290°

The Best Console Launches Ever

Some gamers obsess over launch statistics, arguing about which console outsold the other. That's fine, but the guys over at Gamedaily.com would much rather play the launch games and have fun instead of fighting over things publishers worry about. With that said, here are the best console launches and the publishers who delivered the games Gamedaily wanted to play.

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gamedaily.com
San anto6125d ago

wow thats a terrible list, i mean daaaaayyuuum?!?! wdf!! so stupid...

Loudninja6125d ago (Edited 6125d ago )

I really do not see how the 360 made the list, even the Wii was not up there.But thtas my IMO, dont gey angry :D

BIadestarX6125d ago (Edited 6125d ago )

How? mmm.. gee... I don't know... COD2 alone was worth the xbox 360 launch...

Game launch are usually rated by availability and games... It's only now that a bunch of people rate the console base on input devices and hardware specs....

Name the wii launch games that you feel should make the wii be in this list...

and just for humor..

name the PS3 launch games that you feel should make the PS3 be in this list.

Kleptic6124d ago

COD 2 was not worth the price of a 360 imo though...and that was way before I knew anything of hardware failuers or anything of the sort...

I remember specifically being at the store playing a demo, even on a HD tv (a lot of retailers at the time didn't even know to do that...MS barely pushed the HD stuff, even though the 360 was very capable of it), and thinking "this is it?"

there were so many games well after launch for the 360 also that looked absolutely horrible, becuase they were just ports of PS2 games...Superman Returns or whatever? holy crap that game looked like poop...

I am not being biased towards the PS3 or anything...the PS3 STILL doesn't have a single game, aside from Motorstorm I guess, that really shows off what I thought this generation would look like back in 2005...No doubt the 360 has a few now, such as Gears...but if you look at COD 2 compared to Gears of War (or the upcoming COD4), you wouldn't even think both games were on the same system...I am still hoping its a similar comparison after the PS3 gets its fall lineup on store shelves...comparing Resistance and UT3 shoule hopefully fall in a similar category...

I guess my point is that no system this generation really blew me away at launch...the 360 didn't get its incredible looking game until a year after launch, except for Oblivion, which also looked great...and aside from F1 06 and Motorstorm, same deal for the PS3...

and, ashamed as I am, graphics do matter to me...they always have...the crazier the games start looking, the better for me...FPS's haven't changed a whole lot gameplay wise since Quake 1, and I am fine with that as long as they keep looking better and better, with the occasional new "addition" to the genre...

DARK WITNESS6124d ago

i have both systems, though i will say i am prob more of an xbox man.

but when the xbox launched there were some great games, but i was not totally blown away by anything. Games like PGR3 i thought really showed what could be done ( even though it was not really running at HD resolutions ) but then there were games that just made me think, is this really next gen.

Apart from the graphics, i was expecting a lot more in terms of gameplay, interacting with environments and characters and so on. i was hoping to see a lot more creativeness with the so called power available and all that, but i just didn't see it.

its just last gen games with better graphics. The first game to really make me think, now this is different and next gen was Oblivion.

even with the PS3, there are games that i kept hearing were so much better and were going to do so much like RFOM, but it just didn't impress.

Kleptic6124d ago (Edited 6124d ago )

totally...I was expecting a lot more at launch than what was delivered, for every system that is now this generation...

COD2 looked slightly better than COD1 on a PC, and just put you through a different scripted battle on different fronts of WWII...same gameplay, still no cover, still very little environment interactivity...

RFOM...same thing...it played like Halo and COD combined, which was cool...but still no real difference in gameplay...both games looked really good I guess, but not much better than even older PC games on high end machines...which is usually the case anyway...but with the hype of what both machines were capable of, I expected more...

they are delivering now though...Gears is still arguably the best looking released game ever made, and their are games in the pipeline that are already starting to look better...

the one thing I really hope comes along is physics though...We have been playing games too long to have grenades and tank fire not do anything to a building that looks like its on the verge of collapsing anyway...that was what really bothered me about Resistance...barely any interactivity...stuff should be crumbling apart, in every game, this generation...KZ2 is trying it sort of...and Crysis has got it, but we will see if that part of the engine is capable on a console...

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 6124d ago
MK_Red6125d ago

Didn't Wii have a much better launch than both PS3 and 360 combined? I mean it was sold-out back then and still is!

And N64!? With only 2 games?

BIadestarX6125d ago

mmm.. maybe that's the problem... not that great launch due to availability and maybe because since then... only 1-2 games are worth buying for the wii.... which is still the case.

