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The PlayStation 2 Launch Lineup Being "Bad" Seems Apocryphal, In Retrospect

KalBalboa

KalBalboa

Member
Oct 30, 2017
7,948
Massachusetts
0DVZRlF.jpg


The PlayStation 2 launched in North American nearly twenty years ago with 29 titles.

With the recent discussion of the importance of launch lineups and the extremely vague software available day-one for Xbox Series X/PS5, I have been hearing a lot of references on podcasts, Twitter, and this very forum to the "lackluster" launch lineup of the PS2.

Most people seem to share the sentiment that video game consoles tend to launch with iffy to sub-par libraries day one, but the PS2 seems to have been made an example of lately. The AV Club even published an article on this subtext about two weeks ago: The PlayStation 2 Launched With An All-Time Awful List of Losers.

Ouch!

I, personally, find this to be a misnomer. I think the PS2 launch had some good-to-great games, especially for an October in 2000. Using the PS2 as the poster child for a poor launch lineup needs to be re-examined, considering the abundance of games the console had day one. Namely:
  • SSX
  • TimeSplitters (GoldenEye & Perfect Dark DNA with dual-stick controls, 60fps, map maker, 4 players + bots, and a co-op campaign?!)
  • Tekken Tag Tournament (which looked considerably better than the arcade version)
  • Smuggler's Run (split-screen, open-world driving multiplayer and free roam, hot off the heels of Driver and before GTA3)
  • Madden 2001
  • NHL 2001
  • Ridge Racer V
Now, I get it. X-Squad isn't exactly Mario 64, but good god, having nearly 30 games to chose from day one isn't something to hand wave away, especially in fall 2000. The selection was there, and we got a bunch of new franchises out of the gate to play (most of them with quality local multiplayer!).

REepEWC.jpg


The complete launch list list:
  • Armored Core 2 (Agetec, Action)
  • DOA2: Hardcore (Tecmo, Fighting)
  • Dynasty Warriors 2 (Koei, Action)
  • ESPN International Track and Field (Konami, Sports)
  • ESPN X-Games Snowboarding (Konami, Sports)
  • Eternal Ring (Agetec, RPG)
  • Evergrace (Agetec, RPG)
  • FantaVision (SCEI, Puzzle)
  • Gun Griffon Blaze (Working Designs, Action)
  • Kessen (EA, Adventure)
  • Madden NFL 2001 (EA, Sports)
  • Midnight Club (Rockstar, Racing)
  • Moto GP (Namco, Racing)
  • NHL 2001 (EA, Sports)
  • Orphen (Activision, RPG)
  • Q-Ball Billiards Master (Take-Two Interactive, Simulation)
  • Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 (Midway, Sports)
  • Ridge Racer V (Namco, Racing)
  • Silent Scope (Konami, Shooter)
  • Smuggler's Run (Rockstar, Racing-Adventure)
  • SSX (EA, Sports)
  • Street Fighter EX3 (Capcom, Fighting)
  • Summoner (THQ, RPG)
  • Swing Away (Paradise Golf in Japan) (EA, Sports)
  • Tekken Tag Tournament (Namco, fighting)
  • TimeSplitters (Eidos, First-Person Shooter)
  • Unreal Tournament (Infogrames, First-Person Shooter)
  • Wild Wild Racing (Interplay, Racing)
  • X-Squad (EA, Action)
TL, DR: I think the PS2's launch lineup is a grade-B "Good" example of a launch library done right, even if it didn't have its Halo or Mario 64 moment.
 
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SPRidley

SPRidley

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Oct 25, 2017
8,240
I only remember always Phantavision, dont know if that was an european launch game not seeing it in the list.
 
RPGam3r

RPGam3r

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Oct 27, 2017
13,565
I remember standing in line for this machine and getting it for free bc they gave me and another person I was with two tickets (we both didn't want one).

I remember just using the system for BC due it's poor launch. Looking at that list all these years later and I would do the same thing. Pass.
 
Bigg

Bigg

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,641
It was a perfectly average launch. And launch lineups are almost always pretty mediocre with one or two standouts (in this case, SSX and Tekken Tag). You're right that 30 games is a lot for a system launch, but a lot of those games have been forgotten for a reason. I'd give it a C.
 
anaa

anaa

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Jun 30, 2019
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when I got ps2 i had one game, eternal ring. I didn't really understand very well as it was less straightforward then psx rpgs I had played namely final fantasy. Was more of a 'dungeon crawler".

needless to say I was a bit disappointed
 
Neifirst

Neifirst

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Oct 27, 2017
398
I got my PS2 about a month after launch and my recollection is that the only real standout game was SSX.
 
