Hilariously, in the first instalment of this feature, we forgot to mention the original Xbox launch line-up. Let's do that now: Halo + Project Gotham Racing + many turds.
You might know we don't much like Halo, though completely accept that it had its moments, and that its influence extends far and wide.
Plus, it at least has the distinction of being a first-party game that came to define the brand, in the Mario style; something sorely lacking on the PS2, Gamecube and Dreamcast.
Also, Project Gotham Racing was sort of good. As was Dead or Alive 3. But still... it's too late now to include it. That ship has sailed. Oh well. It still wouldn't have beaten the Gamecube line-up, which had the bonus of being more distinct, and its games not being drowned out by the sound of the Xbox's constantly thrumming cooling system.
Onwards!
You might know we don't much like Halo, though completely accept that it had its moments, and that its influence extends far and wide.
Plus, it at least has the distinction of being a first-party game that came to define the brand, in the Mario style; something sorely lacking on the PS2, Gamecube and Dreamcast.
Also, Project Gotham Racing was sort of good. As was Dead or Alive 3. But still... it's too late now to include it. That ship has sailed. Oh well. It still wouldn't have beaten the Gamecube line-up, which had the bonus of being more distinct, and its games not being drowned out by the sound of the Xbox's constantly thrumming cooling system.
Onwards!
XBOX 360 vs PLAYSTATION 3 vs WII
XBOX 360: Amped 3, Call of Duty 2, Condemned, FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup, GUN, Kameo: Elements of Power, Madden NFL 06, NBA Live 06, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Perfect Dark Zero, Peter, Jackson's King Kong, Project Gotham Racing 3. Quake 4, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.
PLAYSTATION 3: Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII, Call of Duty 3, Def Jam: Icon, Enchanted Arms Fight Night Round 3, Formula One Championship Edition, Full Auto 2: Battlelines, Genji: Days of the Blade, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Mobile Suit Gundam: Target in Sight, MotorStorm, NBA Street Homeport, Need for Speed: Carbon, NHL 2K7, Resistance: Fall of Man, Ridge Racer 7, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Tony Hawk's Project 8, The Godfather: The Don's Edition, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, Virtua Fighter 5, Virtua Tennis 3
World Snooker Championship 2007.
WII: Barnyard, Call of Duty 3, Cars, Far Cry Vengeance, GT Pro Series, Happy Feet, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Madden NFL 07, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Monster 4x4: World Circuit, Need for Speed: Carbon, Open Season, Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection, Rampage: Total, Destruction, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Red Steel, SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab, Super Fruit Fall, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, Wii Play, Wii Sports.
PLAYSTATION 3: Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII, Call of Duty 3, Def Jam: Icon, Enchanted Arms Fight Night Round 3, Formula One Championship Edition, Full Auto 2: Battlelines, Genji: Days of the Blade, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Mobile Suit Gundam: Target in Sight, MotorStorm, NBA Street Homeport, Need for Speed: Carbon, NHL 2K7, Resistance: Fall of Man, Ridge Racer 7, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Tony Hawk's Project 8, The Godfather: The Don's Edition, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, Virtua Fighter 5, Virtua Tennis 3
World Snooker Championship 2007.
WII: Barnyard, Call of Duty 3, Cars, Far Cry Vengeance, GT Pro Series, Happy Feet, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Madden NFL 07, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Monster 4x4: World Circuit, Need for Speed: Carbon, Open Season, Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection, Rampage: Total, Destruction, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Red Steel, SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab, Super Fruit Fall, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, Wii Play, Wii Sports.
Look at those lists. We're thick into the era where it as all about quantity over quality. Running scared of criticisms about earlier launch day schedules being light on games, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo went literally mental. Unfortunately, all that dross makes it harder to see the gems.
Would Bilbo have been so keen to steal Smaug's gold if it was buried beneath a ton of dragon waste, asks the nerd?
The notable exclusives on the 360 were Perfect Dark Zero, King Kong and Project Gotham 3. Perfect Dark was a terrible, empty, sequel to a mostly excellent game, King Kong was curiously atmospheric, but has aged badly. And Project Gotham 3? Meh. Brrm-brrms.
Hats off to the PlayStation 3 for securing Call of Duty 3 as a launch title. Beyond that, Sony coughed out Resistance: Fall of Man, a game so tepid and dull it's a miracle we can even type its name without falling asleep.
The Wii's line-up was even less exciting - a weird mix of licensed family games, and ports from elsewhere. However... the console came with Wii Sports as a pack-in; unquestionably, one of the best games of all time - if you consider its pan-generational appeal. For that reason alone, we have little choice but to give it to Nintendo. Again. Sorry, but it is what it is.
