000+
10	NCAA Football 2004	PS2	EA Sports	Sports	1,000,000+

PAL regions

Rank! colspan="2"
Game	Platform	Game	Platform(s)	Sales^[16]
Australia^[14]	United Kingdom^[15]
1		PS2	FIFA Football 2004	Multi-platform	700,000+^[17]
2		PS2		Multi-platform	700,000
3		PS2		Multi-platform	300,000+
4	V8 Supercars	PS2	The Sims	Multi-platform	300,000+
5	Pokémon Ruby	GBA		Multi-platform	300,000+
6	Pokémon Sapphire	GBA	Enter the Matrix	Multi-platform	300,000+
7		PS2	Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell	Multi-platform	300,000+
8		PS2		PS2	300,000+
9	Rugby League	PS2		Multi-platform	300,000+
10	Enter the Matrix	PS2	FIFA Football 2003	Multi-platform	300,000+

Games with notable critical reception

Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.

Famitsu

The following video game releases in 2002 entered Famitsu magazine's "Platinum Hall of Fame" and received Famitsu scores of at least 36 out of 40.^[18]

Title	Platform	Developer	Publisher	Genre	Score (out of 40)
Operator's Side (Lifeline)	PlayStation 2	Sony Computer Entertainment	Sony Computer Entertainment	Survival horror	37
	PlayStation 2	Sega AM2	Sega	Fighting	37
Mario & Luigi RPG (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)	GBA	AlphaDream	Nintendo	RPG	37
Ikaruga	GameCube	Treasure	Atari	Shoot 'em up	36
Shin Sangoku Musou 3 (Dynasty Warriors 3)	PlayStation 2	Omega Force	Koei	Hack and slash	36
Castlevania: Akatsuki no Menuetto (Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow)	Game Boy Advance	Konami Tokyo	Konami	Action RPG	36
Minna no GOLF Online	PlayStation 2	Clap Hanz	Sony Computer Entertainment	Sports	36
Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 10	GameCube	Pawapuro Production	Konami	Sports	36
Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 10	PlayStation 2	Pawapuro Production	Konami	Sports	36
Bokura no Taiyou (Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand)	Game Boy Advance	Konami Tokyo	Konami	Action RPG	36
World Soccer: Winning Eleven 7 (Pro Evolution Soccer 3)	PlayStation 2	Konami Computer Entertainment Japan	Konami	Sports	36
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!	GameCube	Nintendo EAD	Nintendo	Racing	36
Minna no GOLF 4 (Hot Shots Golf Fore!)	PlayStation 2	Clap Hanz	Sony Computer Entertainment	Sports	36
Biohazard Outbreak (Resident Evil Outbreak)	PlayStation 2	Capcom Production Studio 1	Capcom	Survival horror	36