Milennia

Milennia

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Oct 25, 2017
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SSX would've been enough for me but I was mainly an Xbox kid
 

Deleted member 23893

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Oct 28, 2017
1,549
Not gonna lie. I've always been into the PS2 lineup. Timesplitters was half a game but I enjoyed it (til 2 came around and was a "fuller" game). Love Tekken and Tag holds a nostalgia place in my heart. SSX was fabulous.
That said. It came out against Majoras Mask on the N64, FF IX on PS1 and Jet Set Radio on dreamcast. So in context it was a less matured batch of games.
 
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SilverX

SilverX

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Jan 21, 2018
13,038
It was my Tekken Tag Tournament machine as a kid for the whole first year lol. I played Crash and Spyro on it though since I was looking for SOMETHING to play on it and the PS1 BC really helped
 
Version 3.0

Version 3.0

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Oct 27, 2017
11,214
It's not bad except by two metrics:

1. Compared (subjectively) to other consoles' launch lineups.
2. It's lacking a standout "Killer App".

I never thought it was bad, even at launch.
 
EddyLovesTunaRolls

EddyLovesTunaRolls

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Oct 27, 2017
5,855
Even if they weren't the best games in their series having a new DOA, Street Fighter, and Tekken at launch was really fucking cool as a fighting game fan.

I had no idea what Dynasty Warriors was but I fell in love with that series after trying it for the first time. Did they technically invent that style of game with DW2 or where there others like it back then already?
 
Chamber

Chamber

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Oct 25, 2017
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One of my favorite launches actually. SSX is an all-timer and Tekken Tag, Timesplitters, Ridge Racer V and Madden (back when Madden was great) provided a lot of entertainment.
 
fourfourfun

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Oct 27, 2017
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I remember looking at the launch window stuff and thinking "this is poor", I'm looking at it again and I'm not shifted. I didn't get the machine until Gran Turismo 3 came out.

Had the same beef with the PS3 launch window too and only importing Oblivion really made it viable for me. To be honest, the PS4 launch window wasn't the best either. Sony have always been really slow off the mark. I would hope their 1 1/2 years off E3 has meant they've been focusing on this.

MS, on the other hand, come out banging and then fade away.
 
Man God

Man God

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Oct 25, 2017
38,330
That's because you are peddling revisionist history

The PS2 launched with

A6 A Reisha de Ikou 6 Artdink CD-ROM
Sky Surfer Idea Factory
American Arcade Asutorooru
Kessen Koei
Drummania Konami
Street Mahjong Trance Mashin 2 Sun Soft
Golf Paradise T&C Soft 5800 yen CD-ROM
Ridge Racer V Namco
Tekken Tag Tournament Namco
Eternal Ring From Software
Jikkyou World Soccer 2000 Konami
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Crisis Dino
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Oct 25, 2017
38,554
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PS2 Launch is a good example of More isn't always better.

Some stuff I have fond memories of there but only because they were my first PS2 experience and not because they were particularly good.
 
IDreamOfHime

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Oct 27, 2017
14,463
Too bad Capcom couldn't get Onimusha out a few months earlier. Still a launch window game, but would have been one of the GOAT launch games if it had hit the US launch.
 

Deleted member 23212

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The fact that it had TimeSplitters automatically makes it awesome. Tekken Tag Tournament is another classic. I have a lot of fond memories for those two games alone. Fantavision, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2, Ridge Racer V, Dynasty Warriors 2, DOA2: Hardcore and Kessen were also fun games.
 
Hallucinations

Hallucinations

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I said it before in another thread Tekken Tag had to be a much bigger deal than ppl are giving credit.

The next Tekken game after 3 (GOAT 3D fighter?).

3 a game which sold 8 million copies.

Tag had to have been a big deal and would have been a big driver for a lot of people around launch.
 
HebrewHammer

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Oct 27, 2017
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I was way too young to appreciate those PS2 launch titles - but that's an awesome list.

I still think maybe the 360 had the best games right out the gate.

That of course could all change if Demon's Souls is a launch title for PS5 - that'll be a game changer for me.
 

Deleted member 18021

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It was the bleh launch line-up, along with the technical issues that kept me happy with my Dreamcast.

