What Is the Best Game Console Ever? [Archive]

SMW-VIKINGS

07-14-2009, 08:00 PM

I am just taking a poll. What do you think is the best gaming console ever and why. Please do not eliminate old game consoles like SuperNintendo and Sega Genesis and of course the original Altari game systems nothing like pong. Also in your decision take in the games that were made for the system as in how good or bad were the games overall for the system.

~SMW-VIKINGS

RetroVortex

07-14-2009, 08:07 PM

Ooohh, thats a tough one...
I would say its a toss-up between the SNES and the Dreamcast.
Both systems have excellent games, some of the best I have played.
The PSX is also a great console, with a great selection of games, especially RPG's.

I would have to choose the SNES though, because it has some real gems. Super Mario World, Zelda ALTTP, Donkey Kong Country, Starfox, final fantasy 4-6, all genre defining games.

Swish

07-14-2009, 08:13 PM

Surely impossible to answer.

Every system has had its fair share of rubbish and quality. If you go by the sheer number of decent titles the PlayStation 2 would almost certainly win by a wide margin, but in terms of proportion it would probably lose out to everything but the Atari Jaguar.

The most popular answer to this question is usually Dreamcast though. I just feel rather unqualified to judge that since I have a total of five games on mine.

So, if you really want me to contribute to your statistics, I say the SEGA Mega Drive. It doesn't have a significantly different ratio of good games to bad when compared with anything else, but when I was a little kid I didn't really know the difference. I even enjoyed the hideously unbalanced Combat Cars and the utterly unplayable Ballz 3D: The Battle of the Ballz, and they're awful.

SMW-VIKINGS

07-14-2009, 08:17 PM

Sure it is absolutley ok to have more than one favorite just like don't have a million you know what I mean. But what i am trying to say is like comparing how successfull Xbox was compared to like the Genesis sure Xbox has more technology but the Genesis was a bit hit in its own time you know what I am saying?

Swish

07-14-2009, 08:23 PM

... you know what I am saying?

I must confess that I don't.

I thought you were asking which system had the best games, but here you seem to be asking which system was the most financially successful, and/or which system had the largest installed base, and/or which system is technically superior. I appreciate that you included the supplementary question "and why", but really that's like comparing apples and oranges.

SMW-VIKINGS

07-14-2009, 08:31 PM

I must confess that I don't.

I thought you were asking which system had the best games, but here you seem to be asking which system was the most financially successful, and/or which system had the largest installed base, and/or which system is technically superior. I appreciate that you included the supplementary question "and why", but really that's like comparing apples and oranges.

hmmm how can i phrase it lets see like does this help umm what do you think is the best gaming console overall taking everything in to part from the time it was built, how many were sold, games, and even when the production company ended supporting it. If that doesn't explain it better i'll work on something to make it clearer.

ndguidry

07-14-2009, 08:41 PM

I'd have to agree with Swish and say that it's really impossible to answer.

But based on console I have the most childhood memories playing I would have to say N64. Who could forget the all star games like Super Mario 64, Diddy Kong Racing and of course Pokemon Snap. Once you got used to the controllers they weren't too bad. Honestly, there were very few games I didn't enjoy for that system.

A very close second would be the SNES though. :p

I love Nintendo :)

Stranth

07-14-2009, 09:15 PM

It is a difficult question to answer but I would choose the Sega Dreamcast with N64 as a close runner up. they are both excellent consoles and I had lots of fun playing both systems. Also in my opinion a good portion of the games on the Dreamcast look almost as good as newer systems, I'm not to sure on the N64 I haven't played it recently enough to know.

Terraguy

07-15-2009, 12:34 AM

This question is impossible to answer on a wholly objective basis.

Especially since I don't really remember/have not played any games on consoles older than the SNES.

SMW-VIKINGS

07-15-2009, 01:01 AM

This question is impossible to answer on a wholly objective basis.

Especially since I don't really remember/have not played any games on consoles older than the SNES.

Well then just tell me your favorite of the ones you know its just for statistics (stupid summer school and my mom being evil).

Songbird

07-15-2009, 01:29 AM

Well then just tell me your favorite of the ones you know its just for statistics (stupid summer school and my mom being evil).

