Console discussion

[psychospacecow]

What are your favorite classic consoles? Of the modern ones, do you like any and if so which ones? Why do you choose this?

Console Thread!

[Koh]

Favorite Classic Consoles: SNES, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance SP and Game Gear.

Modern: Nintendo DS Lite

[Omega]

N64 4 life, best console I owned with Banjo-Tooie and Super smash bros.

[recme]

gamecube and gameboy advance. seriously the best era of nintendo games imo

[Kriven]

I love pretty much every console Nintendo has put out, Virtual Boy notwithstanding. Among those I'd have to say my favorites are the Wii, Wii U, and 3DS though... Of course, I'm talking specifically the consoles, and not their libraries. The Wii, at least the original (which is what I have), is totally backwards compatible with the GameCube library, which is way up there in my favorite games list. There are games I like individually more than any given GameCube game, but taken as a whole, my GameCube collection is the one I'd take with me to any deserted island. Honestly, I love the GameCube console itself too, I just prefer the Wii because it provides a wider range of titles. The GameCube has that beautiful aesthetic though that's just so early 2000s. And the thing's a club. For serious. If you pounded somebody over the head with that thing, they wouldn't be getting up.

[Shade]

Older: SNES
Every game released on this system, within reason, felt like a work of art, along with too many Nintendo masterpieces to count.

Mid: GameCube 
What is it about this console? I've never felt the same way about a game system like I did the GC. I don't think I owned a game that I didn't play a dozen times.

Recent: Wii
I remember the day I got the Wii, Wii sports and Wii Play all night long, for multiple nights with my bros. So many incredible things about this console. Decent motion controls, mii creating, virtual console, channels in general, and the great games you come to expect from the big N. I often take for granted how great this system really is.

Respectful Mention: GBA

Non-Nintendo :p: XBOX 360

[~Axis~]

Older: N64. I love this console because whenever I used to go to my cousins house we used to play Mario Party and I love that game to death. I havent quite had as much fun with other consoles of that era as much as this one. IT KICKS THE SEGA SATURN ACROSS THE CURB WITH THE 3D CAPABILITIES TOO!

Mid: Gamecube. Mario Kart Double Dash, Sonic Adventure 2 battle, Sonic Adventure DX, Smash Bros Melee. Yeah. Im still in live with this square machine...

Modern: Its a hard pick between the gaming PC and the Xbox 360. The gaming pc can emulate a lot of games from various consoles so thats my pick. Unfortunately my gaming pc isnt with me anymore (R.I.P) but Im saving up to build my own one.

[Koopaul]

I pretty much love almost every Nintendo console (except Virtual Boy).

There's something fantastic about every one of them. And I simply can't choose which ones I like the most. Don't make me play favorites!

Outside of Nintendo I also enjoyed the Genesis.

[puggsoy]

The Mega Drive/Genesis is the home of Puggsy (it's also on Amiga and Sega CD but that was the best version) and I also have other fond memories from it; Micro Machines, Alien Storm, James Pond... however, my favourite old console is probably the original Game Boy. Just a classic that I had a lot of fun with.

The Game Boy Advance was also brilliant, quite rich library-wise. Advance Wars and Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure are two great examples.

For modern, my DSi is proving to be very trustworthy, even if it is a bit old. Professor Layton, Ace Attorney, Supersonic Warriors 2, M&L 2 and 3, LoZ: PH and ST, Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland... I could go on. The touch screen and microphone are utilised in some very nice ways.

Phantom Hourglass spoiler

I also LOVED how this used the closing of the console to solve a puzzle, it was just great.

The 3DS is also good, not only is the 3D very cool but the use of moving the console is nice too, in games like OoT 3D. The appearance of high-poly models is great too, very noticeable difference from things like Mario Kart DS.

[psychospacecow]

I love me the PlayStation 1 and 2. There's a lot of memories and good rpgs in those systems. I also love Nintendo's line of handhelds. I've had gameboy colors, ds's, etc. and loved them all.

[E-Man]

Now, this might be a bit biased to say (especially since it's basically my first console), but my favorite console is the Nintendo 64. The overall design is pleasing and practical, while the games on it a among my favorites to this day (it is the birth console for Paper Mario after all). Then there's the Game Cube, which is like the Nintendo 64 but better in some ways. The graphical capabilities never fail to astonish me and I could go on all day about the game library (shame it lacked as much of the Rare influence the N64 had). Plus, it's unique design puts a smile on my face. As much as the Wii and the Wii U are terrific consoles, I'm not a fan of controllers that are completely wireless and need their own separate energy.

