Gaming What is the greatest video game console of all time?

[Castia]

Ps1

The jump from 16 bit systems to games like Resident Evil, Tomb Raider and FF7 was out of this world.

Add in the benefit of the console being chipped and games being available for £3 and it was an incredible time to be a gamer.

 

[Mr Anderson]

Ps1 is nostalgic for me. Going from a Sega Megadrive to a PS1, fun times.

PS1 for the memories, PS2 for the games outputted.

 

[Zen86]

Has to be the PS1. It was the dawn of a new era for computer games, it opened up (or at least perfected) a plethora of new genres and themes. However, the mega drive and N64 are probably the consoles I look back on with the most fondness.

Everything from the PS3 onwards is a bit samey and over-commercialised.

 

[Ainu]

I've always been slightly amazed by the PS2 and its sales numbers. However, when I look at the games library, I don't think it's all that memorable! Of course, it has your Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto, Shadow of the Colossus, Kingdom Hearts etc. But overall, I think a lot of other consoles, even other Sony machines, have a more vast collection of better games.

I feel like the PS2 sold so well for mainly two reasons:

1) The PS1 had such large audience that it became the default purchase.
2) It had a built in DVD Player and was still somehow actually cheaper than a lot of DVD Players at the time.

But still, I think PS2 is likely the answer because I'd imagine there is some kind of criteria list most people would use. Even if a few other consoles had a higher percentage of better games, the additional features, design and overall sales probably mean it trumps the others in most people's opinion.

Sure the DVD player was a strong argument for the PS2 but you're criminally underrating its library here. It had a stupendous amount of system sellers and games that would become iconic and have a place in video gaming history. Not all that memorable is, honestly, a bizarre way to describe that particular library. I rate the PS1 a little higher, but that ultimately comes down to personal preference and a huge dose of nostalgia. Even then, it only just edges it.

 

[Irwin99]

Wonder what the age is of people choosing their greatest console is. E.g., maybe Gen X picking Snes/Megadrive, Millennials picking PS1/PS2 etc.

I've been playing video games since i was 4 and I've had a Snes, a megadrive, gameboy, but the PS1 just has that nostalgic kick of early teens gaming. It also broke up the monopoly of Sega and Nintendo on the market and had that freshness to it.

 

[ivaldo]

SNES is the connoisseur's choice.

Big leap in tech, the first home console to convincingly utilize 3D graphics, a superb 6 button controller that revolutionized a plethora of different genres, and a game library to die for.

Street Fighter 2
Zelda: Link to the Past
Super Metroid
Super Mario World
Donkey Kong
Chrono Trigger
Star Fox
Super Bomberman
Super Ghouls n' Ghosts
Killer Instinct
Mortal Kombat II
Super Mario Cart
Secret of Mana
F-Zero

So many classics.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

SNES & Playstation

Feels like many are porting lots of the Playstations impact onto the PS2. It’s was a brilliant console, but the PlayStation seemed to change everything.

 

[Havak]

Sure the DVD player was a strong argument for the PS2 but you're criminally underrating its library here. It had a stupendous amount of system sellers and games that would become iconic and have a place in video gaming history. Not all that memorable is, honestly, a bizarre way to describe that particular library. I rate the PS1 a little higher, but that ultimately comes down to personal preference and a huge dose of nostalgia. Even then, it only just edges it.

Yeah, it's personal preference. Looking through the list of highest rated games though, I still stand by what I said.

I preferred the PS1 library, then I switched to the GameCube and much preferred that over my PS2. Since then, I'd also rate the 3/DS and probably the Switch higher eventually, but with them being handhelds (or a hybrid) I'm not sure I count them in this debate anyway.

I do much prefer a lot of Nintendo's franchises, so there will be some bias there, but I can't get them on other machines.

 

[Andy_Cole]

N64

 

[arthurka]

More of a computer than a console, but the Amiga. The music it was able to generate was something else.







