QOTW: Which is the best games console of all time?

[Mr_Jon]

amiga cd32, years before the playstation, and the only reason the playstation existed

it cost £500 or something and nobody saw the point without a keyboard, when proper amiga cost less, so it failed good, buts its the first full console that had the full packaged layout for the future

I had a cd32. It was utter crap. Luckily, it didn't cost that much. Hundred and something, bought it by selling a snes.

The machine itself was poorly made. Games used to reset at random, likely caused by primitive cd technology that was easily upset. The games were just amiga games put onto cds, nothing seemed to be specially made to take advantage of its specifications. Worst console ever.

[The Hand]

N64 + GoldenEye! Followed by the XBox 360 and PS4.

[Lucio]

I had the most fun on an Atari ST, playing Frontier Elite 2, until it finally got replaced with a PC playing System Shock and Sim City 2000.

[scaryjim]

Whichever's the latest. Take nostalgia out of it, and each console is better than the last. ...

... Also, the PSX was the best.

Given your last line I honestly can't tell if your first line was meant to be sarcastic or not ...

... Old games were rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishe, short, and lacked depth. ...

But to answer the rest of the post, my experience is that technological advancement only improved the gaming experience up to a certain point. I remember owning a Master System and going round to play games with friends who had SNES/Megadrive, and just thinking how much better the gaming experience was on their machines - the Master System simply couldn't handle some of the things the SNES/Megadrive was able to do, and it really did make a difference to the gameplay and overall experience: yes, many SNES/Megadrive games were longer and had more depth (although that said there was a NES port of Elite, and you can't really get deeper/longer than Elite ).

Once we got up to - well, probably the PSX generation as it happens - the technology could handle pretty much anything a game developer wanted to chuck at it, and the only things that really improved after that were the graphics - to the extent that some devs started essentially dialling in the gameplay and storylines.

I've owned PSX and PS2, and I honestly can't say I owned or played a PS2 game that was objectively better than any PSX game. Same for the following generation consoles that I've played with friends. There's simply very little that you can do on a current gen console that wasn't possible on the PSX, albeit with blockier, less pretty graphics. Gameplay, depth, game length - they really haven't advanced that much.

Which brings me to my (controversial) choice for best console: the Wii. It actually did something different, and in many games had genuinely compelling gameplay because it was different. I still have a Wii. It's the only console I liked enough to buy twice (my first one was stolen). In fact, it's been sat on a shelf unused for months while I sorted the house out ... time to get the TV on the wall and swing the 'mote

[lodore]

It is a hard toss up between PS1 and PS2. N64 was great as well.Back then all the consoles had lots of exclusive titles.

Hard to beat Crash Bandicoot games. Haunted maze game from the playstation magazine was a great indie developer game.

At primary school there was a big discussion of playstation 1 vs N64. I had a playstation one and one of my mates had the N64. I liked both consoles and i could play mario kart 64 for hours. I purchased an N64 myself later on and still have goldeneye now which is such a great game.

[Bagpuss]

Look back and ask yourself which games are the most timeless and don't really age?

I think most would agree that the very best 16bit, 2D pixel art games are least susceptible to the ravages of time, SNES classics like Super Mario World 1&2 and JPRG classics like Zelda Link To The Past, Secret Of Mana & Chrono Trigger still looks as beautiful today as they did 20+yrs ago.

The same can't be said of Playstation 1 games, which quite frankly look terrible to modern eyes.

So, I would have to go with the SNES, and I didn't even own one!

[Mr_Jon]

The best games console of all time?

PC.

[Spreadie]

The best games console of all time?

PC.

Shame on you for demoting the PC to little more than a games console.

[Mithrandir]

Bests Console for me was the Sega Saturn.

Megadrive was the first I had and was excellent too, so was SNES and Dreamcast.

[Jace007]

Sega MegaDrive ! No SNES ! No no, its The MegaDrive ... I think.. Orrr SNES yes!! ..errmm MegaDrive - I dont know :S my head hurts

[azrael-]

Wouldn't know. Never had one.

And no, Amiga, C64 etc don't count. They were *computers*, not consoles...

[spacein_vader]

Wouldn't know. Never had one.

And no, Amiga, C64 etc don't count. They were *computers*, not consoles...

On a technical level so are the Xbone and the PS4. Multiple cored x86/64 APU based Iirc.

I do find it odd that consoles seem to be trying their hardest to get rid of all their advantages. It used to be you didn't have to wait for a console to install a game, the loading times were quicker, games "just worked" without any need for patching, and they cost a lot less than an equivalent PC.

These days the only one of the above that's still true is the lower cost, but console prices have gone up and PC prices down so it's not as big a win as it used to be. Especially when you add in the increased cost of the games & in the case of Xbox having to pay twice for online play (once to your ISP and again for Xbox Live.)

[Saracen]

Given your last line I honestly can't tell if your first line was meant to be sarcastic or not ...

....

Without wishing to put words in Tunnah's mouth, I'd guess that his two answers reflect the (perhaps delberately) ambiguous nature of the question which, to me, it seems could be asking either ...

- what's the best console, as in hardware spec?

or

- which console has provided the best ever gaming experience?

The latter, obviously, is much more subjective, in that it's about the range of games on a given console, AND how the gamer enjoyed them.

Given that some consoles had wider and better options in certain genres than others, the question implied second interpreration is also some invalidated because it will depend critically on whether each gamer biught the optimal console for their gaming taste.

That is to say, if Console A is what you bought, and played most games on, then you likely haven't sufficient experience to realise console B would have been better.

Personally, the best gaming machine, by miles, and by definition 2, us the PC, but the use of "console" in the question precludes that.

Of consoles, my ljmited experience tells me that XB360 > PS1, mainly because I've had a 360 for FAR longer than I had my PS1, and have a far larger range of games for it.

But what my answer really tells you is more about my experience kevels with each than which is the better console, whuch is why I ssid it's very subjective.

It should also tell you I'm not really qualified to have much of an opinion, having far too limited experience. If, on the other hand, this was about PC hardware in general, I'd bet I've handled far more of it than almost anybody else here - though less so the last few years. But it isn't, so I'll shut up now.

[Lord Midas]

The PS1 was excellent, but I think the sheer quality of games, for me, it's got the be the Xbox 360.

[shaithis]

Just for the sheer customisation and the beginning of what eventually became Kodi (and just to be different lol) - The original XBox

[Dareos]

I would ask that the question be rephrased tbh, to something like "which was the most iconic console?" or something of that ilk

anyways

iconic : ps1 - redefined the controller into something useable (n64 one sucked btw), introduced the greater world to Final Fantasy, was the first console to actually give arcade quality in the home (tekken, Virtua Fighter, Ridge Racer, Gran Tourismo, Time Crisis to name a few) had proper adventure style games too and didnt use cartridges.

Current Best : For me its the xbox one, but the newer consoles are not just consoles anymore, they are full on entertainment systems and mine is used for netflix and amazon tv as much as gaming



for what its worth, i never owned a console before the ps1, but friends did and I played most of them, back when we used to visit each others houses rather than use xbox live or psn. occasionally we went outside to play too... I had spectrum, bbc, amiga 600, before I got a pc (now have around 8...) and since that ps1 have had all the main models of playstation 1-4, still have all my xboxes, and own a wii u, psvita, 3ds and will probably buy a switch soon.

Anyways, PS1 gets my vote, otherwise the clear winner is the Atari 2600