To Make things clear, before I begin, and before you get angry, I know that the only opinion that really matters at the end of the day is your own, review scores aren’t the be all and end all of whether a game is any good. Your own enjoyment of it is. Irrespective of what some hack like me thinks. This is first and foremost just a little bit of fun and maybe a way to settle some arguments down the pub. A modern day attempt at emulating the work of the Guiness Book of Records if you will.
So with that out of the way let;s get on with the analysis.
It’s finally here folks, after eight long years we are finally ushering in the 8th generation of games consoles, with both the Xbox One and the PS4 out this week and the WiiU now about to enter its second year in our homes, I’ve got to thinking. Which of the three next gen machines has, critically speaking at least, the best retail launch exclusives?
So I’ve turned to Metacritic to see how each system’s retail launch exclusives stack up against each other, the result considering the ire a certain got at the time. are interesting to say the least.
First up we have Nintendo with the WiiU which launched on 18th November last year in North America followed y the 30th November in Europe and finally 8th December in Japan, with a selection of 23 retail games to chose from.
New Super Mario Bros U
New Super Mario Bros U – 84
Nintendoland – 77
Notable Third party Exclusives
ZombiU – 77
Scribblenauts U – 74
Overall average score – 78
Despite reports that the WiiU had a weak launch line up, what exclusive content was available was generally well received by critics and was backed up with some pretty good ports of games released previously on the Xbox 360 and PS3 with additional WiiU specific features such as Arkham City Armoured Edition (85), Mass Effect 3: Special Edition (87) and Tekken Tag 2: WiiU Edition (83).
Next on the block is the PlayStation 4 which was released in North America on 15th November and is due out on 29th November in Europe with a total of 12 retail games to choose from.
Killzone Shadow Fall
Killzone Shadow Fall – 73
Knack – 56
Notable Third party Exclusives
None
Overall Average Score – 64.5
What’s interesting about the PS4, is that unlike the WiiU and Xbox One it has no third party Exclusives, Instead relying heavily on technically superior versions of multiplatform games such as Assassin Creed IV (82), Battlefield IV (87) and Call of Duty Ghosts (78).
Finally we have the Xbox One which is out tomorrow 22nd November in both North America and Europe, with a line up of 17 games at retail.
Forza 5
First party Exclusives
Forza 5 – 82
Notable Third party Exclusives
Dead Rising 3 – 78
Ryse -61
Overall Average Score – 73.6
Like the WiiU the Xbox One has a nice balance of 1st and 3rd party exclusives as well as the same multiplatform games as the PS4 in Call of Duty Ghosts (74), Battlefield 4 and Assassins Creed IV
Results
1st WiiU – 78. 2nd Xbox One – 73.6. 3rd PlayStation 4 -64.5.
Well bugger me I was not expecting that. It looks like Nintendo actually had the most exclusive titles available in stores at its launch last year but on average have also by and large got a better reception from critics than the competition.
The biggest surprise considering all the hype, is that the PS4 which, from a statistical standpoint at least, is the weakest console averaging a score only 66.5 compared to the Xbox One’s 73.6 and the WiiUs 78. Then again Sony’s consoles have always taken a little while to get going, just look at the PS3.
But to be honest, the 8th gens launch line ups are all a little disappointing to be honest. None of them have had that definite killer app like the N64, the Xbox or even the Wii had at launch.
Its taken the WiiU just under a year to get its first proper classic in Super Mario 3D World, here’s hoping it won’t take that long for the Xbox One or PS4 to do the same.