So many great games too. Super Cars 2, Moonstone, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, International Karate+, etc. It's a shame that there's no good emulator for Amiga and Amiga games. There have been a few attempts to make some kind of Amiga Classic/Mini thing, but unfortunately the Amiga rights ownership are all kinds of fecked up, so that's probably never happening. Make a SNES Classic-esque small Amiga, with a decent emulator inside it, some games and a couple of joysticks, and I'd buy it immediately. For almost any price.

Amiga and Atari ST just changed the game. The Nintendo though was the breakthrough console it just got everybody interested in games girls and boys alike.

 

[Mb194dc]

Impossible to answer, greatest how?

Neo Geo was miles ahead of its time. I used to play NES, Master system, Megadrive and SNES growing up. Neo Geo was quite ridiculously superior if also insanely expensive.

Jump to 3D with dreamcast and PS1 was huge. Had a PS one with ISS Pro (Backham, Inse and Sheallor etc England )and Toca racing at uni, good times. Then PS2 raised the bar and had some of greatest games of all time. PS2 versions of Pro Evo are still the greatest single player football games.

It's just since PS3 and XBOX 360 it's all been a bit meh, no real innovation just better resolutions and graphics.

 

[nimic]

More of a computer than a console, but the Amiga. The music it was able to generate was something else.

So many great games too. Super Cars 2, Moonstone, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, International Karate+, etc. It's a shame that there's no good emulator for Amiga and Amiga games. There have been a few attempts to make some kind of Amiga Classic/Mini thing, but unfortunately the Amiga rights ownership are all kinds of fecked up, so that's probably never happening. Make a SNES Classic-esque small Amiga, with a decent emulator inside it, some games and a couple of joysticks, and I'd buy it immediately. For almost any price.

https://www.polygon.com/22618467/amiga-500-mini-console-a500-retro-gaming-release-date-games

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

Every response in this thread seems to accept we are past the peak of consoles and game design. That sucks. The whole model is based around consumption rather than enjoyment now.

 

[nimic]

Every response in this thread seems to accept we are past the peak of consoles and game design. That sucks. The whole model is based around consumption rather than enjoyment now.

The real reason to that is very simple: nostalgia. Take a look at the "what is your age" thread in the gen, we're mostly millennials or older. Kids whose first genuine console was the Xbox 360 would probably say that was the best, and those who now grew up on a PS4 or Switch will say that. I genuinely think it's that simple.

 

[Paxi]

Pc

 

[OleBoiii]

Pc

Running on Windows 98.

 

[Ferguson’s Hairdryer]

Surely it has to go to the Megadrive and Super Nintendo, that was the only time there’s actually been a genuine rivalry, don’t really think Sony vs Microsoft is that close if we look at sales but won’t get drawn into that, if I’m wrong then I’m wrong on that.

Also both had their own unique brand identities, I think megadrive became more edgy/adult, their marketing and advertising was often directly against each other, similar to Apple vs PC a decade or so ago.

Both had **** titles that are forever associated with each eg Mario Bros and Sonic etc, don’t think Sony or Microsoft have achieved that plus and most importantly they are the two that took gaming away from arcades into the home on a mainstream level. Without the two, would Sony or Microsoft have ever tried to enter the gaming market?

 

[USREDEVIL]

Wooo that's a toughy. Can't decide between NES or SNES. PS1 also there because it brought us to a new level in terms of graphics and featured Gran Tourismo.

 

[USREDEVIL]

Running on Windows 98.

ewww

 

[tentan]

Ps1 is nostalgic for me. Going from a Sega Megadrive to a PS1, fun times.

PS1 for the memories, PS2 for the games outputted.

 

[BenitoSTARR]

N64

First true 3d games console experience not 2.5d with Super Mario 64.

 

[Gehrman]

N64

First true 3d games console experience not 2.5d with Super Mario 64.

100%


It had loads of 10/10 games as well. Okay the games for expensive as hell compared to the PS1, but the quality was better and graphics were miles ahead.

 

[Irwin99]

I'd have to go with the PS1 but i have to say the PS4 was a very good generation for gaming. We'll think back on it fondly.