What class is this for? Because in actuality statistics are unreliable in some ways... :eek:

I really can't say what's mine because it is too hard for comparison, but for your sake I'll tell you one of my relatives fav.

SNES; Note that the age of this one is above 40.

Swish

07-15-2009, 03:20 PM

If this is actually a statistics assignment then I would recommend you actually specify your criteria rather than allow for every possible interpretation of the word "best". You can't get meaningful results from the question as it is now.

Though it's still a difficult - if not impossible - question to answer with any degree of authority, the most interesting results you could get would probably come from asking people which system had the best catalogue of games in their eyes.

That's the question I complained about at the beginning.

Alternatively (or as well if you're feeling dedicated), you could come up with a discreet set of possible reasons for someone to consider a system superior (say, power, appearance, controller design, games catalogue, financial success, nostalgia, etc.), and ask respondents to rank them by the importance each criteria holds for them. That might produce some interesting results.

SMW-VIKINGS

07-15-2009, 07:15 PM

Terraguy

07-15-2009, 07:30 PM

But then we would need to evaluate that the statistical analysis will have a large degree of variables...and plus the bias in the population.....

Oh sorry, getting a bit technical there. For me, I would have to say the PS2. Just because some of my favorite games come from the console, and I enjoyed it's usage as both a game console and DVD player (at the time).

Swish

07-15-2009, 07:45 PM

At the risk of sounding like I'm trolling you - I assure you I'm not - that's precisely the same question you originally asked.

SMW-VIKINGS

07-15-2009, 09:04 PM

At the risk of sounding like I'm trolling you - I assure you I'm not - that's precisely the same question you originally asked.

....I hate you..... Whatever I'll just ask my friends I guess

Myrph

07-15-2009, 10:28 PM

....I hate you..... Whatever I'll just ask my friends I guess
Hey play nice...

Personally my favourite gaming system has to be the PC, its outlived every other console, continues to have a brilliant game catalogue and can play 90% of my favourite games!!

If you want an actual console, I'd have to say PS1, although the Gameboy Pocket would probably come a close second (never had an original Gameboy, got one for my birthday but it was broken coming out of the box, so replaced it with a GB Pocket).

Themo

07-15-2009, 10:46 PM

I kinda grew up on the SNES, so I'd have to go with that. Although the PSX comes to a close second. Why? RPGs! Seriously, that was Squaresoft/enix's golden era, even though they have done pretty well since then.

Rivercity88

07-16-2009, 01:34 AM

My favorite system aside from the Xbox 360 would have to be between the NES and the Nintendo 64.

Stranth

07-16-2009, 08:15 AM

Personally my favourite gaming system has to be the PC, its outlived every other console, continues to have a brilliant game catalogue and can play 90% of my favourite games!!

Technically a computer isn't a gaming system because it has more uses than just games and it has only outlives everything else because of it many uses and it keeps getting upgrades as a system in general.

I still stick with the dreamcast as best and the N64 as a close runner up.

Brainiac

07-16-2009, 12:06 PM

Technically a computer isn't a gaming system because it has more uses than just games and it has only outlives everything else because of it many uses and it keeps getting upgrades as a system in general.

You could make the same arguement for current consoles (save perhaps the Wii) as well. They're more media centers than pure gaming systems. As far as system upgrades, any console/portable with firmware gets updated as well and upgraded hardware versions are always released to the market as well (PSP-1000, 2000, 3000, as an example).

SMW-VIKINGS

07-17-2009, 12:22 AM

You could make the same arguement for current consoles (save perhaps the Wii) as well. They're more media centers than pure gaming systems. As far as system upgrades, any console/portable with firmware gets updated as well and upgraded hardware versions are always released to the market as well (PSP-1000, 2000, 3000, as an example).

For the sake of of my poll I will accept PC as a gaming console although I suppose it does have an unfair advantage with it continuing to advance. One thing I won't take is a Mac as a gaming console seriously come on guys that's as un-gamer like you can get lol.

Tommy Tallarico

07-17-2009, 04:59 AM

I'm gonna go by eras...

