1UP compiled a list of the best and worst games of modern console launches, including an average review score of each system's launch titles. This post updates a similar Next Gen article with just-released Wii and PS3 scores. The verdict? The Wii has the worst recent launch lineup, the PlayStation holds the all-time worst record, and the PS3 lands only two slots above the Wii.While we had fun browsing the best and worst games, we'll keep in mind that this list means little. (1UP and Next Gen even have marginally different numbers.) All of the 1UP launch scores average in the 70-80 percent range, so none clearly represents the success or failure of a console; the Dreamcast comfortably sits in third place, with Soul Calibur as the highest ranked launch title for any system.
See also: Next-gen launch reviews projected
[Thanks, Embassy]



















(Page 1) Reader Comments
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10,1,1,1,1 AVG = 2.8
3,3,3 AVG = 3
Now which set would you rather have?
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From what I saw the ps3 had mostly mediocre games. Resistance looked decent and Genji was sorta interesting. But for the most part the games weren't anything special.
All in all, I'd say the Wii had a great launch, it's just that it was burdened with the likes of Barnyard, Open Season, and Ice Age whereas the ps3 had a few ok but mostly average-not great games.
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but yeah, we'll see how things hold up over time once games like ssbb, mario galaxy, mgs4, dmc4, and so fourth take the stage.
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Now look at the scores 1UP gave to all Wii games compared to other gaming sites....notice a trend?
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nintendo fans F teh W!
suprised to see the 360 so high on the list seeing as how COD2 and PGR3 were the only decent launch games(and i *think* the highest rated )while everything else was port after port.
oh and props joystizzle
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I wonder what the average would be without games like Avatar and Happy Feet :|
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Wii=Win
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Leshrac began to touch on a workable solution. Simply take the best three (or four, five, whatever) games from launch day and average their rankings.
See who wins there.
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Sony should have done what Nintendo did with Zelda and repackage their best PS2 releases as PS3 games to make the console look better, because the PS2 is still the console to own right now for great games, with 360 in second.
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The 360 had lots of launch games in the 80s. PDZ, Condemned, NBA 2K6, Need for Speed Most Wanted and King Kong (if you can get past its easiness) were all solid games with scores in the low 80s. Kameo got a 79. Heck, Condemned and PDZ (for the multiplayer; can't stress that enough) remain two of my favorite games for the system. The PS3 and the Wii have fewer games scoring in the 80s.
And the 360 doesn't have a horrible clunker bringing it down at the bottom. The lowest-rated game for the 360 is rated considerably higher than the lowest-rated games for the PS3 or Wii. So not having an anchor of suckitude weighing your average down helps, too.
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..im lost with all this "use the wii's best games to make an avg."
how does that balance things out?
...i think i just accidentally voted for buchannan
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*fuck Nintendo
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Not to say the PS3 sucks (it does right now). Give the Sony machine another year and it'll be kicking ass. Right now though, the Wii has had the strongest launch lineup of the 3 consoles.
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Serve them right I say.
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The only unique game in the PS3 lineup is Resistance and from what I hear, it's not as good as Gears...
On the other hand, the Wii has titles I want to go to the store to purchase.
That's a much better metric than arbitrary reviews...
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I imagine that there are a lot of Japanese who are disappointed by their ¥59,980 console because of the game they bought. I wonder if they'll be a backlash?
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It'll be nice when Nintendo's real Blue Ocean stuff starts hitting shelves.
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Bull.
If the companies aren't putting their blatant cash-in games, like Happy Feet, on a system, it has nothing to do with "stringent company policies". Whether or not the game sucks (and most likely, it will), it sells, and Sony and Microsoft would get a cut of that. Of course they'd want said games on there.
If they don't appear on a system, it's because a company felt that the amount they'd have to spend on development doesn't equate to appropriate returns - i.e. they wouldn't sell enough to justify the expense of developing for that system. That mostly equates to "there aren't enough copies of that console out there to justify including it in development plans."
Besides, I've got huge stacks of PS2 games that definitely go against the argument that Sony has anything resembling stringent quality demands.
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Dont get me Wrong, I love my 360, I didn't get it at launch but Getting my Wii at Launch went surprising easy, I preordered it, waited in a line for 10-15mins at the midnight launch, took it home and am still playing it.
I am playing Zelda, Excite Truck, and Truma Center to death. My Parents are hooked on Wii Sports. I cant wait fot Super Smash Bros Brawl and Mario are released but until then The Launch games will get me over.
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except that Wii has the Rayman, and that is sooooo awesome.
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how does that balance things out?"
The average number of titles sold with a Nintendo Wii was 3. So you could use the top 3 titles as a logical average, except that obviously people will be buying different games.
Among gamers however, there are very few of us that want to (or can afford) to buy every single launch title. Should Happy Feet hurt the Wii's average launch as much as Zelda helps it? Which do you think sold better?
As many of you are aware (who have taken a statistics course), the presence of horrible games could be atributed to outliers. They often skew averages, which is why they are often removed from a mean score.
Personally, I enjoy the variety of Wii launch titles. I would much rather have a group of very good games with several horrible games at launch to choose from than a slew of just average titles, because I won't buy the bad ones. The fact that Happy Feet's 4.5 is considered an equivalent horrible score to Zelda's 9.6 average is a perfect example of how the scores are skewed in this case.
And sure, if you have to, toss out Zelda. You still have Wii Sports (free!), Trauma Center, Rayman, ExciteTruck, and Madden 07 (the HIGHEST rated football game so far this year). Still a solid launch lineup by any account, even if there are several horrible games.
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