A screen capture from the video game AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack, part of the popular Rock Band series. (Canadian Press)

Despite an economic chill gripping just about every industry in the closing days of 2008, the video-game sector continued to power ahead, with only a few blips of bad news. With no end to its growth in sight, the past year was another exciting one for the industry. Here are some of the highlights – and lowlights – in video games for 2008.

January

The year kicks off with a bang as board game makers Hasbro and Mattel ask Facebook to drop the popular Scrabulous add-on because it infringes on their rights to Scrabble, sparking a storm of protest from users of the social-networking website. A back and forth between the game companies and the Scrabulous makers ensues until Hasbro, which owns the Scrabble rights for Canada and the United States, drops the suit in December. The dispute with Mattel, which owns the international rights, continues.

February

Video gamers settle in for the dead of winter with the plethora of hot titles pumped out during the 2007 holiday season, including Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, Rock Band, Guitar Hero 3, Call of Duty 4 and Mass Effect.

March

Nintendo kicks off its spring release session with a monster hit, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a fighting game that lets players pit various characters – such as Mario and Donkey Kong – against each other. The game goes on to become the fourth biggest selling title of the year in Canada.

April

Grand Theft Auto IV grosses more than $500 million US in its first week out. The game, which puts players in the role of an Eastern European thug, scores rave reviews for both its technical accomplishments and its actual gameplay.

Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Wii Fit, does a yoga pose as he demonstrates the game. (Tina Fineberg/Associated Press)

May

Nintendo launches its long-awaited exercise game, Wii Fit. This and Mario Kart, a driving game released in April with a steering wheel, end up as the top-selling games of the year in Canada. Moreover, Nintendo absolutely dominates the industry with the Wii and its portable DS system accounting for 11 of the top 20 selling games of the year, according to tracking firm NPD Group.

June

Despite having a one-year head start, Microsoft's Xbox 360 finally gives up top spot (in the United States) to Nintendo's Wii in the video-game console wars, a trend replicated in Canada. The Wii, with its lower price point and broader appeal, continues to wallop the Xbox and Sony's PlayStation 3 for the rest of the year. Microsoft and Sony are resigned to battling it out for second place.

July

Nintendo and Sony get a new competitor for their respective portable game systems, the DS and the PSP, in the form of Apple. The Macintosh maker launches an updated version of its App Store to coincide with the release of the new and improved iPhone 3G, with downloadable games available for both the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Major game makers such as Electronic Arts, Sega and THQ recognize iPhones and iPods as a contending platform and rush to design titles for Apple.

August

St. Catharines, Ont.-based Silicon Knights has one of the most eagerly awaited releases of the summer in Too Human, an action role-playing game that puts players in control of a cybernetic version of the Norse god Baldur. Released exclusively for the Xbox 360, the game does modest business and places seventh in sales numbers for the month. But, in the face of terrible reviews, Too Human fades quickly.

September

Electronic Arts abandons its $2 billion US bid for Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive after pursuing the company for much of the year. Take-Two, which also published the successful BioShock and 2K Sports titles, spurned EA’s initial takeover offer as too low.

EA also faces the launch of a class-action lawsuit regarding copy protection software installed on its Spore evolution-simulation game. Irate buyers of the game sue the company for $5 million US for allegedly putting secret spyware on their computers.

A screen capture from the video game Spore. (Electronic Arts/Associated Press)

October

Barrie, Ont., teen Brandon Crisp goes missing from his home after an argument with his parents over his playing of Call of Duty 4 on his Xbox 360. Crisp's body tragically turns up in early November; police believe he died from injuries sustained from falling out of a tree.

Although opinions vary on what exactly was the first video game, Tennis for Two – one of the leading contenders for the title – celebrates its 50^th birthday. The first game to use a monitor, computer and handheld controller was invented by William Higinbotham, a physicist working at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, as a way to entertain visitors at the facility's otherwise dull open houses.

U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama takes political campaigns where they have never been before with an ad in Electronic Arts' Burnout Paradise. The game features a billboard that gamers race by with Obama's picture and the words "Early voting has begun" on it.

November

The video-game industry gets some offbeat newcomers in the form of National Geographic and the U.S. Army. The nature magazine announces it is entering the field with a title called Herod's Lost Tomb, while the Army says its new Simulation Training and Instrumentation division will be responsible for finding games to train soldiers.

December

Despite seemingly never-ending revenue growth, the video game industry can't escape the economic downturn, as Electronic Arts announces it is sacking plans for a new development studio in Vancouver. The company also says it will be increasing its number of planned layoffs.

Peter Nowak writes about technology for CBCNews.ca.