2003 games and expansions scoring at least 88/100 (MC) or 87.5% (GR)^[19] ^[20]
Game	Publisher	Release Date	Platform(s)	MC score	GR score
Grand Theft Auto Double Pack	Rockstar Games	November 4, 2003	Xbox	96/100	94.6%
	Nintendo	March 24, 2003	GameCube	96/100	94.43%
The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition	Nintendo	November 17, 2003	GameCube	95/100	92.17%
Championship Manager 4	Eidos Interactive	March 28, 2003	Microsoft Windows	N/A	95%
	Rockstar Games	May 12, 2003	Microsoft Windows	94/100	94.39%
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic	LucasArts	July 15, 2003	Xbox	94/100	94.21%
NCAA Football 2004	EA Sports	July 16, 2003	PlayStation 2	94/100	93.27%
	Nintendo	October 21, 2003	Game Boy Advance	94/100	92.25%
Madden NFL 2004	EA Sports	August 12, 2003	PlayStation 2	94/100	91.77%
Madden NFL 2004	EA Sports	August 12, 2003	GameCube	94/100	91.54%
Pro Evolution Soccer 3	Konami	October 17, 2003	Microsoft Windows	92/100^[21]	93.33%^[22]
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic	LucasArts	November 19, 2003	Microsoft Windows	93/100	93.19%
Project Gotham Racing 2	Microsoft Game Studios	November 18, 2003	Xbox	90/100	93.16%
Pro Evolution Soccer 3	Konami	August 7, 2003	PlayStation 2	93/100	92.97%
SSX 3	EA Sports	October 20, 2003	PlayStation 2	93/100	92.28%
Soulcalibur II	Namco	March 27, 2003	GameCube	93/100	92.23%
Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution	Sega	March 13, 2003	PlayStation 2	93/100	91.59%
Viewtiful Joe	Capcom	June 26, 2003	GameCube	93/100	91.19%
	Ubisoft	November 18, 2003	Xbox	92/100	92.67%
	Ubisoft	November 18, 2003	GameCube	92/100	92.12%
SSX 3	EA Sports	October 20, 2003	GameCube	92/100	92%
	Ubisoft	November 10, 2003	PlayStation 2	92/100	91.94%
Soulcalibur II	Namco	March 27, 2003	Xbox	92/100	91.62%
Soulcalibur II	Namco	March 27, 2003	PlayStation 2	92/100	91.47%
SSX 3	EA Sports	October 20, 2003	Xbox	92/100	89.93%
Madden NFL 2004	EA Sports	August 12, 2003	Xbox	92/100	89.24%
Call of Duty	Activision	October 29, 2003	Microsoft Windows	91/100	91.52%
NCAA Football 2004	EA Sports	July 16, 2003	Xbox	88/100	91.33%
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell	Ubisoft	February 19, 2003	Microsoft Windows	91/100	90.16%
ESPN NFL Football	Sega	September 3, 2003	Xbox	91/100	89.27%
Madden NFL 2004	EA Sports	August 12, 2003	Microsoft Windows	91/100	88.4%
ESPN NFL Football	Sega	September 3, 2003	PlayStation 2	91/100	88.12%
	Konami	May 6, 2003	Game Boy Advance	91/100	87.9%
F1 Challenge '99–'02	EA Sports	June 24, 2003	Microsoft Windows	91/100	85.29%
	Blizzard Entertainment	July 1, 2003	Microsoft Windows	88/100	90.98%
	Sony Computer Entertainment	November 11, 2003	PlayStation 2	90/100	90.64%
Tony Hawk's Underground	Activision	October 27, 2003	PlayStation 2	90/100	90.58%
NCAA Football 2004	EA Sports	July 16, 2003	GameCube	89/100	90.42%
