Whats your favourite console?

[Arkaign]

I'll have to say NES, followed by SNES, just because that's where I had the most fun. I sort of left gaming for a while, and by the time PS1/etc were coming out I had already moved to the PC for most of my gaming outside of fighting and sports titles.

I now have a 360, and have picked up a GameCube ($20, why not lol), a SNES, and I think I have an Xbox1 around somewhere that I converted to a media center after doing everything possible with Forza. I tried Halo but absolutely hated it (too spoiled by PC at the time).

 

[Rifter]

Yeah, Goldeneye was rubbish because it was on a cartridge.

goldeneye was great, so was the wrestling games for N64 as well as KI gold. I spent hundreds of hours playing goldeneye unlocking all the play modes and even played through the game with a friend with that crazy 2 players with 2 controllers controlling your one guy playmode in single player, that was some hella fun since one guy aimed but the other was in charge of shooting.

The issue was the graphics sucked compared to Ps1 and even square abandoned nintendo because of the lame ass decision to go catridge, it was just not a good idea. Gran turismo 1/2 on Ps1 looked 10 times better than anything ever released on N64. The tech was there and nintendo decided to live in the stone ages with cartridge for no good reason.

 

[exdeath]

goldeneye was great, so was the wrestling games for N64 as well as KI gold. I spent hundreds of hours playing goldeneye unlocking all the play modes and even played through the game with a friend with that crazy 2 players with 2 controllers controlling your one guy playmode in single player, that was some hella fun since one guy aimed but the other was in charge of shooting.

The issue was the graphics sucked compared to Ps1 and even square abandoned nintendo because of the lame ass decision to go catridge, it was just not a good idea. Gran turismo 1/2 on Ps1 looked 10 times better than anything ever released on N64. The tech was there and nintendo decided to live in the stone ages with cartridge for no good reason.

1) The games looked like crap because of the limited 4k texture RAM in the system, not because of the cartridge format. That alone is the reason most games on the system are either flat shaded or just blurry as hell. Some of the later games tried to get around this by tesselating flat objects and using custom RSP microcode to allow for better texture streaming from the cart.

2) They went with carts for one reason: Nintendo is terrified and paranoid of piracy, even though it's just as easy to dump and copy ROM carts. CPLDs and FPGAs make anything possible and cheap.

 

[Sulaco]

I have around 16 consoles, most still with original boxes, not counting handhelds, that I've owned over the years and acquired when they were new (not just on eBay or pawn shops years later). I'm something of a meager collector, but gaming has always been my favorite hobby.

Picking a "favorite" console objectively is extraordinarily difficult, because whether people like to admit it or not, I think the majority of it is made up of when you experienced your fondest memories; when your personal "golden age" of gaming was.

That said, I'll have to limit it to my Top 3:

1) SNES
2) NES
3) PSX

Again, I've had amazing memories with every console I own, and I love the "underdog" consoles like the Dreamcast or Saturn. But I think I can fairly say those three consoles, the SNES especially, had the greatest number of truly stellar games for their time. And in the case of the SNES, many that will forever stand the test of time.

 

[Dumac]

In order of time...

SNES->Gameboy->PS1->PS2->PS3

If not restricted to just consoles:

<-------------PC---------------->

 

[Veliko]

goldeneye was great, so was the wrestling games for N64 as well as KI gold. I spent hundreds of hours playing goldeneye unlocking all the play modes and even played through the game with a friend with that crazy 2 players with 2 controllers controlling your one guy playmode in single player, that was some hella fun since one guy aimed but the other was in charge of shooting.

The issue was the graphics sucked compared to Ps1 and even square abandoned nintendo because of the lame ass decision to go catridge, it was just not a good idea. Gran turismo 1/2 on Ps1 looked 10 times better than anything ever released on N64. The tech was there and nintendo decided to live in the stone ages with cartridge for no good reason.

The graphics on the N64 were, by and large, better than anything that the PS1 put out.

 

[Rifter]

The graphics on the N64 were, by and large, better than anything that the PS1 put out.

you cant possibly be serious.

 

[mirandu04]

PS3 is the only console i have owned but played on a lot more. And let's be honest PS3 is the best because of technology. maybe other consoles were pretty nice at their time but technology is technology after all.

 

[BD2003]

you cant possibly be serious.

I wholeheartedly agree with him. N64 looked unequivocally better than PS1. Both looked like shit, but the n64 was more tolerable.

 

[Veliko]

you cant possibly be serious.

The N64 had far more power than the PS1 did. Compare the launch title, Mario 64, to similar titles on the PS1 like Croc or even Tomb Raider. The latter two were horrible to look at.

 

[mmntech]

Mine would have to be the Gameboy. Had tons of great games for the system. Pokemon Red & Blue, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Wario Land, Donkey Kong Land series. All classics. I had both the Pocket and the Color.

