2006: The year that...

November: The month that...

PS3 turned gamers into madmen
While Europeans could only look on as the US and Japan queued for 17 weeks to get a pre-order for a receipt that said they might get a PS3 in January 2008, some pleasure could be taken in observing the lunacy that descended over sleep-deprived Sony devotees. Who could forget the kid who ran into a pole during a race to reach one of 10 PS3s? Or the bizarre circumstances of a man, who took a bullet for a console while queuing in Connecticut. Us? We're buying ours online.

Kids smashed things up
After a pair of baseball bat-wielding Japanese subversives decided to smash a PSP for the camera and post it on YouTube way back in Feb 2005, other console anarchists set up websites that allowed readers to submit donations to buy Wiis, 360s and PS3s on launch day, solely to destroy them outside the shop. Cue lots of men in queues laughing, but sort of crying at the same time.

Above: It might be far too gruff and mannish for its own good, but Gears of War is undeniably one of the most enjoyable games of last year

Gears of War broke sales records
It might not have been the longest game you ever played but the handsome visuals (the best we've seen on a next-gen console) and cleverly engineered co-op play ensured Gears was the must have Xbox 360 title of 2006. The result? Over two million copies sold globally since its launch on 'Emergence Day' and the accolade of the fastest selling next-gen title ever. The Mad World UK TV ad wasn't bad either...

Sony said Killzone would look better than the E3 trailer
The always very quotable Sony mouthpiece, Phil Harrison, answered the question we were all asking back in 2005 and confirmed that PS3 Killzone was exceeding the level of detail seen in the E3 trailer. Of course, we'd have to take his word for it because it would be a while before the game would be shown publicly. A subsequent story in the Dutch press hinted at episodic content for the game.

Above: It might be far too gruff and mannish for its own good, but Gears of War is undeniably one of the most enjoyable games of last year

Gears of War broke sales records
It might not have been the longest game you ever played but the handsome visuals (the best we've seen on a next-gen console) and cleverly engineered co-op play ensured Gears was the must have Xbox 360 title of 2006. The result? Over two million copies sold globally since its launch on 'Emergence Day' and the accolade of the fastest selling next-gen title ever. The Mad World UK TV ad wasn't bad either...

Sony said Killzone would look better than the E3 trailer
The always very quotable Sony mouthpiece, Phil Harrison, answered the question we were all asking back in 2005 and confirmed that PS3 Killzone was exceeding the level of detail seen in the E3 trailer. Of course, we'd have to take his word for it because it would be a while before the game would be shown publicly. A subsequent story in the Dutch press hinted at episodic content for the game.