Console launch games in hindsight

[Omerta]

The relatively small amount of Switch games that came out the other day prompted me to look up the launch release lists for other consoles. As I suspected, it was rather small compared to recent machines.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_v ... unch_games

I do remember the Dreamcast and Wii blowing my mind on day one and the lists confirm this. I also remember the N64 seeming like it took an eternity to get any real meat to the library. This has also been confirmed.

What's odd to me is how every PlayStation launch was downright magical in my memory, but the launch releases do not look nearly as impressive today. Conversely, I took a step back from the Wii U because it looked pretty weak, but looking at it now - it seems more impressive than before.

Whadya think guys? What were your favorite launches? How do these lists compare to your memories? Got any other neato tidbits or observations?

[fastbilly1]

Id wager that 6th gen had the best launch titles across the board.

[ElkinFencer10]

I remember the Wii and Wii U having extremely exciting launch titles for me. I didn't get the Wii for a couple years after launch, but I pre-ordered Arkham City, ZombiU, and New Super Mario Bros U when I pre-ordered my Wii U (which included Nintendoland, for which I was extremely excited).

[SNESdrunk]

The N64 having only two (!!!) launch titles is a big reason I just stuck with Super Nintendo, since there were so many games there I hadn't gotten to yet

[BogusMeatFactory]

The switch launched with 13 games and over half of them being games that are great. Also, like what was mentioned earlier, people cropped on the wii u launch but it was great as well. People have a visceral reaction to launch titles on nintendo because they expect a new mario, zelda, metroid f zero etc. day 1. The wii u will be like the wii a year from now with collectors thinking it was a real spectacular system.

[Sarge]

The Wii U was a spectacular system, though. At least from a gaming standpoint. I didn't jump on until Super Mario 3D World, but that game was totally worth it.

The one thing I've always noticed is that we freak out if a launch lineup is iffy, but it usually doesn't hold much predictive power for a system's success. I mean, the Dreamcast had one of the greatest launch lineups of all time, but it flopped. The PS1 had a pretty awful lineup, and yet dominated that generation. The PS2 had more games, but really, how many of them held up?

[isiolia]

Whadya think guys? What were your favorite launches? How do these lists compare to your memories? Got any other neato tidbits or observations?

I think it can wind up having less to do with the actual games on the shelf, and a lot more to do with how much of an improvement they are over the previous generation and/or the general release schedule at the time.

I'd say 5th gen tended to be most memorable for me, basically because my dad actually surprised me with a PS1, and later an N64 for my brothers and I (well, that was eventually admitted, due to my efforts to buy one myself). Games were sparse (I was living on Yokota AFB, so US region stuff was limited to what AAFES had), but relative to SNES and the like, they were a huge leap in capability. I spent a lot of time just playing the demo disc the PS1 came with.
Those weren't exactly day 1 (N64 we got for Christmas), but within the hype window.

Many of the actual best games on those systems didn't come until later, but the leap in technology made them kind of magical.

Meanwhile, the Wii U (since it was mentioned) was hard to be excited about at launch because so much of what it had were ports, and not much of an improvement over 7th gen consoles. NSMBU wasn't really above and beyond what the Wii already had. ZombiU was the main standout.
Being fair, the PS4 and Xbox One were similar, especially for those with a decent PC. I wound up cancelling my PS4 preorder and waiting almost a year once the launch lineup solidified.

[Omerta]

Id wager that 6th gen had the best launch titles across the board.

That's a tough one to dispute. I'd say the only serious challenger to that assertion is the 4th gen.

And yes, my memory has been jogged on the Wii U launch library. The vast majority was ports of games that had been out for quite a while. Everyone was looking for a "true" next gen machine at the tail end of a historically long generational cycle.

Interestingly, it looks as though Nintendo and Sony have different approaches to their launches as well. Sony appears to try to sink their hooks in a wide variety of developers I'd assume for a larger install base, then tries to really crank out the hits. Nintendo seems to try to drop a huge first party game to prove the concept, and hopes it goes outward from there.

[marurun]

The Dreamcast had a great US launch, but the Japanese launch was really weak.

[ElkinFencer10]

And yes, my memory has been jogged on the Wii U launch library. The vast majority was ports of games that had been out for quite a while. Everyone was looking for a "true" next gen machine at the tail end of a historically long generational cycle.

In general, that's not far off, but it is worth mentioning that ZombiU, NintendoLand, and New Super Mario Bros U were all legitimate next-gen titles with features or game modes that could only be achieved on Wii U. I'm not saying the Wii U had a perfect launch, but it did have a good one.