	Nintendo	November 17, 2003	Game Boy Advance	90/100	90.41%
NBA Street Vol. 2	EA Sports	April 29, 2003	PlayStation 2	90/100	90.16%
	Nintendo	June 24, 2003	Game Boy Advance	89/100	90.16%
ESPN NHL Hockey	Sega	September 9, 2003	PlayStation 2	90/100	86.42%
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind – Game of the Year Edition	Bethesda Softworks	October 31, 2003	Xbox	88/100	89.9%
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004	EA Sports	September 22, 2003	PlayStation 2	89/100	89.78%
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004	EA Sports	September 22, 2003	GameCube	89/100	89.54%
	Acclaim Entertainment	April 9, 2003	GameCube	89/100	89.43%
NBA Street Vol. 2	EA Sports	April 29, 2003	GameCube	88/100	89.36%
	Microsoft Game Studios	October 21, 2003	Xbox	88/100	89.26%
NASCAR Racing 2003 Season	Sierra Entertainment	February 13, 2003	Microsoft Windows	89/100	89.25%
Rise of Nations	Microsoft Game Studios	May 20, 2003	Microsoft Windows	89/100	89.17%
World Series Baseball 2K3	Sega	March 10, 2003	Xbox	89/100	89.12%
F-Zero GX	Nintendo	July 25, 2003	GameCube	89/100	89.03%
NBA Street Vol. 2	EA Sports	April 29, 2003	Xbox	89/100	88.91%
	Nintendo	March 21, 2003	Game Boy Advance	89/100	88.83%
	Ubisoft	November 10, 2003	Microsoft Windows	89/100	88.59%
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell	Ubisoft	March 28, 2003	PlayStation 2	89/100	88.07%
Top Spin	Microsoft Game Studios	October 28, 2003	Xbox	89/100	88.05%
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004	EA Sports	September 22, 2003	Xbox	89/100	87.23%
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell	Ubisoft	April 10, 2003	GameCube	89/100	86.82%
Tony Hawk's Underground	Activision	October 27, 2003	GameCube	89/100	86.18%
ESPN NBA Basketball	Sega	October 21, 2003	PlayStation 2	89/100	86.13%
	Nintendo	April 25, 2003	Game Boy Advance	88/100	88.83%
Beyond Good & Evil	Ubisoft	December 2, 2003	Xbox	87/100	88.61%
	Acclaim Entertainment	May 1, 2003	Xbox	88/100	88.55%
	Rockstar Games	October 14, 2003	Microsoft Windows	86/100	88.52%
Beyond Good & Evil	Ubisoft	December 11, 2003	GameCube	87/100	88.14%
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3	Ubisoft	October 28, 2003	Xbox	86/100	88.06%
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4	Activision	August 27, 2003	Microsoft Windows	88/100	87.64%
ESPN NHL Hockey	Sega	September 9, 2003	Xbox	88/100	87.27%
	Microsoft	July 29, 2003	Microsoft Windows	88/100	87.07%
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004	EA Sports	September 22, 2003	Microsoft Windows	88/100	86.77%
NASCAR Thunder 2004	EA Sports	September 16, 2003	PlayStation 2	88/100	86.72%
Jak II	Sony Computer Entertainment	October 14, 2003	PlayStation 2	87/100	87.93%
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance	Square	February 14, 2003	Game Boy Advance	87/100	87.64%