Sega Genesis would be next. I was a huge Sonic fanboy back then.

 

[Possessed Freak]

NES then 2600.

 

[Sulaco]

PS3 is the only console i have owned but played on a lot more. And let's be honest PS3 is the best because of technology. maybe other consoles were pretty nice at their time but technology is technology after all.

No offense, but...you sound like a kid. And the fact that you've only owned ONE console (the PS3)...well...

As for your last sentence, technology is NOT just technology. If your criteria for "best" is "most polygons processed", sure. But technology is a medium; a medium that allows us to PLAY THE GAMES.
The games are what matter. Period.

 

[Dumac]

No offense, but...you sound like a kid. And the fact that you've only owned ONE console (the PS3)...well...

As for your last sentence, technology is NOT just technology. If your criteria for "best" is "most polygons processed", sure. But technology is a medium; a medium that allows us to PLAY THE GAMES.
The games are what matter. Period.

Current gen is still the best for consoles, both hardware and library wise (IMO of course).

 

[marino.DV]

It is important what you are looking when playing a game. Pretty sure all the old consoles you consider being the best are so because of the age. take an old one and try to play it now and tell me how many hours do you stay on it!

 

[BD2003]

Current gen is still the best for consoles, both hardware and library wise (IMO of course).

Unquestionably. A few older games stand the test of time outside of nostalgia. But if someone dropped a 360 in front of me back in 1992, I'd have shit my pants. Not even just techwise - the art of making games has progressed considerably over even just the last few years. And it keeps getting better and better.

 

[gorcorps]

SNES is probably the one I played the most of, and had a lot of good times with. It was also well built and lasted forever without much issue. The NES on the other hand would pretty quickly have trouble reading games, and all the blowing in the world wouldn't save you after a while. SNES had some of the best (IMO) platformers and has a number of games I'd still play today. Shoulder buttons were a revelation and helped bring fighting games to the home console in a more comfortable way than the layout of the genesis.

Close would be PS2. Had a ton of fun with that one too, though the console did have hardware problems. Most people had laser tracking problems after a while on the fat versions.

 

[exdeath]

Current gen is still the best for consoles, both hardware and library wise (IMO of course).

You obviously missed the 16 bit era.

Current gen is all frachised nickel and dime'd crap put together in 3 minutes from the leftover scraps and engine of the last game, sequel after sequel after special edition after collector edition after expansion pack after sequel after remake.

The game industry model today is the WoW + cell phone model; basically how to hook you with cheap shit for recurring charges and get you to buy another copy of or addon to Rock Band or Madden or Call of Duty. It didn't always used to be like that. Thank EA + Activision for ruining gaming and making the industry as greedy as the cell phone industry.

Sure there are a few gems out there, I mean I did buy my 360 for some of them (Dead Rising was the game I bought WITH my 360). I enjoy my 360 on my 106" 1080p over HDMI dearly, but it doesn't hold a candle to some of the best games ever made in the 16 bit days.

But it's NOTHING like the Golden Age of the 16 bit era.

I'm not just saying that because I'm too old either... I also had a 2600 and NES, and it got BETTER with 16 bit... only to level off in the middle of 32 bit and steadily decline since.

 

[exdeath]

It is important what you are looking when playing a game. Pretty sure all the old consoles you consider being the best are so because of the age. take an old one and try to play it now and tell me how many hours do you stay on it!

I've been playing Secret of Mana 2 and Chrono Trigger on my SNES. And lots of Street Fighter II Turbo. When I first got my RGB SCART cable put together for the SNES I stayed up till 2 AM on a work night playing Street Fighter 2, and the next day running a 96* complete game of Super Mario World.

Did a full play through of Vay on Sega CD a week ago. Gave up trying to get a "perfect game" when I hit level 110 and was still gaining experience... can't look at Shining Force CD again until my Sega CD backup RAM cart shows up.

Lately I've be running through all the Sonic games on the Genesis just dropping my jaw at how awesome 16 bit looks with RGB SCART on a Sony PVM RGB broadcast monitor and how awesome it sounds on my old Klipsch 400 watt ProMedia 4.1 system. Well the SNES does... poor Genesis always sounded like a dying cat yowling through a fan blade. Originally I had bought S-video cables to hook them all up since it's the lowest thing I have wired in the wall plate to the projector. But it looked like CRAP, so I went RGB CRT for anything pre-480p minimum. It's amusing seeing all the tricks they got away with from crappy NTSC like the water falls and pipes in Sonic not actually being transparent. Being a programmer myself, esp graphics and game programming, I KNEW the Genesis couldn't do real color addition/subtration all along, but still just actually seeing the live video feed from a real console NOT being mutilated by NTSC takes it to a whole 'nother level.

