2011 in video games

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Numerous video games were released in 2011. Many awards went to games such as Batman: Arkham City, Portal 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Madden NFL 12, NBA 2K12, WWE '12, WWE All-Stars, and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. 2011 also marked the worldwide release of the Nintendo 3DS, the first console of the eighth generation.

Quick Facts List of years in video games ...

Category/Organization		29th Golden Joystick Awards October 21, 2011	VGA December 10, 2011		15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards February 9, 2012		12th Game Developers Choice Awards March 7, 2012	8th British Academy Games Awards March 16, 2012
Game of the Year		Portal 2	The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim				Portal 2
Independent / Debut^[i]		—	Minecraft		—		Bastion	Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Downloadable		Minecraft	Bastion					—
Mobile/Handheld^[i]	Mobile	Angry Birds Rio	Super Mario 3D Land		Infinity Blade II		Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP	Peggle HD
Mobile/Handheld^[i]	Handheld	Angry Birds Rio	Super Mario 3D Land		Super Mario 3D Land		Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP	Peggle HD
Innovation		Nintendo 3DS	—		Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure		Johann Sebastian Joust	LittleBigPlanet 2
Artistic Achievement or Graphics^[i]	Animation	—	Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception		Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception		Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception	Rayman Origins
Artistic Achievement or Graphics^[i]	Art Direction	—	Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception		Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception		Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception	Rayman Origins
Audio^[i]	Music	—	Bastion		Portal 2		Portal 2	L.A. Noire
Audio^[i]	Sound Design	—	—		Battlefield 3		Portal 2	Battlefield 3
Character or Performance^[i]	Actor	—	Stephen Merchant as Wheatley Portal 2	The Joker Batman: Arkham City	Wheatley Portal 2		—	Mark Hamill as The Joker Batman: Arkham City
Character or Performance^[i]	Actress	—	Ellen McLain as GLaDOS Portal 2	The Joker Batman: Arkham City	Wheatley Portal 2		—	Mark Hamill as The Joker Batman: Arkham City
Game Direction or Design		—			The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim		Portal 2
Narrative		—			The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim		Portal 2
Technical Achievement^[i]	Gameplay Engineering	—			The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim		Battlefield 3	—
Technical Achievement^[i]	Visual Engineering	—			Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception		Battlefield 3	—
Multiplayer/Online^[i]	Online Gameplay	World of Warcraft	Portal 2		Star Wars: The Old Republic		—	Battlefield 3
Multiplayer/Online^[i]	Connectivity	World of Warcraft	Portal 2		Portal 2		—	Battlefield 3
Action/Adventure	Action/Shooter	Call of Duty: Black Ops	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3				—	Batman: Arkham City
Action/Adventure	Adventure	Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood	Batman: Arkham City				—	Batman: Arkham City
Casual or Family	Casual	—			Fruit Ninja Kinect		—	LittleBigPlanet 2
Casual or Family	Family	—			LittleBigPlanet 2		—	LittleBigPlanet 2
Fighting		Mortal Kombat					—
Role-Playing		Fallout: New Vegas	The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim				—
Sports	Individual	FIFA 11	Fight Night Champion		FIFA 12		—	Kinect Sports: Season Two
Sports	Team	FIFA 11	NBA 2K12		FIFA 12		—	Kinect Sports: Season Two
Racing		Gran Turismo 5	Forza Motorsport 4				—
Strategy/Simulation		StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty	—		Orcs Must Die!		—	Total War: Shogun 2
Special Award		Outstanding Contribution	Video Game Hall of Fame	Gamer God	Hall of Fame	Pioneer Awards	Lifetime Achievement Award	Special Award
Special Award		Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega)	The Legend of Zelda	Blizzard Entertainment	Tim Sweeney	Ed Logg	Warren Spector	Markus Persson

