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[Theslammer]

"Live in your world. Play in ours."

Previous threads:

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (1989)
Super NES (1991)
Nintendo 64 (1996)
Sega Dreamcast (1999)
Game Boy Advance (2001)
Microsoft Xbox (2001)
Nintendo DS (2004)
Playstation Portable (2005)
Microsoft Xbox 360 (2005)
Sony Playstation 4 (2013)

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:

My brother received a PS2 the following year in April, and my experience was solely with launch games. In particular, Madden NFL 2001, Dynasty Warriors 2, Smuggler's Run, and Midnight Club.

I was still playing the PS1 by and large and wasn't too into the last two, but I wasn't big into driving games unless they were Twisted Metal. However, Madden? That really got me into the football genre during the PS2 days. I LOVED Madden 2001; I played the hell out of that.

My favorite was Dynasty Warriors 2, however. I never saw that many units on the screen at once until DW2, and I loved that many of them were my allies. Did things get hairy for me? Better run back to my allies for now. Or I could try to be a hero and charge right into danger. Those damn builders in the Yellow Turban Rebellion, though... ugh, died many times there. Sometimes I'd just sit and wait for enemies to roll into allied HQ so I could heroically dispatch of all of them (or die trying). It was just a blast, and I've been a Dynasty Warriors fan ever since.

This is definitely one of the biggest launches ever, though not up there as the best in terms of public opinion. What did you think of the launch? What was your experience?

Armored Core 2

DOA2: Hardcore
Dynasty Warriors 2
ESPN International Track & Field
ESPN Winter X Games Snowboarding
Eternal Ring
Evergrace
FantaVision
Gungriffon Blaze

Madden NFL 2001
Midnight Club: Street Racing
NHL 2001
Orphen: Scion of Sorcery
Q-Ball: Billiards Master
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2

Ridge Racer V
Silent Scope

Smuggler's Run
SSX
Street Fighter EX3
Summoner
Swing Away Golf

Tekken Tag Tournament
TimeSplitters
Unreal Tournament
Wild Wild Racing
X-Squad

Japanese launch: March 4, 2000

A-Train 6
Drum Mania
Eternal Ring
Kakinoki Shogi IV
Kessen
Mahjong Taikai III
Morita Shogi
Ridge Racer V
Stepping Selection
Street Fighter EX3


European launch: November 24, 2000

Aqua Aqua
Dynasty Warriors 2
FantaVision
FIFA 2001
Gradius III and IV
International Superstar Soccer
NHL 2001
Orphen: Scion of Sorcery
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2
Ridge Racer V
Silent Scope
Smuggler's Run
SSX
Tekken Tag Tournament
TimeSplitters
Wild Wild Racing

 

[RobertMuldoon]

Such a good line up!

 

[Savantcore]

I got one for xmas '01 with THPS3, and Wrath of Cortex. MGS2 not long after that.

Unbelievable lineup at the time.

 

[Kolibri]

I wish it was still tradition to launch with a Ridge Racer game.

 

[Bishop89]

Tekken Tag Tournament
TimeSplitters
Armored Core

 

[requiem02]

The console so powerful it could launch nukes in Iraq.

The launch lineup was a little lackluster, but who really cared? I just wanted to watch The Matrix on DVD!

 

[J2 Cool]

At the time I thought the launch was a little weak compared to Dreamcast. But after that summer of GT3, and fall/winter of DMC, THPS3, GTA3, MGS2, FFX. Oh boy

 

[Jimrpg]

Was 29th in line at the Myer Melbourne launch.

I remember I wanted a SNES and a Playstation so bad but I would have been about 10 at SNES launch and 15 for Playstation so I never had enough money to get those. Even though PS2 was AU$750 it didn't seem like a lot for the generational leap back then. Even PCs were expensive back then. The fact it came with a DVD player pleased my dad and I so it seemed like good value. Now all grown up, I think even $500 for a console is expensive, so times have really changed.

