Category:Games released in 2001

The "real" new millennium. Sega discontinues its console operations after the lackluster sales of the Dreamcast, officially defining them as a third-party developer that would publish games on other systems from then on. The PlayStation 2 starts getting a solid hold on the video game market, while Nintendo's GameCube and Microsoft's first foray into the console market, the Xbox, are launched to compete with it. Windows XP is released, becoming the most used computer OS of all time within the next few years. Apple finalizes Mac OS X this year, which starts off a little rocky and rather buggy, but with the clear intent of ending Mac OS Classic for good. The iPod is also released, though it's not really capable of playing (non-homebrew) games. Nintendo also gets the Game Boy Advance out, giving handheld games a sizeable technological boost. Grand Theft Auto III is released, revolutionizing the industry and inspiring multiple 3D sandbox-style games in the future.

Infamously, this would be the year where the September 11th attacks would occur. Following the disaster, numerous pieces of media were subject to alterations to remove the old World Trade Center complex and any imagery that could be seen as comparable to the attacks during or after their release. This, of course, includes video games, such as Spider-Man 2: Enter: Electro.