1. 4th gen

2. 5th gen

3. 1st half of 7th gen

4. 3rd gen

5. 6th gen

6. 2nd half of 7th gen

7. 8th gen

i dont know the first to gens. what do you guys think?

I started playing in gen 4 / 5 so i'm not going to rank the earlier gens..

1. 6th gen
2. 5th gen
3. first half of 7th gen
4. 4th gen
5. second half of 7th gen
6. 8th gen

Of the ones I've lived through:

4th > 7th > 5th > 6th

8th gen is best.

I've only lived from 5th through 8th, so I'll go by so far:

6th > 7th >>> 5th (was young and didn't get many games) >>>>> 8th (so far)

6th
5th
7th
8th

The 9th gen will be the best ;)

Think about it, your PS5/XBOII will be fully backward compatible with the current 8th gen games (they have to be since they will be running on the same x86-64 architecture). Online services would have fully matured by then and emulation for past consoles/streaming old games should be a piece of cake. Plus! You will finally be able to play in 1080P60 with 16xMSAA (imagine that!) while the PC snobs will be boasting about their 8K-capable rigs. Fun times ahead!

Personally, I like the 5th gen best since that's when the switch to 3D graphics occurred and I seriously got into gaming. Spent loads of time playing those PS1/Saturn games (and some time playing the N64 games when I borrowed the consoles from my friend). 

I actually grew up with the 3rd playing Metal Gear on MSX and countless games on the NES but enjoyed the 4th more with all the variety of games and catchy music. I drastically reduced my gaming with the 7th gen so I don't have as many memories after that excpet with a few series like MGS and GT.

5-4-7-3-6-8

#1- 6th generation

#2- 5th generation

#3- 4th generation

#4- 7th generation

#5-8th generation ( so far at least.. I have a feeling the 8th gen will be much better than the 7th gen in the longrun.. )

1. 6th gen- GameCube had best first party, PS2 had best third party, Xbox had best online, and Dreamcast was just cool.

2. 5th gen- N64 had amazing exculsives, PS1 was a good start for the PS brand, and idc about the saturn.

3. 7th gen- First half (2005-2009) was VERY good. Wii was selling like crack and it had Smash and Kart and Galaxy, then PS3 was kinda a meh console in the beginning, and 360 being just there with some good games. Second half (2010-current) Wii had DK, Skyward Sword, Galaxy 2, and wait there's not anymore must haves, PS3 caught on very well and passed up 360. 360 finally got rid of red ring of death after being out for 5-6years and Kinect.

4. 4th gen- can't say much about it other than SNES. Had DKC series, great 3rd party support, and Super FX Chip.

5. 3rd gen- can't say much about it other than NES. Started most of the great Nintendo franchises... nuf said