Games Released in December 2004

265 new games released in December 2004, with PC (Microsoft Windows) being the most active platform. December 2 was the busiest day, with 29 new releases.

Top Platform

PC (Microsoft Windows)

New Releases

265

Busiest Day

December 2

What was the most popular game of December 2004?

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is a sequel to the blockbuster RPG Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. Players continue to enjoy the title's emotionally compelling and story-driven theme, additions to features such as new characters, classes, locations and force powers as well as a deeper look into the founding lore.

Which days had the most releases?

December 3 saw the most activity with 29 releases.

29 releases

December 3

29 releases

December 2

28 releases

December 16

26 releases

December 9

How did each week compare?

The first week of December was the busiest with 94 releases.

Week 1 (December 1–7)

94 releases

Most popular release in Week 2

Lumines

Lumines is a block-dropping game, that may seem at first to be similar to Columns and Tetris. A 2 x 2 square (an O tetromino) made of four smaller block pieces is dropped into the playing field, which may appear different as the player advances through levels or skins. The small blocks that comprise the larger blocks will be one of two different colors. The objective is to rotate and align the blocks in such a way as to create 2x2 squares of the same color, which may span multiple blocks and, indeed, share blocks. For example, if one should get a 2x3 area of matching blocks, the middle portion will "share" itself with both the left and right halves and create two 2x2 squares. After the "timeline", which is synchronized to the music, sweeps over the matching blocks, they disappear. When too many unmatched blocks pile up to the point where no more blocks may be dropped in the playing field, the game ends. When part of a falling block hits an obstruction, the unobstructed portion of the block will split off and continue to fall. More points are scored by creating the largest number of squares during one "timeline" sweep. Increasing score multipliers are earned by repeatedly clearing squares on consecutive timeline sweeps. Bonuses are also awarded by reducing all remaining tiles to one single color or for removing all non-active tiles from the screen altogether. Occasionally, a block falls with a special square of one of the two colors with a "jewel" in the center. This square, when cleared as part of a matched 2x2 square, will cause all individual blocks of the same color that are horizontally or vertically adjacent to the matched 2x2 square, or to an adjacent square, to be cleared without score. These can be used for both generating large bonuses, since generally several blocks of the other color will be formed once these are removed, as well as to help the player recover if the field becomes too cluttered.

Week 3 (December 15–21)

50 releases

Most popular release in Week 3

Cave Story

A side-scrolling platformer in which a robot traverses a strange world that has been thrown into disorder due to its violent history and a doctor that is attempting to exploit the inhabitants to aid him in his own pursuit for power.

Week 4 (December 22–28)

47 releases

Most popular release in Week 4

Garry's Mod

Garry's Mod is a physics-based sandbox game built on Valve's Source engine. In its base mode, there are no objectives. Players can spawn non-player characters, ragdolls, and props, then manipulate them using a physics gun that can pick up, rotate, and freeze objects in place. A tool gun provides additional functionality such as welding objects together or adjusting facial expressions on ragdolls. The game supports extensive Lua-based modding, and community-created game modes like Trouble in Terrorist Town and Prop Hunt have become widely popular in their own right. Originally released as a free mod for Half-Life 2 in 2004, it became a standalone commercial release in 2006 and holds the record as the best-selling PC-exclusive game.

Week 5 (December 29–31)

22 releases

Most popular release in Week 5

Ape Escape Academy

Ape Escape Academy sees you taking on the role of one of the cheeky monkeys from the Ape Escape series. Choose your chimp, then prepare to tackle various classes in Academy Mode. Each 'class' is actually a mini-game. Your goal is to complete as many mini-games as possible from the 9x9 grid, and score as many lines as you can (sort of like Noughts and Crosses). Mini-games range from mind-bending quizzes to wacky sports games, to the just plain silly, like protecting a roast banana from oncoming apes, or flying through the sky delivering parachutes to plummeting primates.

Which platforms saw the most releases?

PC (Microsoft Windows) received 73 new titles in December 2004. The runner up was PlayStation 2 with 64 new titles.

PC (Microsoft Windows)73 releases

PlayStation 264 releases

Game Boy Advance49 releases

Xbox19 releases

Nintendo DS18 releases

PlayStation Portable17 releases

Nintendo GameCube16 releases

Legacy Mobile Device14 releases

Mac9 releases

Web browser7 releases

What genres were most popular?

Adventure was the dominant genre in December 2004 with 51 titles. Shooter followed closely with 34.

Adventure51

Shooter34

Puzzle32

Simulator30

Strategy30

Role-playing28

Platform27

Sport25

Arcade23

Fighting22

2004 Review

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