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Console Launches Good And Bad
Another interesting feature from 1up: rundowns and scores for console launches from the last twenty years. From the article: "The DS, on the other hand, is hardly the system one would have expected from its launch. The system's U.S. debut was a dull thud, with the one truly notable title being a port of Super Mario 64 with compromised control and jaggier graphics. (It also popularized the lamentable concept of "launch windows.") Chalk this up to the fact the developers only learned about the system's existence half a year before its debut. Fortunately for early adopters, the system has gone on to accumulate a killer lineup."
Is it just me, or are most of the scores pretty arbitary? The entire article is pretty contentless, if this were a magazine it would probably be a sidebar to a proper article on console launches or something.
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Anyway, I think the Xbox 360 launch is very impressive, in that as someone living in the UK we're getting at about the same time as everyone else, and not six months (or more) after the first area to get it. Of course Microsoft doing this does seem to mean that the 360 will be in such short supply just about everywhere, as they've got three big launches simulatenously, with the possible bonus of new technology teething troubles. (I don't buy the "It's all marketing" stuff, the rumours make it sound like Microsoft are having problems getting enough of they systems together in time to me, it just sounds too bad).
The lack of much info on what the launch software lineup is going to be is rather disturbing, although as the article points out, few console launchs actually have that many games, especially for the first launch (remember that North America and Europe usually get the consoles after Japan, so a few more games will be ready compared to the Japanese launch). Although of course, some of this is from Microsoft's rush to get the console out of the door. I guess the lack of announcement about launch games is Microsoft trying to get as much time as possible for games to be completed, but I think with about a week to go it may be getting to the point where it's impossible to actually manufacture and distribute a game in time for the launch.
10 PRINT "LOOK AROUND YOU ";
20 GOTO 10
The article is interesting at best. While reviewing all the previous major console launches is a good idea, the result here is about 70% opinion and 30% fact. Instead of presenting us with much in the way of information, we have some vague statements about hype and retail shipments, followed by arbitrary statements as to how well the launch went, and how the system fared thereafter.
Anyone who ever tries to call any console a success or any other console a failure (beyond being immediately branded a fanboy) will ignite whatever medium used into arguments about how Nintendo profited on the Gamecube, Microsoft didn't even want to with the Xbox, and how Sony dominated.
I can already hear the weapons being armed.
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
how can the ps2 get only 3 stars for launch. i made ove 3000 dollars selling ps2's on ebay. no other console has matched that hype since or previously.
How can the Xbox 360 launch get 4 stars and a 1up .. It hasn't been launched yet . Talk about jumping the gun a little , it is still pre-hype .
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
Here are my scores for console releases:
NES - (4 Stars)
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) came about not long after the bottom fell out of the US gaming market. Atari, Colecovision, Intellevision, and even Commodore were flooding the market with subpar game titles because in their minds quantity = profit, but today we know that quantity is no where nearly as important as "quality". The NES gave us quality games that were better than some of the title on many of the exisiting, and extinct gaming platforms.
Gameboy - (2 Stars)
When it first appeared most people weren't all that certain about the Gameboy. The green/blue LCD screen was very hard to see, and its initial release wasn't too spectacular. As more and more games were released and the handheld became more and more popular that is when the system really took off, but it wasn't until it had been on the market for a few years.
Turbografx-16 - (2 Stars)
Its sad but I have to give the launch of the TG-16 a small score. The TG-16 known also as the PC-Engine in Japan, during its day was the #1 Top Selling system in Japan. It had a vast and innovative library of cartridge and CD-ROM based games, but mismanagement and lackluster marketing on the part of NEC eventaully killed the system before it even had a chance to make an impact in the US. The TG-16 is technologically superior to the NES and the PC-Engine had a library of truely spectacular games, but NEC failed to bring many of the more innovative titles to the US. They should have, could have, done much better.
Sega Genesis - (3 Stars)
The Sega Genesis was an overall success for Sega, by far it was their most successful console in the company's history. It wasn't all that technologicall superior to systems like the TG-16 and later the SNES, but during its day the system did well. The launch of the Genesis saw a lot of activity, but some of the first generation games for the console were subpar. It wasn't until a year later that some really impressive games started appearing. The Genesis was also the first console to offer games that broke the 8 megabit barrier.
SNES - (4 Stars)
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was almost as big a success as the NES but it fell slightly short. Their saving grace was the inclusion of Super Mario World which incorporated nearly every special effects feature the hardware could do and wasn't all that bad a game either. We also have the SNES to thank for the existance of the Playstation. Nintendo first made a deal with Sony to develop a CD-ROM addon for the SNES, but the deal fell through and Nintendo got in bed with Phillips and their CD-I technology. That also failed to show anyting, but in the meantime Sony was hard at work using what they learned from being burned by Nintendo to develop the Playstation. The SNES provided us with the first true 3D graphics games like StarFox, FX Traks, and Doom which used the SuperFX chip. The SNES not only had great graphics but its Sony designed sound chip forever changed the world of console game music. I still load up a SNES emulator to listen to the soundtrack of Final Fantasy II (Final Fantasy IV in Japan).
Sega Saturn - (1 Star)
This console had problems from the get go. Sega didn't have all of the developer support they needed to keep a steady stream of new games coming to the market, and their development tools were also lacking. Many game developers found the dual processor architecture of the system too difficult to work with. It wasn't until the system had been out for two years that really great games start to appear, but it was too little too late to save the system.
Nintendo 64 - (4 Stars)
Critics blasted Nintendo for not using the popular CD-ROM format for the N64, but they followed SGI's recommendation that CD-ROMs would be too slow for the system. That would later come to haunt Nintendo as one of their most important developers, Squaresoft, jumped ship and began work on a game for the Playstation. That game was Final Fantasy VII, a
Michael "TheZorch" Haney
thezorch@gmail.com
http://thezorch.googlepages.com/home
They are discussing the launch lineup of games on the linked page. Nothing more.
I can say without out any hesitation that the 360 launch is the Worst Console Launch
Really? Consider the following:
Atari Jaguar - Launched with 4 games (one of which was originally coded as a tech demo), the 5th game came out SIX MONTHS LATER.
3DO - With the Jag launch so badly blown, how could 3DO not take the world by storm? By pricing the damn thing over 3x higher than it's most expensive competitor. Doh!
Sega 32X - Launched with NO games (OK, I'll admit some arrived later that week). Who could forget this classic usenet post?
Atari Lynx - Launched a vastly superior handheld shortly after the orginal Gameboy. How did Atari screw the pooch? By pricing it WAY too high, and launching only in two cities! (NY and LA)
Atari 7800 & Sega Master System - Either of these systems could have launched into the empty North American marketplace before the NES and won by default, but both manufacturers were too wimpy to even try.
NEC TurboGrafx-16 - Anybody remember the launch hype for this platform? No? That's because NEC couldn't market their way out of a paper bag. (Well, at least not in North America.)
Atari XEGS - But hey, at least NEC did a better job than this one!
(Damn, you'd never guess I'm an Atari fan by looking at this list.)
Must... think up... something... clever!