Table of Contents Pac-Man — 45 years Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) — 40 years The Secret of Monkey Island — 35 years Chrono Trigger — 30 years PS2 — 25 years Final Fantasy IX — 25 years Resident Evil 4 — 20 years Shadow of the Colossus — 20 years Mass Effect 2 — 15 years Undertale — 10 years
We’re almost a quarter of a way through the 21st century, and this year brings a ton of video game anniversaries.
In 2025, we’ll be celebrating gaming launches that defined the start of the new millennium 25 years ago, like Sony’s PlayStation 2. On top of that, some old-school classics are celebrating anniversaries that will make you feel old if you grew up playing them in arcades or on a gaming console. There are tons of new games to look forward to in 2025, but for those of us who are more sentimental, I’ve rounded up 10 of the most notable video game anniversaries taking place in 2025. Hopefully, those birthdays bring some new games with them.
Recommended VideosPac-Man first hit arcades in 1980, and gaming was never the same after that. It was one of the first examples of a game that broke out of the sports or action genre confines to create a universal experience for all people, regardless of age or skill level. Pac-Man was an early taste of how broadly appealing gaming would become, and the original still holds up today. The series is still going strong, but Bandai Namco is celebrating its 45th anniversary by getting experimental. Shadow Labyrinth is a gritty action-platformer inspired by Pac-Man that is launching in 2025 and has already unsettled us with a violent Secret Level episode. The fact that Pac-Man is still around to surprise us 45 years later is a testament to how iconic of a gaming franchise it is.
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