Anyway, as far as handhelds go, it's the Gameboy Advance SP and the the 3DS for me. I still keep the one I got for Christmas in 2003 to play all my old Gameboy games and, besides the fact that the screen light up, I love how I don't need to buy batteries for it. Speaking of the light up screen, I'm sure you guys take that feature for granted these days, but I remember a time where I have to hold a flashlight to my Gameboy Color to play Pokémon Red Version at night.

As for the the 3DS, while there's nothing wrong with the original DS, this one is a genuine upgrade with more features and graphics  that rival the Game Cube's. On top of that, how can I say "no" to backwards compatibility to all the DS games?


Outside of Nintendo, though, I like the Playstation 2 for some of the fun games it has (i.e. Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, the Kingdom Hearts games). Also I have a lot of respect for the Dreamcast. It might not have sold very well, but it really is an impressive console at the time of it's release. Plus, I like how there are still people making homebrew games for it.

[psychospacecow]

Its all good man. Be as biased as you want. That's the point of a favorite.

[MrYoshbert]

The Game Boy Color (and the OG Game Boy by extension), Game Boy Advance, Gamecube, and DS are four of my favorite consoles ever. A ton of my favorite games of all time were on 'em, and I continue to give them mad respect to this day.

We've got Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, Wario Land 1-3, Game & Watch Gallery 1-3, and Kirby's Dream Land 2 on GBC; the Super Mario Advance collection, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, Wario Land 4, Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap, WarioWare, Game & Watch Gallery 4, the Sonic Advance Trilogy, and Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga on GBA; Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Sonic Mega Collection, Sonic Adventure DX, Mario Party 5, Smash Bros. Melee, and Luigi's Mansion on GC; and Mario Kart DS, Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Super Mario 64 DS, WarioWare: Touched, WarioWare: DIY, the original New Super Mario Bros., Kirby Super Star Ultra, Legendary Starfy, the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy, Super Princess Peach, Mario Party DS, Rhythm Heaven, and DK: Jungle Climber on the DS.

I never owned a Nintendo 64 back in the day. I did have a childhood friend who did though, and I remember going to his house nearly every day after school to play Smash Bros. and Mario Party 3. Good times were always had.

[Kriven]

The Nintendo 64 is a great console, with a great library of games... it's the only cartridge-based platform (other than Game Boy) that I actively use and buy for anymore. I just wish it had a better controller.

[Yawackhary]

This is going to be a bit tricky since I really do like a lot of consoles (whether they are the design or its library) so I just stick to ones that have some sort of attachment towards:

My favourite of the older consoles (in this example the 4th generation) is the Mega Drive and not just because it is my first console! While I do have a model 2 with its light and its red buttons, I really do like both designs of the console. When done right, the FM music on the console is pleasure to listen to with its high energy (however there are painful sound examples on the console usually American developed games) and having a well known processor at the time meant that games usually ran pretty well. Oh the library, as well as how a certain hedgehog started its tracks and being some of the best games of that series, there were also plenty of games such as childhood games from Desert Strike, Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage, Micro Machines 96 to ones that I played much later such as Streets of Rage 2, Gunstar Heroes, Castlevania: Bloodlines, Adventures of Batman & Robin, Thunder Force IV, Mega Turrican, Road Rash 2, etc. The console also while didn't exactly started sprite ripping (I think it was the Master System?), it was one that made me do them until I gave up. Don't give me wrong, I actually do like the SNES too well its JP/EU design and the games, especially Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World that I consider one the best platforming compliations ever made but I just like the Genny a bit more. Even though the games are easily emulatable, I still have my console and not going to get rid of it.

Then it is the N64. While it wasn't the console that made me love racing games, that title goes towards both the arcade and the PS1 (especially Gran Turismo), it was as I put it the underdog that I like just as much as the popular console at the time. I couldn't afford many N64 games and the selection that they had wasn't much (I couldn't even get Mario Kart 64!) but the few games that I had and the ones that I got later were all a pleasure to play from the bundled Super Mario 64, the FPS classics of GoldenEye and Perfect Dark [the latter my mum had to get it since it was an 18 title], the enjoyment of Super Smash Bros, the lovely platformer that is Banjo-Kazooie, the excitement of F-Zero X, the shooting Lylat Wars/Star Fox 64 and Rogue Squadron, the early sandbox Body Harvest and F1 World Grand Prix II. Despite other Formula 1 games that came later whether it was done by Sony Liverpool or Codemasters, I still consider this my favourite F1 game of all time due to the controls and it was a time when I was into F1. Oh and Donkey Kong 64 and Lego Racers. Plus the console looked well designed and to this day I consider it my personal favourite design of any Nintendo console. Sadly emulation is quite bad on the console and ever since I changed TV last year [UK units only have RF], I am unable to play the games again which is a shame since I got Mischief Makers last year. Sounds like I have to wait for the HDMI mod before I can play these again.

