2004 in Review: The Year's Top Stories
With just a few days left until the New Year, <b>gi.biz</b> takes a look back over 2004's biggest stories, including the controversy over violent games and industry working practices, EA's expansion, console shortages, and the war of the handhelds.
This week on gamesindustry.biz we're taking a look back at key events of the last 12 months - a year characterised by the extremes of commercial success and controversy, the changing face of the portable games market, and the first glimpses of next-generation home gaming consoles.
To begin with, we've compiled a retrospective on five of the most important stories for the industry this year - picked from amongst more than 1,300 articles published on this website - that reflect the biggest issues and events which may shape the market in the coming months and years.
In part one, gi.biz looks back on the controversy over violence in videogames that rose to the fore earlier this year on a wave of tabloid hysteria, and the similarly damaging tales of unfair working practices at renowned games developers, while part two considers the war between Sony and Nintendo for control of the next-generation handheld market, EA's aggressive expansion, and the PS2 stock shortage.