Launch game quality

[comradesnarky]

This isn't necessarily a Dreamcast-centric topic, but, it applies to basically any console and I thought it would generate more discussion here, but the admins can move as necessary of course.

It seems to me that for a lot of consoles the launch titles are often among some of the best games for the system. There were several excellent games at the DC's launch like Blue Stinger, Expendable (come on, it's fun), HotD 2, Hydro Thunder, NFL 2k, Blitz, Power Stone, Sonic Adventure and SoulCalibur.

I find myself typically ending up with all of the launch games for a console if I own it. I was somewhat curious if others find this phenomenon as well or if it's just kind of a nostalgia thing for me.

[Gary_b]

i have to agree that the Dreamcast had a great lineup at launch. wild metal was the only one that stunk that comes to mind. im not 100% sure what games launched on other platforms so i cant say much about them. perhaps you could post some so we could compare them and maybe even vote on what system had the best games at launch?

[comradesnarky]

I think that the Xbox and 360 also had excellent games at launch. Not necessarily all of the games, but the Xbox's standouts were Halo, Project Gotham, Oddworld Munch's Oddysee, Dead or Alive 3 and Fusion Frenzy, As for the 360, Amped 3, CoD 2, Condemned, GUN, Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero and PGR 3. The 360 didn't really have a standout killer app, but all of those games were great in their own right. The PS2 had a huge launch line up but I don't think any games were really that excellent. The original PlayStation and Gamecube had pretty decent line ups.

There's a list of them all here.

[Marty]

SSX & smugglers run were both great hugely underrated games,

I agree that the best was the DC followed by the xboxes.

[Anthony817]

I played COD 2 for years after on my 360, that was a great launch game.

Anyway, Dreamcast just got really lucky early in life, and died too young, I will argue though, it had the best launch line up in history.

I still play Soul Calibur because it is still such a good game.

[oopsmyseamandied]

Xbox tricked everybody with the awesomeness of their launch titles. Fuzion Frenzy, haha, I'm so glad you mentioned that. What a great game.