2005 in video gaming

EventsMarch 6 — The television show 60 Minutes tackles issues within video game controversy. This segment of 60 Minutes has been criticized by video game players for encouraging video game censorship.March 7–March 11 —  Game Developers Conference:Nintendo keynote speech: "The Heart of the Gamer" by Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo.Microsoft keynote speech: "The Future of Games: Unlocking the Opportunity" by J Allard, corporate vice president and chief XNA architect.May 11 — The global version of  Maplestory is launched.May 12 — The  Xbox 360 was officially announced on MTV in a special hosted by Elijah Wood.May 16 — The  PlayStation 3 was unveiled by Sony during a pre-E3 press conferece, at 21:25 GMT. At the same time, the press release was released through the Japanese PlayStation website.May 17-May 20 —  Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) takes place in Los Angeles, California. Four hundred exhibiting companies and 70,000 industry professionals representing 79 countries attended. Next-generation systems from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft were unveiled.June 1 —  IBM held the first virtual video game on-demand conference in which game developers and manufacturers were able to come together to discuss issues with online games, including management and distribution.July - IEMA (Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association) hosts 6th annual Executive Summit.September 16 —  September 18 —  Tokyo Game Show takes place at Makuhari Messe. One hundred-thirty companies are expected to show with 1,429 booths.Nintendo keynote speech by Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo.During Iwata's keynote speech, the Wii controller is unveiled.Microsoft keynote speech by Robert J. Bach, chief Xbox officer and senior vice president, Home and Entertainment Division at Microsoft.November 14 — Nintendo's first mainstream online service (Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection) is launched with Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk's American Sk8land.November 22 — Microsoft's Xbox 360 is released.December 16 — The  Family Entertainment Protection Act (FEPA) is introduced by Senators Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh. The bill calls for a federal mandate enforcement of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings system for video games in order to protect children from inappropriate content.
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