The Seven Best Video Game Consoles Ranked
For many of us young adults and older, there will always be a special place in our hearts for gaming consoles. No matter how far astray we go into the lands of PC based gaming, Steam summer bundles, and new VR systems, those original gaming consoles on which we learned to play our first games will always stay with us. In honor of those epic gaming systems, here are the seven greatest video game consoles of all time ranked.
#7 Xbox
The Xbox began what would inevitably be a massively successful gaming enterprise established by the PC giant Microsoft. Not only did it help make online gaming a thing, it brought the wildly popular Halo franchise into being (something most of us can still remember). The Xbox was massively influential and it is still used today as an industry standard.
#6 Playstation 1
Younger audiences may only remember the playstation vaguely because it was virtually eclipsed by the Playstation 2 as the hottest commodity around. Regardless, the playstation was a staple for 90s kids and young adults who had more time than cares.
Still, the original Playstation established the gaming behemoth that would go on to produce the highest selling game system of all time, as well as gaming franchises that would become world renowned and spawn many new games in years to come.
A couple of games that stand out as particularly memorable additions to the PS1 cannon include Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear Solid, and the infinitely replay-able and legendary Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2.
#5 Nintendo Wii
When the Nintendo Wii first came out, it seemed destined to be the coolest thing the gaming world had ever seen. And its reception was great – it sold over 100 million consoles and introduced the world to motion-based gaming.
However, the very thing that at first made the Nintendo Wii seem so revolutionary was also eventually its downfall. It soon became clear that although the motion based controls were indeed revolutionary, they weren’t nearly as accurate as you might hope them to be. Games like Wii Boxing you could play pretty much the same just waving your controller around as you could actually pretending to punch. The motion controls also inevitably gave way for more hardened gaming, acting simply as a gimmick at best, and the control itself was not friendly for use for many situations.
Still, the Wii ended up setting the stage for better things to come, and its place in video game history is more than solidified in regards to both sales numbers and influence, introducing gaming to a wider audience of casual gamers than ever before.
#4 Nintendo 64
Still sought after today for its replay-ability and nostalgic fun, the Nintendo 64 achieved some pretty great things – like showing how far 3D gaming could go. Like the Playstation 1, the Nintendo 64 set the stage for the Nintendo Gaming Greatness to come – with its greatest masterpiece being the Ocarina of Time
#3 Nintendo GameCube
Although not as beloved perhaps as the Nintendo 64 by nostalgic gamers, and not nearly as powerful or advanced as competing consoles of its time, the GameCube is an important addition to the history of gaming for two reasons – its controllers, and “Super Smash Bros Melee”. The controllers are a massive improvement over the clunky ones afforded by Nintendo 64, and many serious gamers still prefer them over anything else Nintendo has to offer to this very day. Super Smash Bros. Melee, on the other hand, is arguably the greatest Super Smash Bros. game ever made, and retains a cult following to this day, decades later.
#2 The Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch is the best modern game console and the best console to ever come out of Nintendo Switch. Though it already has sold plenty, it has yet to outsell the Nintendo Wii. Yet, it is a huge improvement over the Wii, with massively improved motion sensing capabilities, a seemingly endless retinue of indy games to choose from, as well as powerhouse entries like Breath of the Wild and appealing ports like “The Witcher 3” .
The Nintendo Switch combines the best of all previous generations of gaming consoles – handheld, console, and motion based – into a pinnacle of gaming innovation.
Nintendo could possibly out do the Switch. But it would be difficult.
#1 Playstation 2
The Playstation 2, the most sold gaming console of all time, is also the greatest of all time. It came at the right time, supported a wide range of third party developers, and introduced fantastic and legendary games into the pantheon of gaming that still play better to this day than follow up entries to come.
In addition to fantastic games, the Playstation 2 was picked up by a lot of people thanks to its ability to play DVDs, which was still a new technology at least to casual consumers at that time.
Finally, the playstation 2 won the hearts of gamers around the world thanks to its more adult-aimed games, and massive library of exclusives.
The playstation 2 won the gaming wars of the 2000s and has yet to be defeated in terms of its influence and popularity.
Games that stand out as the best of the best console include Final Fantasy X, Star Wars Battlefront II, Shadow of the Colossus, and Okami.
