They’ve been the centerpieces of our living rooms and, on occasion, our lives.
These are the best video game consoles ever made.
Modern gaming consoles are often the entertainment centerpieces of living rooms everywhere.
Meanwhile, one look at the right retro gaming console can unlock a treasure trove of memories.
So whats the greatest video game console ever?
That will be a topic for another day.
The best possible version of that console was essentially considered to be the eligible entrant.
Only consoles that have been succeeded or discontinued are considered to be eligible for this list.
How many great games did these consoles support, and how many of them were exclusive to those consoles?
Hardware Reliability Did a console have any serious design flaws or was it generally reliable?
Historical Significance How did this console impact the industry for the better?
Total unit sales are also a small part of this category.
With all of that out of the way, lets dive into the list.
All hardware photos courtesy ofThe Vanamo Online Game Museum.
Yet, so much about the Lynx is objectively impressive.
This full-color handheld console dared to dream about handhelds keeping up with their console competition.
The Lynx was a great idea and a solid little gadget that just wasnt quite right for its time.
There are many other consoles that cant make that claim.
NeoGeo AES
The NeoGeo AES cost about $650 in 1990/1991.
Adjusted for inflation, thats roughly $1500 dollars today.
give a shot to imagine the video game console that would be worth $1500.
You probably cant do it.
Dont feel too bad.
SNK couldnt quite do it either.
While the NeoGeo was a logistical nightmare, it was a pretty compelling console in its own right.
It was certainly a failure in many ways that we traditionally judge successful consoles.
Yet, I always think aboutDonkey Kongwhen I think about the ColecoVision.
After all,Donkey Kongcould have been a best-seller if it was released as a stand-alone title.
Besides, it wasnt even Colecos game to begin with.
Bandai WonderSwan
Dont be surprised if youve never heard of or dont remember the WonderSwan.
Released in 1999, the WonderSwan was never officially made available outside of Japan.
Seriously, it was a budget handheld that ran for about 40 hours on one AA battery.
A lot of people saw it as a toy.
The WonderSwan was always more than that, though.
Its a model that early mobile game designers would follow to great success many years later.
In a better world, the WondSwan would have been given the chance to find a global audience.
In this world, the WonderSwan remains an enterally underrated curiosity.
TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine
In many ways, the TurboGrafx-16 doubles as a Hall of Fame collection of bad ideas.
First released in Japan in 1987, the console wouldnt be released elsewhere until 1989-1990.
In Japan, the console was a surprisingly successful NES competitor.
The company couldnt even get the consoles name right.
It was known as the TurboGrafx-16 in North America and the PC Engine pretty much everywhere else.
So why would this console ever make this list?
Well, for all its problems, the TurboGrafx-16 boasted a surprisingly strong library of games.
Yes, this console was kind of a disaster, but it could have been a contender.
However, it should be said that Sega did the Saturn very few favors during its limited run.
The company failed to attract third-party partners at a time when Sony was courting the industrys biggest names.
Of course, it didnt help that they never even bothered to release a proper newSonictitle for the platform.
If nothing else, though, the Saturn was a console of unlimited unrealized potential.
Its incredible controller allowed fans to enjoy some unrivaled arcade ports (especially fighting games).
Thats the thing about the Saturn.
PlayStation 3
Widely considered to be Sonys worst console, the PlayStation 3 was a massive misstep.
However, the PlayStation 3 survived long enough to eventually recover from many of those initial stumbles.
Around that same time, more developers started to finally figure out how to make the complex console sing.
Atari 2600
Its obviously pretty hard to go back and enjoy the Atari 2600 today.
However, the Atari 2600 remains arguably the most historically significant piece of gaming hardware ever.
The PSP endeavored to offer a higher-quality handheld experience and often succeeded in doing so.
Still, its kind of shocking to realize just how short the Game Boy Advances lifespan really was.
Still, the Game Boy Advance remains remarkably easy to love.
However, the Vita was always a fantastic piece of hardware.
Still, its easy to see why it has only grown in acclaim since then.
Nintendo Wii
There are times when the Nintendo Wii feels like a shared fever dream.
Remember when pretty much everybody was playing a handful of motion-controlled games?
Remember that time your grandma beat you at Wii Sports?
Sega Dreamcast
Its difficult to talk about the Dreamcast without the word underrated eventually coming up.
Yet, the story of the Dreamcast remains a tragedy.
Its easy to understand the reasons the Dreamcast failed and much harder to live with them.
It was a truly great console that emphasized fun and innovation above all else.
Nintendo GameCube
From a pure sales perspective, the GameCube was a historic flop.
The failures of the GameCube forced Nintendo to change its entire approach to the industry it once helped popularize.
Try telling any of that to a GameCube fan, though.
Xbox
The Xbox will forever be linked toHalo: Combat Evolved.
However, the Xbox grew to offer a lot more than it often gets credit for.
The Xboxs sheer power often also made it the best way to play various notable third-party titles.
Sega Genesis
Few consoles embody the idea of a challenger brand quite like the Genesis.
Honestly, many of the Genesis best games feel like a breath of fresh air to this day.
However, the N64s greatest triumph remains its unrivaled collection of local multiplayer games.
PlayStation 4
Funnily enough, one of the PlayStation 4s biggest weaknesses was its relative lack of competition.
The PS4 was simply the best overall console on the market for most of its impressive 6+ year run.
The PS4 fixed pretty much every mistake the PS3 made.
You could even argue its still the best overall handheld gaming console ever made.
For quite some time, it remained the only system a lot of people ever needed.
If you werent still playing Pokemon on your Game Boy in the late 90s, what were you doing?
That considerable issue aside, the Xbox 360 may very well be the greatest console ever made.
What impresses me most about the NES, though, is how relevantits gamesstill feel to this day.
Mind you, Im not just talking about the broad design ideas the best NES titles introduced.
Yes, the console suffered from some pretty infamous technical issues.
Yes, Nintendo eventually allowed the console to be flooded with sub-par titles.
The PlayStations multimedia functionality and library of mass-market masterpieces made it a centerpiece of entertainment centers across the world.
Hell, some are still nostalgic for the consoles beautifully blocky visuals.
Nintendo DS
The Nintendo DS was always something of a Trojan Horse.
The Nintendo DS is arguably the last Nintendo console that isleastdefined by the quality of its Nintendo games.
Yes, most of those first-party games were exceptional, but they were the tip of the iceberg.
Capcom, Konami, Atlus, Level-5, and more all brought their A+ games to the handheld.
Remarkably, 150+ million people joined them for the ride.
The NES was incredible, but did people really need a super Nintendo?
Obviously, we know the answer to that question is a resounding yes.
Some of the best Super Nintendo games are indeed superior versions of their NES counterparts.
However, many of the best SNES games offered something that nobody had ever dreamed of before.
Thats what the SNES really was; it was a dream factory.
Does that sound corny?
Ultimately, though, 155+ million people had it right.
The PS2 represents the absolute apex of console gaming.
We can talk about the intangibles.
The PlayStation 2 offered a home gaming experience that sometimes felt too great to be true.
The appeal of the PlayStation 2 remains surprisingly powerful to this day.
It was a crowd-pleaser that revolutionized the industry as it set sales records.
