The Launches - Your View ?

[TheForce]

I think the Wii is doing it much better then I expected, playing the game with the new Wii controller really is working great, Wii Sports and play are 2 great multi player/party games to play with your friends !
I had doubts about the Wii when I first saw it , but now that I've played it, I'm convinced Nintendo took the right direction with this !

PS3 in particular seems to have the worst launch lineup I can remember since I don't know when

maybe since the PS2 which only had Fantavision at launch...
I haven't seen anything yet on PS3 that makes me want one, Heavenly Sword is looking very promising and ofcource DMC4, but for the rest .... nope, quite dissapointed so far.

[Lebowski]

launches are pretty painless normally but the wii launch for me has and still is a pain in the arse and something that will probably taint my enjoyment of the system for a while to come.

working a 9 to five job has meant that without a preorder and without the opportunity to go camp outside stores i have bugger all chance of getting one, i spent an evening Crimbo shopping on the wii launch and all i saw were sold out posters everywhere. Also its pretty annoying to see it turn up online in dribs and drabs only for them to all be snapped up in minutes, it gives out that feeling of false hope that maybe you might be in the right place at the right time and get lucky.

and the worst bit is if i was that bothered and willing to pay ?100 over the retail price i could just go on ebay where these things are selling in vast quantities.

console launch + greed + Frantic Holiday season + hype = no wii for me

[Gaol]

The wii launch was certainly the most successful, but whether that translates in to good long term sales remains to be seen. I think it'll be a success with the mass market, as a 'toy', but I believe hardcore gamers will be frustrated if they do not own another machine.

The 360 had a successful US and UK launch with a reasonable line up; however it was plagued by system failures. Its having a good period in the West just now thanks to the killer apps that are out there. Its been an abject failure in Japan however. Its the best machine at the moment so long as you don't mind the absence of Japanese software.

The PS3 has had a terrible launch. Whats ironic is that it seems to be the unit with the lowest failure rate, and Resistance is an absolute blinding game; far better than the 360 loving press give it credit for. Sony seem to have got themselves in to the same position Nintendo did with the 64, they are perceived as arrogant and aloof; it all stems back from that E3 conference. Phil Harrison, bright man, but never let him do a public speech again.

I think of the three, full marks to Nintendo, they seem to have their marketing departments going full guns.

[NekoFever]

I think what we've seen so far of launches for all three of the main consoles has been pretty poor. Some of the problems were justifiable and some are just baffling.

The 360's was bad because of shortages and hardware problems, as well as a lack of a real killer app. I avoided most of it because I got a machine without a problem and (touch wood) mine's yet to suffer a hardware failure but I know I'm in the minority there. It looks like MS come out of the whole birth of this generation smelling of roses because they're running quite smoothly now that it's the other two having issues.

The Wii is in inexplicably short supply considering it's essentially last-gen technology, and then there are concerns over what exactly we're meant to play post-Zelda and why there seem to be about ten component cables in the world. The ongoing saga over the wrist straps are just asinine, and I have no idea how it's gotten so much mainstream coverage. Too many people retarded enough to let go when they're "bowling"?

The PS3 obviously hasn't graced us with its presence yet, but supplies have made the 360 look plentiful and it's even slower at getting restocked. They bundle it with a composite cable, there's little in the way of games, and it seems reliant on weekly PR disasters for us all to chuckle at in order to keep it up the agenda

At the rate supplies are going now, I'll be shocked if PS3 makes a European launch in March.

[squidman]

I think both Wii and PS3 launches were a bit stale - PS3 in particular seems to have the worst launch lineup I can remember since I don't know when - people are more interested in discussing how/why the screen resolution settings work the way they do than the games they have.

Come on now, Resistance has been pretty well recieved, surely? You've got your Call of Duty 3 and your Ridge Racer, too, just like when the 360 launched. Everyone loves those, right? (wait, wasn't PG3 slighty marred in 30fps controversy?) Genji doesn't look too shabby really, no worse than Kameo or owt.

Not that i'm defending the PS3's launch - I thought it was bland - just that I don't see it as any worse than the 360's. Both launched as badly as each other. You've got your shortages and your problems and your launch frenzy and your desperate attempt to appeal to as many genres as possible.

As for the Wii, it's a pretty expensive way to play Twilight Princess and indulge your mates in their casual curiosity with the controller. I bought one anyway, obviously.

[Tig]

I'm pretty disappointed with the Wii's PAL release list. What the hell happened to Excite Truck, and the superb-sounding Trauma Center? It seems that PAL Wii owners have essentially got to choose between Rayman (hmm), Monkey Ball (ehh) and Call of Duty (meh) for their third-party purchases. I also think it's a crying shame Nintendo let Wario Ware miss the western launch. It would have been the perfect game for post-xmas-dinner foolishness.

But I guess this means PAL Wii owners will have "new" releases early next year to keep the interest up.

And on the plus side: Wii Sports combined with the Mii Channel is just genius.
One Wii console, a copy of Sports, and a single remote managed to keep a whole bunch of my friends entertained for an entire afternoon. I've got to get more Wiimotes in for proper multiplayer pronto.

[ascender]

Wii Sports is genius, but with the release & launch line-ups, I'm glad I have another console. I think the Wii is going to be an amazing multiplayer console for families and friends, but I'm skeptical about how its going to succeed at much else.

As for the launches, I think Nintendo shot themselves in the foot by saying there would loads to go around when there clearly wasn't. Whether it was just bad planning, surprise at the demand shown or them wanting to create a buzz, it really annoyed me as they'd been so smug about the whole thing.

However, where they have done brilliantly is that lots of non-gamers seem to know about the Wii. They might not know exactly what it is or what it does, but they know its different. I also think word of mouth will be a big seller for this console next year after the launch period is over.

As far as the PS3 launch goes, again, its annoyed me how Sony keep making bull$hit promises, slag off the opposition and yet they seem to be blameless amongst certain sections of the press. Going by what I've read on here about the PS3 launch so far, underwhelming would be my choice of words. I'm sure it will be different come the PAL launch, but at the moment I'm not exactly excited about the prospect, which is strange.

[The_G_Man]

I really don't think we can discuss the "launches" until all three consoles are available in Japan, N America and Europe.
After all, Europe is Sonys largest established userbase and has an absolute blinding european release line-up planned. It's just up to Sony to deliver a reasonable amount of consoles.

[gaz@manc]

I have little interest in PS3, and I did try to get hold of a Wii. Kinda glad I didn't, as apart from Zelda, I think its one of the worst launch line ups I've seen IMO.