2004 was een jaar met hoogte- en dieptepunten. Hoewel veel sites de hoogvliegers bekeken mogen natuurlijk ook de laagvliegers niet vergeten worden. Er waren zoveel dieptepunten dat er zelfs een Top 20 van ergste gamemomenten kon worden samengesteld. In de Top 20 komen we onder andere tegen: De Collector's Edition van Half-Life 2, het feit dat Duke Nukem nog steeds in ontwikkeling is, het einde van Acclaim en Sierra, de lancering van EverQuest II en de oproer die GTA: San Andreas veroorzaakte.1) EA, the Sweatshop Empire

No company has been more succe ful this year of painting itself as an evil gaming empire. Sports fans who celebrated ESPN Videogames' bargain-priced sports titles were mortified to find that EA signed an exclusivity deal with the NFL, e entially nuking any future hopes for the ESPN NFL series. The power of the internet was unleashed on the publishing giant with the "anonymous wife" blog, which alleged that EA's managers and HR were reincarnated Egyptian slave drivers. And the company gave a troublesome jolt to Ubisoft by abruptly announcing that it took a 20 percent stake in the French publisher--saying it was an "investment." Not to mention shutting down studios in California and Texas, cutting 117 jobs, effectively shutting down Maxis' office and consolidating the studio into EA, trying to acquire Battlefield developer D.I.C.E., and creating drab titles from once-prestigious franchises (Golden Eye, Medal of Honor). All while making more money than all other publishers can hope for.