Sony Console the Worst Launch Ever

No, not that one. 1up set out to see if the PlayStation 3 had the worst launch of any modern gaming console, and found that another Sony console held that title. The original PlayStation's launch was pretty dreadful, with Warhawk's average of 89.4 being fairly low for most launch title leaders. The worst launch lineup of the 'next-gen' systems is actually the Wii, which has averaged only a 71.3 over its 20 launch titles. The PS3 is next up, with 73.4, and the 360 has the overall best of the three consoles, having scored an average of 77.3 over its 18 titles last year. From the article: "Averages are just that, though, and don't tell you much about the best games that accompanied the launches. And the best of the batch wasn't a surprise, but it wasn't a Nintendo game either. Soul Caliber for the Dreamcast, with an average of 96.4 just barely squeaks out the win over the Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess for Wii. At the other end of the spectrum, both Wii and PS3 share the worst stinkers with Happy Feet for Wii coming in at a 45 and Gundam: Crossfire at the very bottom with its 34.8."

Average over lifetime

[Joker1980]

Just out of amusement i would like to know what the average scores were for games over the entire life of the last gen (PS2/GC/Xbox). While i know that its hardly a fair comparision what with the PS2 having many more titles than it competitors combined i think it would still be interesting from a quality over quantity stand. for an anecdotel example nearly all the gamecube games i have i think are really good, i have twice as many (at least) PS2 games but i would say that only a 1/4 of them are in the excellent range.

Re:Not exactly the most scientific

[AKAImBatman]

Let's say you have two different brands of HDTVs. One has a profit margin of $300, while the other has a margin of $600. Furthermore, let's say you have 4 DVDs with profit margins of $2.00, $3.00, $4.00, and $0.50. How do we compare the profits of one type of item over the other?

Well, we could use averages:

1 $300 HDTV
1 $600 HDTV
-----------
$450/unit average

600 $2.00 DVDs
600 $3.00 DVDs
800 $4.00 DVDs
1000 $0.50 DVDs
---------------
$2.23/unit average

Obviously, the HDTVs win. But that's not a very good way to actually compare your business units. A much better way is weighted averages [mathforum.org]. If we weight the averages of the products against the total sales, we find that the HDTVs are only pulling in a profit of about 30 cents for every sale made while the DVDs are pulling in $1.00 for every sale made. So which one is more valuable to be selling? The big clunky HDTVs that take up shelf space but sell poorly overall, or the DVDs which make up most of the revenue and take very little shelf space?

Of course, actual business practices would state that the HDTV is a method of selling more DVDs. So the sales of the HDTVs in the same store would be justified. But it does show how naive math can get you in serious trouble.

A better metric

[dlthomas]

No one cares how bad the worst game is for each system - even if purchased, it's not going to get much playtime if it falls below a certain threshold. How many bad games there are only matters if you're making uninformed decisions about what to play. What is interesting is whether there are enough good games to keep my schedule full, and the quality of those games. A much better metric would be the average of the best N games, where N is the number I'm likely to purchase. Now, this clearly differs from player to player, so it's more difficult to come up with a single number to represent it, but it would be a more informative comparison. I propose a triplet of averages for different values of N. The question is, what should those be? Might as well ask the question here... How many games do you buy in a year for a given console, and what type of gamer do you consider yourself?

Why do people INSIST that one console is better?

[Pojut]

Let's face it folks. Call them what you want, someone who says "this console is better than another" this generation is a Grade A Nimrod (thank you calvin & hobbes)

Come on. This is like a movie critic trying to compare Dumb and Dumber with A Fistfull of Dollars...they are entirely different movies, just like each of the three new consoles have entirely different purposes.

The Wii is for those that want something new, something fresh. It is the perfect example that graphics don't always make the game...and frankly, while comparitavely the graphics are so-so, they are still quite nice. They have a deliberate 'Nintendo signature' feel to them, which personally I am very happy was not abandoned. If there is one thing to be said about any of Nintendo's previous consoles, it is that they were entirely unique on their own, and you KNOW when you are looking at something on a Nintendo System. Modern day technology meets retro gaming demand: fun above all else.

The PS3 is for those that want to be on the cutting edge. With it's ability to display 1080p, a next-gen optical disc format, and its configurability (read: simple Linux support), it just begs people to tinker with it. Sony's price is not just because the components are expensive, it is used as a method to bring in the drooling techies: if it is shiny, black, and expensive, it HAS to be cool. I for one am very excited to see certain next-gen entries in some series on the PS3...or have you all not thought about God of War 3?

The Xbox 360 is for those that want a sleek, integrated system. Because of Microsoft's hold on the general public in the form of operating systems, it makes it EXTREMELY easy for them to design the 360 in such a way that allows it to integrate seamlessly with your system. Streaming media, accessing files over the network without even needing to check out the instruction manual, slick shape, comfortable controller...the 360 screams 'chic geek'. While it lacks first-party supported Linux now, I can assure you with Microsoft's recent aquisition in the Linux market, it is only a matter of time before Linux on the 360 becomes a reality. And given the way the 360 can already integrate itself into your home network, imagine the fun that could be had...the infinite application availability for Windows with the customization capabilities and rock-solid operation of Linux. It will truly be a thing of beauty.

So this generation, I think all consoles win. They each are attempting to break into a different part of the market, and they all have succeeded tremendously.

All I ask of my fellow gamers is that they stop comparing Dumb and Dumber with A Fistfull of Dollars.

Re:Zonk and the PS3

[GoNINzo]

I completely agree. If it's not an xbox 360 fan boy story or a ps3 hater story, it doesn't get put up. If you'd like some examples from the past 2 weeks, I come up with this pretty rough count based on article titles:

Sony: 11 anti, 2 pro
Microsoft: 1 anti, 6 pro
Nintendo: 4 anti, 5 pro

Granted, Sony is screwing up pretty badly, and the xbox 360 is hitting it's stride, it is a pretty annoying bias.

We get it. We're interrupting your gears of war sessions and you can't find a ps3. But get over it. heh