PS4 Launch Titles are (Surprisingly) not getting good reviews

Mr C

New member
May 8, 2008
283
0
0
Casual Shinji said:
Launch games are always not great.
Not picking on this chap in particular, but this is a common theme throughout this thread. You all must be young whipper snappers as I remember Super Mario World and Super Mario 64 being launch titles. They were both awesome, they still are!
 

Mr C

New member
May 8, 2008
283
0
0
Irridium said:
Viva Piñata
Sorry to be picky, but this was released about one year after the system. It is also a good game that seems to get a load of shit from people who have never played it.
 

Brotha Desmond

New member
Jan 3, 2011
347
0
0
First, just because a game didn't get a 90+ on a score doesn't mean that the game is bad. If a game gets a 70 or above, and I was interested in it to begin with, I would check out on what they actually said in the review, not just what the score was. Besides, I never considered Killzone to be a great series anyway. As for Knack, it still seems good enough to hold me over until more games come out. Plus, everyone gets Resogun for free anyway since all playstations come with a free month of PS +.
 
Apr 28, 2008
14,634
0
0
Mr C said:
Irridium said:
Viva Piñata
Sorry to be picky, but this was released about one year after the system. It is also a good game that seems to get a load of shit from people who have never played it.
Oops. Yeah, you're right. Must have gotten confused since I got the 360 in 2006 and this was the first game I got with it :p

And yes, it is a good game. I adore it.
 

Hazy

New member
Jun 29, 2008
7,423
0
0
Knack looked awful across the board. Shadow Fall, on the other hand, looks quite good. Great usage of color and a story that's actually interesting.
 

Imperioratorex Caprae

Henchgoat Emperor
May 15, 2010
5,499
0
0
I don't think they necessarily suck according to reviews, they just don't pop huge as "OMG nexgen console is the new black!" type reaction. They're most likely playable and likeable but not anything we couldn't have had on the previous gen minus a few bells and whistles...
 

Shamanic Rhythm

New member
Dec 6, 2009
1,653
0
0
It's not surprising at all. Super Mario 64 and Halo are the exception rather than the norm. Launch titles are rarely killer apps; and when they are it's generally due to a well funded, experienced in-house developer.

There's good reason for that, when you think about it. New consoles are always going to involve an element of risk, and no third-party developer is really going to be keen to take a game they're hoping will be a major hit and staple it to a console that might turn out to be really slow to shift units.
 

Arnoxthe1

Elite Member
Dec 25, 2010
3,391
2
43
Acutally, and keep in mind, this is coming from an Xbox fan, I think Shadow Fall got rated too low. Gamespot should have given it an 8 at least. However, I do find it funny that Killzone is now just catching up to Halo in terms of multiplayer features and options. In any case, I'm glad they're going in the right direction with it.
 

Roxas1359

Burn, Burn it All!
Aug 8, 2009
33,758
1
0
Mr C said:
So you're the other one? :p
*raises hand*
I loved it too. Seriously, the amount of inbreeding and murder that goes on in that game rivals that of Game of Thrones. XD
 

Reed Spacer

That guy with the thing.
Jan 11, 2011
841
0
0
Shamanic Rhythm said:
It's not surprising at all. Super Mario 64 and Halo are the exception rather than the norm. Launch titles are rarely killer apps; and when they are it's generally due to a well funded, experienced in-house developer.

There's good reason for that, when you think about it. New consoles are always going to involve an element of risk, and no third-party developer is really going to be keen to take a game they're hoping will be a major hit and staple it to a console that might turn out to be really slow to shift units.
I only really pay attention to the positives and negatives of a game; just because some guy paid to give his opinion thinks a game sucks doesn't mean I will.
 

Aiddon_v1legacy

New member
Nov 19, 2009
3,672
0
0
I fail to see what part of this is surprising. Fact of the matter is that launch lineups are NEVER great (at least in the past twenty years). First year offerings are mostly just tech demos trying to get a handle on the hardware and working the kinks. Hyped titles like Knack and Killzone shouldn't be a shock to anyone who's been through a console launch before.
 

EzraPound

New member
Jan 26, 2008
1,763
0
0
hazabaza1 said:
Mediocre to terrible is... 74 and 59. Scores which indicate "Pretty good" and "above average".

Even so, not that surprising. Did any console have a positive launch?
Positive launches are launches with killer apps--almost no consoles, historically, have been able to field a wide array of great titles. By this standard, we can compare the good with the bad.

