Top 25 consoles ranked IGN

[Tap In]

Top 25 consoles ranked IGN

of course it's several editor's opinions but not a bad list if you ask me considering I've played most of them :smile:

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Well, it's obviously opinions but I don't share the same ones. Heh. But Dreamcast significantly higher than PS3?

And while close, I'd still put the Atari 2600 over the NES. Just because it basically started the modern console craze (Yes, I know about pong, but it wasn't as popular nor a multi-game system).

Regards,
SB

 

[Tap In]

They have some pretty thoughtful points about each one as well which explain their reasoning.

ie

But the good times were not to last and the skyrocket trajectory of the Atari 2600 was partially to blame. With videogames white-hot, everybody wanted in. And Atari did not have any solid quality-control mechanisms in place. No game epitomizes this lack quite like E.T., a licensed title that was forced to market after a five-week development cycle. Atari took a bath on E.T. and consumers started to sour on the breath of subpar games clogging shelves. Thus began the great video game crash of 1983 which laid waste to the entire industry.
It is this incredible story, a console that is responsible for the incredible games we're playing now yet almost drove a stake through the heart of the industry.


---------------

Nintendo instituted a strict licensing program to ensure that the industry crash – with its glut of games of questionable quality -- would not happen with the NES. No unlicensed games would be tolerated on the NES platform. All games would have to be approved by Nintendo and third parties could only create a certain number of games a year for the NES, while the same games could not be made for competing consoles for two years.
The strategy worked. Nintendo's quality first-party efforts as well as the incredibly powerful third-party support resurged and revived the home videogame industry. If Nintendo didn't step up to the plate, the industry as a whole may have turned out entirely different.

I loved my 2600, played the crap out of it even with this reasoning above, I still give the 2600 the edge. I'd actually put the SNES above the NES as well.

 

[AzBat]

It's an interesting list to say the least. It's more of a "most influential console" list than anything. I have a few issues with it too. However, I would definitely have a hard time coming up with my own list too. I can definitely understand why a lot here of chosen not to respond. LOL

Tommy McClain

 

[Tap In]

oh and here is the lazy list.

25. Magnavox Odyssey
24. Atari Jaguar
23. Atari 5200
22. 3DO
21. Magnavox Odyssey 2
20. SEGA Master System
19. NeoGeo
18. SEGA Saturn
17. Atari 7800
16. Nintendo GameCube
15. PlayStation 3
14. Intellivision
13. TurboGrafx-16
12. Colecovision
11. Xbox
10. Nintendo Wii
9. Nintendo 64
8. Dreamcast
7. PlayStation
6. Xbox 360
5. Sega Genesis
4. Super Nintendo
3. Playstation 2
2. Atari 2600
1. Nintendo

 

[Rangers]

Some of the various choices are a little wonky, but I wholeheartedy agree with NES #1..

 

[obonicus]

It's an interesting list to say the least. It's more of a "most influential console" list than anything. I have a few issues with it too. However, I would definitely have a hard time coming up with my own list too. I can definitely understand why a lot here of chosen not to respond. LOL

Tommy McClain

Yeah, pretty much this. It's a terrible list, like all IGN lists, but if we were to argue over it this'd probably turn into the worst thread the forum's ever had.

 

[Nesh]

I d put Playstation 1 above 360 and probably above PS2 as well anyday

 

[Tap In]

Yeah, pretty much this. It's a terrible list,

It's an OPINION list. it just happens to be the agreed upon opinion of several people who write about all different games and consoles for a living.

I don't doubt that taking a wide poll of people who have played all of these consoles or at least learned of their contributions, we may get a similar list (based on votes)

Not on forums though, where biases and saving face would skew them.

 

[obonicus]

It's an OPINION list. it just happens to be the agreed upon opinion of several people who write about all different games and consoles for a living.

Of course it's an opinion list. An opinion list from a bunch of professional games writers. But like AzBat said, though they actually mention the caveat that this is in fact the most 'personally influential' console list, they still call it 'Top 25 consoles of all time. It's a terrible list, like all IGN lists. Well, like nearly all video game site lists, in fact.

I have no interest in talking about the order, myself.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I don't understand their comments about XB360 (I didn't have a thorough perusal). they mention shifting consoles into the media age, but it's functions were as a media extender at launch, no different to XBox. As a console it's just following a standard evolution. I'd place the original XB in it's place for ushering in ideal console online gaming.