Anyways for launch I picked up -

The PS2 console
Ridge Racer V
Tekken Tag Tournament
A second controller
And a memory card

It must have been about $1000 all up. My friend had a Coles/Myer discount card so I got 5% off.

Ridge Racer V was fun but a bit of a disappointment after a couple of weeks. As it was my first console in a while, I was able to forget about the shimmering and aliasing for a bit, but the game was kinda average.

Tekken Tag while great technically wasn't very engaging as a game.

Especially compared to DOA2 which I picked up a couple of weeks later, which blew me away and I have been a DOA fan ever since. About a month later I also picked up SSX, which was easily the best game out of the launch, its a real shame what's happened to the series now.

Still the best launch ever for me, the xbox 360 was a good one too, but PS2 being my first console in a while is my most memorable.

 

[Theslammer]

I got one for xmas '01 with THPS3, and Wrath of Cortex. MGS2 not long after that.

Unbelievable lineup at the time.

2001 was quite killer. I think it was slow going until closer to the summer, but it really picked up.

Tekken Tag Tournament
TimeSplitters
Armored Core

Didn't get Tekken Tag until later, but it was fun! I liked the bowling mini-game better than volleyball from Tekken 3. Timesplitters also came later for me, but I dug the level creator, and I loved how they expanded it in 2.

The console so powerful it could launch nukes in Iraq.

The launch lineup was a little lackluster, but who really cared? I just wanted to watch The Matrix on DVD!

DVDs seemed like the most high-tech stuff imaginable at the time.

 

[Jimrpg]

I got one for xmas '01 with THPS3, and Wrath of Cortex. MGS2 not long after that.

Unbelievable lineup at the time.

Most media outlets were pretty disappointed by the line up at the time. i remember reading IGN and SSX was the only game to receive a 9+

 

[sotojuan]

I was very young back then but I remember launch was exciting but things did not "get real" until 2001 (MGS2 and FFX) for me.

 

[Zero83]

The launch day software overall was pretty solid, there were several ok to good/great games. The killer-app was the DVD player though.

I bought SSX and Tekken Tag. Great games. It was very expensive compared to existing consoles, but I had just got my first part-time job and I bought it without planning to.

 

[Theslammer]

Was 29th in line at the Myer Melbourne launch.

I remember I wanted a SNES and a Playstation so bad but I would have been about 10 at SNES launch and 15 for Playstation so I never had enough money to get those. Even though PS2 was AU$750 it didn't seem like a lot for the generational leap back then. Even PCs were expensive back then. The fact it came with a DVD player pleased my dad and I so it seemed like good value. Now all grown up, I think even $500 for a console is expensive, so times have really changed.

Anyways for launch I picked up -

The PS2 console
Ridge Racer V
Tekken Tag Tournament
A second controller
And a memory card

It must have been about $1000 all up. My friend had a Coles/Myer discount card so I got 5% off.

Ridge Racer V was fun but a bit of a disappointment after a couple of weeks. As it was my first console in a while, I was able to forget about the shimmering and aliasing for a bit, but the game was kinda average.

Tekken Tag while great technically wasn't very engaging as a game.

Especially compared to DOA2 which I picked up a couple of weeks later, which blew me away and I have been a DOA fan ever since. About a month later I also picked up SSX, which was easily the best game out of the launch, its a real shame what's happened to the series now.

Still the best launch ever for me, the xbox 360 was a good one too, but PS2 being my first console in a while is my most memorable.

Most media outlets were pretty disappointed by the line up at the time. i remember reading IGN and SSX was the only game to receive a 9+

Out of curiosity, do you remember the console wars at the time? I remember some people predicting that the DC would be killing the PS2, believe it or not. The logic was since the Dreamcast was half the price and the PS2 had shortages at launch, many local retailers would plug in a DC and say, "Hey, this has the same graphics for half the price, so why not buy this?"

Didn't happen, of course. But man, do I remember some people adamant that Sony screwed itself with a lackluster launch, shortages and a $299 price point.

I always thought the launch was pretty good. No classics, but quite varied overall.

