I rated these on how I feel it moved the industry forward to make it what it is today.
1. NES (1985) - No matter what you say this game machine re-invented the home console and kick started the industry with games and environments that were beyond imagination for the time. Was also the start of many classic franchises such as Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Mega Man, and even Metal Gear to name a few.
2. Sega Genesis (1989) - First real competition in the industry at least in the US for the mighty NES, this system got off to a poor start and was hanging on life support with a 2 year head start on the SNES and didn't start to thrive until it was saved by Sonic the hedgehog and also started the wave of titles from new upstart developers and publishers who previously were only publishing games for the PC which actually widened the audience from being just kids (EA Sports, its in the game). One more reason this one is Number 2 is because it showed the industry that there was more than enough room for at least 2 successful home consoles.
3. N64 (1996)
Probably the most underrated system of all time. One reason it belongs here is because the system possibly has the best collection of AAA titles of any system of all time. Goldeneye, Ocarina, Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, Mario Kart 64, and Perfect Dark to name a few and proves that Nintendo has the capability to carry a system even with light third party support (they would later do the same with the Gamecube). So why is it really here on this list well did I mention how it innovated over its rivals, it was the first system to have Rumble (force feedback) and practically made large multi-player games standard with 4 controller slots, and I can't imagine a controller without an analog stick. In fact as odd as the controller seemed it didn't take long for SONY to incorporate Rumble and Analog into the Dual Shock controller, Sega even changed the Saturn to an Analog stick. Despite having the well established franchises and better graphics over its competitors it also carried the kid friendly Nintendo image and was limited by its cartridge based media so it ultimately never came close to the PSone in popularity.
4. Playstation (1995) - Clearly the winner of its generation. Sony did everything right with this console. Not only did they buy the right studios, they also locked up many exclusive games (killed the Saturn). The CD ROM media also helped lower the production costs of past cartridge based systems. This system also thrived for other reasons such as Sega had alienated their fans twice in recent years with both the SegaCD and the 32X so there wasn't a lot of confidence in Sega, the Saturn while it arguably had better hardware it was notoriously difficult to program for making the PS1 ended up being an easier and cheaper choice for many developers. Also was popular for its games that were released only a year or so being "Greatest Hits" and selling at a standard price of $20.
5. Xbox (2001) - So with the original xbox we got the first console with a hard drive, an online network dedicated to gamers (1 year after launch) and the best system launch game of all time (Halo). For many of us who had multiple systems it was also the console of choice for all multi-platform games. The system was ultimately a financial failure for MS and they abandoned this system way early just as it was starting to hit its stride and just started to stop bleeding money. MS ultimately decided that they lost the generation and it was best to sacrifice it for the opportunity to beat Sony out of the gate on the current generation.
6. Gameboy / GBA / DS (1989)
This entry is probably the most impressive as Nintendo practically invented the handheld market and has managed to keep it fresh with numerous small updates and refreshes, even though the hardware has always been about the equivalent as about 2 generations back when compared to the home console. This entry is also sad because after 20 years its still doesn't have a formidable contender and has always been mostly marketed towards kids.
7. PS2 (2000) - Most popular system in history. The timing was perfect as DVD players were still selling for around $200+ and just starting to become mainstream just as the system launched in the states and was seen by many as being a DVD player that was also a game system. Also Sony was able to remember what they did right the first time and repeated everything that was previously done with the PSone. Sony also did something that made it easy to move to a PS2 because it was FULLY backward compatibile and that included the ability to use your old PS1 controllers and even your PS1 memory card with your game saves for your old games.
8. I figured I would put a current Gen system here with the possibility that it can move up the list in the future so we have some argument here. Some say the Wii is innovative and it has added the "casual" gamers to the market, I say it is the king of shovelware and aside from a handful of titles there isn't much worth playing that you can't get anywhere else (Its rare that my Wii ever gets turned on anymore) In fact many times it will flash blue for weeks because I don't even bother to update it anymore. Which brings me to the PS3 as amazing as the PS3 is at times it is almost as if someone at Sony is intentionally sabotaging it and drops the ball every chance they get. My opinion is that Sony copied the bluprints of the original xbox and a little of the sega saturn model, with wanting to be the best at everything and then thinking name brand alone can carry it along. So that leaves the 360 and while it is actually my favorite game system of all time I'd be hard pressed to find a longterm xbox user who hasn't RROD, I think this generation is still young and even though I have my current preference I still think its up for grabs. Wii needs to desperately improve online play, those friend codes are ridiculous and where are the headsets so I can trash talk playing mario kart, I would love to have a mario kart style game on xbox live, Microsoft they need to turn their attention at attracting graduating Wii owners and SONY they need to quit being SONY and shooting themselves in their own feet.
