What is the best console EVER?

[Fingolfin269]

Or it could be...you know...they might have some of the greatest, most iconic games of all time.

No. That couldn't be it.

No believe me I understand that. Like I said in my previous post I owned all of these systems and loved every one of them.

I just find it interesting that anytime a 'best of' thread about anything (console systems, games, music, etc.), it's always something older that leads the voting. I'm not trying to say you are wrong so don't take it that way.

 

[RedRooster]

No believe me I understand that. Like I said in my previous post I owned all of these systems and loved every one of them.

I just find it interesting that anytime a 'best of' thread about anything (console systems, games, music, etc.), it's always something older that leads the voting. I'm not trying to say you are wrong so don't take it that way.

I was gonna say both XBoxs, but didn't for fear of being laughed out of this place. I've honestly had the most fun with them out of all consoles ever though, at that's into my late 20s early 30s when consoles shouldn't be as fun.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I was gonna say both XBoxs, but didn't for fear of being laughed out of this place. I've honestly had the most fun with them out of all consoles ever though, at that's into my late 20s early 30s when consoles shouldn't be as fun.

I voted the 360 myself. I think the current gen doesn't get considered mainly because it's the current gen. Plus there just isn't as much exclusivity anymore. Part of the allure of the old systems is that you pretty much had to have each individual system in order to play specific games. You have that today as well but to a much lesser degree.

 

[Baked]

I'm gonna hook up my SNES to the 55" LCD when I get home today and play some Street Fighter Turbo.

 

[JujuFish]

I voted the 360 myself. I think the current gen doesn't get considered mainly because it's the current gen. Plus there just isn't as much exclusivity anymore. Part of the allure of the old systems is that you pretty much had to have each individual system in order to play specific games. You have that today as well but to a much lesser degree.

Of course you'd think that, since you picked the console with the least number of exclusives.

Nostalgia plays a role in these things, but some systems are objectively better than others. The current gen is important in that it's evolving the consoles beyond just being videogame machines into general media consumption devices. There was some of this back a generation, like with XBMC, but it's becoming mainstream now.

As far as judging a console for the video games, I think both objectively and subjectively that the SNES is the best. Objectively, because it has some of the highest rated games of all time, and subjectively because the SNES was particularly strong in RPGs, a genre containing most of my favorite games of all time.

 

[Aikouka]

I'd actually go with the Genesis over the SNES I think, there was just something about the games and controller that I liked better. You'd play NHL or Mortal Kombat on both, and the Genesis version just felt better. Plus it had Road Rash, oh momma. I still enjoyed the SNES too though for its exclusive games.

I'm a huge fan of Sonic, and in fact, I might actually prefer Sonic over Mario (blasphemy!). However, I would have a hard time pushing the Genesis over the SNES. I guess I just favor the SNES's JRPGs too much as I was never a huge fan of Shining Force, etc.

 

[RedRooster]

I voted the 360 myself. I think the current gen doesn't get considered mainly because it's the current gen. Plus there just isn't as much exclusivity anymore. Part of the allure of the old systems is that you pretty much had to have each individual system in order to play specific games. You have that today as well but to a much lesser degree.

Agreed.
And as much as SNES probably deserves to be the #1 console of all time, there's no question the 360 controller is the best controller of all time. So comfortable and smooth. Seriously, go back and play a NES or SNES, those rectangles of death really don't do much to make you comfortable.

 

[RedRooster]

I'm a huge fan of Sonic, and in fact, I might actually prefer Sonic over Mario (blasphemy!). However, I would have a hard time pushing the Genesis over the SNES. I guess I just favor the SNES's JRPGs too much as I was never a huge fan of Shining Force, etc.

Fair enough, I was just never into RPGs at ALL back then, so any non-action/sports/racing game wasn't even on my radar. Never played a FF game until X I think.
F-Zero though, man, that's gotta be top three all time racing games.

 

[dbk]

NES... Dreamcast

 

[crisium]

Agreed.
And as much as SNES probably deserves to be the #1 console of all time, there's no question the 360 controller is the best controller of all time. So comfortable and smooth. Seriously, go back and play a NES or SNES, those rectangles of death really don't do much to make you comfortable.

Not for 2D games. The Sega Saturn has the best 2D controller of all-time. It's all in the d-pad baby - and the 360's is garbage. So is the Playstation's which they have, much to my extreme dismay, used for nearly two decades now. Many 2D games work fine with an analog stick, but many still do not. And when you need a d-pad, Sega Saturn delivers.

 

[Doppel]

Honestly people need to stop it with this Dreamcast stuff. The thing hardly sold any units. I actually never in my life SAW one except in a store. I never knew a person who owned one. 10.6 million units is not significant

 

[Sulaco]

Honestly people need to stop it with this Dreamcast stuff. The thing hardly sold any units. I actually never in my life SAW one except in a store. I never knew a person who owned one. 10.6 million units is not significant

And to the many people in this thread who did happen to own one? Their opinions are null and void because you personally didn't own one?

Talk about retarded logic. No one judges a console's quality based on units sold or lifespan or how many copies of Madden it sold. If they did, the Wii and PS2 would be the only system worth mentioning, right?

 

[mmntech]

The original fat PS3 was a fantastic piece of hardware before Sony neutered the damn thing.

In general, it's a toss up between the NES and SNES. Historically, the NES was by far the more influential system since it basically established modern gaming as we know it.

 

[Graze]

Honestly people need to stop it with this Dreamcast stuff. The thing hardly sold any units. I actually never in my life SAW one except in a store. I never knew a person who owned one. 10.6 million units is not significant

The complete ridiculousness of your post prompted me to register after lurking for a while, just to let you know how ridiculous it is!
Congrats on getting me to register!

