Hardware:
- Microsoft: 10/10 because 10 out 10 launch systems failed.
- Nintendo: 10/10 because they were smart enough to know that the weakest hardware always wins, and unless Nintendo had made the Wii a digital watch instead of the console we all know and barely tolerate, it could hardly have been weaker.
- Sony: 10/10 because they didn't make a reliable system but it was still more reliable than the 360 (what isn't?) so that by the time people started to notice the YLOD, the PS3 had already established a great if completely undeserved reputation for reliability.
Software:
- Microsoft: 10/10 because all they have is Halo, but that's pretty good.
- Nintendo: 10/10 because all they have is Mario, but that's pretty good.
- Sony: 10/10 because all they have is nothing, really, but that's pretty good.
Online:
- Microsoft: 10/10 because I'm pretty sure that calling Xbox Live a ripoff is a bannable offense.
- Nintendo: 10/10 because they didn't spend any money on online, which is very thrifty and smart.
- Sony: 10/10 because they just rip off Xbox Live wholesale, which saves them precious energy they might have wasted on thinking up new ideas.
Controllers:
- Microsoft: 10/10 because it feels the nicest of the three in your hand and it also raises your skills because the D-pad is so awful that if you manage to actually play a game with it, I'm pretty sure you automatically become good enough to beat Ninja Gaiden on Master difficulty with one hand while simultaneously 1CCing Ikaruga with the other.
- Nintendo: 10/10 because they realized not everybody wanted to play with the stupid waggle stick and gave us an alternative, even if it wasn't a very good one.
- Sony: 10/10 because it's not a very good controller but at least they're consistent from generation to generation, so nobody even really notices anymore.
Motion controls:
- Microsoft: 10/10 because YOU are the controller.
- Nintendo: 10/10 because they were the first, which was smart.
- Sony: 10/10 because they were last, which was smart. I'm also impressed by the fact that they totally anticipated Kinect with the EyeToy, and by the fact that they totally avoided doing anything of note with it.
Overall:
- Microsoft: 10/10
- Nintendo: 10/10
- Sony: 10/10
In short, awesome generation. Would buy in again!