In fact I've gotten such a retro hard on I just bought a complete Sega Master System lot with every possible accessory and a bunch of games. Should be exciting as that is one console I never actually owned or played much on, if at all. It supports RGB too out of the box, same cable as the Genesis model 1. I think the original Phantasy Star is what I'll play first.

Not 50 feet away from me where I set up my retro gaming room is a 106" 1080p screen courtesy a AE4000U projector and a Denon THX DTS 7.1 receiver powering 200 lb 5 foot tall Definitive Technology 1000 watt powered towers. And there sits my XBox 360 and a Wii, and even my PS2, Dreamcast, Gamecube, with about 3-4 dozen of the best games for the newest of the bunch the 360. Hasn't been powered on in about 3 months now. I did have the Wii on for Final Fantasy IV After Years a couple months ago though, I think that's what started my current retro binge actually. Oh wait, I had a GTA3 San Andreas binge earlier this year on the 360... only realized how terribad emulation is when I tried it in my original XBox with a 16x DVD drive on a regular 19" shitty CRT just to see. I got bored quickly with Modern Warfare and Black Ops... it's like... didn't I play this stuff on my PC 10 years ago?

I just got tired of all the recycled ADHD garbage on the new consoles. Game companies know it too. That's why they are pushing out all their old games on consoles and portables, (in addition to the something for nothing profit model for re releasing old stuff I'm sure). All it did for me was remind me how awesome the 16 bit era was and dig out my old stuff all over again. And here I am checking the shipping status of the $200 Pier Solar RPG cartridge I just bought for the Sega Genesis.

Walked into a game store here looking to snag some deals on some used games I missed for the newer systems... sad how the employees are talking about the latest games and are pissing their pants excited because "you can blow stuff up and shoot people and it's realistic!1!!". Yeah... k... today's ADHD kids buy it up because they don't know any better, content with their 13 versions of Call of Duty and Rock Band have no clue how good things used to be before EA and Activision starting pulling the strings with their franchising. Yea lets buy up all the small outfits making *good* games, take the one following the safest generic formula that posts sales in the first hour, milk it to the ground and dump and cancel everything else while never releasing the rights so the original devs can finish the project.

I remember being hyped and crazy over Final Fantasy 7 just like everyone else and had it the day it was out rushing home to play... sadly disappointed compared to 4, 5, and 6. That reminds me, need a Sony PSx SCART cable so I can play Xenogears on a REAL PS1 for the first time instead of that horribad jerky stuttering emulation that the PS2 provides.

16 bit > *

 

[Veliko]

You obviously missed the 16 bit era.

Current gen is all frachised nickel and dime'd crap put together in 3 minutes from the leftover scraps and engine of the last game, sequel after sequel after special edition after collector edition after expansion pack after sequel after remake.

The 16-bit era wasn't any different in that regard. There were dozens of Mario and Sonic tie-ins, 2D platformers were the order of the day and everyone was trying to make a Street Fighter 2 clone.

 

[Dumac]

You obviously missed the 16 bit era.

Nope. Still have my SNES

Current gen is all frachised nickel and dime'd crap put together in 3 minutes from the leftover scraps and engine of the last game, sequel after sequel after special edition after collector edition after expansion pack after sequel after remake.

A gross exaggeration, which could also be made of 16 bit era (man i'm tired of all these zeldas and marios and final fantasies!!!)

The game industry model today is the WoW + cell phone model; basically how to hook you with cheap shit for recurring charges and get you to buy another copy of or addon to Rock Band or Madden or Call of Duty. It didn't always used to be like that. Thank EA + Activision for ruining gaming and making the industry as greedy as the cell phone industry.

WoW didn't invent monthly charges. Are you sure you are that old?

I do agree DLC is an invention for the worse, but I do my best to not encourage it.

Sure there are a few gems out there, I mean I did buy my 360 for some of them (Dead Rising was the game I bought WITH my 360). I enjoy my 360 on my 106" 1080p over HDMI dearly, but it doesn't hold a candle to some of the best games ever made in the 16 bit days.

I disagree. There are more 'gems' today than there were back then. There was also a lot of crap back then.

But it's NOTHING like the Golden Age of the 16 bit era.

I'm not just saying that because I'm too old either... I also had a 2600 and NES, and it got BETTER with 16 bit... only to level off in the middle of 32 bit and steadily decline since.

I completely abhor your opinion but I respect your right to express it.

 

[BD2003]

I've been playing Secret of Mana 2 and Chrono Trigger on my SNES. And lots of Street Fighter II Turbo. When I first got my RGB SCART cable put together for the SNES I stayed up till 2 AM on a work night playing Street Fighter 2, and the next day running a 96* complete game of Super Mario World.

Did a full play through of Vay on Sega CD a week ago. Gave up trying to get a "perfect game" when I hit level 110 and was still gaining experience... can't look at Shining Force CD again until my Sega CD backup RAM cart shows up.

