What one single new first party franchise defined the essence of each console?

[Procheno]

When I reflect on the past, I often realize how one single new first party IP really captured the essence of the console manufacturer and the system itself. Whether the Xbox 360, Ps2, Gamecube, Sega Genesis, Atari 2600, or even the Switch or Ps4 today, every single system had a message/impact on the industry in some way that was powered by the new ideas they brought through their games.

I say first party because it is the publisher/console manufacturer I want to dissect in terms of how these franchises mirrored what they were and the historical context behind the message. I believe that there has always been that one new IP which debuted on it that defined the attitude, marketing, commercial stance, and everything the publisher and console was about during the time.

What one single new franchise do you think defined your favorite systems? It can even be a game that hasn't come out yet for a current system that you believe looks to be the heart and soul of what the publisher/console

-First Party
-New IP that debuted on the system, meaning no sequels like Super Mario 64, Uncharted 4, Halo 3, etc

 

[onpoint]

Wii Sports for Wii

 

[BocoDragon]

I feel like PS1 in specific was not defined by a first party IP at all, and was entirely defined by its third party games. FF7, RE1-2, MGS1, Tony Hawk, etc.

It's probably true for PS2 as well (FFX, SSX, MGS2). Sony did not have a strong first party emphasis until PS3.

 

[lilojigsaw]

Halo and the Xbox

 

[Aters]

I think Halo for XBOX, Gears for XBOX360.

 

[SuikerBrood]

I think Halo for XBOX, Gears for XBOX360.

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And Forza Horizon for Xbox One. The one pillar that stood the strongest during the dark days.. ;)

 

[The Unsent]

EDIT: Sorry, misread topic.

 

[Lant_War]

Uncharted and the PS3. It was the beginning for Sony's cinematic first party games.

 

[CloseTalker]

Halo on Xbox, and Super Mario World on SNES, are the only two that come to mind. Every other console, I feel like there are multiple games that are synonymous with that platform.

 

[DrHercouet]

The super obvious ones
SNES : Super Mario World
Genesis : Sonic The Hedgehog
Master System : Alex Kidd
NES : Super Mario Bros

Also:
Neo Geo Pocket Color : Kings of Fighters R2
NDS : Nintendogs
PSVita : Gravity Rush
I guess?

 

[Tailzo]

Sonic the Hedgehog for Sega Mega Drive

Pikmin 3 for wiiu (near launch, used the gamepad, but it was not a new franchise)

 

[Tiny Chihuahueño]

Gamecube is Melee.

We're still playing with goddamn gc controllers to this day because of melee.

 

[McNum]

Wii Sports for Wii

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This really is the biggest example. Wii Sports set the course for the Wii from day one.

I'd also suggest Super Mario Bros. for the NES. That set the tone for a whole lot of NES platformers to come.

 

[Hate]

Super Mario of NES.

 

[Linde]

Pokemon has defined every Nintendo handheld I've bought so far
Not counting switch

Pokemon is still the perfect game for handheld consoles because of it's connectivity needs and this has always been the case

 

[ClickyCal']

SM64 obviously for n64. It changed basically everything for 3d games.

 

[KillstealWolf]

Super Smash Bros. Melee for Gamecube

The Gamecube Controller is still around to this day because of that one game.

 

[Deleted member 249]

• NES: Super Mario
• SNES: Super Mario
• N64: Super Mario
• Gamecube: Super Smash Bros.
• Wii: Wii Sports
• Wii U: Splatoon
• Switch: The Legend of Zelda
• Gameboy: Pokemon
• Gameboy Advance: Pokemon
• Nintendo DS: Nintendogs
• Nintendo 3DS: Fire Emblem

• PlayStation: Wipeout
• PS2: God of War
• PS3: Uncharted
• PS4: Horizon
• PSP: Grand Theft Auto
• PS Vita: Gravity Rush

• Master System: Alex Kidd
• Genesis: Sonic the Hedgehog
• Saturn: NiGHTS
• Dreamcast: Crazy Taxi

• Xbox: Halo
• Xbox 360: Gears of War
• Xbox One: Forza Horizon

 

[skullwaker]

Pokemon Red/Blue/Green for the Gameboy.

 

[pswii60]

This feels like an impossible task for PS1. Was it Gran Turismo, Crash, Tekken, Metal Gear, FFVII?

Edit: I'm stupid, missed the "first party" part. So I'll say Gran Turismo.

