The best console launch

PostThe best console launch by **Carlos** » Tue Nov 24, 2020 11:28 pm

Now the dust has settled I wondered if PS5 owners would list the launch as an all-time success?

I still think the benchmark is the PS Vita launch. Despite the memory card prices Sony cane out guns blazing with a heck of a launch lineup as well as good value for money out of the box for the console.

Second would be the OG Xbox. Halo obviously but games like JSRF, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Amped and DOA3 provided a strong selection as well.

Does the PS5 measure up? What's your favourite launch?

PostRe: The best console launch by **Peter Crisp** » Tue Nov 24, 2020 11:35 pm

From what I remember of it the Dreamcast launch was pretty epic.

Xbox 360 for me (out of machines i have owned day 1). I had a 720p tv, so being able to play Call of Duty 2 in "HD" felt like one of the biggest shifts in true visual fidelity over my entire gaming life.

Not truly a console, but PSVR is a close second, it made me feel like i was playing video games for the first time again.

PostRe: The best console launch by **Tomous** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 7:52 am

Peter Crisp wrote:From what I remember of it the Dreamcast launch was pretty epic.

Yeah, it was a pretty great lineup with lots of variety.

Gamecube similar although was missing a big Nintendo hitter.

PostRe: The best console launch by **Balladeer** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:14 am

I found the GameCube kind of disappointing to be honest. Luigi’s Mansion felt like a stopgap and Super Monkey Ball was too hard for me.

The best for me is either the Wii or the Switch, both coming with a Zelda that I thought was the best of all time at the time (even if both were carries-over from the previous generation). The Wii had the better support game at launch: I never loved Wii Sports as much as some but it dumped on 1-2-Switch from a height and was better than Snipperclips. However the Switch had the better launch window and year, and I could play it in bed. Oh - and it didn’t break on sodding Christmas Eve.

PostRe: The best console launch by **Rex Kramer** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:15 am

PSP was my favourite. I got it just after my daughter was born so having the ability to play games without being sat in front of the TV was life saving. Burnout Legends, Wipeout Pure, Metal Gear Acid, Lumines and Everybody's Golf. What a line up.

PostRe: The best console launch by **Vermilion** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:17 am

Gamecube and Dreamcast were the best launches, no trouble getting the hardware, and there were plenty of good games available.

PostRe: The best console launch by **Drumstick** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:35 am

I feel like quality of the hardware is of significant importance here. For example... the PS5 is just the next PlayStation. It's not close to being as big a step forward as the PS2 was for example. That said, like the PS5, the PS2 launch games weren't all that.

Re: GameCube, I was definitely excited at the time but I definitely remember feeling it could have done with a big hitter, but we did get several very good games in Luigi's Mansion, Super Monkey Ball, Wave Race, Rogue Leader and then Smash Bros followed just weeks later.

I didn't get one until years later but I think my answer is going to be the Xbox. It was Microsoft entering the console race which by itself was a hugely exciting prospect and it delivered on the software front big time: Jet Set Radio Future, Project Gotham Racing, Max Payne, DOA3, THPS3.

PostRe: The best console launch by **Vermilion** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:56 am

One of the worst console launches was the N64, Nintendo made a complete and utter mess of it.

Just 20,000 consoles available on day 1, and only three games released.

The currys here had just 2 consoles allocated to them, i was number 3 on the list, but then thankfully someone pulled out so i was able to secure one along with a copy of Mario 64.

PostRe: The best console launch by **jawa** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 9:02 am

I think that the original PlayStation has been the most memorable console launch for me. It was the perfect mix of a huge technology jump and good games.

The PlayStation heralded the arrival of the CD-ROM format in the console landscape and brought fast polygon graphics into the home. Swappable memory cards were a neat feature, too. Add in two games that looked and felt more like arcade games than home video games - Ridge Racer and Destruction Derby - and you had a potent mix that really delivered a punch.

jawa wrote:I think that the original PlayStation has been the most memorable console launch for me. It was the perfect mix of a huge technology jump and good games.

The PlayStation heralded the arrival of the CD-ROM format in the console landscape and brought fast polygon graphics into the home. Swappable memory cards were a neat feature, too. Add in two games that looked and felt more like arcade games than home video games - Ridge Racer and Destruction Derby - and you had a potent mix that really delivered a punch.

This would have been my choice if i had actually owned one on release. I did not get it until about 6 months later though. But i remember buying magazines for the system from day one and enjoying it vicariously through a mate who was lucky enough to get one at launch.

PostRe: The best console launch by **OrangeRKN** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 10:19 am

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:Xbox 360 for me (out of machines i have owned day 1). I had a 720p tv, so being able to play Call of Duty 2 in "HD" felt like one of the biggest shifts in true visual fidelity over my entire gaming life.

For me this was getting the PSP (although like all of my consoles except the Switch it wasn't at launch). To go from GBA (essentially SNES-like visuals) to the PSP (essentially PS2-like visuals) was mind-blowing in a portable.

Pursuit Force was a brilliant launch game too

PostRe: The best console launch by **Herdanos** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 10:28 am

Vermilion wrote:One of the worst console launches was the N64, Nintendo made a complete and utter mess of it.

Just 20,000 consoles available on day 1, and only three games released.

The currys here had just 2 consoles allocated to them, i was number 3 on the list, but then thankfully someone pulled out so i was able to secure one along with a copy of Mario 64.

Should've been one for the ages given how much of a jump forward it offered (full 3D, console analogue control and 4-player availability as standard) and being launched with SM64, but boy did they get it wrong... And then they slashed the price, upsetting all their actual customers!

PostRe: The best console launch by **jawa** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 10:48 am

Vermilion wrote:One of the worst console launches was the N64, Nintendo made a complete and utter mess of it.

Just 20,000 consoles available on day 1, and only three games released....

The launch definitely had issues with pricing - for both console and games - although I feel that the launch week line-up was lean but terrific: Super Mario 64, Pilotwings 64, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. Time hasn't been overly kind to Shadows and Turok but, in the context of 1997, that's a great selection.

I didn't pick up an N64 until '98, though, so I can't reflect upon the console launch issues too much!

PostRe: The best console launch by **Jenuall** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 11:04 am

It's probably an age thing more than anything else but the last time I remember being really excited and impressed by a console launch was the 360. It offered an impressive leap in technology and graphics and the refinement of Live from the OG Xbox made multiplayer a huge thing in the console space.

Launch games weren't the best mind :dread:

PostRe: The best console launch by **Drumstick** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 11:07 am

Jenuall wrote:Launch games weren't the best mind

What was available?

Personally, I would say PS5 has been the best of the lot I've experienced. But it's impossible not to take into account the variety of issues other people are suffereing through and so it makes it impossible to give it the accolade overall.

PostRe: The best console launch by **Jenuall** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 11:09 am

Drumstick wrote:
Jenuall wrote:Launch games weren't the best mind

What was available?

I think there were about 15 launch titles so the quantity was okay but it was a lot of underwhelming things like Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, Need for Speed etc.

Condemned was solid and Project Gotham was great though

PostRe: The best console launch by **ITSMILNER** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 11:13 am

GameCube was my favourite, the line up was fantastic IMO, some really fantastic, varied games on that one and the launch window added even more.

PS5 is actually probably my second favourite now, I have loved playing Astrobot and experiencing the features of the new controller. Miles Morales has been great fun too!

PostRe: The best console launch by **Buffalo** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 11:25 am

In hindsight most of them end up being pretty crap though, don’t they? PS1 for me though, I’d say - seeing Tekken and Ridge Racer as launch games, blew me away.

The best console launch

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