Intellivision, NES, Sega Genesis, PlayStation 2 & XBOX 360 for me.

T.T.

zippy

07-17-2009, 05:18 AM

I say the xbox 360 pwns every system out there. xD Achivements add replay value to games. I know the achievements where the only reason I bothered playing mass effect 1000+ hours. :p

Stranth

07-17-2009, 06:51 AM

personally achievements have made my gaming experience a bit worse of wear. I would prefer if there was an option to not be able to receive the achievements but they do provide a goal and more reason to play a game, and will make you explore more ways of doing things in a non-linear RPG (Oblivion for example.) so that if you did not know something existed in the game the achievements would point it out and make you seek it out.

zippy

07-17-2009, 07:05 AM

spdrstar

07-18-2009, 03:26 AM

Tied with NES and Xbox 360 :D

Stranth

07-19-2009, 01:34 AM

How do achievements make it worse? Only reason I bother playing a game through more than once is for achievements. I want 50,000 gamerscore like half my freinds list seems to have. T_T I'm almost at 13k, haha.

Some of my friends want to do nothing but to get gamerscore to make it look like they are better so they get full of them selves for one thing and will only play certain games because they don't have the achievements for it or they spend half of their time in private matches to try and get achievements so that they don't have fun and won't play some games at all anymore.

But as for myself I lose interest in a game now and again quicker than I normally would because achievements try tell you if you are done with a game or not and that part of it is all psychological and there isn't anything that can be done about being bord with a game unless you find a new aspect of the game to intrigue you with it.

So what im getting at is that some people spend too much time on achivements instead of usefull things like enjoying the game (and yes I do know some people have quite a bit of fun trying to get achivements.) or having a life in general (you know things like seeing your friends in real life and playing sports.) And they make me grow bored of a game faster than normal sometimes, but still often enough to annoy me.

SMW-VIKINGS

07-19-2009, 04:49 AM

Some of my friends want to do nothing but to get gamerscore to make it look like they are better so they get full of them selves for one thing and will only play certain games because they don't have the achievements for it or they spend half of their time in private matches to try and get achievements so that they don't have fun and won't play some games at all anymore.

But as for myself I lose interest in a game now and again quicker than I normally would because achievements try tell you if you are done with a game or not and that part of it is all psychological and there isn't anything that can be done about being bord with a game unless you find a new aspect of the game to intrigue you with it.

So what im getting at is that some people spend too much time on achivements instead of usefull things like enjoying the game (and yes I do know some people have quite a bit of fun trying to get achivements.) or having a life in general (you know things like seeing your friends in real life and playing sports.) And they make me grow bored of a game faster than normal sometimes, but still often enough to annoy me.

Achivements are for raindays and days before finals. :D

zippy

07-19-2009, 06:31 AM

I live for achievements. xD I NEED to have every achievement for some OCD reason, but only the easy/moderate ones, not the hard ones like on bad company where you have to get EVERY. DAMN. AWARD. AND. MEDAL. T_T

Terraguy

07-19-2009, 07:56 AM

Achievements depend on the game for me.

Actually, scratch that. I seem to like achievements until a certain point, at which they either take too much time or are too difficult to achieve, in which case I then get sick of trying to get them (take Team Fortress 2 as an example).

Stranth

07-20-2009, 06:34 AM

I found the team fortress ones relatively easy (mind you that if you absolutely cannot do it you could get a friend and do a private match to get them) and yes some games are too hard or too time consuming.

Achivements are for raindays and days before finals. :D very good point.

SMW-VIKINGS

07-23-2009, 12:10 AM

http://www.leveloneboss.com/2009/07/video-game-message-boards-get-pwned.html I believe the last one would settle all dispute and create world peace!

Stranth

07-23-2009, 01:43 AM

excellent chart and is very true I don't have any disputes with the chart except that bit about Sony fans liking halo because nobody likes halo everyone just has it, same as monopoly.

SMW-VIKINGS

07-23-2009, 02:28 AM

excellent chart and is very true I don't have any disputes with the chart except that bit about Sony fans liking halo because nobody likes halo everyone just has it, same as monopoly.