Game	Publisher	Release Date	Platform	MC score	GR score
Batman: Arkham City	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment	October 18, 2011	PlayStation 3	96/100	95.94%
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	Bethesda Softworks	November 11, 2011	Xbox 360	96/100	95.15%
Portal 2	Valve	April 19, 2011	Microsoft Windows	95/100	95.16%
Portal 2	Valve	April 19, 2011	Xbox 360	95/100	94%
Portal 2	Valve	April 19, 2011	PlayStation 3	95/100	93.95%
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	Bethesda Softworks	November 11, 2011	Microsoft Windows	94/100	94.42%
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D	Nintendo	June 16, 2011	Nintendo 3DS	94/100	93.89%
Batman: Arkham City	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment	October 18, 2011	Xbox 360	94/100	93.88%
Mass Effect 2	Electronic Arts	January 17, 2011	PlayStation 3	94/100	93.09%
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword	Nintendo	November 18, 2011	Wii	93/100	93.15%
LittleBigPlanet 2	Sony Computer Entertainment	January 18, 2011	PlayStation 3	91/100	92.04%
The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection	Sony Computer Entertainment	September 22, 2011	PlayStation 3	92/100	91.79%
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception	Sony Computer Entertainment	November 1, 2011	PlayStation 3	92/100	91.78%
Rayman Origins	Ubisoft	November 15, 2011	Wii	92/100	91.27%
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	Bethesda Softworks	November 11, 2011	PlayStation 3	92/100	88%
Pushmo	Nintendo	October 5, 2011	Nintendo 3DS	90/100	91.5%
Gears of War 3	Microsoft Game Studios	September 20, 2011	Xbox 360	91/100	91.49%
Forza Motorsport 4	Microsoft Game Studios	October 11, 2011	Xbox 360	91/100	90.66%
Batman: Arkham City	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment	October 18, 2011	Microsoft Windows	91/100	90.43%
FIFA 12	EA Sports	September 27, 2011	PlayStation 3	90/100	90.65%
FIFA 12	EA Sports	September 27, 2011	Xbox 360	90/100	90.55%
Bastion	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment	December 9, 2011	Microsoft Windows	86/100	90.36%
Deus Ex: Human Revolution	Square Enix	August 23, 2011	Microsoft Windows	90/100	90.19%
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection	Konami	November 8, 2011	PlayStation 3	89/100	90.14%
Super Mario 3D Land	Nintendo	November 3, 2011	Nintendo 3DS	90/100	90.09%
MLB 11: The Show	Sony Computer Entertainment	March 8, 2011	PlayStation 3	90/100	89.88%
NBA 2K12	2K	October 4, 2011	PlayStation 3	90/100	89.81%
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection	Konami	November 8, 2011	Xbox 360	90/100	89.81%
Limbo	Playdead	July 19, 2011	PlayStation 3	90/100	89.55%
Total War: Shogun 2	Sega	March 15, 2011	Microsoft Windows	90/100	89.42%
Dead Space 2	Electronic Arts	January 25, 2011	Xbox 360	90/100	89.1%
FIFA 12	EA Sports	September 27, 2011	Microsoft Windows	90/100	90%^[3]
NBA 2K12	2K	October 4, 2011	Xbox 360	90/100	88.39%