Good launches:

NES (U.S.): Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, Ice Climber, Excitebike--probably the best launch ever

SNES (U.S.): Super Mario World, F-Zero, Gradius III, Pilotwings, SimCity--another candidate for the best launch ever

N64 (U.S.): Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings--a little thin, but SM64 was a work of titanic significance

Dreamcast (U.S.): Soulcalibur, Power Stone, Sonic Adventure, The House of the Dead 2--a very strong launched that helped propel sales of the Dreamcast, and hindered only by the failure of Sonic Adventure to meet expectations

Xbox (U.S.): Halo: Combat Evolved, Dead or Alice 3, and Jet Set Radio Future, which would receive a lot of attention for being bundled in with the Xbox--it's hard to imagine what might've happened to the Xbox if not for the strength of this launch

Wii (U.S.): Wii Sports and Twilight Princess, with a side of CoD 3--the strength of the Wii's launch, which hinged a lot on the surprise trending of Wii Sports, helped cement the console's sales lead for the next few years

Bad launches:

Sega Genesis (U.S.)--Altered Beast certainly wasn't enough to attract attention away from the NES and its impending Super Mario Bros. 3, and the Genesis would hobble behind that console in sales until Sonic arrived

PlayStation (U.S.)--Not pretty. Street Fighter: The Movie was a laughably bad entry in a prematurely aging series, Battle Arena Toshinden was good but flaked at the market, and Ridge Racer was still years from hitting its stride as a series. The only redemption came in the form of the classic Rayman, which went on to be the best-selling PSX game in Europe.

PlayStation 2 (U.S.)--Not that bad--Tekken Tag Tournament, Fantavision, Smuggler's Run, and Unreal Tournament all found their niches--but the fact that the launch was totally overshadowed by the inclusion of a DVD player in the system speaks volumes about its inability to excite the public.

Gamecube (U.S.)--Rogue Leader and Wave Race: Blue Storm were good, but also for specialists. The only Nintendo home console to launch without a Mario or Zelda game, and also the least successful (the jury is still out on the Wii U). Coincidence?

Xbox 360 (U.S.)--Granted, the strategy of Microsoft was to beat its competitors to the marketplace, but this was still laughably bad. You had Rare's degeneration on display with the much-vaunted but ultimately vacuous Perfect Dark Zero, a soggy and completely pointless Quake 4, and a boatload of sports games--most of them available on last-gen consoles.

PS3 (U.S.): Anyone want to play Dynasty Warriors with Gundams? Or a bunch of mediocre action games like Genji or Untold Legends? You might've thought Sony would've learned from the PS1 and PS2, but they hadn't--this makes the PS2's launch look like the NES's.

Wii U (U.S.): Maybe Nintendo thought that by offering yet another New Super Mario Bros. title to the public they would save the Wii U from following in the Gamecube's underwhelming footsteps. Well, they were wrong: the Wii U is doing terribly, and I'm pretty sure Pikmin 3 or an HD Wink Waker remake won't solve their woes, either.

--

Conclusion: Nintendo has historically given us the best launches--though as their talent pool has thinned, even they've grown unreliable. Also, launches weren't always bad: up until the sixth generation they were a mixed bag, though they've reached their absolute nadir in recent years, probably because of the time required to understand the architecture of modern consoles as well as the fact the industry is no longer associated with two or three major IPs (Sonic, Mario): it's harder to tell, in 2013's diverse marketplace, what will be a runaway hit.
 

Shamanic Rhythm

New member
Dec 6, 2009
1,653
0
0
Reed Spacer said:
I only really pay attention to the positives and negatives of a game; just because some guy paid to give his opinion thinks a game sucks doesn't mean I will.
That is precisely the kind of attitude people should be taking more often.
 

DarkSpartan

New member
Jun 18, 2013
20
0
0
Crazy Zaul said:
Who the hell is surprised by this? Killzone has done pretty well for a launch title. I noticed today Ghosts metascore has actually fallen now to be the same as Killzone.
The Xbone will probably be equally meh cos DR3 is a technological clusterfuck and Ryse is gonna be decent at best as oppose to crap as it looked at E3. Forza will probably do well but its pretty hard to do a driving game badly.
You, sir, have my disagreement. DR3 does indeed look like a cluster of f-bombs hunting for a target, but all the material I've seen on Ryse gives it the gameplay feel of Dragon's Lair, only for 6-10 hours rather than the half-hour Dragon's Lair/Space Ace. It won't even get the relative mercy of short cutscenes.

I expect Ghosts to drop in the Metascore at some point, as well. All that for an extra $100 and the DRM waiting in the corner waiting for Microsoft to tell it to come out to play. A score of 74 is perfectly respectable, and Joystiq is a few short steps above Kotaku in terms of attitude. See what Jim and the gang here think about it, or Destructoid (because they actually use their entire range). This isn't high school, kids. Relax.

Hell, for that matter, 74 is better than I've seen a number of titles at the end of more than one console generation, never mind the front end of a new one. Remember the A2600, and weep.
 

Robert Kalmar

New member
Feb 3, 2012
45
0
0
I'm sorry, but I have to do this... "Sony is DOOOOOMED, there are no GAAAAAAAMES! They should stick to making cd players and TVs!". I thinks it's unfair that there are only dumb Nintendo doomsayers. Seriously, i'm not that surprised. Outside of FF15 and MGS5 I didn't found anything interesting in the upcoming library of games for the PS4 and I would say that there is a 99% chance that they will be ported to the PC. PC is the fastest growing market these days and I think MGS5 is already announced for PC and Nomura said, that they are making FF15 for the PC, then downgrade it for the consoles. My prediction is that the PS4's sales won't meet Sony's or anybody else's (read: Sony fanboys) expectations. They will be higher, than the Wii U's, but not that amazing.
 