The 6th generation is perhaps my favourite era that meant that I got to enjoy the Dreamcast, the Gamecube, much later on and regret missing out until recently the original Xbox and even the PS2, the later my least favourite console of that era due to unfair competition that didn't give the DC and the GC any chance at all but still has some games mainly arcade ports that I really like such as Time Crisis 2, Virtua Cop Elite Edition as well as GT3, Sonic Gems Collection and the Sly Cooper series. Choosing a console is pretty hard since I really do like the DC, GC and the Xbox a lot, the former two pretty much equally.

In this case, I'll go for the original Xbox since I do feel it is underrated as a console and not as many people got to play it (more than the Gamecube weirdly enough) apart from perhaps some that were lucky enough back in the day to have a Xbox Live subscription since where I come from Internet was expensive back then. The console might be big and bulky as an American stereotype however at the time it was the most powerful console and in some ways a modern console thanks to a hard drive (no installations though), DLC and even can output in HD at 720p on selected games making the console still decently looking today. The library is more than a Halo machine, first of all is that many multiplatform games are the best version on the Xbox. They looked better, they ran better (despite various forums saying that the PS2 had plenty of 60fps games, that's not how I remember it) as in not as much if any slowdown, possible shorter loading times but not as quick as the GC, they even sounded better if someone had a Dolby Digital speaker. Good examples are the Splinter Cell series where the Xbox version look like a half generational leap compared to the PS2 and should have looked better GC versions plus Max Payne 1 & 2 where the Xbox version was close to the original PC versions while the PS2 couldn't cope with the game and even had to cutdown on the areas plus extra loading times. Even the GTA series were better on the Xbox even though it was very popular on the PS2. Exceptions being Metal Gear Solid 2 but that can be due to lacking of experience from Konami or optimisation issues as well as SSX on Tour and Fight Night 2 due to the Nintendo exclusive extras.

As for exclusives, the Xbox has a little bit of digging but there are some really good games. First of all is the Sega stuff, some games feel like a continuation of the Dreamcast such as Sega GT 2002, Jet Set Radio Future, Crazy Taxi 3, Shenmue 2 (only have the demo) and while not published by Sega Project Gotham Racing is a sequelish to Metropolis Street Racer plus Panzer Dragoon Orta, Gun Valkyrie, OutRun 2 (OutRun 2006 is perhaps my favourite game of all time and that is also on the Xbox but not an exclusive), even got some fun on ToeJam and Earl 3. Apart from Halo; Microsoft side there's also the already mentioned PGR 1& 2, Forza, Crimson Skies, Blinx the Time Sweeper is a decent game from the creator of Sonic, RalliSport Challenge 1 & 2, the WipEoutesque Quantum Redshift, Midtown Madness 3 as well as Fable, Jade Empire. Plus Links if you are into golf. Other top exclusives are Dead or Alive Ultimate (with a Saturn port of the 1st game), Ninja Gaiden/Black, the Ace Combat clone Deadly Skies aka AirForce Delta 2, Chronicles of Riddick (got ported apparently), the two Far Cry games that are offshoots of the first game, Group S Challenge, the MotoGP series that is NOT the same as the PS2 games, Racing Evoluzione/Apex, Unreal Championship, Yager from Yager and in a way an exclusive Genma Onimusha since it is an improved version of the PS2 Onimusha game. Plus the library is cheap right now with only certain games are pricey.

I actually have two Xboxes due to that unlike other consoles, there is no emulator for it. Well technically there is a few but they are a hassle to run and a very few games even boot up to the title screen. In the future, unless there is emulation this console is going to get forgotten even more than now... It also doesn't help that there are no JRPGs or Nintendo series to encourage emulation work. Even the 3DS is getting an emulator thanks to the Ocarina of Time remake. Only hope is that if OutRun 2 gets emulated on MAME, they can use the code to emulate the Xbox.

For a more general opinion; I quite like most Nintendo, Sega and Sony consoles with the weaker ones of those being the Wii (on the grounds of the shovelware games and games that have non working motion controls, the console itself is fine and having a Wii U means that I can have the best of both worlds), Wii U at the moment due to small library especially in the EU and virtually no 3rd party support apart from the indies (but as previous mentioned the backwards compatibility does make this much better) and the PS2 (already mentioned). Perhaps the Saturn too but I don't have one. Handhelds have no compliants regarding the Game Boy series (the GBA screen is a bit of a weakness for the original model but the controls, design and games are good), the DS/3DS, the PSP (disc drive and the short battery life being the weaknesses, games are good to offset the problem though) and the Vita (changing climate makes me feel sad since the console is virtually dead apart from Japanese style RPG/visual novel games, the console is fantastic though).

Apart from the original Xbox, I don't have any interest for the 360 or the Xbox One but can understand that both consoles have great games; same thing for the PS4, a great console with good games but no interest.