WINNER: Wii.
Would Bilbo have been so keen to steal Smaug's gold if it was buried beneath a ton of dragon waste, asks the nerd?
The notable exclusives on the 360 were Perfect Dark Zero, King Kong and Project Gotham 3. Perfect Dark was a terrible, empty, sequel to a mostly excellent game, King Kong was curiously atmospheric, but has aged badly. And Project Gotham 3? Meh. Brrm-brrms.
Hats off to the PlayStation 3 for securing Call of Duty 3 as a launch title. Beyond that, Sony coughed out Resistance: Fall of Man, a game so tepid and dull it's a miracle we can even type its name without falling asleep.
The Wii's line-up was even less exciting - a weird mix of licensed family games, and ports from elsewhere. However... the console came with Wii Sports as a pack-in; unquestionably, one of the best games of all time - if you consider its pan-generational appeal. For that reason alone, we have little choice but to give it to Nintendo. Again. Sorry, but it is what it is.
WINNER: Wii.
WII U vs PLAYSTATION 4 vs XBOX ONE
WII U: 007 Legends, Assassin's Creed III, Batman: Arkham City - Armored Edition, Ben 10: Omniverse, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Chasing Aurora, Darksiders II, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade, FIFA 13, Funky Barn, Game Party Champions, Just Dance 4, Little Inferno, Mass Effect 3: Special Edition, Nano Assault Neo, New Super Mario Bros. U, Nintendo Land, Puddle, Rabbids Land, Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game, Skylanders: Giants, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Sports Connection, Tank! Tank! Tank!, Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition, Transformers: Prime – The Game, Trine 2: Director's Cut, Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013, ZombiU.
XBOX ONE: Angry Birds Star Wars, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts
Crimson Dragon, Dead Rising 3, FIFA 14, Fighter Within, Forza Motorsport 5, Just Dance 2014, Killer Instinct, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, LocoCycle, Madden NFL 25, NBA 2K14, NBA Live 14, Need for Speed Rivals, Powerstar Golf, Ryse: Son of Rome, Skylanders: Swap Force, Zoo Tycoon, Zumba Fitness: World Party.
PLAYSTATION 4: Angry Birds Star Wars, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Contrast, DC Universe Online, Escape Plan, FIFA 14, Flower, Injustice: Gods Among Us - Ultimate Edition, Just Dance 2014, Killzone Shadow Fall, Knack, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Madden NFL 25, NBA 2K14, NBA Live 14, Need for Speed Rivals, Putty Squad, Resogun, Sound Shapes, Super Motherload, The Playroom, Trine 2: Complete Story, Warframe, War Thunder.
XBOX ONE: Angry Birds Star Wars, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts
Crimson Dragon, Dead Rising 3, FIFA 14, Fighter Within, Forza Motorsport 5, Just Dance 2014, Killer Instinct, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, LocoCycle, Madden NFL 25, NBA 2K14, NBA Live 14, Need for Speed Rivals, Powerstar Golf, Ryse: Son of Rome, Skylanders: Swap Force, Zoo Tycoon, Zumba Fitness: World Party.
PLAYSTATION 4: Angry Birds Star Wars, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Contrast, DC Universe Online, Escape Plan, FIFA 14, Flower, Injustice: Gods Among Us - Ultimate Edition, Just Dance 2014, Killzone Shadow Fall, Knack, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Madden NFL 25, NBA 2K14, NBA Live 14, Need for Speed Rivals, Putty Squad, Resogun, Sound Shapes, Super Motherload, The Playroom, Trine 2: Complete Story, Warframe, War Thunder.
And you thought the previous generation was overloaded... What the hell was going on with Nintendo this time around? It's like they lost their minds completely. Regrettably, nothing Nintendo released on launch day had the same impact of some of its earlier day one exclusives.
New Super Mario Bros. U was fine, but no Super Mario World. While Nintendoland remains to this day one of the more baffling efforts in Nintendo's canon - a practical demonstration of why nobody ever needed the Wii U gamepad. However, UbiSoft's ZombiU remains woefully underrated - one of the most atmospheric (and challenging) games ever. Who'd have thought there'd be an original way to do a zombie game? Those guys did.
The PS4's line-up is pretty forgettable. Killzone Shadow Fall is more or less the sole big-budget system exclusive. And it's the very definition of mediocre, as pretty as it was. Tellingly, our homogenised era of almost identikit consoles means that you've got more or less all the same games on the Xbox One - simply swap Killzone for the equally lacklustre Ryse: Son of Rome.