But halo has blood guts well not guts but blood and fun online games come on grif ball monopoly is just a game of how long can u take it before u throw the board and pieces at the wall :D:D:D

Leontendo

07-24-2009, 10:51 PM

Most definately Wii. C'mon, you can play NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Commodore 64, Sega Mega Drive, etc. games on it. While many of the games made for the system may not be great exactly, there is generally a lot of innovation in the games. I was playing Wii Sports Resort today. It's definately one of my greatest gaming experiences.

Swish

07-25-2009, 08:54 AM

The Wii is the best because it can play better games from other systems? It's a legitimate reason, but one which so far hasn't even been considered.

You see, this is why SMW-VIKINGS needs to specify some criteria by which consoles can be judged. Otherwise that table is going to contain about as many columns as there were responses, with no statistically significant difference between their numbers.

SMW-VIKINGS

07-25-2009, 03:33 PM

......ur not making this easy for me ok look my teacher wont know so i dont care just tell me what and why dont care from what decade yadayada ur making me go nuts here

Swish

07-25-2009, 03:51 PM

I'm trying to help you here.

SMW-VIKINGS

07-25-2009, 03:53 PM

well thank you swish lol yeah then again i probably should care all so much since i have a solid A in the class

Songbird

07-26-2009, 09:42 PM

Just remember when you turn your assignment in don't forget to include the chart you showed us to get extra credit! ;)

I really did enjoy reading that chart. :p

Jakesnke17

07-30-2009, 02:43 PM

Oh come on, really?

It would have been the Sega Neptune. :P

vgmusicfan

08-01-2009, 08:45 AM

I personally think it might be more interesting to hear which system is the worst, but to answer your question as best I can I would have to give it in different categories : current gen non- portable : PS3 ( I have a completely backwords compatable unit ) because of the PS1 and PS2 library it can play as well as PS3 games, blue ray, reliability, etc. Wii comes a close second due to the back library of games it has, but I have very few current games for it compared to the PS3. For portables - the DS mine can play GB Advance games as well as DS and the RPG market ( the games I play most ) is definetly favoring the DS. For previous gen - SNES - might be much less powerful than today's systems, but the games were definetly done well. Overall - the PS3 might be slightly ahead of the other 2, but just barely

Adventurer777

09-22-2009, 03:19 PM

As much as I'm gung-ho for the Dreamcast to be best of all, I [sadly] have to look back to another system for this title: the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom).

According to IGN (and perhaps others that remember this) the NES was credited as the best console ever, as it practically saved the industry that at the time (the early 80s) was suffering from a massive crash of low-quality games (children, can you say E.T.?). So...if it wasn't for NES, Dreamcast MAY not have even existed. (Wowzer!)

Leontendo

09-22-2009, 09:31 PM

Wii. Mostly because of its awesome back catalogue (tbh, most of the games I play on it are from the Virtual Console).

TurboChickenMan

09-22-2009, 10:30 PM

Only counting consoles I'm familar with, meaning nothing before the 32/64-bit era.

1: Nintendo 64

Technical reasons (comparing to the main competitor at the time, PS1) - Simple controller, no loading times, smooth graphics.

Game reasons (only counting exclusives that I've played) - GoldenEye 007, Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo-Kazooie, Zelda OOT, Zelda MM, Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64, Star Fox 64, Mario Kart 64, Mario Party 1, 2, and 3, Paper Mario, Super Smash Bros., F-Zero X, Blast Corps, Banjo-Tooie, Wave Race 64, Harvest Moon 64, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Top Gear Rally 1.

2: Xbox 1

Technical reasons (comparing to all other consoles of the era) - Built-in hard drive, system-link & online capable, sharpest graphics.

Game reasons (counting all games that I've played, as the Xbox 1 editions usually had more features and/or better graphics) - Halo 1, Jet Set Radio Future, Fuzion Frenzy, Burnout Revenge, Rainbow Six 3, Unreal Championship, MechAssault 1, Project Gotham Racing 1 and 2, Splinter Cell 1, 2, and 3, RalliSport Challenge 2, Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions, Steel Batallion (haven't played it, but it sounds too cool not to mention).

