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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Which is the most significant (important) console in history?

 

Which is the most important console ever?

Atari 2600 119 6.86%
 
NES 806 46.48%
 
SNES 109 6.29%
 
Sega Genesis 25 1.44%
 
N64 54 3.11%
 
PSX 303 17.47%
 
XBox 14 0.81%
 
PS2 225 12.98%
 
XB360 20 1.15%
 
Other - please explain 59 3.40%
 
Total:1,734
freebs2 on 09 July 2017

In terms of historical importance and whitout considering personal tastes.
-NES saved and created the basis of modern gaming.
-GAMEBOY created the handheld market
-PS1 expanded greatly gaming population an changed the image of games to the general public

-XBOX (OG) introduced subscriptions for online gaming
-NDS expanded greatly the gaming population again and pioneerd modern mobile gaming.



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nuckles87 on 09 July 2017
potato_hamster said:
nuckles87 said:

Fact of the matter is, the video game industry's history is a complex web of contributions from a multitude of different companies, many of which never even made a console. I mean, in both Japan and Europe, computers, NOT consoles, were the major gaming devices. Japan had the MSX, the U.K. had Amstrad, ZX Spectrum, and the BBC Microcomputer. Even during, before, and AFTER the video game crash, US gamers were playing on Commodore 64s and various Atari 8-bit computers, among other machines. 

To even credit the 2600 as "the most important console" is a bit of a stretch. Sure, it was the first successful gaming device that utilized cartridges, but it didn't build that success on its own. Its foundations were the Pong home console and arcade machine, which were the first gaming devices to Introduce digital gaming to the mass market successfully. It built off the success of these machines. And Pong itself was inspired by the Magnavox Odysssey, which was a commercial failure but pioneered a lot of basic concepts like game controllers, light guns games, and the Pong game itself. 

Even when you go this far back, you need to consider whether commercial success or innovation is more important when answering a question like this. Generally, I consider commercial success to be more important, which is why I essentially "voted" for Pong.

Atari actually created the a market for console gaming. Atari actually made console video gaming main-stream. The Atari 2600 was how they did that. Atari created the market that Nintnedo apparently saved by creating, marketing and supporting a console that was over ten times more popular than any "console" (however you may define it) before it.

If we're going to start talking about "innovation", and claim that Atari shouldn't get credit because they really only "popularized" certain things, then you have to dock a huge amount of credit from Nintendo, as the vast majority of things that people claim Nintendo innovated was actually the popularization of other company's innovations, just like Atari did.

P.S. Also, it's amazing how the Magnavox Odyssey inspired Pong, when it was released 3 years after Pong. Seems odd to me, but hey, this thread is completely lacking in reasonable thinking, so why should I be surrpised?


Atari did create a market for console gaming...with the Tele-games Pong console. I didn't say Atari didn't create the console market, I just said the 2600 wasn't the genesis of it. Their pong console was HUGELY successful, inspired numerous sequels, variants, and clones globally, and was effectively the first successfully mass marketed gaming device. 

Also, I'm not defending Nintendo here. You're right. Nintendo was less an innovator in gaming hardware, and more a company that knew how to take others innovations and put them in a well made product, and knew how to market said product. I'd argue the NES's single biggest innovation was how Nintendo marketed it as a toy in the US, in order to get past the stigma retailers had towards gaming consoles (though this brought its own set of problems, but I won't discuss those here). That being said, Nintendo DOES deserve a lot of credit for the d-pad, which is hugely important to 2D gaming as a whole.

And finally...you are thinking of the Magnavox Odyssey 2. I was referring to the original Magnavox Odyssey, from 1972, which predates Pong by a few years. The very FIRST consumer gaming device, a device so old it lacked color, sound, and didn't even utilize microprocessors. I actually own one. It's a very fascinating and clever device for its day. The programmers at Magnavox got around its limitations by giving the system a lot of games that utilized physical things like cards and overlays. Even the way it played more than one game was unique: since ROM carts weren't really a thing in 1972, so the game cartridges it took were essentially cards that rewired the actua internal circuitry of the console.

Edit: it occurs to me, I never actually said Pong was Atari's machine. Sorry, I didn't mean to leave that out. XD



Ljink96 on 09 July 2017

NES



Ljink96 on 09 July 2017
twintail said:
zorg1000 said:

PS1 made console gaming mainstream in Europe, it already was in America/Japan.

To a small degree. Gaming was still viewed as a hobbist/ childrens activity with NES and even SNES when the console market actually declined in size. 

PS1 is what changed that and made gaming 'acceptable' outside of enthusiasts and children. Bringing EU into the fold of the industry is just another achievement it had, and the market has grown ever since. 

Vastly more important for the industry. 

Well....I wouldn't say that the console marked declined, it was separated between:

SNES: 49.1 Million

GEN: 34 Million

Turbografx 16/PC Engine: 10 Million

I'd even argue that Gameboy expanded the audience before PSX arrived. Business men, Moms, Kids, everybody had a Gameboy.



