I was originally going to post this in this thread but I thought it maybe deserved a thread of its own.
Reading that thread, I saw this comment,
Keep your chin up, and know that this isn't any different from the 360 and PS3 launch years. We always tell ourselves it will be different, but it's not.
which was trying to console the OP on his disappointment at the thin releases for this new generation.
I have just heard this mentioned a few times, so I decided to have a look and compare the two release schedules. I have looked at the games that could realistically be called good which were released by the end of 2006 (1 year after console release) for 360 and PS3 and compared them to this generations releases (bear in mind we have two consoles this time as well - PS3 launching 2006)
Xbox 360/Early PS3
Call of Duty 2
Need for Speed:Most Wanted
Condemmed
Tom Clancy Ghost Warfighter
Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
Dead Rising Need for Speed:Rivals hmmmm
Saints Row
Just Cause
Sims 2
Need for Speed Carbon hmmm
Final Fantasy XI
Rockstar Table Tennis
Hitman: Blood Money
Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Marvel Ultimate Aliance
Gears of War
Rainbow 6 Vegas
Call of Duty 3
Resistance:Fall of Man
Xbone/PS4
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Forza 5
AC4:Black Flag
Battlefield 4
Dead Rising 3
Killer Instinct
Killzone Shadow Fall
Ryse:Son of Rome
Metal Gear 5:Ground Zeroes
Infamous: Second Son
Titanfall
Wolfenstein
Watch Dogs
(ToCome) Alien Isolation, Battlefield: Hardline, Dragon Age:Inquisition, Evolve, Driveclub hmmmm, Evil Within, AC:Unity, Sunset Overdrive, Far Cry 4
So the amount of games coming out looks reasonably similar, a few more this time round, although there is a one more console to develop for this time around, so conceivably there should be more interesting games. But how many of the games are actually really good - games which will be regarded as classics in the future, or that do something innovative that sells the new generation?
To my mind this is where the previous generation really pulls ahead. Oblivion and Gears of War are games which will be talked about and played for a long time to come. There are also games like Need for Speed, Condemmed, Dead Rising, Just Cause, Hitman, Rainbow 6, Ghost Warfighter and we have the blossoming of the Call of Duty francise.
What does this generation offer us? Well there are some good games, people seem to like AC4, although it bored me, Battlefield is good once you get past the bugs Infamous and Ryse look very pretty and there are some other fun titles like Wolfenstein and Watch Dogs but nothing hits it out of the park like Oblivion or Gears. This is obviously a little unfair because we have yet to see what E3 has to offer and we don't know how this winter's thinned out roster of games will fair. We also have a good crop of indie and downloadable titles to enjoy, something that was still a year or two away in 2006.
So, what do you think? Personally I think gamers in 2006 would have been happier with their purchase of new consoles than we are this generation. I think the line-up in '06 is more interesting, innovative and of higher quality. Of course, there have been a number of games pushed back into 2015, and just because this generation has got off to a slow start does not mean it won't produce lots of goodness over the next 5-10 years.
Personally I think 2015 is shaping up to be one of the best years in gaming, even before we got to E3. However when people grumble about their PS4's or Xbone's gathering dust it might be worth having a closer look before repeating the slogan that all console first years are bad. This one seems particularly slow.
EDIT: Just realised I missed out Destiny and didn't consider Nintendo. Maybe that rebalances a little bit - I just can't get excited by Nintendo any more - if you can then maybe the picture is different?
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