 

[MikeRahl]

NES: Super Marios Bros
SNES: Donkey Kong Country (almost cheating because it was Rare but it's a nintendo IP) [pushing the limits of the console, really tight platforming, lots of levels]
n64: 3D Zelda (almost certainly cheating, but those games were ground breaking), Mario Party [multi-player fun, not taking things too seriously, lots of replayability]
Gamecube: Metroid Prime (pushing the limits again, doing something no one expected).

 

[skullwaker]

• NES: Super Mario
• SNES: Super Mario
• N64: Super Mario
• Gamecube: Super Smash Bros.
• Wii: Wii Sports
• Wii U: Mario Kart(?)
• Switch: The Legend of Zelda
• Gameboy: Pokemon
• Gameboy Advance: Pokemon
• Nintendo DS: Nintendogs
• Nintendo 3DS: Fire Emblem

• PlayStation: Ridge Racer
• PS2: Grand Theft Auto
• PS3: Uncharted
• PS4: Horizon
• PSP: Grand Theft Auto
• PS Vita: Persona

• Master System: Alex Kidd
• Genesis: Sonic the Hedgehog
• Saturn: NiGHTS
• Dreamcast: Crazy Taxi

• Xbox: Halo
• Xbox 360: Gears of War
• Xbox One: Forza Horizon

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I agree with all of these except I would probably say Splatoon or Super Mario Maker for the Wii U rather than Mario Kart.

 

[Betty]

I always felt MGS1 defined PS1, even though yeah it did get ported to other things later.

 

[Lunaray]

• NES: Super Mario
• SNES: Super Mario
• N64: Super Mario
• Gamecube: Super Smash Bros.
• Wii: Wii Sports
• Wii U: Mario Kart(?)
• Switch: The Legend of Zelda
• Gameboy: Pokemon
• Gameboy Advance: Pokemon
• Nintendo DS: Nintendogs
• Nintendo 3DS: Fire Emblem

• PlayStation: Ridge Racer
• PS2: Grand Theft Auto
• PS3: Uncharted
• PS4: Horizon
• PSP: Grand Theft Auto
• PS Vita: Persona

• Master System: Alex Kidd
• Genesis: Sonic the Hedgehog
• Saturn: NiGHTS
• Dreamcast: Crazy Taxi

• Xbox: Halo
• Xbox 360: Gears of War
• Xbox One: Forza Horizon

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Agree with everything on this list, except was Rockstar/DMA a first party studio at that point? Atlus also isn't a first party studio.

For Playstation, it has to be Gran Turismo right?

(In my heart, even though it's not first party, the answer to PS1 and PS2 is Final Fantasy).

 

[Deleted member 249]

I agree with all of these except I would probably say Splatoon or Super Mario Maker for the Wii U rather than Mario Kart.

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You know what, Splatoon is a great shout, I'll edit that

Agree with everything on this list, except was Rockstar/DMA a first party studio at that point? Atlus also isn't a first party studio.

For Playstation, it has to be Gran Turismo right?

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Damn, I didn't see "first party" ._. I'll edit em out lol

 

[Horned Reaper]

This feels like an impossible task for PS1. Was it Gran Turismo, Crash, Tekken, Metal Gear, FFVII?

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I think only Gran Turismo was first party out of those options?

 

[lunarworks]

Super Mario World on SNES

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SNES : Super Mario World

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That was the 4th entry in the franchise. (5th if you take Mario Bros. into account.)

New franchises would be F-Zero, Super Mario Kart, or Pilotwings, which drove Mode 7 into the spotlight.

 

[Sonicfan059]

I feel like PS1 in specific was not defined by a first party IP at all, and was entirely defined by its third party games. FF7, RE1-2, MGS1, Tony Hawk, etc.

It's probably true for PS2 as well (FFX, SSX, MGS2). Sony did not have a strong first party emphasis until PS3.

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Huh? Many people associated PS1 with Twisted Metal.

 

[pswii60]

I think only Gran Turismo was first party out of those options?

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Oh shit I missed the "first party" part lol. Looks like I'm not the only one though.

 

[DrHercouet]

That was the 4th entry in the franchise. (5th if you take Mario Bros. into account.)

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Oh shoot, I misread the topic. I need some sleep. Forget everything I wrote. I apologise.

 

[Procheno]

Breath of the Wild is the only one I can think that maybe counts since it was the only Switch game people talked about for Most of 2017.

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Gamecube is Melee.