Month	Day(s)	Event
January	6 - 9	International Consumer Electronics Show 2011 held in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA^[4]
February	26	The Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo's newest handheld console, releases in Japan.^[5]
February	February 28 – March 4	Game Developers Conference 2011 held in San Francisco, California.^[6]
March	11	As a result of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, certain video game releases were cancelled or postponed. Additionally, several servers used for Internet gaming were shut down temporarily.
	11 - 13	PAX East 2011 held in Boston, Massachusetts.^[7]
	25 - 31	The Nintendo 3DS released in America, Europe and Australia.
April	20	PlayStation Network services were suspended by Sony. The suspension lasted for 23 days.
May	19	South Korea passes a law known as the "Youth Protection Revision Act", which regulates children under the age of sixteen playing online video games.
June	6	Twitch.tv, a video game livestreaming service and website that focuses on video game content and esports is launched.
	7 - 9	E3 2011 was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.^[8]
	23	The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, one of the best-selling video game franchises of all-time, celebrated its 20th anniversary.
	27	The Supreme Court of the United States issues their ruling on Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, declaring video games as protected free speech.
August	4 - 7	QuakeCon 2011: The massive annual LAN party held in Dallas, Texas.
	15 - 17	Game Developers Conference 2011 Europe held in Cologne, Germany.
	18 - 22	Gamescom 2011 held at Cologne, Germany
	26 - 28	PAX Prime 2011 held in Seattle, Washington.^[9]
September	15–18	Tokyo Game Show 2011
September	22–25	Eurogamer Expo 2011 held in Earls Court in London, England.
October	15–16	EB Games Expo 2011 held in Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Australia.
October	21–22	BlizzCon 2011 held in Anaheim Convention Center in California.
November	18–19	Minecon held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Minecraft gets its full release on the 18th.
December	3	10th anniversary of the Jak and Daxter series.^[10]
	10	Spike Video Game Awards.
	17	PlayStation Vita was released in Japan.
	31	Artech Studios disbanded.

Month	Day	Console
February	26	Nintendo 3DS^JP
April	1	Xperia Play^[13]
December	17	PlayStation Vita^JP^[14]