Critically panned games

2003 games and expansions scoring lower than 37/100 (MC) or 37.5% (GR)^[23] ^[24]
Game	Publisher	Release Date	Platform(s)	MC score	GR score
	GameMill Publishing	November 20, 2003	Microsoft Windows	8/100	3.83%
Navy SEALs: Weapons of Mass Destruction	ValuSoft	July 18, 2003	Microsoft Windows	18/100	18.83%
Gods and Generals	Activision	March 1, 2003	Microsoft Windows	19/100	25.5%^[25]
Drake of the 99 Dragons	Majesco Entertainment	November 3, 2003	Xbox	22/100	20.48%
Charlie's Angels	Ubisoft	July 8, 2003	GameCube	23/100	23.74%
Pulse Racer	Jaleco	January 2, 2003	Xbox	24/100	27.75%
	Kemco	March 18, 2003	Xbox	25/100	24.06%
	Atari	November, 2003	Microsoft Windows	25/100	27.67%
	TDK Mediactive	July 23, 2003	GameCube	27/100	25.1%
	TDK Mediactive	July 30, 2003	Xbox	26/100	30.87%
Mucha Lucha! Mascaritas of the Lost Code	Ubisoft	November 18, 2003	Game Boy Advance	26/100	26.08%
Charlie's Angels: Angel X	Sony Online Entertainment	June 20, 2003	Microsoft Windows	38/100	43.07&
	Metro3D, Inc.	May 5, 2003	Xbox	26/100	31%
Ultimate Demolition Derby	Global Star Software	September 16, 2003	Microsoft Windows	27/100	32.33%^[26]
Celebrity Deathmatch	Gotham Games	October 14, 2003	Microsoft Windows	30/100	27.42%
	Kemco	March 21, 2003	GameCube	29/100	27.83%
Mistmare	Strategy First	June 30, 2003	Microsoft Windows	33/100	28.14%
Puzzle Bobble VS	Taito	October 6, 2003	N-Gage	N/A	28.73%
Interstellar Trader 2	Shrapnel Games	March 21, 2003	Microsoft Windows	31/100	29%^[27]
RoboCop	Titus Interactive	July 24, 2003	Xbox	30/100	40.75%^[28]
Airport Tycoon 2	Global Star Software	February 26, 2003	Microsoft Windows	32/100	31%
Ring II: Twilight of Gods	Global Star Software	September 16, 2003	Microsoft Windows	31/100	35%
Celebrity Deathmatch	Gotham Games	October 14, 2003	PlayStation 2	32/100	36.76%
	Atari	December 9, 2003	Game Boy Advance	33/100	39.67%
American Idol	Codemasters	November 7, 2003	Microsoft Windows	39/100	33.17%
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines	Atari	November 11, 2003	Xbox	35/100	41.06%
Fugitive Hunter: War on Terror	Encore, Inc.	November 18, 2003	PlayStation 2	35/100	42.71%
Celebrity Deathmatch	Gotham Games	October 14, 2003	Xbox	36/100	35.83%
MotoGP	THQ	November 14, 2003	N-Gage	N/A	35.85%
Ozzy & Drix	Midway Games	December 16, 2003	Game Boy Advance	36/100	45.6%
Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu	Atari	November 24, 2003	Game Boy Advance	40/100	37.4%