Nuvendil on 09 July 2017
Ka-pi96 said:
Nuvendil said:
1: NES - Shaped the console industry as we know it, revitalized and gre the two biggest console markets, was the beginning of many of the most iconic and celebrated franchises ever.

2: Magnavox Odyssey - the one that started it all

3: Xbox - initiated the online gaming revolution in the console space. Love it or hate it, the Xbox shaped a massive part of the current industry.

Kinda surprised you're putting Xbox ahead of Xbox 360 there. Sure Xbox had online gaming before 360 (as did other consoles), but 360 is the one that made it really take off.

The 360 was the mkre successful one, but it was Halo 2 and the CoDs on Xbox that started it, with pro tournaments showing up and such.  I mean, despite losing the console war by a huge margin, it took a novelty idea in console gaming and made it into a standard come Gen 7.  



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Wiibaron on 09 July 2017

What about the Wii? It introduced gaming to many millions who never had gamed before. Heck, old folks homes were buying them. It introduced motion control, which was copied by both competitors soon after and is still apart of modern gaming. It introduced a new word and many spin off phrases to the entire world. And most importantly it brought family fun back into a gaming industry that was totally centered on 15-25 year old boys. Sold very well, made a great profit for Nintendo, and was a world-wide phenomenon for years. Probably 90% of the western world's population knows what a Wii is, no matter the age.



h2ohno on 09 July 2017

How mainstream did videogames ever get when the popular perception of gamers for the last 2 decades has been of lazy adults who live in their mother's basement?



zorg1000 on 09 July 2017
twintail said:
zorg1000 said:

PS1 made console gaming mainstream in Europe, it already was in America/Japan.

To a small degree. Gaming was still viewed as a hobbist/ childrens activity with NES and even SNES when the console market actually declined in size. 

PS1 is what changed that and made gaming 'acceptable' outside of enthusiasts and children. Bringing EU into the fold of the industry is just another achievement it had, and the market has grown ever since. 

Vastly more important for the industry. 

the console market did not decline in that time period, you have no idea what you are talking about.

NES/Master System/Atari 7800=~75 million

SNES/Genesis/TurboGrafx=~100 million

PS1/N64/Saturn=~140 million

 

now lets take a look at the indvidual regions

America

NES era=~40 million

SNES era=~50 million

PS1 era=~60 million

 

Japan

NES era=~20 million

SNES era=~25 million

PS1 era=~30 million

 

You cant tell me 75 million in America/Japan is just enthusiasts & children but 90 million is mainstream. The vast majority of growth happened in Europe and thats what Sony deserves credit for.

 

80s kids were becoming teens/young adults in the 90s so developers/publishers making games for those age groups was just a natural progression and was already happening before PS1 released, games like Mortal Kombat & Doom are a couple examples of this.



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.

zorg1000 on 09 July 2017
Ljink96 said:
twintail said:

To a small degree. Gaming was still viewed as a hobbist/ childrens activity with NES and even SNES when the console market actually declined in size. 

PS1 is what changed that and made gaming 'acceptable' outside of enthusiasts and children. Bringing EU into the fold of the industry is just another achievement it had, and the market has grown ever since. 

Vastly more important for the industry. 

Well....I wouldn't say that the console marked declined, it was separated between:

SNES: 49.1 Million

GEN: 34 Million

Turbografx 16/PC Engine: 10 Million

I'd even argue that Gameboy expanded the audience before PSX arrived. Business men, Moms, Kids, everybody had a Gameboy.

yep saying the market declined because SNES sold less than NES is like saying the market declined in the 7th generation because PS3 sold less than PS2



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.

Kai_Mao on 09 July 2017
zorg1000 said:
Ljink96 said:

Well....I wouldn't say that the console marked declined, it was separated between:

SNES: 49.1 Million

GEN: 34 Million

Turbografx 16/PC Engine: 10 Million

I'd even argue that Gameboy expanded the audience before PSX arrived. Business men, Moms, Kids, everybody had a Gameboy.

yep saying the market declined because SNES sold less than NES is like saying the market declined in the 7th generation because PS3 sold less than PS2

I think last gen was probably the biggest gaming was at in terms of audience, and that was in spite of the PS3's initial struggles. All of the big three did very well, which what you would hope for. Plus the handheld market was at its peak as well.

Speaking of handhelds, I would like to give a shoutout to the Nintendo DS. Not only the second best selling console of all time, but it brought touch screen gaming into the forefront. Yes touch screen wasn't introduced by the DS, but with the software in tow, it allowed new types of gameplay and attracted new audiences with games like Nintendogs, Elite Beat Agents, TWEWY, 999, Brain Age, Cooking Mama, and Professor Layton while expanding upon the core gameplay of series like Warioware, Dragon Quest, Animal Crossing, Rhythm Heaven, Pokémon, and Ace Attorney.

Nowadays, mobile has become an entirely new beast in the gaming market thanks to the utilization and evolution of the touch screen in smart phones and tablets.