I think the list can be sensibly divided into platforms that moved the industry, and those that tagged along. In the 'moving' list I'd have the Atari 2600, NES, Wii, PlayStation 1, maybe SNES and Genesis/Megadrive because they were a sort of foundation of gaming (although at the time computers were pushing gaming far more IMO), PS2 for numbers and diversity of catalogue, and XB for online gaming.

Everything else would only rank on its games and services, not on advancing the gaming industry, so you'd just pick consoles because it happened to have some particular games you liked. If you personally had a big thing for Colecovision or 3DO or the current machines, you could add them as a top console, but that'd be a much more subjective placement than the 'core' machines the forged the path for this other machines to drop into.

 

[Rolf N]

Of course it's an opinion list. An opinion list from a bunch of professional games writers. But like AzBat said, though they actually mention the caveat that this is in fact the most 'personally influential' console list, they still call it 'Top 25 consoles of all time. It's a terrible list, like all IGN lists. Well, like nearly all video game site lists, in fact.

I have no interest in talking about the order, myself.

Lists are what you do when you want to drive users to the site to comment. A list with n entries has (n²-n)/2 points of contention (A > B relationships) that can be disagreed with and argued. Thus you generate lots of controversy in a simple, efficient way.

It also lends itself well to generating lots of prose to be spread out over several pages (each showing ads) without needing much prep work.

I'm not surprised IGN does this from time to time. It's their business.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I think the list can be sensibly divided into platforms that moved the industry, and those that tagged along. In the 'moving' list I'd have the Atari 2600, NES, Wii, PlayStation 1, maybe SNES and Genesis/Megadrive because they were a sort of foundation of gaming (although at the time computers were pushing gaming far more IMO), PS2 for numbers and diversity of catalogue, and XB for online gaming.

I'd agree with most of that. Most of those were milestones in console gaming in some form or another.

Additionally, I'd probably credit the PS2 with introducing the idea of a console as more than just a console. The beginnings of thinking of a console as also an integral part of a home entertainment system. Although the Xbox (through homebrew - XBMC wooo!) eventually realized this to a much greater degree.

Regards,
SB

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Well, PS2's inclusion of DVD was just a step up from CD playback on PS1, although admittedly a significant one. Whether it's a conceptual advance or not, I don't know.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Well, PS2's inclusion of DVD was just a step up from CD playback on PS1, although admittedly a significant one. Whether it's a conceptual advance or not, I don't know.

Yes, but it was the first time you actually had people buying it as a DVD player. Especially in Japan. Yes the fact it could play games also was a factor and without which DVD adoption, at least in Japan, would have taken quite a bit longer.

I'm giving it the nod because for the first time a console was being bought with considerations other than just playing games. The PS1 could play CDs. But I'd argue that wasn't really much of a consideration for anyone buying a PS1. IE - it was a nice bonus, but not a deciding factor...whereas with the PS2, for some people it was one of the main reasons to get a PS2.

With the PS3 and X360 we're seeing more and more of that. I now know 3 people that have an X360 and haven't bought a single game for it. They only use it for Netflix and online movie rentals. Nothing else. Heck they don't even use it to stream media from their PC although I keep telling them it's easy to do.

Regards,
SB

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Yeah, I'll go with that.

 

[Tap In]

yea I think their explanations are legit... each comsole as shifty mentioned would/ could just be ranked as which had your favorite games. this list is more of a what broke new ground, what led in a different direction etc.

for example the Dreamcast being rated more highly than others is perfect IMO. It was the first dedicated online console and great graphics for being so early to the generation. the DVD player in the PS2 killed it IMO.

As for 360, again, it broke ground (and broke a lot) but even so, it did a lot first and even better in some instances. the NES was a cultural phenomenon and brought the licensing and restrictions to the table which saved the industry.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Meh, imo this list just proves that the people who work for IGN are morons. But then again, i already had this opinion after reading some of their reviews (forza 2 for example)

Dreamcast is a better console than the PS3? lol okay.

 

[Tap In]

Dreamcast is a better console than the PS3? lol okay.

Well if you only look at it that way then it would almost completely be in chronological order.

It's not because there are more reasons to the order than just "better than".

 

[Grall]

No idea why the 360 is as high on that list as it is, considering it's not doing anything fundamentally different to the PS3, and is merely a slight evolution in concept (and moreso in power) compared to its immediate predecessor.

If it's a list of influential consoles as would seem to be the case, the 360 (and the PS3) ought to score quite low, as they've not really brought anything new to the market other than prettier graphics. I don't count achievements all that high really, what else did the 360 do that nobody else did before it? (Other than break down A LOT, I mean. *ba-dum psssht*)