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5. Atari 2600  The mid 70's started the home gaming craze with the introduction of Atari. It was Atari that was the grandfather of everything we have come to love in the home gaming system today. From the modest programming of Pong, to the classic arcadia of Asteroids, Atari would change the public understanding of entertainment. What was once only possible in the Arcade, was now possible in your own room on your own TV with your own controller. Sure the graphics were below-elementary compared to the ingenuity we see today, but the game play was stellar involving many arcade themes of shooting planes and bouncing balls around. Lets also not forget that Pacman's first introduction to the home gaming world came with the Atari. As the Atari emulated mostly arcade games, it was fitting that the controller used be a joystick to mirror the flexibility needed to play arcade games. Beyond the controlling and game play, the music and sound proved to be oddly enduring. The music and sound for the Atari has been emulated in modern music and video games like it had never been truly appreciated. The simple non-slurring robotic noises have been an influence in forms as wide as pop music. Atari has gained a larger appreciation in the past year with the recognition of its importance in all of these qualities, even if just for retro appeal. The success of the Atari paved the way for much more elaborate games and technical systems that were able to enclose much more sophisticated programming, but without the success of the Atari, the advent of the home gaming market would have had no place to start, and no realization of the possibilities that laid open for home entertainment.
4. Playstation  Playstation 1 released in 1994 proved to be one of the bigger advancements in the home gaming market. Playstation was a massive leap in graphic technology, size of games, and most importantly gaming quality. There seems to be a never ending list of great games for the Playstation including, Final Fantasy 7, Castlevania "Symphony of the Night", and Metal Gear Solid. Anyone who has played these games know why they're great. They combined great storylines, with incredible music, and graphics that wore their sophistication of their sleeve. This CD based system matched the creativity of the Nintendo market and challenged it's claims for creating the best adventure games. After Playstation was released for two years, it became a known fact that the days of cartridges would be long gone. Only the CD format could handle all the variables that went into creating a massive game like Final Fantasy 7. We see today that all new systems that are released are some form of a CD, much to the credit of Playstation. With the new advancements in gaming technology we see today, especially with the newest system "Nintendo Wii", it's hard to think of one paying attention to the original Playstation any longer. Like original 8-bit Nintendo though, it's legacy has not diminished due to the quality of the games. People will still break out the original "Tony Hawk" and "Gran Theft Auto", like they were games that have never been played. The unforgettable games combined with all the graphic and gaming advancements that came with the advent of the CD based video game system made the Playstation one of the best video game systems ever.
3. Wii  I've never looked forward to the release of a gaming console as much as I did for the release of the Nintendo Revolution. That is, until I found out they had changed the new system's name to the Wii. Now, on scale of one to ten, how gay is that? How do you go from a bad ass sounding name like the Revolution to the Wii? "What gives?" I thought to myself. Did Sir Paul McCartney sue them for copyright infringement? Well, despite the name change, the Wii is undoubtedly one of, if not THE, greatest gaming console of all time. As far as graphics, the Wii is basically a souped up Gamecube. Its not much more powerful, but then again it's not supposed to be. That's not really the point. With the Wii, Nintendo is trying to make a "unique" gaming experience. And it's here that they have succeeded beyond measure. The Wii includes two controllers: a Wii Remote and a Nunchuk--a joystick-style controller that connects to the remote for additional game control. The Wii Remote, or Wii-mote, if you will, is a basically a brand new gaming platform. Much like the game pad revolutionized gaming, the Wii-mote has done the same thing. In terms of gaming options, you now have the mouse and keyboard on the PC, the arcade style joystick in arcades, a game pad or a n00b stick to play console games, and a whole new category, the Wii-mote. The difference now is that with the Wii you have to use your entire arm, meaning that now there is actual exercise involved in gaming.