Notable releases

Notable releases of the year *2003*
Release	Game	Windows	6th Gen	Handheld	5th Gen
January 3	Super Bubble Pop
January 7
January 11	Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends
January 12	Panzer Dragoon Orta
January 14	SimCity 4	Windows
January 19	The Getaway
January 20	Battle Engine Aquila
January 22	Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball
January 25	Devil May Cry 2
January 26	Black & Bruised
January 26	HSX: Hypersonic.Xtreme
February 3		Windows
February 6
February 7	Shadow of Memories (EU)	Windows
February 10
February 10	.hack//Infection Part 1
February 11	Capcom vs. SNK EO
February 12
February 12	Yu-Gi-Oh! Dungeon Dice Monsters				GBA
February 13	Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell	Windows
February 15	Disaster Report
February 15	Space Station 13	Windows
February 16	Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses
February 17	Dark Cloud 2		PS2
February 20			PS2
February 21		Windows
February 21				GBA
February 24	Everblue 2
February 24	Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
February 25		Windows
February 25	Master of Orion III	Windows
February 26			PS2
February 27
February 28	Praetorians	Windows
March 3
March 4
March 4	Freelancer	Windows
March 9	Sonic Advance 2
March 10
March 10	MLB 2004
March 10	World Series Baseball 2K3
March 10			PS2
March 11	Mega Man & Bass
March 11	Piglet's Big Game
March 14			PS2, Xbox
March 14	Tom and Jerry in Infurnal Escape
March 19	Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (North America)			GBA
March 17	WWE Crush Hour
March 18		Windows
March 19	Bloody Roar 3
March 19	Mobile Light Force 2
March 19		Windows
March 20
March 24	Amplitude		PS2
March 24			GCN (US)
March 25
March 25					PS1
March 25	Dynasty Warriors 4		PS2
March 25
March 25	Primal
March 25					GBA
March 25					GBA
March 26	Galactic Civilizations	Windows
March 26	Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb^[29]	Windows
March 26
March 26					GBA
March 27	Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance	Windows
March 30
April 8	Midnight Club II	Windows	PS2
April 9			GCN
April 9
April 9		Windows			PS1
April 14	Postal 2	Windows
April 14
April 15	Ikaruga
April 16
April 17	Final Fantasy XI: Rise of the Zilart	Win (JAP)	PS2 (JAP)
April 17					PS1
April 20	Siren		PS2
April 22	Ninja Five-O
April 30	RoboCop	Windows
April 30	MLB 2004				PS1
May 1			Xbox
May 6
May 6	Day of Defeat	Windows
May 6	Eve Online	Win (JAP)
May 12	Finding Nemo
May 12
May 12	Iridion II
May 12
May 14	Enter The Matrix	Windows
May 20	Inside Pitch 2003
May 20	Rise of Nations	Windows
May 20	PlanetSide	Windows
May 23	Silent Hill 3		PS2
May 21				GBA
May 23	Ghost Master	Windows
May 27	Brute Force
May 28	Hulk	Windows	PS2, GCN, Xbox
May 28	The Incredible Hulk
June 1	Sonic Pinball Party
June 2	Toontown Online	Windows
June 3	Midnight Club II		Xbox
June 9	Donkey Kong Country				GBA
June 17	Mega Man Network Transmission
June 17	Space Channel 5: Ulala's Cosmic Attack				GBA
June 17	Unlimited Saga
June 18	Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut
June 19	Drome Racers				GBA
June 19	^[30]	Windows	PS2, Xbox
June 20	Neighbours from Hell	Windows
June 20	^[31]	Windows
June 20			PS2
June 23					GBA
June 23	Rock 'N Roll Racing				GBA
June 24					GBA
June 24
June 24	Mega Man Battle Network 3				GBA
June 24	Stuntman				GBA
June 24	Wario World		GCN
June 25
June 26	Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb^[32]		PS2
June 30	Ape Escape 2
June 30					GBA
July 1	Pirates of the Caribbean
July 1		Windows
July 1		Windows
July 9	Charlie's Angels
July 9	Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided	Windows
July 16	NCAA Football 2004
July 17	Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic		Xbox
July 17	The Italian Job
July 23
July 23
July 23	The Great Escape	Windows
July 24	RoboCop
July 28			GCN
July 30
July 30					GBA
July 31
August 5	Chaos Legion	Windows	PS2
August 5	Freaky Flyers		PS2, Xbox
August 6	SplashDown: Rides Gone Wild		PS2
August 8	Freaky Flyers
August 12	Futurama
August 13	Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution		PS2
August 15	Pirates of the Caribbean	Windows
August 19	Alter Echo
August 22
August 25	F-Zero GX		GCN
August 27	Bombastic
August 27
August 27	Otogi: Myth of Demons		Xbox
August 27	Rescue Heroes: Billy Blazes				GBA
August 27	Soul Calibur II		PS2, Xbox, GCN
August 28
September 4	Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII	Windows
September 5					GBA
September 8	Anarchy Online: The Shadowlands	Windows