Lately I've be running through all the Sonic games on the Genesis just dropping my jaw at how awesome 16 bit looks with RGB SCART on a Sony PVM RGB broadcast monitor and how awesome it sounds on my old Klipsch 400 watt ProMedia 4.1 system. Well the SNES does... poor Genesis always sounded like a dying cat yowling through a fan blade. Originally I had bought S-video cables to hook them all up since it's the lowest thing I have wired in the wall plate to the projector. But it looked like CRAP, so I went RGB CRT for anything pre-480p minimum. It's amusing seeing all the tricks they got away with from crappy NTSC like the water falls and pipes in Sonic not actually being transparent. Being a programmer myself, esp graphics and game programming, I KNEW the Genesis couldn't do real color addition/subtration all along, but still just actually seeing the live video feed from a real console NOT being mutilated by NTSC takes it to a whole 'nother level.

In fact I've gotten such a retro hard on I just bought a complete Sega Master System lot with every possible accessory and a bunch of games. Should be exciting as that is one console I never actually owned or played much on, if at all. It supports RGB too out of the box, same cable as the Genesis model 1. I think the original Phantasy Star is what I'll play first.

Not 50 feet away from me where I set up my retro gaming room is a 106" 1080p screen courtesy a AE4000U projector and a Denon THX DTS 7.1 receiver powering 200 lb 5 foot tall Definitive Technology 1000 watt powered towers. And there sits my XBox 360 and a Wii, and even my PS2, Dreamcast, Gamecube, with about 3-4 dozen of the best games for the newest of the bunch the 360. Hasn't been powered on in about 3 months now. I did have the Wii on for Final Fantasy IV After Years a couple months ago though, I think that's what started my current retro binge actually. Oh wait, I had a GTA3 San Andreas binge earlier this year on the 360... only realized how terribad emulation is when I tried it in my original XBox with a 16x DVD drive on a regular 19" shitty CRT just to see. I got bored quickly with Modern Warfare and Black Ops... it's like... didn't I play this stuff on my PC 10 years ago?

I just got tired of all the recycled ADHD garbage on the new consoles. Game companies know it too. That's why they are pushing out all their old games on consoles and portables, (in addition to the something for nothing profit model for re releasing old stuff I'm sure). All it did for me was remind me how awesome the 16 bit era was and dig out my old stuff all over again. And here I am checking the shipping status of the $200 Pier Solar RPG cartridge I just bought for the Sega Genesis.

Walked into a game store here looking to snag some deals on some used games I missed for the newer systems... sad how the employees are talking about the latest games and are pissing their pants excited because "you can blow stuff up and shoot people and it's realistic!1!!". Yeah... k... today's ADHD kids buy it up because they don't know any better, content with their 13 versions of Call of Duty and Rock Band have no clue how good things used to be before EA and Activision starting pulling the strings with their franchising. Yea lets buy up all the small outfits making *good* games, take the one following the safest generic formula that posts sales in the first hour, milk it to the ground and dump and cancel everything else while never releasing the rights so the original devs can finish the project.

I remember being hyped and crazy over Final Fantasy 7 just like everyone else and had it the day it was out rushing home to play... sadly disappointed compared to 4, 5, and 6. That reminds me, need a Sony PSx SCART cable so I can play Xenogears on a REAL PS1 for the first time instead of that horribad jerky stuttering emulation that the PS2 provides.

16 bit > *

I'm sorry but youve got some serious rose colored glasses on. There was no shortage of total, unforgivable garbage on 16bit systems. There were plenty of games made that still play well today but the vast majority don't. And even then, their vision was still limited by the hardware. There is absolutely no way you can compare the artistry of today's finest games to that era.

They were memorable cause they were simple. Everyone loves the music because it was easy to hum and remember because the hardware could hardly pull off a two part harmony. The stories that the games told were basic and one dimensional at best, your average children's book for 9 year olds had more nuance. The characters completely and utterly lacked any sort of expressiveness. It was a feat for most of them to even have the pixels spared to draw a basic mouth. The art is rudimentary, about as sophisticated as cave paintings by today's standards.

Despite all those limitations they made some great, memorable games. But let's be realistic. Your opinion might be a little more palatable if you didn't make such a childish caricature out of today's games. Your intolerance makes you sound like a lunatic.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

the newest one i currently own, which is the ps3. fuck nostalgia.

 

[exdeath]

They were memorable cause they were simple. Everyone loves the music because it was easy to hum and remember because the hardware could hardly pull off a two part harmony.

WTF are you talking about?

The SNES had one of the most advanced sound processors ever put into a video game system and some of the best game soundtracks ever. CD quality symphony orchestra stuff. No bleep blop buzz BS there.

 

[Phynaz]

Atari 2600
Second fave: Dreamcast