In the modern age, it’s easy to complain about a console having so few games. We’ve gotten used to a deluge of games constantly releasing, both good and bad, and the very absence of games feels unfamiliar. However, many modern consoles support backwards compatibility, playing the games you already love even better, even without a massive host of brand-new games.
In the past though, you had to live with what you got. Games could be made faster, but you had fewer places to get them. Some of these consoles still managed to have a great line-up of games, though others were pushed to market much faster, with the games trailing behind. These are the consoles with the very least by time they launched.
This article accounts only for the region that had the least games at its initial launch, not the total they had by the time it was released in all regions.
8Nintendo DS
Seven Games
The DS, to this day, is still Nintendo’s best-selling console, followed closely by the Switch. The console was home to incredible games, many of them working as system sellers.Who can deny they bought a DS just for Pokemon?Its affordability helped with that massively, and it ended with an incredible assortment of games.
That was not the case at launch, however. Following on from the Game Boy Advance, which itself was still relatively new, the DS launched with quite a small number of games as a result. Only seven in total. That’s not a terrible number, but lagged behind many of its more modern competitors. That said, the Game Boy compatibility definitely helped soften the slow.
Humourously, the PSP also had seven games at launch when it first released.
7Mattel Hyperscan
Five Games
You may know Mattel as the owner and creator of toys such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, and many others. Of course, those series also have many games, though Mattel itself is more a licensor in that regard rather than a developer. That said, the company decided to take matters into its own hands in 2006 with the Mattel Hyperscan.
The Hyperscan was an idea doomed to fail. It attempted to integrate trading cards at the hardware level. Games came on disc, while it then came with cards that saved your data, but also unlocked functions within the game. And of course, just like real trading card packs, the ones you got were random. The Hyperscan launched with five titles, three of which were Marvel games, and never got more. A fate that surprises few.
6Game Boy
Four Games
The origins of Nintendo portable endeavors, the Game Boy became a roaring success immediately upon release. Affordable for its demographic and powered by batteries anyone could pick up and replace, the Game Boy found its way into plenty of households around the world, and ended with alibrary of games that could put other consoles to shame.
But many of us come from humble beginnings, and the Game Boy was no different. It started with a simple four games when it first released, giving you little in the way of variety, and some of them just ports of existing games. An impressive thing to grow from, with the console ending with over 1,000 games total.
5Dreamcast
While we are now left with the three goliaths of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, plenty others used to be able to make a name for themselves in the console market. Sega was one such company, combining their own stellar IPs with consoles entirely their own. This started with the SG-1000 and formally ended with the Dreamcast.
The Dreamcast had great ideas, but a troubled development and outdated tech in many regards. Its games were stellar, but far and few in between. And that all started at its launch, with only four games to speak of. It was sadly a market it could not recover in, with Sega pulling out entirely after the failure of the Dreamcast.
4Entex Adventure Vision
Casting our vision back to the earliest days of console gaming, we have the Entex Adventure Vision. Released back in 1983, the Adventure Vision is one of the earliest home consoles there is, so it’s not surprise that many of its ideas, though in a sense revolutionary, did not become standardised.
Rather than connecting to an external television like other home consoles, the Adventure Vision came with its own LED screen comprised of exclusively red lights. However, experimental as it was, it launched with only four games, all ports from existing arcade games. And those are all the games the console would ever see.
3NES
Three Games
The NES was Nintendo’s first home console, and one of the earliest home consoles in general. It spawned some of the industry’s most renowned video games series, and laid the foundations for much of how game design is done to this day. However, it wasn’t exactly bursting with games at launch.
While it had a more respectable number by time it was released internationally, the NES had a much smaller library at its Japanese launch. Only three games in total, and it would be over a month until the very next game came to the console. It was a slow start, but one that very much paid off.
After the video game crash in North America in the 1980’s, Nintendo added its Seal of Quality to games to ensure all of them were approved for the console.
2N64
Following an unfortunate trend, Nintendo lands in this list yet again with the N64. While a pioneer in terms of 3D, it fell to the wayside in many other regards. It birthed some of the most beloved games in the industry that are still cultural touchstones to this day, but it’s launch would have you convinced it was doomed to failure.
By the time the N64 was discontinued,it had just under 400 games in total, a far cry from every Nintendo console before and after. Its beginning spelled its end, however, with there only being four games at release.
1SNES
Two Games
Our final entry, once again dominated by Nintendo, is proof that even from a limited start, you can go on to greatness. The SNES launched in Japan with just two games, Super Mario World and F-Zero. Even when it came to other regions, there were still only five games. It was a small launch. Yet it went on to have a library of almost 2,000 games.
The SNES had something for everything. Ports of arcade games, fighting games, RPGs, shooters, platformers, racers, strategy. Anything and everything. Games like Super Metroid and A Link To The Past are still gorgeous and play wonderfully, standing the test of time incredibly. It’s never too late to make a comeback.