2001 made up for it.
 
ditusjack

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Oct 26, 2017
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I loved the PS2 launch, my god how much i played Armored Core 2, Eternal Ring, Ridge Racer 5 and Tekken Tag 2 a friend also brought Time Splitters over and we had a blast with split screen.
Play-Station2-launch.jpg
 
OP
OP
KalBalboa

KalBalboa

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Oct 30, 2017
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ditusjack said:
I loved the PS2 launch, my god how much i played Armored Core 2, Eternal Ring, Ridge Racer 5 and Tekken Tag 2 a friend also brought the Time Splitters and me and my friends had a blast with split screen.
Play-Station2-launch.jpg
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I know it's a cult favorite, but I'm still surprised TimeSplitters didn't get more acclaim and numbers from console-only shooter fans.

Look at the feature set and performance of TimeSplitters for 2000! Coming from GokdenEye and Perfect Dark, which ran at 15-25 fps.
 
Eoin

Eoin

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Oct 27, 2017
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I agree, it was a pretty good launch when considered in any kind of hindsight, or for anyone at the time who was willing to take a few (quite small) risks.

However, I can kind of understand the contemporary criticism of it, to some extent. I don't (and didn't) agree with it, but I also don't think it's difficult to see where it came from. The reasons for it were mostly simple:

- a lot of the pretty good games were new IPs or sequels to fairly unpopular games. The only games at launch that were big names at the time were Tekken, Ridge Racer, and the sports games. Plus I guess Unreal but on console that didn't mean a whole lot, and continued not meaning a whole lot after the PS2 version of it. Getting the most out of the PS2 launch required making a few somewhat risky purchases.

- the general public ignored the Dreamcast, but it's not their reaction we're remembering, it's the gaming enthusiast reaction, and at the time, the Dreamcast, though pretty much dead as a business venture, was kind of on a streak as a console. The October/November of 2000 brought the Dreamcast SFIII: Third Strike, Samba de Amigo, Quake III Arena, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, Silent Scope, Jet Set Radio, NBA 2K1, Tony Hawk's 2, Shenmue, Capcom vs SNK, Skies of Arcadia, Urban Chaos, Dino Crisis, and RE3. Those were added to an already pretty stacked Dreamcast library.

The ease of Dreamcast development and the relative difficulty of PS2 development meant that those early PS2 games were not particularly impressive next to the best of the Dreamcast showcases either. Even though the Dreamcast was foredoomed, the initial comparison between the Dreamcast and PS2, at the PS2's launch, wasn't flattering to the PS2.
 
ThereAreFourNaan

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Nov 8, 2017
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I think it seems "bad" in retrospect because most of that stuff wasn't exclusive in the strictest sense, and a lot of our discussions these days really focus on exclusivity. But if PS2 got it a year before everyone else because nobody else was on the market yet in that generation, then it was effectively exclusive at the time. Back then of course games would just be randomly exclusive or launch first on a platform because it was simpler that way, not because everything was being bought and paid for by one company specifically. And a "dry month" would see 5 to 10 new games come out at retail stores.

Sooooo many retail games used to come out. Digital indies are really the only reason we have so many releases now.
 
demondance

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Oct 27, 2017
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It was very good, lots of genres, multiplayer stuff that could really stretch out the 1 or 2 games people often get alongside the expense of a new console. It just didn't have a full-on unfuckwithable classic like Mario 64 or something but how often does that happen?
 

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KalBalboa said:
I know it's a cult favorite, but I'm still surprised TimeSplitters didn't get more acclaim and numbers from console-only shooter fans.

Look at the feature set and performance of TimeSplitters for 2000! Coming from GokdenEye and Perfect Dark, which ran at 15-25 fps.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Playing TimeSplitters, it may have had to do with the difficulty. Much of the multiplayer content is locked behind single-player requirements, and the game can get very brutal.
 
OP
OP
KalBalboa

KalBalboa

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Oheao said:
Playing TimeSplitters, it may have had to do with the difficulty. Much of the multiplayer content is locked behind single-player requirements, and the game can get very brutal.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Very true. Maybe the fact the PS2 only has two controller ports held back the party gaming appeal, too. A lot of people probably waited a year to get a multitap (if ever).
 
Lemony1984

Lemony1984

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Meh those games are all pretty bad. Summoner was the only one I enjoyed and that was cause there was literally nothing else. I'm personally not into fighting or sports games.
 
