LAUNCH PAD

How many launch titles did each console have on release day in Europe?

STARTING LINE

PlayStation’s eight launch games are far from a distant memory, with Battle Arena Toshinden, Jumping Flash, Ridge Racer, and WipEout appearing again and again in the responses we received. However, the other half of the lineup from ’95 seems to have been relegated to the annals of history. Anyone remember Kileak: The Blood, Novastorm, Rapid Reload, or 3D Lemmings? Milf’s got his hand up, but he’s on his own…

SECOND WIND

PlayStation 2’s list of launch games was twice as large as its predecessor’s but got a lot less love in our survey. In Europe it included forgettable sport games (FIFA 2001, NHL 2001, Ready 2 Rumble

Boxing: Round 2, International Soccer Superstar), more memorable racers (Wild Wild Racing, Smuggler’s Run, SSX, Ridge Racer V), quirky puzzlers (Fantavision, Aqua Aqua), and shooters (Silent Scope, TimeSplitters, Gradius III and IV), plus the JRPG time forgot (Orphen: Scion Of Sorcery – gee, we wonder why that slipped our minds) and Tekken Tag Tournament.

THREE’S COMPANY

The extended launch lineup PlayStation 3 boasted was owing in part to the advent of the digital download. When the PlayStation Network debuted, you could buy and play Blast Factor, Flow, Gran Turismo HD Concept, GripShift, Lemmings, and Tekken Dark Resurrection completely digitally. It was far from slim pickings for physical releases, though, with 25 titles available at launch. Highlights from this deluge include MotorStorm, Call Of Duty 3, and Virtua Fighter 5.

FOUR’S SCORE

2013 seems a lifetime ago yet somehow also just yesterday. PlayStation 4 launch games were so numerous there are too many for us to print here, but highlights from the 26 titles available on launch day include Assassin’s Creed

IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Resogun, and Knack… so bad it’s good, and bad again.

FIVE’S FUTURE

So after all that what’s in store for PlayStation 5? All shall be revealed in due course but it’s tricky to extrapolate much from this data; there seems to be a definite trend of Sony delivering ‘experimental’ hardware exclusives and almost every lineup offering much more than its predecessor, but we reckon it’s highly unlikely we’ll have 50 games to play on our gorgeous new PS5 on launch day. Besides, if there’s anything we’ve learnt from previous generations, it’s that less might just be

more anway…