2006 saw the release of such video game sequels and prequels as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Madden NFL 07, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas, New Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, alongside such new releases as Bully, Company of Heroes, Dead Rising, Gears of War, and Ōkami. Two new home consoles were released during the year: Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3.
The year's best-selling game console was the Nintendo DS, while the year's best-selling video game was New Super Mario Bros. for the DS. The year's most critically acclaimed title was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Nintendo's GameCube and Wii consoles.
Legend
Hardware releases
Date ConsoleFebruary 2Xbox 360/ March 2 Nintendo DS LiteMarch 23Xbox 360June 1Nintendo DS LiteJune 11Nintendo DS LiteJune 23Nintendo DS Lite November 11 PlayStation 3November 17PlayStation 3 November 19 WiiDecember 2WiiDecember 7WiiDecember 8Wii
Major awards Category/Organization 3rd British Academy Games Awards 24th Golden Joystick Awards VGA 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards 7th Game Developers Choice Awards Game of the Year Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Gears of War Mobile/Handheld Mobile rowspan="2" Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories SWAT Force Orcs & Elves rowspan="2" Handheld New Super Mario Bros. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! Innovation Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? Xbox Live Marketplace Wii Sports Line Rider,Ōkami,Wii Sports Artistic Achievementor Graphics Animation Shadow of the Colossus rowspan="2" Gears of War Gears of War Gears of War Art Direction Gears of War Audio Music Tomb Raider: Legend rowspan="2" The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion LocoRoco Guitar Hero II Sound Design Electroplankton Call of Duty 3 Soundtrack Guitar Hero Need for Speed: Carbon Guitar Hero II Character Design or Performance Male LocoRocoLocoRoco rowspan="2" Patrick Stewart as Emperor Uriel Septim VIIThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion John DiMaggio as Marcus FenixGears of War Ōkami Female Vida Guerra as Femme Fatale IsabelleScarface: The World Is Yours Louise Ridgeway as LeafosViva Piñata Game Design Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy colspan="2" Wii Sports Narrative Psychonauts colspan="2" The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Technical Achievement Gameplay Engineering Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter rowspan="2" Nintendo Wii Wii Sports Gears of War Visual Engineering Gears of War Multiplayer/Online Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach Age of Empires III Gears of War rowspan="13" Action/Adventure Action/Shooter Shadow of the Colossus rowspan="2" Gears of War Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas Adventure Dead Rising Gears of War Casual/Family or Children Casual/Family Buzz!: The BIG Quiz Nintendogs rowspan="2" Guitar Hero II Children LocoRoco LocoRoco Fighting colspan="2" Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Fight Night Round 3 Role-Playing RPG colspan="2" rowspan="2" The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion MMORPG Guild Wars Nightfall Sports Individual Fight Night Round 3 rowspan="2" Tony Hawk's Project 8 Tony Hawk's Project 8 Team NBA 2K7 Racing colspan="2" Burnout Revenge (XB360) Strategy/Simulation Strategy Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War colspan="2" rowspan="2" Company of Heroes Simulation The Movies Microsoft Flight Simulator X Special Award rowspan="2" Favourite Character Award rowspan="2" Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime Achievement Award Lara CroftTomb Raider series Dani Bunten Minoru Arakawa,Howard Lincoln Shigeru Miyamoto
Critically acclaimed titles Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.
+ 2006 games and expansions scoring at least 88/100 (MC) or 87.5% (GR) Game Publisher Release Date Platform MC score GR score The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Nintendo December 2, 2006 GCN 96/100 95% The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Nintendo November 19, 2006 Wii 95/100 94.58% Gears of War Microsoft Game Studios November 7, 2006 XB360 94/100 93.97% The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 2K Games March 20, 2006 XB360 94/100 93.85% The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 2K Games March 20, 2006 WIN 94/100 93.29% Company of Heroes THQ September 13, 2006 WIN 93/100 93.93% Ōkami Capcom April 20, 2006 PS2 93/100 92.65% Guitar Hero II RedOctane November 7, 2006 PS2 92/100 92.07% Final Fantasy VI Advance Square Enix November 30, 2006 GBA 92/100 91.02% Final Fantasy XII Square Enix March 16, 2006 PS2 92/100 90.77% Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Ubisoft March 9, 2006 XB360 90/100 90.47% GTR 2 – FIA GT Racing Game 10tacle Studios September 29, 2006 WIN 90/100 