Anyway back to the question at hand.
For me it would be a toss up between the SNES and the Saturn.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Of course you'd think that, since you picked the console with the least number of exclusives.

Ha well you definitely got me there. I do have a PS3 though so I can play the main exclusive franchise I really care about, Uncharted, but that still doesn't compare to the mass amount of Square exclusives found on the SNES back in the day. It's just not quite the same as it used to be on that front, and that's probably for the better anyway.

 

[exdeath]

If Dreamcast was executed properly, and Sega wasn't suffering from a bad rep with console flops, I wonder if there would have between a PS3. Massive potential compared to PS2.

16 MB of VRAM + no Z buffer required vs 4MB VRAM and Z buffer required. Memory is tight on PS2 hence why Dreamcast was so gorgeous and vivid and colorful while PS2 suffered from low res 8 bit textures more often than not.

Now drooling at the thought of Xenosaga and Kingdom Hearts on Dreamcast....

Though fully programmable vertex and crude pixel shading and geometry injection via VU1 did more than could ever be simulated on the Dreamcast PVR. Then again dual SH4s were no slouch in the vector and matrix department either. Hmm....

 

[CZroe]

Honestly people need to stop it with this Dreamcast stuff. The thing hardly sold any units. I actually never in my life SAW one except in a store. I never knew a person who owned one. 10.6 million units is not significant

I hope you are joking. They had as much retail presence at the time as anything else and they still show up in thrift stores as often as PSX and N64. I remember when Gamestop/EB Games had countertops covered with used ones for $10 each. The only way to miss them was to not go inside retail stores. What kind of hermit are you?

No believe me I understand that. Like I said in my previous post I owned all of these systems and loved every one of them.

I just find it interesting that anytime a 'best of' thread about anything (console systems, games, music, etc.), it's always something older that leads the voting. I'm not trying to say you are wrong so don't take it that way.

I would find it "interesting" if the same question had multiple conflicting answers when there was a clear correct answer/winner.

The SNES isn't winning at random, so why would you expect the consensus to change?

 

[Doppel]

And to the many people in this thread who did happen to own one? Their opinions are null and void because you personally didn't own one?

Talk about retarded logic. No one judges a console's quality based on units sold or lifespan or how many copies of Madden it sold. If they did, the Wii and PS2 would be the only system worth mentioning, right?

Hey, you said it. Sales of a system are not the only thing worth mentioning, but definitely important. The dreamcast simply sold too few to be relevant. It sold 1/6th the number of NES, like 1/15th the PS2. It was simply too irrelevant to seriously be considered as the best ever.

The complete ridiculousness of your post prompted me to register after lurking for a while, just to let you know how ridiculous it is!
Congrats on getting me to register!

Thanks for the kudos!

I hope you are joking. They had as much retail presence at the time as anything else and they still show up in thrift stores as often as PSX and N64. I remember when Gamestop/EB Games had countertops covered with used ones for $10 each. The only way to miss them was to not go inside retail stores. What kind of hermit are you?

Not joking. I've never know a single person to actually own a Dreamcast and that's a simple fact. I'm sure I know people who owned one, but I cannot think of one; I never saw one at anybody's house or ever heard a person speak to me about actually playing one. When we see the paltry sales numbers of this two year lifespan unit we know why, and also why calling a two year lifespan console the best ever is comical at the best of times. Two year is generous; it was on sale for 18 months in North America.

The truth is lacking a definition of "best ever" it's impossible to objectively identify anyway. Somebody might say it's hardware at the time, others point to sales, others could point to how long it was on the market, and clearly others will point to whichever they have the most nostalgia over.

That said there's an obvious trend in this thread and SNES is winning, seconded probably by the NES. And since it sold an absolutely crapton of units the PS2 has a good case for it.

 

[rayfieldclement]

When I asked the original question I was not talking about sales. It was a hardware/software choice.

 

[triton2k3]

Night watch was horrible.... Haha. Xbox360

 

[ImpulsE69]

I really liked the DC and feel that bad marketing and bad name of Sega doomed it. It was a very under rated system. I would definitely put it above the Genesis and Xbox. It had some really great games, but got killed off before it really had a chance to shine.

Not like the latest generation of systems who's been out forever and still only has a handful of memorable games.

 

[Fingolfin269]

The SNES isn't winning at random, so why would you expect the consensus to change?

The consensus will probably change about 10-15 years from now when 12 year olds who are playing their 360s now are asked this same question.

 

[Sulaco]

The consensus will probably change about 10-15 years from now when 12 year olds who are playing their 360s now are asked this same question.

Uh, yeah. In 10-15 years, when the average game player/forum user was too young to have played the SNES and older systems, I would also fully expect the results to change.

 

[KentState]

The consensus will probably change about 10-15 years from now when 12 year olds who are playing their 360s now are asked this same question.

That is probably true although I'm already there. I had these earlier systems and many hundreds of games, but the Xbox 360 is still my favorite.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Uh, yeah. In 10-15 years, when the average game player/forum user was too young to have played the SNES and older systems, I would also fully expect the results to change.

They're not too young to play the supposed greatest system of all time. If it's the greatest then it should hold up and have a place in households everywhere even today. Parents claiming that the SNES is the best system ever, and that the opinion isn't due to nostalgia, could always put their money where their mouth is and test it out via their own children.

BTW, I've never said I dislike the SNES. I loved it. I just think it plays favorites in my mind in a lot of ways due to nostalgia. Just like 90s music.