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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
Slarvax on 09 July 2017
StokedUp said:
Wii U, if it wasn't for that console the industry just wouldn't be where it is today! That great success of a industry defining console should ever be be forgotten and Wii U shown everybody how it should Be done. All hail the Wii U

What nonsense are you spouting? It is clearly the Virtual Boy! Why else would there be such excitement for VR headsets in this day and age? It's all nostalgia for the comeback of the Virtual Boy. All hail the Virtual Boy!



Bet with bluedawgs: I say Switch will outsell PS4 in 2018, he says PS4 will outsell Switch. He's now permabanned, but the bet will remain in my sig.

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Lawlight on 09 July 2017

PS1 obviously. Gaming would have remained a kid's toy without it.



potato_hamster on 09 July 2017
nuckles87 said:
potato_hamster said:
This thread turned out exactly like I guessed it would just by reading the title. Your biases are showing, VGC. Nintendo getting way more credit than they deserve, Atari getting way less than they clearly deserve, Sony and MS's contributions are largely dismissed, ignored or credited to Nintendo or surprisingly Sega.

It's pretty clear in this thread there's many users to appear to believe that the games industry only really exists in the USA. Do some more reading folks!

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?




zorg1000 on 09 July 2017
potato_hamster said:
 



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?


according to wikipedia, Pong released a few months after Odyssey, where are you coming up with it releasing 3 years earlier?

edit: and it says the home version of Pong released 3 years after Odyssey........and yet you talk about this thread lacking reasonable thinking



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

Dallinor on 09 July 2017
Shikamo said:
NES, this console saved the game industry.

That is just actually not true.

And yet is one of the propagated 'facts' that is continually spread on the internet.



 

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zorg1000 on 09 July 2017
twintail said:
VAMatt said:

NES was the system that made gaming ubiquitous.

PS1 made console gaming mainstream. That is vastly more important imho

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



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

d21lewis on 09 July 2017

I voted for Nintendo because i love them and want to see them win but the order should be, in opinion:

1. The console that created the industry
2. The console that saved the industry
3. The console that expanded the industry
4. The console that evolved the industry

Which is which? I have my opinions and you have yours.



VAMatt on 09 July 2017
d21lewis said:
I voted for Nintendo because i love them and want to see them win but my the order should be opinion:

1. The console that created the industry
2. The console that saved the industry
3. The console that expanded the industry
4. The console that evolved the industry

Which is which? I have my opinions and you have yours.

1 - Atari 2600 .  While there were previous consoles, they really werent successful.  There was no industry to speak of until the 2600.

2 - NES.  But, this really only applies in North American.  Since NA is the largest market in the world, I'll go with this. 

3 - PSX - But, this could probably also apply to Genesis, PS2, XB, Wii, and maybe even XB360

4 - I think every console ever made evolved the industry.  But, I think the single most significant evolution came with motion controls.  So, I'll give this to Wii.    



VAMatt on 09 July 2017

I guess I should have put Odyssey and Wii in the poll....



potato_hamster on 09 July 2017
zorg1000 said:
potato_hamster said:



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?


according to wikipedia, Pong released a few months after Odyssey, where are you coming up with it releasing 3 years earlier?

edit: and it says the home version of Pong released 3 years after Odyssey........and yet you talk about this thread lacking reasonable thinking

Woops! Got the release date of the Odyssey 100 mixed up with the original odyssey, and the Pong home game release date mixed up with the arcade game . Yep,that one is definitely my bad.