89.4% Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas Ubisoft November 22, 2006 XB360 88/100 89.39% Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent Ubisoft October 24, 2006 XB 89/100 89.31% New Super Mario Bros. Nintendo May 15, 2006 DS 89/100 89.07% Burnout Revenge Electronic Arts March 7, 2006 XB360 89/100 88.57% Armadillo Run Peter Stock April 22, 2006 WIN 88/100 89% Elite Beat Agents Nintendo November 6, 2006 DS 87/100 88.33% Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Namco Bandai Games July 6, 2006 PSP 88/100 88.27% NCAA Football 07 EA Sports July 18, 2006 XB 88/100 88.12% Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition Capcom January 24, 2006 PS2 87/100 88% Medieval II: Total War Sega November 10, 2006 WIN 88/100 87.18% Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness Nippon Ichi Software November 30, 2006 PSP 87/100 87.77%
Financial performance Best-selling game consoles
+Best-selling game consoles of 2006 in Japan, Europe, and North America Rank Console Manufacturer Sales Japan North America Europe Combined1DSNintendo8,862,9695,300,0006,400,00020,562,9692PS2Sony1,547,8664,700,0006,000,00012,247,8663PSPSony1,946,9113,000,0004,000,0008,946,9114XB360Microsoft208,6973,900,0002,000,0006,108,6975WiiNintendo998,1181,100,000700,0002,798,1186PS3Sony466,716700,0001,166,7167GBANintendo433,336433,3368GCNNintendo89,77589,775
Best-selling video games
+ Best-selling video games worldwide in 2006 Rank Title Platform(s) Sales Japan United States Europe Worldwide1New Super Mario Bros.DS3,840,2962,000,0001,000,000+8,640,0002Madden NFL 072,063+3,900,000+ 5,000,000+3Pokémon Diamond / PearlDS4,355,495 4,355,4954Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (Winning Eleven 10)1,292,472+ 3,000,000+4,292,472+5Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (Brain Training)DS1,991,1161,100,0001,000,000+4,091,116+6Final Fantasy XIIPS22,400,000+1,500,000+ 4,000,0007More Brain Training (Brain Age 2)DS3,748,638 3,748,6388Animal Crossing: Wild World (Oideyo Dōbutsu no Mori)DS2,485,2641,000,000+3,485,264+9FIFA 07 3,000,000+Need for Speed: Carbon24,904+871,600+ 3,000,000+The Sims 2: Pets2,229+ 3,000,000+
Japan + Best-selling video games in Japan Rank Title Platform(s) Publisher Sales 1Pokémon Diamond / PearlDSNintendo4,355,4952New Super Mario Bros.DSNintendo3,840,2963More Brain Training (Brain Age 2)DSNintendo3,748,6384Oideyo Dōbutsu no Mori (Animal Crossing: Wild World)DSNintendo2,485,2645Final Fantasy XIIPS2Square Enix2,400,000+6Brain Training (Brain Age)DSNintendo1,991,1167English TrainingDSNintendo1,662,5738Winning Eleven 10 (Pro Evolution Soccer 6)PS2, PSPKonami1,292,4729Mario Kart DSDSNintendo1,115,08210Tetris DSDSNintendo985,246
United States + Best-selling video games in the United States Rank Title Platform(s) Publisher Sales 1Madden NFL 07PS2, XB360EA Sports3,900,0002New Super Mario Bros.DSNintendo2,000,0003Gears of WarXB360Microsoft Game Studios1,800,0004Kingdom Hearts IIPS2Square Enix1,700,0005Final Fantasy XIIPS2Square Enix1,500,000+6The Legend of Zelda: Twilight PrincessWii, GCNNintendo1,500,0007Guitar Hero IIPS2RedOctane1,300,000 8Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!DSNintendo1,100,000Call of Duty 3Activision1,100,000 10Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced WarfighterXB360Ubisoft1,000,000NCAA Football 07PS2EA Sports1,000,000
+ Best-selling video games by platform (NPD Group) Platform Title Publisher Sales GCNSonic RidersSegaDSNew Super Mario Bros.Nintendo2,000,000WINWorld of WarcraftBlizzard EntertainmentPS2Madden NFL 07Electronic Arts2,800,000PS3Resistance: Fall of ManSony Computer EntertainmentXBMadden NFL 07Electronic ArtsXB360Gears of WarMicrosoft Game Studios1,800,000WiiThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight PrincessNintendo
United Kingdom +Best-selling video games in the United Kingdom (ELSPA) Rank Title Publisher1FIFA 07EA Sports2Pro Evolution Soccer 6Konami3Need for Speed: CarbonEA Games4Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City StoriesRockstar Games5Lego Star Wars II: The Original TrilogyLucasArts6The Sims 2: PetsEA Games7CarsTHQ8Tomb Raider: LegendEidos Interactive9The Sims 2EA Games10WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007THQ
Video game-based film and television releases
Title Date Director Distributor(s) Franchise Game publisher Grandma's Boy January 6, 2006 Nicholaus Goossen 20th Century Fox Silent Hill April 21, 2006 Christophe Gans Alliance Atlantis Metropolitan Filmexport Silent Hill Konami Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea July 15, 2006 Kunihiko Yuyama Toho Pokémon Game Freak Viva Piñata August 26, 2006 Paul Griffin 4Kids Entertainment Viva Piñata Rare DOA: Dead or Alive September 7, 2006 Corey Yuen Dimension Films Dead or Alive Team Ninja Dance Revolution September 16, 2006 Keegan Martin CBS Dance Dance Revolution Konami Mega Man Star Force October 7, 2006 Takao Kato Xebec Mega Man Capcom Gekijōban Dōbutsu no Mori December 16, 2006 Jōji Shimura Toho Animal Crossing Nintendo
Events