We're still playing with goddamn gc controllers to this day because of melee.

Click to shrink...

SM64 obviously for n64. It changed basically everything for 3d games.

Click to shrink...

• NES: Super Mario
• SNES: Super Mario
• N64: Super Mario
• Gamecube: Super Smash Bros.
• Wii: Wii Sports
• Wii U: Splatoon
• Switch: The Legend of Zelda
• Gameboy: Pokemon
• Gameboy Advance: Pokemon
• Nintendo DS: Nintendogs
• Nintendo 3DS: Fire Emblem

• PlayStation: Wipeout
• PS2: God of War
• PS3: Uncharted
• PS4: Horizon
• PSP: Grand Theft Auto
• PS Vita: Gravity Rush

• Master System: Alex Kidd
• Genesis: Sonic the Hedgehog
• Saturn: NiGHTS
• Dreamcast: Crazy Taxi

• Xbox: Halo
• Xbox 360: Gears of War
• Xbox One: Forza Horizon

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New first party franchises

-First party
-New IPs

???

 

[SMD]

Nintendo: Super Mario Bros
Master System: Alex Kidd
Mega Drive: Sonic
Game Boy: at first Tetris, Pokemon from then on
SNES: this is probably going to differ by region, in the UK the SNES was so closely associated with Street Fighter 2. Super Mario World
Playstation: Metal Gear Solid Gran Turismo
Saturn: Virtua Fighter
N64: Mario 64 Goldeneye
Dreamcast: Sonic Adventure Crazy Taxi
PS2: GTA 3 (but really Pro Evo 2 in the UK) hard to say for this one, I guess Guitar Hero? God of War I suppose.
Game Boy Advance: Pokemon Warioware
Gamecube: Metroid Prime (this is kinda like a new IP, right? otherwise I'd have to go for Animal Crossing).
Xbox: Halo
DS: New Super Mario Bros Nintendogs
PSP: Loco Roco
Xbox 360: Gears of War
Wii: Wii Sports
3DS: Fire Emblem Awakening I got nothing for this. Bravely Default but that's stretching it.
Vita: Persona 4 Golden Gravity Rush?
PS3: Uncharted 2
Wii U: Splatoon
PS4: Bloodborne
Xbox One: Forza Horizon x Uhhh nothing really fits your criteria so I'll go with Ori.
Switch: Breath of the Wild (come on it's basically like a new game) I don't think we're there yet but for now I'll say Arms despite it not doing as well as it should've.

 

[SMD]

New first party franchises

-First party
-New IPs

???

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Wait do you mean literally new? Fuck.

 

[Deleted member 8861]

Vita: Tearaway- underappreciated, hidden masterpiece, ported to another system where it went unpraised because it lost its essence by being ported

 

[Jessie]

Uncharted basically dictated the next decade for Sony.

I want Bloodborne to be PS4's, but it's looking more like Horizon Zero Dawn.

 

[AniHawk]

Pokemon Red/Blue/Green for the Gameboy.

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tough battle, but i think tetris did more earlier.

 

[Procheno]

Wait do you mean literally new? Fuck.

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Yep, meaning a brand new franchise that debuted on the system

 

[Deleted member 249]

New first party franchises

-First party
-New IPs

???

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Like, literally a brand new IP?

 

[skullwaker]

tough battle, but i think tetris did more earlier.

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Yeah I was definitely caught between the two, since Tetris carried the system at first and Pokemon gave it a second life. Was Tetris a brand new franchise on the GB though?

 

[lunarworks]

tough battle, but i think tetris did more earlier.

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Was Tetris "new"? Nintendo just scored the exclusive console rights, and it was developed for them by Bullet-Proof Software.

 

[SMD]

Yep, meaning a brand new franchise that debuted on the system

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I've had a mare here.

 

[EAD Ninja]

Was Tetris "new"? Nintendo just scored the exclusive console rights, and it was developed for them by Bullet-Proof Software.

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NIntendo developed the original Tetris game themselves on the NES and GB. The Metroid team oddly enough.

 

[Papasmurff]

Using a new IP makes it tougher. I will just do this for consoles that I've owned:

Game Boy: Pokemon
GBA: Golden Sun
DS: Nintendogs
3DS: Not really a great option. Tomodachi Life was a new IP for the West and Yokai Watch is published by Nintendo in the West. Other than those two, uhh... Streetpass games or Badge Arcade I guess.

