Theslammer
Member
"For the players."
Previous threads:
Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom (1985)
Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (1989)
Super NES (1991)
Sega CD (1992)
Nintendo 64 (1996)
Sega Dreamcast (1999)
Sony Playstation 2 (2000)
Game Boy Advance (2001)
Microsoft Xbox (2001)
Nintendo DS (2004)
Playstation Portable (2005)
Microsoft Xbox 360 (2005)
Sony Playstation 4 (2013)
From the pre-orders, long lines on launch day, surprise Christmas presents, and anticipation for new technology, console/handheld launches can be some of the most times as a gamer.
Some launches produce classic games. Some launches produce a lot of good games. Some launches, you look back and think, "There really wasn't much, was there?" I've put together the launches at the bottom of the post for the US, Europe and Asia.
My experience:
This was the first console I ever received at launch/close to that first Christmas.
My PS4 was a surprise gift from my brother and mom. My brother bought an Xbox One for himself, and my mom thought I'd feel left out if I didn't have a PS4. Mind you, I lived (and still live) by myself, adult with a career, and I told her earlier I didn't need a PS4 since there was plenty I still had to play on a PS3. But my brother convinced her to just get a PS4 as one big gift, in secret. He and his wife searched websites for an opening, they found one on Best Buy, called my mom, she made the payment quickly, and that was that.
After the purchase was made, he talked to me and told me about a "friend" who bought a PS4 but didn't buy any games and asked what games he should get. I thought that was weird of him, but whatever:
Me: "What games does he like?"
Brother: "Well, Mass Effect, JRPGs... he has similar tastes to you."
Me: "Hmm... well, I'd say Resogun, which is a downloadable arcade shooter, and probably Assassin's Creed Black Flag."
Brother: "He only has the money to buy one."
Me: "Resogun's not really expensive, but if he can only budget $60 and wants a full-fledged game, then Black Flag."
Brother: "All right, I'll let him know."
Little did I know I just told them I wanted for Christmas! xD~~
So the surprise was great. I was visiting for Christmas, she pulled out a surprise present, I posted a picture of it on FB, said, "SURPRISE PRESENT! WHAT COULD IT BE?"
My brother goes:
"It's a picture of a middle finger in a box. There's weights in there too. She drew it herself. She took an art class for 6 months to get the shading right. It's actually quite good."
This was Christmas Eve. On Christmas, I started to connect the dots from the conversation I had with my brother a while back and figured out that it had to be the PS4. And yup, it was, and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was one of the games.
When I drove home after Christmas, I got my free trial of PS+ and downloaded the Instant Game Collection, which also gave me way more PS3 games to play. But I did this after buying Resogun, so I never got it for free. No matter, as I was happy to support it because it ended up being my favorite launch game. It looked like something that was impossible to do on the PS3, and while it did receive a PS3 port, it was more blurry, with far less on the screen and half the frame rate. It just wasn't as good of a game being played like that as the blur made it hard to see how close you were to bullets, and half the frame rate was killer gameplay-wise for a game like this. But the PS4 version? Awesome, co-op OR solo. I ended up buying all DLC for it over the next year or so.
Black Flag was my first Assassin's Creed and was a lot of fun. I loved sailing around in it and loved the increased visual fidelity the PS4 provided. I was never able to finish the main quest -- the game became kind of repetitive -- and I REALLY didn't like some of the tailing missions since many late-game seemed poorly done. But as a whole? It was a lot of fun, beating some of the Legendary Ships felt great, and I enjoyed the sword fighting. No regrets "asking" for this one.
My experience with Injustice came later. Fun game, nothing amazing, but definitely was happy to have it on PS+.
So overall? I thought it was a good launch that provided more than the PS3 did. There were fun games, and Resogun was excellent. Did it have a Halo or Mario 64 caliber game that was a major influence on the medium? That it did not. But it did have good games, and I would argue Resogun was at such a high level that it remains one of my favorite games on the console despite the wide breadth of the library now. It's always a game I suggest new buyers get.
TL;DR: PS4 was a surprise gift, brother helped figure out what game to get me, Black Flag was fun, Resogun was fantastic. Overall, a good launch, with Resogun being far and beyond the best game, made better with DLC.

Previous threads:
Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom (1985)
Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (1989)
Super NES (1991)
Sega CD (1992)
Nintendo 64 (1996)
Sega Dreamcast (1999)
Sony Playstation 2 (2000)
Game Boy Advance (2001)
Microsoft Xbox (2001)
Nintendo DS (2004)
Playstation Portable (2005)
Microsoft Xbox 360 (2005)
Sony Playstation 4 (2013)
From the pre-orders, long lines on launch day, surprise Christmas presents, and anticipation for new technology, console/handheld launches can be some of the most times as a gamer.
Some launches produce classic games. Some launches produce a lot of good games. Some launches, you look back and think, "There really wasn't much, was there?" I've put together the launches at the bottom of the post for the US, Europe and Asia.
My experience:
This was the first console I ever received at launch/close to that first Christmas.