September 8	Final Fantasy Tactics Advance				GBA
September 8	WWE WrestleMania XIX
September 9	Counter-Strike (Steam and Retail)
September 9	EverQuest: Lost Dungeons of Norrath	Windows
September 9	P.N.03
September 10
September 11
September 12	Starsky & Hutch
September 14	Asterix & Obelix: Kick Buttix
September 16
September 16	Dino Crisis 3
September 16	Homeworld 2	Windows
September 16	NASCAR Thunder 2004	Windows
September 16			PS2, Xbox, GCN
September 17
September 17		Windows
September 22	Command & Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour	Windows
September 22	NHL 2004	Windows
September 22	Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004	Windows
September 23			PS2,
September 24
September 24	Digimon Battle Spirit 2
September 24
October 1	Etherlords II	Windows
October 1	Freedom Fighters	Windows	PS2, Xbox, GCN
October 3		Windows
October 6	DemiKids: Light Version
October 7
October 7	DemiKids: Dark Version
October 7	Sonic Advance
October 7	Viewtiful Joe		GCN
October 13	Kirby Air Ride
October 14	Cyber Troopers Virtual-On MARZ
October 14	Jak II		PS2
October 14		Windows
October 14	Mega Man X7		PS2
October 14	Mega Man Zero 2
October 14	The Haunted Mansion
October 15	Tak and the Power of Juju
October 17		Windows (EU)	GCN, PS2, Xbox
October 20	SSX 3		Xbox, GCN
October 21
October 21
October 21	ESPN NBA Basketball
October 21	SSX 3
October 21	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Windows
October 21	Time Crisis 3		PS2
October 22	SeaWorld Adventure Parks Tycoon
October 24	The Hobbit
October 26	Super Duper Sumos
October 26
October 27
October 27	Tony Hawk's Underground		PS2, Xbox, GCN	GBA
October 27	WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain		PS2
October 28	Amped 2
October 28	Dragon Ball Z: Budokai
October 28	Final Fantasy XI	Win (US)
October 28		Windows
October 28
October 28	Top Spin
October 29	Call of Duty	Windows
October 29					GBA
October 31	Grand Theft Auto III
October 31	Silent Hill 3	Windows
November 3	Drake of the 99 Dragons
November 3				GBA
November 3	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
November 3			PS2, Xbox, GCN
November 4		Windows
November 4	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
November 4	SOCOM II U.S. Navy SEALs		PS2
November 4	Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004				GBA
November 4	Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom
November 5	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King				GBA
November 6			PS2
November 10	Mario Party 5		GCN
November 10	Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
November 11	Beyond Good & Evil		PS2
November 11	Looney Tunes: Back in Action
November 11
November 11	Muppets Party Cruise
November 11	Onimusha Tactics
November 11			PS2
November 11	SSX 3			GBA
November 11	The Hobbit
November 11		Windows
November 11		Windows	PS2, Xbox
November 12	Disney's Magical Quest 2 Starring Mickey & Minnie
November 12			Xbox
November 12	Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield		Xbox
November 13	Double Dragon Advance
November 13	Monster Rancher 4
November 13	Muppets Party Cruise
November 13	The Simpsons: Hit & Run	Windows
November 14	^[33]	Windows	PS2, Xbox
November 15	Crash Nitro Kart		PS2, Xbox, GCN
November 17
November 17			GCN
November 17				GBA
November 17			GCN
November 17	(North America)	Windows	GCN, PS2, Xbox
November 18	America's 10 Most Wanted
November 18	American Idol
November 18	Counter-Strike
November 18	Go! Go! Hypergrind
November 18			PS2
November 18	Final Fantasy X-2		PS2
November 18	Manhunt		PS2
November 18			PS2, Xbox
November 18			GCN
November 18	Space Channel 5 Special Edition
November 18
November 18
November 18	Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic	Windows
November 18	Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
November 18
November 18
November 18		Windows
November 18	Whiplash
November 18	XIII	Windows
November 19	Beyond Good & Evil	Windows
November 19			Xbox
November 20		Windows
November 24
November 25			Xbox
November 25	Mysterious Journey II	Windows
November 26	BlowOut
November 30		Windows
December 1	1080° Avalanche
December 2	Beyond Good & Evil		Xbox
December 2		Windows	Xbox
December 2			PS2
December 2
December 2	Pac-Man Vs.
December 2	The Sims Bustin' Out
December 3	Gotcha Force
December 5	Counter-Strike (EU)
December 8
December 9	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
December 9
December 10
December 11	Beyond Good & Evil		GCN
December 14	Medabots Infinity
December 30	Sonic Heroes		PS2, Xbox, GCN