 

[Vidyoyo]

N64

 

[Vidyoyo]

No chance it's the N64. It had nowhere near the variety that the PS1 did and most games were really expensive to boot. It's got a lot of charm but only because people remember the top, top games. Megadrive also has a similar issue.

PS2 and Switch would get my vote. PS2 for sheer variety and quality. Switch for being a fantastic hybrid console and the best home for JRPGs since the PS2 (which admittedly isn't everyone's cup of tea).

PS4 would probably come third, though it feels like it's aged very poorly within a short space of time

 

[Rado_N]

N64

First true 3d games console experience not 2.5d with Super Mario 64.

Mario 64 plus the likes of Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Diddy Kong Racing, Ocarina of Time, Star Fox, Wave Race.

Iconic.

 

[Vidyoyo]

Every response in this thread seems to accept we are past the peak of consoles and game design. That sucks. The whole model is based around consumption rather than enjoyment now.

This is why I really like Switch. Unlike the PS5 and XboX/S it's still fundamentally a games console first and the UI isn't there pushing all the other superfluous stuff that gets in the way - achievements, ads or media capabilities (Prime, Netflix, etc).

It feels like a remarkable throwback to a bygone age when playing the game was simply the most important thing, which I hope Nintendo continue to push when they eventually release its successor

 

[caid]

I feel like everything before the NES and Megadrive should be disqualified because of quality control. There were great games and it was probably the most imaginative and creative period in gaming but a tidal wave of unfinished, unplayable crap like ET ruined it. Extended to accessories with joysticks breaking after 6 months because they were cheap plastic crap.

Feel like everything after the PS2 should be disqualified because they're just a PS2 with better graphics. They haven't added anything new other than online multiplayer which the dreamcast was doing before the PS2 even got released. Only thing MS and Sony have added to the table since is predatory monetisation.

Feel like you can disqualify PS1 and that generation because tank controls and fixed camera angles are crap and most of the games of that generation are ugly as feck in retrospect. I'll forgive the dreamcast because most developers were using the four front buttons as a dpad for 3d games.

Its between the PS2 and megadrive for me. Any answers from outside them generations are objectively wrong, so there.

 

[Chairman Steve]

PS2 for me.

The backwards compatibility, the DVD player capability, the large variety of games you could pick from.

You could only play Metal Gear Solid games on it back then and Resident Evil 4 (one of the GOAT video games) played best on that console.

 

[P-Ro]

It's clearly the SNES.

 

[Vidyoyo]

PS2 for me.

The backwards compatibility, the DVD player capability, the large variety of games you could pick from.

You could only play Metal Gear Solid games on it back then and Resident Evil 4 (one of the GOAT video games) played best on that console.

No way. It was much smoother on the gamecube

 

[Organic Potatoes]

The Wii had the best version of RE4 at the time.

PS2 for me.…and Resident Evil 4 (one of the GOAT video games) played best on that console.

No way. It was much smoother on the gamecube

 

[Vidyoyo]

The Wii had the best version of RE4 at the time.

Yeah that'd get my vote. The motion controls were really good for shooting

 

[KirkDuyt]

SNES, no contest. I'll e-fight you all.

 

[Reditus]

Top 5

SNES
PS1
N64
PS4
Xbox 360

 

[Vidyoyo]

SNES, no contest. I'll e-fight you all.

Definitely isn't the European version of the SNES. We missed out on some of the best games on the console! (FF6, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound etc).

 

[KirkDuyt]

Definitely isn't the European version of the SNES. We missed out on some of the best games on the console! (FF6, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound etc).

True, I played those as translated Roms on ZSNES though. I'm actually playing the Pixel Remaster of FF6 right now. The redone soundtrack is amazing.

 

[Scandi Red]

SNES, PS1, N64, PS2. If your answer is any of these, then you are correct. It's all a matter of personal preference. I love them all.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

I hate Playstations and I hate anyone who likes them. Junk consoles with junk games for junk people. Nintendo are the true innovators, the N64 was the one.

 

[Redlambs]

I hate Playstations and I hate anyone who likes them. Junk consoles with junk games for junk people. Nintendo are the true innovators, the N64 was the one.

PS1 was largely Nintendo too.