Groucho

All three consoles have now been out at least a year in the United States, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to compare their software line-ups in the first year? Who had the best line-up? Who let us down? What's everybody think?

To help get things started, I'm including a list of the top five reviewed games from the first year of each console (according to MetaCritic):

PS3
Call of Duty 4
Oblivion
Ratchet and Clank
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Resistance: Fall of Man

Wii
Super Mario Galaxy
Zelda Twilight Princess
Resident Evil 4
Metroid Prime 3
Zack and Wiki

Xbox360
Gears of War
Oblivion
Ghost Recon
Call of Duty 2
Rainbow Six Vegas

Remember, we're only looking at the first year here, which is why there aren't any recent 360 games on the list.

fumanstan

If you include Mario Galaxy, you really should also include Gears of War for the 360. That for me tips to scales to the 360 over the Wii.

XBox 360 launch - Nov 22nd, 2005
Gears of War release - Nov 7, 2006

Wii launch - Nov 19th, 2006
Mario Galaxy release - Nov 12th, 2007

Groucho

It absolutely should be on the list. I'm not sure how I missed it before. It's added now.

PixyJunket

Now this is interesting.. going by that list I'd put the PS3 over the 360 easily. Hopefully, the strength of the 360's second year is a sign of what to expect from the other two consoles. My vote goes to Wii, naturally, I own all five of those titles (and more). I'll be renting two of the PS3 titles and the top five in the 360 category are of zero interest to me. I do own a couple of first year 360 games, but I do considering them all to be "worth the $20" they cost.. not full priced buys for me.

Noonan

It's really a toss up for me. Oblivion has probably climbed to be my favorite game of all time but the Zelda/Mario Combo on Wii is pretty strong.

Decker

Not going to vote since I don't have a Wii and can't comment on their best games. The PS3 has had a pretty rough first year and 2 of those 5 games are available on the 360 as well (another is an Xbox port with updated graphics). Still there might still be time to turn things around. For the sake of this poll, Uncharted won't make the list (PS3 launch 11/17/06, game release date 11/19/07), but I understand it's pretty great.

Michael Corvin

I think you need a larger sampling of games, not just the highest rated. A lot of fun can be had by more games than just the AAA titles:

Wii
Super Mario Galaxy (made it in under the wire by 6 days)
Zelda Twilight Princess
Resident Evil 4
Metroid Prime 3
Zack and Wiki
WiiSports
Super Paper Mario
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Excite Truck
Wario Ware
Mario Party
Mario Strikers
Sonic & the Secret Rings
SSX
Godfather
Cooking Mama
Big Brain Academy

Xbox 360
Kameo
Perfect Dark 0
Call of Duty 2
Condemned
Full Auto
Burnout Revenge
GRAW
Oblivion
Tomb Raider: Legend
Prey
Just Cause
Dead Rising
Saint's Row
Spinter Cell: DA
Lego Star Wars II
Rainbow 6: Vegas
F.E.A.R.
Viva Pinata
Gears of War (also under the wire, by 13 days)
Geometry Wars


Due to the onslaught of last fall on the 360 with Dead Rising, LSWII, R6, FEAR, Viva and Gears, I'd definitely say Xbox. The Wii was not the slouch everyone made it out to be.

Can't comment on the PS3 library since I just got one a few months back.

discostu1337

not even a contest...360.

fujishig

This is tough.

If I take a look at all of the games that I own (not counting any 360 game that came out after Gears of War):

PS3:
Resistance: Fall of Man
Gundam Musou (imported)
Darkness (not exclusive)
Virtua Fighter 5 (not exclusive anymore, 360 version is enhanced)
Eye of Judgement
going to buy: Ratchet and Clank

Wii:
Wii Sports
Mario Strikers Charged
Metroid Prime 3
Zelda Twilight Princess
Super Mario Galaxy
Trauma Center: 2nd Opinion
Resident Evil 4 (enhanced Gamecube/PS2 game)
WiiPlay
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Elebits
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz
Excite Truck
Mario Party 8
Bleach
MLB Power Pros (also available on the PS2)
going to buy: Zack and Wiki, Fire Emblem, Victorious Boxers

