Comparing Two Decades’ Worth of PlayStation Launch Lineups

You think PlayStation 4’s launch roster is soft? Well…

Sony has launched six core pieces of hardware in the PlayStation family over nearly two decades. And the launch lineups for the various platforms vary wildly in terms of diversity, quality, and overall heft.
Some platforms, like PSone, launched with a small group of games with few standouts. Others, like PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Vita, launched with huge libraries, with some quality offerings to boot. We figured we’d put together six grids, with the six platforms’ North American launch libraries, to give gamers a better idea of how PlayStation 4 stacks up against historical launch lineups.
Certain references helped make these lists more accurate – as it’s sometimes hard to nail down release dates -- including Wikipedia, GameFAQs, and Metacritic. (Other sources within IGN can be found here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.)
Keep an eye out next week for our Xbox Launch Lineups comparison.

PlayStation (September 09, 1995)

PSone's launch brought with it some interesting games, including Rayman and a port of NBA Jam. Battle Arena Toshinden was the pack-in game with PlayStation at launch, during an era when consoles still came with something to play.

PlayStation 2 (October 26, 2000)

With the exception of PlayStation 4, PS2's launch lineup is the meatiest in PlayStation history. What's perhaps most interesting about this launch lineup is how many games From Software contributed to it, the studio that would one day go on to make Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.

PlayStation Portable (March 24, 2005)

When Sony decided to jump into the portable hardware race, it did so with a launch lineup that included a new Metal Gear game, a Twisted Metal title, and internally-developed sports games.

PlayStation 3 (November 17, 2006)

PlayStation 3's American launch lineup rivals the original PlayStation's in terms of amount of titles available. Sony only contributed two games -- Resistance: Fall of Man and NBA 07 -- with near-launch games, like MotorStorm, not ready until the European launch.

PlayStation Vita (February 22, 2012)

Many argue that, in terms of quality, PlayStation Vita's launch lineup is the strongest in PlayStation history. With games like Escape Plan, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Super Stardust Delta, and Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack, it's not hard to see why.

PlayStation 4 (November 15, 2013)

Here's PlayStation 4's American launch lineup as it currently stands (you can keep an eye on any changes on our PlayStation 4 Launch Lineup Wiki. Unfortunately, we don't know how any of these games are yet, but we do know that there are a lot of games ready for day one.