My PS4 was a surprise gift from my brother and mom. My brother bought an Xbox One for himself, and my mom thought I'd feel left out if I didn't have a PS4. Mind you, I lived (and still live) by myself, adult with a career, and I told her earlier I didn't need a PS4 since there was plenty I still had to play on a PS3. But my brother convinced her to just get a PS4 as one big gift, in secret. He and his wife searched websites for an opening, they found one on Best Buy, called my mom, she made the payment quickly, and that was that.
After the purchase was made, he talked to me and told me about a "friend" who bought a PS4 but didn't buy any games and asked what games he should get. I thought that was weird of him, but whatever:
Me: "What games does he like?"
Brother: "Well, Mass Effect, JRPGs... he has similar tastes to you."
Me: "Hmm... well, I'd say Resogun, which is a downloadable arcade shooter, and probably Assassin's Creed Black Flag."
Brother: "He only has the money to buy one."
Me: "Resogun's not really expensive, but if he can only budget $60 and wants a full-fledged game, then Black Flag."
Brother: "All right, I'll let him know."
Little did I know I just told them I wanted for Christmas! xD~~
So the surprise was great. I was visiting for Christmas, she pulled out a surprise present, I posted a picture of it on FB, said, "SURPRISE PRESENT! WHAT COULD IT BE?"
My brother goes:
"It's a picture of a middle finger in a box. There's weights in there too. She drew it herself. She took an art class for 6 months to get the shading right. It's actually quite good."
This was Christmas Eve. On Christmas, I started to connect the dots from the conversation I had with my brother a while back and figured out that it had to be the PS4. And yup, it was, and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was one of the games.
When I drove home after Christmas, I got my free trial of PS+ and downloaded the Instant Game Collection, which also gave me way more PS3 games to play. But I did this after buying Resogun, so I never got it for free. No matter, as I was happy to support it because it ended up being my favorite launch game. It looked like something that was impossible to do on the PS3, and while it did receive a PS3 port, it was more blurry, with far less on the screen and half the frame rate. It just wasn't as good of a game being played like that as the blur made it hard to see how close you were to bullets, and half the frame rate was killer gameplay-wise for a game like this. But the PS4 version? Awesome, co-op OR solo. I ended up buying all DLC for it over the next year or so.
Black Flag was my first Assassin's Creed and was a lot of fun. I loved sailing around in it and loved the increased visual fidelity the PS4 provided. I was never able to finish the main quest -- the game became kind of repetitive -- and I REALLY didn't like some of the tailing missions since many late-game seemed poorly done. But as a whole? It was a lot of fun, beating some of the Legendary Ships felt great, and I enjoyed the sword fighting. No regrets "asking" for this one.
My experience with Injustice came later. Fun game, nothing amazing, but definitely was happy to have it on PS+.
So overall? I thought it was a good launch that provided more than the PS3 did. There were fun games, and Resogun was excellent. Did it have a Halo or Mario 64 caliber game that was a major influence on the medium? That it did not. But it did have good games, and I would argue Resogun was at such a high level that it remains one of my favorite games on the console despite the wide breadth of the library now. It's always a game I suggest new buyers get.
TL;DR: PS4 was a surprise gift, brother helped figure out what game to get me, Black Flag was fun, Resogun was fantastic. Overall, a good launch, with Resogun being far and beyond the best game, made better with DLC.
Angry Birds Star Wars
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Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Battlefield 4
Blacklight: Retribution
![]()
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Contrast
DC Universe Online
FIFA 14
Flower
Forced
![]()
Injustice: Gods Among Us - Ultimate Edition
Just Dance 2014
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![]()
Killzone Shadow Fall
Knack
Lego Marvel Super Heroes
Madden NFL 25
NBA 2K14
![]()
![]()
Need for Speed Rivals
Resogun
Skylanders: Swap Force
Sound Shapes
Super Motherload
The Playroom
Trine 2: Complete Story
![]()
Warframe
European launch
Angry Birds Star Wars
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Battlefield 4
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Contrast
DC Universe Online
Escape Plan
FIFA 14
Flower
Injustice: Gods Among Us - Ultimate Edition
Just Dance 2014
Killzone Shadow Fall
Knack
Lego Marvel Super Heroes
Madden NFL 25
NBA 2K14
NBA Live 14
Need for Speed Rivals
Putty Squad
Resogun
Sound Shapes
Super Motherload
The Playroom
Trine 2: Complete Story
Warframe
War Thunder
Japanese launch:
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Battlefield 4
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Contrast
Doki-Doki Universe
Don't Starve: Console Edition
Dream C Club: Host Girls on Stage
Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends Complete Edition
Escape Plan
FIFA 14
flOw
Flower
Killzone Shadow Fall
Knack
NBA 2K14
Need for Speed Rivals
Nikoli no Puzzle 4: Sudoku
Nobunaga no Yabou: Souzou
Onigiri
Resogun
Yakuza Restoration
Sound Shapes
Strider
The Playroom
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
Tottemo E Mahjong Plus
Warframe