3: Sega Dreamcast

Technical reasons - Many unique titles, some online play, very good graphics.

Game reasons (counting all games, even some I haven't played but sound very good) - Soul Calibur, Jet Grind Radio, Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear, Crazy Taxi 1 and 2, Typing Of The Dead, Sonic Adventure, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Seaman, Virtua Tennis.

Stranth

10-02-2009, 02:41 AM

I'm thinking we do not need to use labels such as xbox 1 as we can all assume if it does not have 360 on the end of it that it is the original one. same thing with games such as gears, gears 2 and halo, halo 2,halo 3 and halo ODST.

Swish

10-02-2009, 11:23 AM

I call it the Ex-box. I can't resist a pun.

Myrph

10-02-2009, 03:18 PM

I call it the Ex-box. I can't resist a pun.

I've been wanting to use this for a while... (http://media.fukung.net/images/11810/2d5c400395ce0f501be964ed81645d6f.jpg)

Macacão Sapão

10-02-2009, 03:30 PM

I've been wanting to use this for a while... (http://media.fukung.net/images/11810/2d5c400395ce0f501be964ed81645d6f.jpg)

hahahahaahahahahaha

Myrph, that was excellent!

Brainiac

10-02-2009, 07:42 PM

And you got to use it on Swish, he of the Kyon-facepalm avatar. How appropriate. :D

Myrph

10-02-2009, 09:15 PM

And you got to use it on Swish, he of the Kyon-facepalm avatar. How appropriate. :D You Fight Like a Cow!

If you look closely at the montage, that image is actually a part of it, along with several other images of the same character in different stages of facepalm.

Besides, I loved the irony of it ;)

Terraguy

10-02-2009, 09:18 PM

Exactly how many times was he represented in that picture? Three? Four? :p

Stranth

10-02-2009, 11:58 PM

I've been wanting to use this for a while... (http://media.fukung.net/images/11810/2d5c400395ce0f501be964ed81645d6f.jpg)

Awesome job Myrph I'm setting that as my background now its too funny for me to resist.

and he looks to be represented five times.

Swish

10-03-2009, 08:38 AM

Six actually, though one is repeated twice slightly resized and cropped, so technically five. And my avatar is a couple of frames after the similar one in that montage.

Kyon is truly a master of the facepalm.

Brainiac

10-05-2009, 12:27 PM

You Fight Like a Cow!

Don't make me sic my squadron of demonic talking skulls on you. Murray is just the beginning!

Songbird

10-06-2009, 01:33 AM

I've been wanting to use this for a while... (http://media.fukung.net/images/11810/2d5c400395ce0f501be964ed81645d6f.jpg)

Gee they don't look too good... "Starts getting a headache"

Oh no! It's contagious! Does anyone here have any pain killers?!

Sano

11-17-2009, 08:44 PM

Dreamcast. Lots of Capcom fighters and games there and the first system to use online play. Also featured the best Sonic game ever with Sonic Adventure. Mini VMU games were pretty cool. Even to this day the Dreamcast still has lots of cool exclusives like Tech Romancer, the only GOOD Spawn game, Berserk, Marvel vs. Capcom 1, SF3 New Generation, etc. Also it still has the best version of Capcom vs. SNK 2. Playing Japanese games was so easy on the system with a swap disc.

I only wish more people gave the system a chance so Sega could still be in the console wars today, but so it goes.

Of the current gen, I have a PS3 and a Wii buy my PS3 gets way more playing time than my Wii. I play my DS and PSP equally. No 360 but I fire up the ol' Xbox now and then. Ditto for the PS2.

DancingFlameDragon

12-09-2009, 08:23 PM

There are so many good games for different systems, but I really love the SNES. They took the 2D gaming that was great on the NES and in many ways, almost perfected it. Games like Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, and Mario RPG are really great, and I still have at least as much fun playing them now as I did when I first got them. The Super Star Wars series was also a lot of fun :D
I'd talk about Chrono Trigger, as a lot of people say it's a fantastic game, but I have not gotten around to playing it yet. I probably will eventually, though (as I learned from VGL, the music in it is really good!).