N64: Mario Party
GameCube: Pikmin
Wii: Wii Sports
Wii U: Splatoon
Switch: Arms
-I think Arms is a great option for Switch. Can play multiple ways, including with motion controls. Multiplayer and online focused, and continuing content updates.


Xbox: Halo
Xbox 360: Gears of War
PS3: Uncharted

 

[lunarworks]

NES: Super Mario Bros.
Master System: Phantasy Star
TG-16: Bonk's Adventure
Genesis: Sonic
GameBoy: Pokémon
SNES: F-Zero
Saturn: Panzer Dragoon (AM2's marquee titles were arcade originals)
PlayStation: Gran Turismo, or Jumping Flash in Japan (Sony's first party output was sparse)
Dreamcast: Jet Set Radio
PS2: Ico
Xbox: Halo
GameCube: Pikmin
DS: Brain Age
PS3: Uncharted
Xbox 360: Gears of War

I'm not stepping into the current gen yet.

 

[LegendofLex]

A lot of people are missing the note about the games needing to be new franchises that debuted on that console.

I wasn't that big into the PlayStation, Sega, or Microsoft ecosystems, and most of what I play on those platforms is third-party anyway, so I won't comment on those.

But here're my thoughts on the various Nintendo platforms.

Super Mario Bros. for NES
The franchise that you had to own if you owned an NES. The one that put Nintendo on the map in the home console space. You could be pedantic and say that Mario had already appeared in games before, but this was definitely its own thing.

F-Zero for SNES
Not so much because F-Zero was super popular or a must-own, but because this was the game that showed what you could do with the tech available on the SNES right from launch, and we saw a lot of games follow it that applied that tech in various ways. Super Mario Kart and DKC are obviously solid contenders, too, but I think F-Zero wins simply due to how early it was and how many games clearly applied the same tech in a similar way.

Pokemon for Game Boy
People are right to say Tetris was similarly big in the early years, but it wasn't a new franchise. Pokemon is the new IP that defined the Game Boy.

N64 is tricky, because most of the actual "defining" games of that platform were sequels (Mario 64, Ocarina of Time) and/or not really new IP (GoldenEye). There are a lot of games that I think could qualify based on their use of the 4 controller ports (Mario Party, Smash Bros.), but they don't really capture the essence of that platform (the use of 3D in adventure games) even if they were a big part of its legacy.

Golden Sun for GBA
Mostly because Golden Sun is a good example of the kinds of SNES-inspired games (and SNES ports) that did really well on GBA. WarioWare Inc. is a good second, because the GameCube/GBA era was really the start of "weird Nintendo," but I don't feel it's super representative of the GBA.

Pikmin for GameCube
See my "weird Nintendo" comment above, except this game is a spot-on representative of the GameCube's identity.

Brain Age for DS
This was one of those games that only really worked as well as it did because of the DS interface, and that was a good sample of Nintendo's strategy to reach an expanded gaming market.

Wii Sports for Wii
I don't think anyone will argue with this.

I honestly have nothing for 3DS. There isn't a single truly new, truly first-party IP that captures the essence of that system. Those who said StreetPass built-in games are probably the closest, tbh.

Nintendo Land for Wii U
A lot of people will say Splatoon, but Splatoon actually went on mostly unchanged from Wii U to Switch. Nintendo Land is the kind of game that could only exist on Wii U.

Snipperclips for Switch
Again, not a lot of big new IP on Switch yet. But Snipperclips is the ultimate "pass someone a Joy-Con and play together anywhere" game from the stuff I've played so far. My wife and I played a lot of this game on the go.

 

[Jenea]

Ps3 - The Last of Us
Xbox 360 - Halo
Ps4 - GoW
Xbox One - Crackdown 3
NS - Zelda: BoW

 

[LegendofLex]

NIntendo developed the original Tetris game themselves on the NES and GB. The Metroid team oddly enough.

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Nintendo absolutely did not develop the original version of Tetris.

 

[Pirate Bae]

Gamecube is easily Animal Crossing.

PS2- Probably Jak and Daxter

PS3- Uncharted. Without Uncharted I doubt TLoU would have been the same game it is now.

PS4 - Demon's Souls / Dark Souls / whatever

N64 - Super Smash Bros.

DS- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

 

[Pirate Bae]

I forgot about Kingdom Hearts for the PS2 so I would also put that up there.

 

[Richietto]

I wouldn't be able to choose a new IP for more consoles. I feel the games that often define a console are established, mostly in Nintendo's case.