Xbox 360:
Gears of War
Oblivion
GRAW 1
Call of Duty 2
Condemned
Rainbow Six Vegas
Dead Rising
Burnout Revenge (port from last gen with better graphics)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance (port from last gen with better graphics)
Lego Star Wars 2 (port from last gen with better graphics)
Perfect Dark Zero
Smackdown vs. Raw 2007
Viva Pinata
Geometry Wars

It's pretty tough... I'd say I played more of the 360 in it's first year, but it had no next gen competition, so it's hard to go just by that.

The PS3, though, would still be dead last... as I mentioned in another thread, for games that are available on both 360 and PS3 simultaneously, I'll choose the 360 version 90% of the time, I bought the Darkness on PS3 just so it wouldn't sit there collecting dust. Ratchet and Clank might turn things around, and I love Eye of Judgement, but Lair, Heavenly Sword, and Warhawk were all disappointing.

The Wii gets high marks just for having the triple threat of Metroid, Super Mario, and Zelda all in the first year (though I guess you can call Zelda a port too). Add to that Wii Sports, Mario Strikers Charged and Excite Truck, and you can almost forget about the minigames.

The 360 just can't be denied on the strength of Gears of War alone... that singlehandedly muted my excitement over Resistance Fall of Man and many early gen PS3 games. And I'm sure I could play Oblivion alone for that whole first year, if I wasn't so obsessed with new games.

Raul3

360, no contest here.

darkside

I am not a fan of console FPS games so Wii wins for me, but being objective the 360 lineup was very strong its first year.

Michael Corvin

Why does everyone* refer to LSWII as a port from last gen? They all launched at the same time. If anything I would bet it was designed on the 360 and ported down.


*saw the same thing in another thread.

fujishig

I didn't play the other ones, but nothing struck me as outstanding graphically or technically, though I did enjoy the game. The Marvel game launched simultaneously on all platforms and I didn't see much of an upgrade there either.

The Bus

The 360, by far.

IIG

Mario, Zelda, and Metroid... Guess how I voted.

Groucho

No votes for PS3? Where's the love for Giant Enemy Crab?

Lastblade

360, while COD4 is awesome and on PS4, it is also on 360 so I can't really credit the PS3.

chess

An outstanding Mario, a positively epic Zelda, and a very solid Metroid with amazing controls along with the innovative Wii Sports and and an amazing new version of RE4...

Sorry, but that absolutely blows away Gears and Dead Rising, which were the only 360 games that really looked that interesting to me.

boredsilly

Not even looking at RE4 or Wii Sports, any year you get new versions of Zelda, Mario, and Metroid is a banner year for Nintendo. If you buy Nintendo consoles to play Nintendo games, which a lot of people do, you cannot help but be incredibly satisfied with the Wii's first year.

However, I will give it to the 360 only because it have a greater depth of games I personally would want to play.

discostu1337

Maybe if Nintendo would try something new instead of going to the Zelda/Mario well, they would have gotten my vote. I'm sorry but innovation in Gears and Dead Rising wins that battle. You have a point about Wii bowling though

Groucho

Yeah, nothing new and innovative in Super Mario Galaxy. It plays just like Donkey Kong!

PixyJunket

And of course, there will be no Gears of War 2 or Dead Rising 2.

Dorsalphin

My thoughts exactly. I still don't understand how anyone can play a FPS without a mouse (or the wii remote).

Michael Corvin

I'm with discostu. sequel, sequel, sequel, remake and WiiSports. As great as Mario, Metroid & Zelda turned out, I'd rather give props to new IPs in this sequelitis industry. So 360 has the edge for me for new franchises like Viva Pinata, Condemned, Kameo, Gears of War and Dead Rising.

If Nintendo is so intent on hitting the well, at least give us some fresh takes on IPs that haven't had a dozen sequels already like Pikmin or Kid Icarus.

RyoHazuki

I'd estimate people playing FPS's without a mouse or wiimote is about 5:1. Who plays FPS on the PC anymore?