And the PS3 had... no problem being found.... but... had/have not many games...

Tabasco6124d ago

except the first few months were like hell trying to find one but yes i get your point.

s8anicslayer6125d ago

yeah you have to admit the 360 had a great launch

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250°

Why Xbox believes it must cut costs and close studios

Companies, particularly public companies like Microsoft, need to grow.

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eurogamer.net
gold_drake10h ago

i mean its pretty simple, they spent close to 30 billion in acquiring activision, they thought they'd make it bk no problem, and that didnt happen.

its just shit that because of MS's miscalculation alot of people lost their jobs.

Jingsing6h ago

This is exactly what many people said would happen including the CMA and FTC. Lies lies and more lies and they allowed a $69 billion buy out to happen.

gold_drake6h ago

oh yeh it was 70 billion. that was my bad haha even worse.

thesoftware7306h ago(Edited 6h ago)

gold,

You can't be serious, right?

Do you think that MS thought they would make 80bill in a year & Half? They haven't even released titles under MS yet, lol.

But in fact, that A/B revenue is already paying off, look at the last earnings call. That $80 billion is long-term money, my guy, no sane person/company would think they would make that back in any short-term situation, it's a long-term investment.

Let's play silly then. If MS's reason for laying off staff and closing studios was due(which it really was not) to the A/B deal, tell me what Sony's reason was for past studio closures, the recent 900-person layoffs, closing Sony London, shutting down Dreams, and closing Japan Studio? Zipper? Psygnosis? cuts at all their internal studios.

Keep in mind, you are claiming MS's reason is because of the A/B deal; please explain Sony's reason.

Hofstaderman6h ago

You actually still defending them? Sheesh.....

gold_drake6h ago

this is not a sony vs MS debate. dont make it something it isnt.

and of course not, but im pretty sure they thought they'd make more money after the deal. they didnt, and closed off some studios.

its pretty insane to think there is any other reason for the closure of studios in this case.

romulus236h ago(Edited 6h ago)

(It really was) due to the Activision Blizzard deal and the loss of physical sales due to gamepass. You keep bringing up Sony in all your posts about this, stop deflecting and trying to change the topic, this is about MS and what they are doing.

BehindTheRows5h ago

Has nothing to do with Sony. Stay on topic.

notachance5h ago

once in a while you see someone too invested in their make-believe console war that everything happened has to be connected to said war…

a bit of banter between fans is normal, this crusade you’re doing now isn’t.

Chevalier5h ago

Wow idiotic. You bring up very old closures not that there haven't been recent ones from Playstations, but, seriously stop deflecting. This has NOTHING to do with Playstation.

Does Playstation got $3 trillion behind them and daddies wallet? No they don't so stop making a fool of yourself.

Xbox has never been profitable really and they just keep losing money so between their worst hardware sales, terrible 3rd party sales and now terrible 1st party sales.

Gamepass numbers that are no longer being announced shows their numbers after 3 years of missed targets has flatlined. Plus their recent gains up to 34 million were ONLY because they folded Gold members in too. Absolutely take your idiotic rhetoric out of here. Keep on topic without deflecting.

S2Killinit5h ago

Ayayayay with these xbox/MS excuses.

Reaper22_6m ago

How dare you mention Sony! Everyone here knows when Sony closes a studio and lay off workers it was the right thing to do. Even when they bought Gaikai and fired almost everyone it was the right thing to do.

Gamers can be such hypocrites sometimes.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 6m ago
thesoftware7303h ago(Edited 3h ago)

Drake,

"this is not a sony vs MS debate. dont make it something it isnt."

You are correct that it's not an MS Vs Sony Topic, but when exaggeration and imagination mix from a one-sided social group, similar examples are needed to ground radical thoughts; in this instance, the example was that shutting down 3,4,5, even 6 studios during a restructure/ buyout/acquisition is not some anomaly(it can suck) that has to be dissected or spell doom and gloom.

"But I'm pretty sure they thought they'd make more money after the deal. They didn't, and they closed off some studios."

But they did make more money, a lot, actually; the last earnings call showed a huge growth in profit, almost all due to A/B revenue.

"its pretty insane to think there is any other reason for the closure of studios in this case."

The fact that they did make money, kinda throws this out the window, and besides, you don't wake up and say, hey let's close a studio, you look at the output, you look at the dev as a whole, the long term and short term, you weigh it against all other studios and goals, you keep key members, ect..then you close if they are the weakest links...which by MS analysis they were.