 

[Kiriku]

I played Tekken Tag for yeeears. SSX was awesome too.

 

[Nauren]

13 hours in line at Walmart. Was 7th in line. My friend was 8th and my sister 9th. Imagine the pizza deliveries surprise when I ordered a pizza to be delivered to the shoe section of Walmart.

They got 21 consoles in and there were over 200 people in line...

Took us in by 2's to get our console then had a police escort to our cars at midnight while a bunch of people stood outside and watched.

 

[Theslammer]

13 hours in line at Walmart. Was 7th in line. My friend was 8th and my sister 9th. Imagine the pizza deliveries surprise when I ordered a pizza to be delivered to the shoe section of Walmart.

They got 21 consoles in and there were over 200 people in line...

Took us in by 2's to get our console then had a police escort to our cars at midnight while a bunch of people stood outside and watched.

GEE ZUZ!

 

[Nikodemos]

In before somebody posts that video of a swarm of buyers overwhelming the Sony booth people.

 

[Widge]

My memory of the PS2 was that it was pretty dire until GT3 came out. Didn't find it hard to resist it until that point.

EDIT:

Yeah, that Euro launch. Could happily pass on all of those and would still today.

 

[mindatlarge]

Only owned Summoner and TimeSplitters out of this bunch. Though my library grew much larger as the system lived on. Still have my original system and games to this day.

 

[DogDude]

Timesplitters was incredible

 

[El-Suave]

Is Kessen missing from the list of Euro launch games? I would have sworn I bought that with the PS2 because Sony enforced a mandate that you had to buy two of their games with the system at smaller German retailers.

 

[Ron Mexico]

I was an assistant manager at Electronics Boutique back at the launch. Will never forget the pre-order frenzy followed by the "uhhh....we don't have enough systems, so....we'll just use this list for months!"

IIRC, this was also the last hurrah for their old warranty program of bringing it back in any condition and we'd replace with new. Also, the flurry of returns from people putting their systems vertically and the disc not being seated properly in the tray, leading to that circular scratch that was so common.

Still my favorite moment though-- we were overshipped on Q-Ball like you wouldn't believe. We decided to have fun with it and turned it into a contest between us to who could sell the most copies of Q-Ball in a shift. To anyone who excitedly opened their holiday gifts to find a copy of a shitty billiards game sold by some jackass in the mall-- I'm sorry.

 

[Buddy Mcpuddy]

I got mine for $749 AUD on November 30 as a late birthday present, I had mowed lawns , washed dishes and saved for over two years to make up $500 of that the remainder of which my parents chipped in for.

I remember booting up Timesplitters and being blown away my how fast and fluid it was (too bad it is impossible to go back to due to the control scheme) and amazed by the bilinear texture filtering for PSone titles.

I still have my launch unit under my television to this day, hooked up with OEM component cables.

 

[strafer]

My favorite console, still have mine and it still works.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 and MGS2. <3

 

[megashock5]

I got SSX and NHL 2001 at launch. My brother-in-law got SSX, Ridge Racer V and Midnight Club.

The other games were all fine, but we played SSX for hours and couldn't stop. Even my wife and sister played. Best of the lineup and still one of the best launch titles in history.

 

[Theslammer]

Is Kessen missing from the list of Euro launch games? I would have sworn I bought that with the PS2 because Sony enforced a mandate that you had to buy two of their games with the system at smaller German retailers.

I think it came shortly after launch.

EDIT: Yeah, looks like it released in December, shortly after the launch.

 

[Cleve]

I was really disappointed in the ps2 launch after the incredible momentum the dreamcast had at the time. I got it with SF EX3, TTT, Fantavision, and Dynasty Warriors 2, Eternal Ring, and Gungriffon Blase with DW2 being the only one I really spent a lot of time with.

As far as the 'console wars' aspect, I worked at EBX (now gamestop) at the time, and we saw the writing on the wall for the DC vs ps2, I loved the DC, but you really can't underestimate the brand sony had built, the hype, and the huge value of a dvd player for a lot of people.