ArkhamJester

New member
Sep 30, 2010
156
0
0
EzraPound said:
hazabaza1 said:
Mediocre to terrible is... 74 and 59. Scores which indicate "Pretty good" and "above average".

Even so, not that surprising. Did any console have a positive launch?
Positive launches are launches with killer apps--almost no consoles, historically, have been able to field a wide array of great titles. By this standard, we can compare the good with the bad.

Good launches:

NES (U.S.): Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, Ice Climber, Excitebike--probably the best launch ever

SNES (U.S.): Super Mario World, F-Zero, Gradius III, Pilotwings, SimCity--another candidate for the best launch ever

N64 (U.S.): Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings--a little thin, but SM64 was a work of titanic significance

Dreamcast (U.S.): Soulcalibur, Power Stone, Sonic Adventure, The House of the Dead 2--a very strong launched that helped propel sales of the Dreamcast, and hindered only by the failure of Sonic Adventure to meet expectations

Xbox (U.S.): Halo: Combat Evolved, Dead or Alice 3, and Jet Set Radio Future, which would receive a lot of attention for being bundled in with the Xbox--it's hard to imagine what might've happened to the Xbox if not for the strength of this launch

Wii (U.S.): Wii Sports and Twilight Princess, with a side of CoD 3--the strength of the Wii's launch, which hinged a lot on the surprise trending of Wii Sports, helped cement the console's sales lead for the next few years

Bad launches:

Sega Genesis (U.S.)--Altered Beast certainly wasn't enough to attract attention away from the NES and its impending Super Mario Bros. 3, and the Genesis would hobble behind that console in sales until Sonic arrived

PlayStation (U.S.)--Not pretty. Street Fighter: The Movie was a laughably bad entry in a prematurely aging series, Battle Arena Toshinden was good but flaked at the market, and Ridge Racer was still years from hitting its stride as a series. The only redemption came in the form of the classic Rayman, which went on to be the best-selling PSX game in Europe.

PlayStation 2 (U.S.)--Not that bad--Tekken Tag Tournament, Fantavision, Smuggler's Run, and Unreal Tournament all found their niches--but the fact that the launch was totally overshadowed by the inclusion of a DVD player in the system speaks volumes about its inability to excite the public.

Gamecube (U.S.)--Rogue Leader and Wave Race: Blue Storm were good, but also for specialists. The only Nintendo home console to launch without a Mario or Zelda game, and also the least successful (the jury is still out on the Wii U). Coincidence?

Xbox 360 (U.S.)--Granted, the strategy of Microsoft was to beat its competitors to the marketplace, but this was still laughably bad. You had Rare's degeneration on display with the much-vaunted but ultimately vacuous Perfect Dark Zero, a soggy and completely pointless Quake 4, and a boatload of sports games--most of them available on last-gen consoles.

PS3 (U.S.): Anyone want to play Dynasty Warriors with Gundams? Or a bunch of mediocre action games like Genji or Untold Legends? You might've thought Sony would've learned from the PS1 and PS2, but they hadn't--this makes the PS2's launch look like the NES's.

Wii U (U.S.): Maybe Nintendo thought that by offering yet another New Super Mario Bros. title to the public they would save the Wii U from following in the Gamecube's underwhelming footsteps. Well, they were wrong: the Wii U is doing terribly, and I'm pretty sure Pikmin 3 or an HD Wink Waker remake won't solve their woes, either.

--

Conclusion: Nintendo has historically given us the best launches--though as their talent pool has thinned, even they've grown unreliable. Also, launches weren't always bad: up until the sixth generation they were a mixed bag, though they've reached their absolute nadir in recent years, probably because of the time required to understand the architecture of modern consoles as well as the fact the industry is no longer associated with two or three major IPs (Sonic, Mario): it's harder to tell, in 2013's diverse marketplace, what will be a runaway hit.
How was the Gamecube's launch a let down? yeah their wasn't a major mario game at release but most of the games that were launched at release are still fun today, super monkey ball luigi's mansion, and tony hawk 3 say hi. if your talking raw sales then yeah I get what you are saying but if you look ate the US and EU release libraries then the gamecube had quiet possibly the best launch lineup period even if none of the launch games became legends.
 

scapefly

New member
Nov 2, 2013
15
0
0
would AS4 be considered a launch game for the PS4? as I cant imagine that one being bad...
 

Reed Spacer

That guy with the thing.
Jan 11, 2011
841
0
0
Shamanic Rhythm said:
Reed Spacer said:
I only really pay attention to the positives and negatives of a game; just because some guy paid to give his opinion thinks a game sucks doesn't mean I will.
That is precisely the kind of attitude people should be taking more often.
I mean something like 'Good: Unique game style, multiple branching paths Bad: Somewhat primative grapics, fairly steep learing curve' is information that actually helps me. It tells the (potential) goods and bads and lets me make my own choice as opposed to some stranger telling me "It sucks; don't buy it."

The only ones who have the right to tell me something like that are people who know me and the types of games I like and dislike.