Notes and References

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Web site: Nintendo to end Famicom and Super Famicom production . Hirohiko . Niizumi . . May 30, 2003 . July 31, 2024 . June 19, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120619095027/http://www.gamespot.com/news/nintendo-to-end-famicom-and-super-famicom-production-6029220 . live .
February 5, 2004 . The NPD Group Reports Overall Decrease in PC Software Sales for 2003 . NEW YORK . . https://web.archive.org/web/20040214033900/http://www.npdtechworld.com/techServlet?nextpage=pr_body_it.html&content_id=720 . February 14, 2004 . June 23, 2020.
Web site: 2005. Essential Facts. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20051001114535/http://www.theesa.com/files/2005EssentialFacts.pdf. 2005-10-01. 2021-11-08. Entertainment Software Association (ESA).
Web site: April 4, 2003. Nintendo Makes Money. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20040618035314/http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/392/392355p1.html. 2004-06-18. July 17, 2008. IGN. News Corporation.
News: Harris. Craig. 27 October 2003. Pokemon Super Packs. en. IGN. 5 November 2021.
Chad Phelps, January 14, 2004 Nintendo Shows Strong Sales Growth in 2003 Itprotoday.com
Web site: September 2, 2003. Square Enix U.S.A. announces details for FINAL FANTASY X-2 and greatest hits version of FINAL FANTASY X. 2021-11-07. Square Enix.
Web site: Calvert. Justin. January 20, 2004. Final Fantasy X-2 Sells a Million. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307020924/http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/finalfantasyx2/news_6086686.html. 2016-03-07. 2006-03-16. GameSpot.
Web site: 2004-01-29. Non-Consolidated Financial Results for the Third Quarter Ended December 31, 2003. dead. Konami. 9. 2008-01-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20071006000231/http://www.konami.co.jp/en/ir/merger050401/konamityo/tyo0403e.pdf. October 6, 2007.
Web site: December 22, 2003. PlayStation 2 Vs. Xbox. subscription. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20040404001800/http://www.forbes.com/2003/12/22/cx_dd_1222mondaymatchup.html. 2004-04-04. 2021-11-05. Forbes.
Web site: 2003 Top 300. 2021-11-05. Game Data Library. Famitsu. en-US.
Web site: Yeung. Karlie. January 8, 2004. 2003 UK Game Sales Highest Ever. 2021-11-07. Nintendo World Report.
Web site: Top 20 Console Games Ranked by Units Sold, 1998–2013. 22 October 2021. Screen Australia. Australian Government.
Web site: Hebblethwaite. Luke. 9 April 2020. UK Top Selling Games 2003. 25 October 2021. Ukie. The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment.
News: 11 January 2004. Big year for computer game sales. BBC News. 9 November 2021.
Web site: Reed. Kristan. 20 January 2004. UK Charts: A month in the top spot for Need for Speed. 2021-11-09. GamesIndustry.biz.
Web site: 週刊ファミ通クロスレビュープラチナ殿堂入りソフト一覧. Weekly Famitsu Cross Review Platinum Hall of Fame Software List. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20081027205828/geimin.net/da/db/cross_review/index.php. October 27, 2008. 24 February 2021. Geimin. ja.
Web site: Best Video Games for 2003 . Metacritic . August 12, 2019.
Web site: Highest-Ranking Games of 2003 (with at least 10 reviews) . GameRankings . August 12, 2019.
Web site: Best Video Games for 2004 . Metacritic . September 6, 2019.
Web site: Highest-Ranking Games of 2004 (with at least 5 reviews) . GameRankings . September 6, 2019.
Web site: Worst Video Games for 2003 . Metacritic . August 12, 2019.
Web site: Lowest-Ranking Games of 2003 (with at least 5 reviews) . GameRankings . August 12, 2019.
Web site: Gods and Generals for PC . GameRankings . August 12, 2019.
Web site: Ultimate Demolition Derby for PC . GameRankings . August 12, 2019.
Web site: Interstellar Trader 2 for PC . GameRankings . August 12, 2019.
Web site: RoboCop for Xbox . GameRankings . August 12, 2019.
Web site: 2022-07-06 . Indiana Jones and The Emperor's Tomb Eurogamer.net . 2024-05-21 . web.archive.org.
Web site: Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter Review . 2024-08-13 . GameSpot . en-US.
News: 2003-06-24 . Star Trek: Elite Force II . 2024-05-09 . Eurogamer.net . en.
Web site: 2016-07-31 . Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb Review - GameSpot . 2024-05-21 . web.archive.org.
Web site: Krause . Staci . 2003-11-25 . Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon Review . 2024-07-02 . IGN . en.