 

[¡HarlequinPanic!]

It was a nightmare. Sure, our household was seasoned veterans when it came to scarcity for video games: we had gone through hunting for pokemon blue in stores, and I only had a playstation 1 because we couldn't find a saturn in stores at the time: but there was nothing like the PS2's launch shortage (until the ninty switch, I suppose). I had gotten all sorts of DVDs for christmas that year but would have to wait until around my birthday months later to get the console itself when it was finally in stores, and even then I had to settle for a bundle from KB Toys with a crummy backpack and two crummy games: Kessen and Street Fighter EX3.

Still, it wasn't all bad, the price on some launch titles fell really quickly: and I was able to get DOA2, SSX, Midnight Club and Timesplitters all for rather cheap by that fall, just in time for the amazing 2001 lineup to start.

I remember orphan and summoner looking amazing in screenshots and previews but apparently they were awful games. tsk~

 

[MicroByter]

Damn thing was sold out everywhere. I had wanted one, but wasn't die hard enough to camp out.

About 6 weeks after the launch I happened to be shopping at Best Buy when I heard and employee talking to another customer about some arriving at some point that morning. I hung out and sure enough they brought out a handful and I got one. It was so popular at the time that they had someone escort each of us to our cars because some people had been mugged after buying their systems recently.

 

[Brenal]

The launch line up wasnt particularly impressive, but the first year line up ended up heing one of the best ever, i like that the switch is taking a similar aproach.

 

[Pepboy]

Out of curiosity, do you remember the console wars at the time? I remember some people predicting that the DC would be killing the PS2, believe it or not. The logic was since the Dreamcast was half the price and the PS2 had shortages at launch, many local retailers would plug in a DC and say, "Hey, this has the same graphics for half the price, so why not buy this?"

Didn't happen, of course. But man, do I remember some people adamant that Sony screwed itself with a lackluster launch, shortages and a $299 price point.

I always thought the launch was pretty good. No classics, but quite varied overall.

Yeah I do sort of remember that logic being tossed around. And I do think Sony would have had some serious competition if not for the fact that it had a DVD player. As a result, PS2 seemed to be "rather cheap" compared to other DVD players, which was a very clear upgrade from VHS. I guess GTA3 also caused this almost viral surge in interest a year later.

It's a shame, I had a lot more fun within my first year of DC than I did within the first 2-3 years of PS2. Sonic Adventure, Seaman, Toy Commander, ChuChu Rocket, Skies of Arcadia, Seventh Cross Evolution, a separate RPG called Evolution, all released before the first title of PS2 that actually interested me, Final Fantasy X in Dec 2001. For me, it felt like such a strong lineup of titles on DC. PS2 was a better business move, but the Saturn really haunted the Dreamcast in ways I didn't fully understand at the time.

 

[kitchenmotors]

Out of curiosity, do you remember the console wars at the time? I remember some people predicting that the DC would be killing the PS2, believe it or not. The logic was since the Dreamcast was half the price and the PS2 had shortages at launch, many local retailers would plug in a DC and say, "Hey, this has the same graphics for half the price, so why not buy this?"

Didn't happen, of course. But man, do I remember some people adamant that Sony screwed itself with a lackluster launch, shortages and a $299 price point.

I always thought the launch was pretty good. No classics, but quite varied overall.

That was not the sentiment around GAF during launch. I honestly don’t ever recall seeing that anywhere, outside of the Sga faithful. People were expecting PS2 to completely destroy DC in terms of sales.

Majority of my friends skipped the DC because the PS2 hype.

 

[Synth]

Looking back on it, this actually wasn't a bad launch at all really. I remember thinking at the time that it sucked... but I guess that was more an effect of comparing the lineup to what the Dreamcast was offering in its second year. In isolation, games like Ridge Racer V, Tekken Tag, Dead or Alive 2 I still occasionally return to these days (not the PS2 version of DoA2, as DoA2 Ultimate rendered that obsolete).