Darmik

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I think a part of it was the PS1 games in 2000 were still quite a bit better. Some even releasing around launch too. Crossgen games weren't really a big thing yet.
 
ghostcrew

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Oct 27, 2017
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So I think there are a few factors that really add to the bad launch lineup discussion that aren't really considered out of context (and out of time).

Firstly, those of us who were buzzing for the PS2 at launch were reading all about it in magazines for a good while before it finally came to the West. The Japanese launch came about six months before the US/EU launch and so we had about six months of reading about it already being launched and those launch titles etc. The Japanese launch was really rough in terms of software.

A6 A Reisha de Ikou 6 Artdink CD-ROM
Sky Surfer
American Arcade
Kessen
Drummania
Street Mahjong Trance Mashin 2
Golf Paradise
Ridge Racer V
Tekken Tag Tournament
Eternal Ring
Jikkyou World Soccer 2000

We basically had six months (and however long before that when we knew what the launch lineup was going to be) of acknowledging that this was a god awful launch in terms of games anybody wanted to play. They did, of course, get some more titles together for the eventual Western release (Timesplitters and SSX being the notable titles) but by that point we'd all absolutely devoured reviews and import impressions for the console and it's games. Imagine how much news and opinion pieces gets shared here in six months. The console had launched and the launch lineup was awful. It was just the narrative by that point. There's a reason that it became a running joke that the most popular launch title for the Japanese PS2 launch was The Matrix DVD movie.

Secondly, the PS2 launch was coming off of a frankly disgustingly good final year for the PS1 (well, final year in terms of it being 'the only PlayStation'). Like, fine, Tekken Tag was an alright Tekken game and Timesplitters was the new game by some of the folk that made Goldeneye but 2000 for the PS1 saw us get games like Final Fantasy IX, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2, Vagrant Story, Dino Crisis 2, Colin McRae Rally 2, Breath of Fire IV etc. Huge, huge games. The PS1 was still absolutely smashing it at that point and there was definitely a general feeling of 'where are the big hitters'? There was no huge 'must get' launch title.

Tekken Tag Tournament was probably the front and centre game for the release in both Japan and the West. But it was both not a new 'mainline' Tekken game (it was the first non-numbered Tekken game and we really did all just want Tekken 4) and it was coming hot off the heels of Soul Calibur coming out for the Dreamcast. Those of us that had seen and played Soul Calibur found it increasingly difficult to get that excited about a side Tekken game as the big game for launch.

I personally think the PS2 launch was a year of two halves. It had a weak launch lineup of games. It just did. But that first year (including the famous Fall/Winter 2001) was so ridiculously strong that it just didn't matter in the end.
 
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Jer

Jer

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Oct 27, 2017
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At the time, I was more excited about Tekken Tag than the entire Dreamcast launch library, so I thought the launch was amazing. It's still one of the best fighters ever made. SSX was very good too - not the kind of game I usually play, but I had a lot of fun with it. So yeah, great launch as far as I'm concerned.
 
Breather-Resistance

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Oct 27, 2017
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OP, you're totally right, this sentiment towards the PS2's launch line up has been wrongly perpetuated for too long, and speaking generally, I tend to think launch line ups for consoles throughout history have been judged a bit too unfairly and more often than not most successful consoles have at least a few good games at release, and even a few classics. In PS2's case you already named most of them.

KalBalboa said:
C'mon. SSX, Tekken Tag, Smuggler's Run, and TimeSplitters are bad?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

LOL imagine dismissing such great games in favour of carrying water for freaking Summoner out of all of them.

Man God said:
That's because you are peddling revisionist history

The PS2 launched with

A6 A Reisha de Ikou 6 Artdink CD-ROM
Sky Surfer Idea Factory
American Arcade Asutorooru
Kessen Koei
Drummania Konami
Street Mahjong Trance Mashin 2 Sun Soft
Golf Paradise T&C Soft 5800 yen CD-ROM
Ridge Racer V Namco
Tekken Tag Tournament Namco
Eternal Ring From Software
Jikkyou World Soccer 2000 Konami
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Except that this is a list is of the Japanese PS2 Launch and the entire basis of the OP is to challenge the perception of the PS2's launch line up in the West or, more exactly, outside Japan as seen by the article by a Western outlet that was cited. Answering with this 'well actually, OP' is pedantic and to call it revisionist history is disingenuous and misses the point of the topic entirely.
 
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