It's worth it though, on the Wii Nintendo has released some of its most creative and fun gaming experiences in years, with games such as Super Mario Galaxy and Twilight Princess. But, there's more to the Wii than just the games: not only do you now actually get a brand new, unique gaming experience where are able to swing a sword around as Link, or a golf club as Tiger Woods, but eventually Nintendo plans to release a version with DVD playback capabilities. Imagine a Nintendo platform that plays DVDs! That's right, finally a Nintendo system that you would be able to watch porn on. (Just think of the possibilities with the Wii one–handed controller). All in all, the Wii is the complete package, at $250, you get the console, a game, Wii Sports (a compilation of games including tennis, golf, bowling, baseball, and boxing), the power and A/V cables, one Wii Remote, one Nunchuk controller, and one remote sensor. On top of all of that, in addition to Wii-specific titles available at retail, the console is also fully backwards-compatible with all GameCube discs. Moreover, the system's "Virtual Console" will allow users to download classic titles from past Nintendo consoles, as well as games originally released for the Sega Genesis and NEC TurboGRAFX. The Wii comes in third on our list only because it is so new. Only time will tell if one day it will claim our number one spot. 2. Nintendo Entertainment System  Nintendo has been the signature mark of the home video game system ever since it was first released in 1987. This system had started a series of games that to this day grow in popularity from the strangely appealing Mario, to the epic adventure of Zelda. The 8 bit Nintendo took the home gaming system and expanded it's limits to places that were unimaginable at one time. When one plays Metroid or Zelda, one is overcome by the vastness of these games that take more than just a couple of hours to conquer. The home based video game system that mirrored the coin op industry had seen its last days with the creation of games like Zelda, Metroid and Metal Gear. With Nintendo, the focus would be placed on gaming experiences where unforgettably journeys would take place instead of 2 minute arcade fighting. Games like Zelda 1 and Metroid 1 were not just games you played and beat anymore, but games you remembered. Mario 1 would go on to be the most popular title for any home platform video game system with its simple but mammoth world of underwater levels, underground levels and even sky levels when the appropriate block was hit to grow a beanstalk. The amount of memorable points in Mario 1 is staggering. Have someone play Mario 1 today, someone who is not even a "true" gamer, and they will somehow still remember where most of the secrets and warps are. The graphics for the time were a sight to be seen employing an array of colors and graphic techniques that brought the viewer into awe. The game player did not think that graphics could get better than Battletoads or Mario 3 that were as elaborate as they were inventive. Nintendo was one of the biggest steps made in the home video game system market. That the games for the system still want to be played today, over much more developed gaming technology, is a sign of its greatness.
1. Super Nintendo Entertainment System  When Super Nintendo was released in 1992, it was widely anticipated, but never sought after like the new gaming systems that are released of this day. The Super Nintendo had some starting titles like Super Mario World that were successful and made the system accepted as a proper sequel to its 8-bit predecessor. Little did anyone know that after about 3 years after its introduction, it would become the greatest system ever to be realized in the platform home gaming market, mostly because it clearly had the greatest games ever released. If this lists major theme is to champion the systems with the best games, then the Super Nintendo is the greatest system of all time, hands down, even more than its 8 bit predecessor. It takes a lot for a sequel to Metroid and Zelda to be better than their the original, as the original is what qualified the sequel in the first place. When one played Super Metroid and Zelda Link to the Past though, they have no choice but to realize that these sequels are so amazing that they superseded their predecessor that created their idea in the first place. Without going into the details of these games, they were imbued with the best qualities that make up video games, from mood to music to great storylines. Games like these were all over the Super Nintendo platform. Squaresoft's golden age happened on the Super Nintendo. In one system, one could play Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 3, and Illusion of Gaia. Considering that these four games are arguably the greatest four RPG's ever released for any system, it is amazing to think they were all for the SNES. Beyond the adventure and RPG's for the system, there was the emergence of Mario Kart as the most clearly entertaining racing game to be released for any system. Playing this game into the long hours of the night was an average experience for the game player. The SNES which utilized the new 16bit graphic technology created perfect landscapes to match the golden age of creativity in the actual games. That Sega Genesis ever thought it could compare to the glory of the SNES was utter chutzpa. Sega and its marketing as the "cool" system compared to the SNES was dominated like no other system in the video game history. There was just too many great games for the SNES and to many forgettable games for the "cool" Sega Genesis. With this in mind, the SNES is the greatest gaming system of all time. No system before or after ever had the sheer quantity of memorable games as the SNES. |
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