Ridge Racer V was fun but a bit of a disappointment after a couple of weeks. As it was my first console in a while, I was able to forget about the shimmering and aliasing for a bit, but the game was kinda average.

Ridge Racer V is one of the greatest arcade racers ever (and much better the "style over substance" Type-4). It's the only entry I'd rank alongside Sega's greats (Daytona USA, Sega Rally Championship and Outrun 2).

 

[Theslammer]

Yeah I do sort of remember that logic being tossed around. And I do think Sony would have had some serious competition if not for the fact that it had a DVD player. As a result, PS2 seemed to be "rather cheap" compared to other DVD players, which was a very clear upgrade from VHS. I guess GTA3 also caused this almost viral surge in interest a year later.

It's a shame, I had a lot more fun within my first year of DC than I did within the first 2-3 years of PS2. Sonic Adventure, Seaman, Toy Commander, ChuChu Rocket, Skies of Arcadia, Seventh Cross Evolution, a separate RPG called Evolution, all released before the first title of PS2 that actually interested me, Final Fantasy X in Dec 2001. For me, it felt like such a strong lineup of titles on DC. PS2 was a better business move, but the Saturn really haunted the Dreamcast in ways I didn't fully understand at the time.

Agreed. My bro and I had a Saturn for a little while and then sold it, but we didn't know the business side of things and how badly it, the 32X, and the Sega CD to a lesser extent hurt Sega in the hardware business.

That was not the sentiment around GAF during launch. I honestly don’t ever recall seeing that anywhere, outside of the Sga faithful. People were expecting PS2 to completely destroy DC in terms of sales.

Majority of my friends skipped the DC because the PS2 hype.

I had no idea GAF was even a thing at the time, so I have no idea what majority opinions were over here, so that's interesting to know. I saw a lot of anti-PS2 bias in a lot of corners; it was pretty impressive.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

This was the only console launch that I waited in line all night for. Got to Best Buy at like 7pm the night before and I was already 8th in line. I had just turned 18 and it was just awesome. We played football and had people go on snack runs and shit, was glorious. Ended up having over 100 people in line, can't remember how many systems they had but it was no where near that amount. Ended up getting Madden, DoA, Eternal Ring and Ridge Racer and an extra controller.

 

[KodaRuss]

The console so powerful it could launch nukes in Iraq.

The launch lineup was a little lackluster, but who really cared? I just wanted to watch The Matrix on DVD!

First thing I did with it as well, watch the Matrix on DVD.

 

[bjork]

14 hours in a mall food court, and despite getting there prior to the mall opening I was somehow second in line. They wouldn't let me get two, so even though we'd paid them both off, my dad had to wait in line for his as well. But he was smart, he showed up around noon and saw a dude filling out job applications, so he paid that guy to stand in line until he got done working around 6 pm. Made it until midnight, got my system, made sure we both got out to the cars without getting robbed, and then went back home.

I didn't have the money for a game at launch, so I put Driver in and turned on the texture smoothing, went "that's it, huh" and went to sleeeeep. Then days later is when my friend at WM started doing markdowns on brand new games, so I was getting PS2 stuff pretty steadily on the cheap for awhile there.

I liked SSX the best out of the launch games, I think. It was probably my most played until GTA3, if I had to guess.

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

This was the launch that I took off work and camped out all night in front of a Best Buy to get one. The first time I did that because there were so little pre orders

Launch lineup want the best. Especially coming off my last launch console purchase (the dream cast) but SSX was awesome. And the units were so hard to find that it was worth it when all the games started to show up

 

[Theslammer]

First thing I did with it as well, watch the Matrix on DVD.

I guess Matrix DVDs were super popular at the time.

Did y'all watch Remember the Titans as well? Because I know my brother had that.

 

[bounchfx]

I don't look super fondly at the launch titles this day but, I remember being really impressed by the sheer number of launch games.

Ssx, tekken tag, armored core, and mother fucking timesplitters we're amazing

I remember being excited for shit like eternal ring before realizing it was unmemorable trash, but those games have a certain special place during a launch since you're starved for whatever games you can get.