Again, I will make a small Sony comparison, just so some of you can understand and see past the bias; Insomniac, ND, and Bungie have made some of the best games ever created, yet Sony saw fit to cut jobs in every of these studios, even tho Insomniac & ND are the biggest producers of PS games, leagues ahead better than Tango and Arkane, yet, they saw cuts, mind you, while being the TOP produces of PS first party. They were told to cut costs, and more jobs may be on the line, and Bungie is being threatened by a hostile Sony takeover. Put that in perspective, as I know that layoffs and dev closures are different, but if the best of the best is getting cut off, it is less than surprising, that lesser studios are closing.

@Cheva,
My response fits well with your comments as well. You even went on to prove that the dev closures are not just due to A/B acquisition. Then you point out Sony has less money than MS, inferring that MS should keep devs open that they see as lesser earners, while Sony having less money makes it okay to close them. lol...it doesn't work that way.

gold_drake3h ago

im not reading all of that. u have ur opinion, i have mine.

thats rly it.

but this aint sony vs ms.

ApocalypseShadow3h ago

You're trying to compare a 100 billion company to a company that has 3 TRILLION worth. SIE has to live or die on their own. And in turn, PlayStation has helped the main company again and again. Sony has to balance out what is working and not working in the company.

While Xbox has Daddy Warbucks footing the bill to keep the platform afloat. They have been bleeding money from Nvidia hardware in the OG Xbox, the RROD fiasco, the attempted 2013 DRM nonsense and the lies about being the most powerful console in the world and the losses of paying out millions to prop up a service hoping it catches on with enough subscribers to justify its existence.

They're not comparable if Xbox isn't allowed to live or die by its actions. It's subsidized. Revenue isn't profit. And if they were profiting on their own, they wouldn't be closing developers. If they were profiting, they wouldn't need Daddy Warbucks spending 80 to 100 billion buying up 3rd party publishers to sustain a loss leading platform.

They stopped announcing game sales, stopped announcing hardware sales, stopped announcing game pass subscribers, they are putting games on their competitors platforms but you're telling us that they are doing great even after killing jobs and closing developers at Xbox.

Stop drinking the Kool aid. You're drunk.

anast6h ago

They are going to use AI for a large portion of the game development process. Upper management need bonuses and the shareholders need more money. So, people will lose their jobs.

Skuletor6h ago

Maybe they were already using AI to make business decisions, which would explain why they closed Hi-Fi Rush's studio, then said they need more games like Hi-Fi Rush not long after that announcement.

Crows905h ago(Edited 5h ago)

They shouldn't have bought any studios. Some is okay...but they went on a shopping spree...stupid

Einhander19725h ago

The better question is why did Microsoft buy publishers for a service they were subsidizing they knew couldn't support.

And why are so many websites trying to make people feel sorry for Microsoft instead of truly criticizing the fact they are closing studios and killing jobs that would have been fine if Microsoft themselves hadn't gotten involved.

Quit feeling sorry for Microsoft and start feeling sorry for the industry and the all the gamers who are actually losing out.

THIS IS MICROSOFTS FAULT.

RNTody5h ago

The first thing that happens after any major acquisition or merger is a consolidation of the whole new portfolio, which includes cutting any excess, bloat or portfolios that don't fit the larger MO of the big boy. So far, it's been par for the course with Microsoft and that's why gamers have been so against this acquisition. Tango Gameworks is the beginning. You think Microsoft wants to pay to keep small timers like Ninja Theory in business?

There is absolutely zero evidence to suggest that Microsoft will improve any of these studios, but plenty to suggest that they will get rid of what they don't need and hold onto the IP. The real agenda of the acquisition was always to acquire The Elder Scrolls, Diablo, Fallout, Call of Duty, Candy Crush etc. that will create millions in passive revenue stream for Microsoft regardless of where the games release. Microsoft simply wants their cut.

Because of Games Pass Microsoft has no interest in investing in new IP which is risky and requires creative talent they can neither nurture nor manage. Game Pass has also not grown in the way Microsoft expected it to, even post acquisitions. Therefore the logical thing to do, without serious money makers to release, is to cut as much cost as possible.

Show all comments (31)
110°

7 Deserving Games That Never Got Backward Compatibility

Backward compatibility works for many games on newer consoles, but titles such as The Simpsons: Hit and Run have been left out.

90°

20 Best Survival Games of All Time

From base building to swinging willies, here are the best survival games around, which include a couple of less than obvious picks.

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culturedvultures.com
Vader821d 9h ago

No 7 days to die is criminal