Console launch titles - Are they getting better?

[Ouenben]

Halo and Super Monkey Ball are the only noticable outstanding ones from recent times, though arguably they weren't up against much, especially in the Xbox's case.

The Xbox360 was weak in my eyes and if nothing else, echoes the mostly dried-up/boring state of gaming as it is now.

Super Mario 64 is still the greatest launch game ever IMO, it alone justified the purchase of an N64 and no other game was needed for the system tbh.

Well... Goldeneye for 4 player

Super monkey ball a launch title? when?

[Mayhem]

As for Actraisers, I'm sure it was a launch title in Japan. If not, it was very close to launch.

Close. It came out 4 weeks after launch in Japan.

[Kubrick]

IIRC, Super Monkey Ball was released in Japan a few days before the GC hardware even went on sale.

As for the original topic, I'd say launch titles have gotten worse with each generation.
There's usually still one or two excellent games with each launch that can justify the hardware purchase, but they're mostly sequels to previous-gen games that are easier to ignore than a genuine must-have like Super Mario 64.

[eastyy]

Be intresting to see what the revolution and ps3 will offer at launch.

If there mundane launch titles then there the biggest idiots ever.

When i watched that bbc2 program about the x360 prelaunch i always got the impression the launch of it was rushed.Thankfully the got most of the games to launch.But i think a months or two delay would have really helped make a better impression (sure they would have missed christmas but i still believe it would have sold out ).

When it comes to launch titles i think its actually a bit misleading.When the snes and megadrive was around i did not have any expectations so it was a newer experience.By the time its got to the ps2/xbox/cube i had expectations of what the next gen games would be like and they did not reach what i had hoped for until well into the consoles life.

[JazzFunk]

Mario 64 is the benchmark for launch titles - with Altered Beast MD taking the second place slot...

[MikeRox]

I was actually very impressed with the 360 launch lineup. It got a lot of stick because there was no AAA killer app like Halo, but there were still a lot of great games - Project Gotham Racing 3, Call of Duty 2, King Kong, Perfect Dark (great multiplayer, at least), Ridge Racer 6 (if you didn't mind importing), and of course the likes of Geometry Wars from the Live Arcade.

Pffffft! how cud u leave the awesome Condemned out of the list? :P one of best games I've personally played in a long time...

[EvilBoris]

You could argue that condemned isn't an exclusive game though, as its due for PC and PS3 :P

[Zed]

The Xbox360 was weak in my eyes and if nothing else, echoes the mostly dried-up/boring state of gaming as it is now.

I dont know if weak is the right description, but its indicitive of how "safe" gaming has become; FPSs, driving and sport games - woohoo The main problem is theres nothing new, as everything was already essentially done on the PC or other current consoles. All that really got shown got was more graphic power, but not next-gen ideas for gaming.

The Rev and PS3 launches will be interesting, especially the Rev for its controller/UI, to see if theres anything new gameplay-wise thats been invented.

So no i dont think launches are getting better - more polished certainly - but better? No.

[chopemon]

what the 360 did right was to launch with a generally ok/good line up but using that to pave the way for the next wave

the best thing about the 360 is the massive amount of functionality it has and thats what saved the launch line up.

the live integration, arcade and achievement points made the games into more than they were

i have a good number of the available 360 titles and i'm really pleased and happy with all of them. there's no killer app but there are some amazing games (cod 2, rr6) and real gems in the forms of condemned and amped 3.

i don't think it was the best launch line up but it was solid and has kept me very happy

[moonwhistle]

If the 360 is anything to go by then I'd say that launch titles are getting alot worse. They're mostly all updates of mediocre franchises try desperately to woo punters to drop serious cash on what amounts to mere graphical upgrades.

The Xbox had Halo at launch which was absolutely superb and was never bettered on the system in my view.

[muse hunter]

the ps2's launch line up was so bad it wasn't even funny, well, it wasn't funny if you paid ?300 for the thing, extremely funny however if you knew someone who wasted ?300 on it. 360 launch was nother abysmal launch line up, nothing there that i haven't experianced in one form or another.

N64 had probably the best launch line up ever, Mario64 was the main reason for that. The pal launches for both Dreamcast and xbox were quite good also, a lot of variety in there as well as some killer titles. But currently with the current videogame industry i can't see many quality launch line ups in the future, i'm 100% certain that the ps3's launch is going to be abysmal, although i do have some hope that nintendo will whip up something special for the revolution's launch.

[Kubrick]

i'm 100% certain that the ps3's launch is going to be abysmal

Based on what, exactly?

Believe it or not, I feel the PSP has had the best launch lineup in recent times. It had 3 quality games I really wanted on day one.

[fiendicus_prime]

I think they are inevitably getting worse because to make the most of modern hardware you need masses of development time. I'm not a graphics whore, but anything which doesn't need the new hardware could already have been done on an earlier system (another problem in itself). PS2 was a particularily atrocious lineup though - I can't imagine PS3 being any worse.

Revolution will have the best launch lineup by miles this generation because it can have innovative gaming concepts based on the controller. In other words, the innovation won't require massive development time for uber graphics and interactive story adaptive AI - just a good idea for a fun thing you can do waving a controller around like an idiot!!

[muse hunter]

Based on what, exactly?

Believe it or not, I feel the PSP has had the best launch lineup in recent times. It had 3 quality games I really wanted on day one.

50% based on consumer apathy, the other 50% being that the games mentioned so far for the ps3 (killzone2, GT5, new metal gear, new tekken, etc etc) do nothing other than put me to sleep, if sony release a must buy, brand new gaming experiance for the ps3's launch then i'll marry a fat chick

[MikeRox]

You could argue that condemned isn't an exclusive game though, as its due for PC and PS3 :P

whats that gotta do with anything? it was still a 360 launch title Ridge Racer 6 is headin off to PS3 as well, as no doubt Halo 3 will eventually end up on PC.