Month	Day	Title	Platform(s)
J A N U A R Y	3	Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles
	4	Arc the Lad III	PSN
		Hot Shots Shorties	PSP
		Lost in Shadow	Wii
	6	Bug Heroes	iOS, Droid
	10	Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood!	PSP
	10	Z-Type
	11	DC Universe Online	Win, PS3
		Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective	NDS
		Kingdom Hearts Re:coded	NDS
	12	Zeit²	Win, XBLA
	17	Urbanix	WiiWare
	18	LittleBigPlanet 2	PS3
		Mass Effect 2	PS3
		MindJack	PS3, X360
		Venetica	Win, X360, PS3
	24	Monday Night Combat	Win
	25	Dead Space 2	Win, X360, PS3
		Lord of Arcana	PSP
		Magicka	Win
		Superstars V8 Next Challenge	Win, PS3, X360
		Two Worlds II	Win, X360, PS3
	26	Blast Monkeys	iOS
		Breach	Win, XBLA
		Shining Force II	Win
	27	Hysteria Project 2	Win
	27	Infinity Field	iOS
F E B R U A R Y	1	Bionic Commando Rearmed 2
		Rock Band Country Track Pack 2	PS3, Wii, X360
		The Sims 3: Outdoor Living Stuff	Mac, Win
	2	Bionic Commando Rearmed 2	XBLA
	4	Earthrise	Win
	7	Mario Sports Mix	Wii
	8	Body and Brain Connection	X360
		Explodemon	PSN
		Naruto Shippuden: Shinobi Rumble	NDS
		OMG-Z	PSP
		Stacking	PS3
		Tales from Space: About a Blob	PSN
		Test Drive Unlimited 2	Win, X360, PS3
		Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll	PS3
		Battle High: San Bruno	Win, XBLA
		You Don't Know Jack	Win, NDS, PS3, Wii, X360
		TNT Racers	X360
	9	Stacking	XBLA
	10	Dungeons	Win
	10	NBA Jam	iOS
	12	Ys I & II Chronicles	PSP
	14	Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation	NDS
	15	Back to the Future: The Game	PSN
		Hyperdimension Neptunia	PS3
		Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds	X360, PS3
		Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together	PSP
	16	Hard Corps: Uprising	X360
	17	Asphalt 6: Adrenaline	Mac
	22	de Blob 2	NDS, PS3, X360, Wii
		Bulletstorm	Win, X360, PS3
		Days of Thunder	PSN
		Giana Sisters DS	NDS
		Gray Matter	Win, X360
		Killzone 3	PS3
		Knights Contract	X360, PS3
		Radiant Historia	NDS
	23	Cities in Motion	Win
	25	Days of Thunder	XBLA
	25	Men of War: Assault Squad	Win
M A R C H	1	Fight Night Champion
		PixelJunk Shooter 2	PS3
		Rift	Win
		Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Retribution	Win
	6	Pokémon Black and White (NA)	NDS^[15]^[16]
	8	Dragon Age II	Win, PS3, X360
		Major League Baseball 2K11	Win, PS3, PS2, PSP, X360, Wii
		Mega Man 3	PSN
		MLB 11: The Show	PS3, PS2, PSP
		Atari Greatest Hits Volume 2	NDS
		R4: Ridge Racer Type 4	PSN
	10	Beastly: Frantic Foto	NDS
	11	Stoked	Win
	15	Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel	PS3
		Cloning Clyde	Win
		God Eater: Burst	PSP
		Hard Corps: Uprising	PS3
		Homefront	Win, X360, PS3
		Jikandia: The Timeless Land	PSP
		Ōkamiden	NDS
		Slam Bolt Scrappers	PSN
		Top Spin 4	PS3, X360, Wii
		Total War: Shogun 2	Win
		Warriors: Legends of Troy	X360, PS3
		Yakuza 4	PS3
	17	Dance on Broadway	PS3
	22	Angry Birds Rio	Mac, iOS
		Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood	Win
		Crysis 2	Win, PS3, X360
		Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy	PSP
		Forget-Me-Not	iOS
		Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars	Win, X360, PS3, PSP, Wii, NDS
		Monster Tale	NDS
		Naruto Shippuden: Kizuna Drive	PSP
		PlayStation Move Heroes	PS3
		The Sims Medieval	Win, Mac
		Swarm	PSN
		The Tomb Raider Trilogy	PS3
	23	Elsword^[17] (NA)	Win
		Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime	Win, XBLA, PSN
		Swarm	XBLA
	24	Final Fantasy III	iOS
	26	Great Little War Game	iOS
	27	Asphalt 3D	3DS
		Bust-A-Move Universe	3DS
		Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D	3DS
		Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars	3DS
		Madden NFL Football	3DS
		Nintendogs + Cats	3DS
		Pilotwings Resort	3DS
		Pro Evolution Soccer 2011	3DS
		Rayman 3D	3DS
		Ridge Racer 3D	3DS
		Samurai Warriors: Chronicles	3DS
		The Sims 3	3DS
		Steel Diver	3DS
		Super Monkey Ball 3D	3DS
		Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition	3DS
		Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars	3DS
	29	The 3rd Birthday	PSP
		Chime Super Deluxe	PSN
		Dynasty Warriors 7	PS3, X360
		Johnny Test	NDS
		The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky	PSP
NASCAR The Game: 2011		X360, PS3, Wii
Rush'n Attack: Ex-Patriot		PSN
Shift 2: Unleashed		Win, PS3, X360
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12		PS3, X360, Wii
WWE All Stars		PS2, PS3, PSP, X360, Wii
30	Islands of Wakfu	XBLA
30	Rush'n Attack: Ex-Patriot	XBLA
31	TNT Racers	PSP, Wii

2011 in video games

Critically acclaimed titles

Major awards

Scores of 90+

Events

Notable deaths

Hardware releases

Series with new entries

Game releases

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December

Video game-based film and television releases

See also

References

Wikiwand - on

Title	Date	Director	Distributor(s)	Franchise	Original game publisher	Ref.
Best Player	March 13, 2011	Damon Santostefano	Nickelodeon	—	—	^[20]
Mortal Kombat: Legacy	April 11, 2011	Kevin Tancharoen	Machinima, Inc.	Mortal Kombat	Midway Games	^[21]
Victini and Reshiram/Victini and Zekrom	July 16, 2011	Kunihiko Yuyama	Toho	Pokémon	Game Freak	^[22]
Tekken: Blood Vengeance	July 26, 2011	Yōichi Mōri	Asmik Ace	Tekken	Bandai Namco	^[23]
Dragon Age: Redemption	October 10, 2011	Peter Winther	—	Dragon Age	BioWare	^[24]
Assassin's Creed: Embers	November 15, 2011	Laurent Bernier	Ubisoft	Assassin's Creed	Ubisoft	^[25]