The question remains: who to award this one to? We don't want to give it to Nintendo - again - not least because the Wii U line-up was possibly their weakest console launch to date. Much as we'd like to punish them for putting out far too many games, there's so little to get excited about on the PS4 and Xbox One, that we don't feel we have a choice. At least ZombiU and New Super Mario Bros. U were worth playing.
WINNER: Wii U.
New Super Mario Bros. U was fine, but no Super Mario World. While Nintendoland remains to this day one of the more baffling efforts in Nintendo's canon - a practical demonstration of why nobody ever needed the Wii U gamepad. However, UbiSoft's ZombiU remains woefully underrated - one of the most atmospheric (and challenging) games ever. Who'd have thought there'd be an original way to do a zombie game? Those guys did.
The PS4's line-up is pretty forgettable. Killzone Shadow Fall is more or less the sole big-budget system exclusive. And it's the very definition of mediocre, as pretty as it was. Tellingly, our homogenised era of almost identikit consoles means that you've got more or less all the same games on the Xbox One - simply swap Killzone for the equally lacklustre Ryse: Son of Rome.
The question remains: who to award this one to? We don't want to give it to Nintendo - again - not least because the Wii U line-up was possibly their weakest console launch to date. Much as we'd like to punish them for putting out far too many games, there's so little to get excited about on the PS4 and Xbox One, that we don't feel we have a choice. At least ZombiU and New Super Mario Bros. U were worth playing.
WINNER: Wii U.
BONUS HANDHELD ROUND: ATARI LYNX vs GAME BOY vs GAME GEAR
LYNX: Blue Lightning, ElectroCop, Gates of Zendocon, California Games.
GAME BOY: Alleyway, Super Mario Land, Tetris.
GAME GEAR: Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, Columns, Super Monaco GP.
GAME BOY: Alleyway, Super Mario Land, Tetris.
GAME GEAR: Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, Columns, Super Monaco GP.
Ah man. You'd think this one would be easy. Obviously, you can chuck the Game Gear in the bin. But this isn't quite as simple as just giving it to the Game Boy, because of Tetris and Super Mario Land. Those Lynx games - as well as being full colour - were actually all pretty good. And 3D!
However, hindsight and history is what's going to decide this one: which of the above games have endured as all-time classics? Alas, only two of them. Tetris. Super Mario Land. Nintendo's done it again, for pity's sake.
WINNER: Game Boy.
However, hindsight and history is what's going to decide this one: which of the above games have endured as all-time classics? Alas, only two of them. Tetris. Super Mario Land. Nintendo's done it again, for pity's sake.
WINNER: Game Boy.
INTERESTING CONCLUSION
What's notable when you look at the history of console launch day line-ups is how much worse they've become. Quantity over quality rules these days; a glut of third-party games are typically rushed out, before any developer has really gotten to grips with what the system can do.
It's kind of depressing, when you think back to those early Nintendo classics like Super Mario World and F-Zero; we'd much rather have a handful of great games, than a basketful of below-average ones and lazy ports. Please... release your consoles when the games are ready to exploit the capabilities; not just when the hardware is ready to go.
It's also significant that Nintendo has won every category, given that - for some years now - they've not been market leaders. Graphics rule, as far as sales go, nowadays. Shooting, edginess, gore... Nintendo may be the best there is at the sorts of pure gaming experiences, but there are definite signs that it's losing its touch with what people want.
We hope that when it releases the NX - or whatever its next system ends up being called - they at least manage to punch through with the sort of hardware-selling classics that defined the Super NES, N64 and Wii.
What's notable when you look at the history of console launch day line-ups is how much worse they've become. Quantity over quality rules these days; a glut of third-party games are typically rushed out, before any developer has really gotten to grips with what the system can do.
It's kind of depressing, when you think back to those early Nintendo classics like Super Mario World and F-Zero; we'd much rather have a handful of great games, than a basketful of below-average ones and lazy ports. Please... release your consoles when the games are ready to exploit the capabilities; not just when the hardware is ready to go.
It's also significant that Nintendo has won every category, given that - for some years now - they've not been market leaders. Graphics rule, as far as sales go, nowadays. Shooting, edginess, gore... Nintendo may be the best there is at the sorts of pure gaming experiences, but there are definite signs that it's losing its touch with what people want.
We hope that when it releases the NX - or whatever its next system ends up being called - they at least manage to punch through with the sort of hardware-selling classics that defined the Super NES, N64 and Wii.
FROM THE ARCHIVE:
WHAT WAS THE BEST CONSOLE LAUNCH LINE-UP OF ALL TIME? - PART ONE
WHAT WAS THE BEST CONSOLE LAUNCH LINE-UP OF ALL TIME? - PART ONE
RSS Feed