 

[Xevren]

Only time I ever waited overnight somewhere for something. Waited at a Target and was the 10th in line or so. Grabbed Tekken Tag Tournament, Timesplitters, Street Fighter Ex and Madden, I miss Timesplitters so much.

 

[sensui-tomo]

I didnt get a ps2 until FFX was out, because back then i didnt see any reason to get a ps2 since my dad had one of those expensive as fuck multi dvd disk changers (had like 5 or 7 slots) and i was still playing games on the psx like crazy. But man when FFX came out i went to the video store and rented the ps2 every weekend to play ffx ( i also had to get a memory card because... yeah that was a thing and damn were they pricey at $30+ back at that time) But i remember that launch period

 

[Omnistalgic]

It was a good time to be kid gamer.

First game I played was DOA on it at a friends house. Was amazed...

 

[FairFriend]

Ridge Racer V and Tekken Tag were out of this world!

The intro of RRV in particular was really impressive! It was real time but in regards to certain aspects, like the polygonal complexity of the pin up girl, it looked way better than the cg introduction of RR type 4.

TTT was a looker too. Those two titles really cemented the idea that the PS2 could deliver cg quality graphics, and honestly it wasn't really that far fetched of a statement.

It obviously helped that they were great titles too, the best in their respective series at the time (though I would still argue that RRV is the best RR ever, never played another Tekken after TTT).

 

[Cleve]

I didnt get a ps2 until FFX was out, because back then i didnt see any reason to get a ps2 since my dad had one of those expensive as fuck multi dvd disk changers (had like 5 or 7 slots)

In retrospect, what a crazy fucking idea those things were. I remember all the big stores pushing them, but who really needs a carousel of movies?

 

[Peltz]

Wow, that's actually a very underrated lineup. SSX, DOA2:H. Timesplitters, Tekken Tag Tournament, and Silent Scope were all great launch games.

Unreal Tournament would have been a big deal in another era with online play. On PS2 though, it's really a throw-away title considering the differences between it and the PC version. It's not really meant to be an offline experience.

I'm sure fans also appreciated having Ridge Racer V (the graphics were fantastic at the time). And Dynasty Warriors 2... well, I'm certainly not a fan, but I'm sure it had its following.

 

[Theslammer]

In retrospect, what a crazy fucking idea those things were. I remember all the big stores pushing them, but who really needs a carousel of movies?

I didn't know that was a thing.

Not, a carousel of CDs? Yeah, I had that for going from album to album.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Got it for Christmas that year but don't remember the games or anything I got with it

My first real PS2 memory(released in February 2001)

 

[Damaniel]

I picked mine up on launch day. At the time, I knew the store manager for a local Gamestop and he managed to let me in early to grab mine, so I got to skip the line. I don't remember all the games I bought, but I know I got Eternal Ring and Summoner, and I picked up SSX pretty soon after that.

PS2 is still my favorite console - so many great games from a time where companies could still put a relatively small budget and development team onto a game, so there was a lot of experimentation. A non-traditional game like Katamari Damacy would never have been released on subsequent consoles if it hadn't been a success on PS2 first.

 

[Theslammer]

I picked mine up on launch day. At the time, I knew the store manager for a local Gamestop and he managed to let me in early to grab mine, so I got to skip the line. I don't remember all the games I bought, but I know I got Eternal Ring and Summoner, and I picked up SSX pretty soon after that.

PS2 is still my favorite console - so many great games from a time where companies could still put a relatively small budget and development team onto a game, so there was a lot of experimentation. A non-traditional game like Katamari Damacy would never have been released on subsequent consoles if it hadn't been a success on PS2 first.

I feel a lot of those games shifted to the indie scene since they're mostly smaller, more experimental games anyway.

They remind me of Mister Mosquito, Mad Maestro and Bombastic in that aspect.-- things that would probably be made by smaller teams and independent teams since the big guns are on Metal Gear Solid, God of War and Final Fantasy.