The GameCube was this for me for a very long time, until WiiU came along with an even lower level of imagination and ambition. WiiU had some fun games of course, but ‘fun’ alone isn’t enough. A system should have at least a small handful of games that reach above that and do something, often something new, to elevate gaming. Something huge that you’ll lose yourself in. That never happened, with I guess Mario Kart 8, unexpectedly, coming closest. WiiU’s biggest card in this regard, Breath of the Wild, was taken away from it, rightfully so I might add, and is now more Switch’s game than it ever was WiiU’s. So that leaves WiiU with no light in the dark, making it a completely forgettable system.

My ranking, from good to bad;
1. N64
2. SNES
3. NES
4. Wii
5. GameCube
6. WiiU

I’ll still leave Switch out for now because it’s run isn’t done yet. What’s already clear though is that it’ll beat Wii at least, and could even claim NES’s 3rd place. 2nd is unlikely but not impossible, while 1st isn’t going to happen.

Favorite to least:
1-Switch
2-GC
3-Wii U
4-SNES
5-64
6-Wii
7-NES

The Switch, it's just collecting dust. Not my type of gaming experience. I loved N64 and GameCube though, true next gen Home consoles when they arrived on the Market, very powerful and unforgettable games. It appears Nintendo will never release a true Next Gen Home Console anymore, it looks like Nintendo lately can be only competitive with "gimmick" like the motion controller and now an hybrid hardware, which basicly is a portable that can be connected to a TV. What next? Swith 2,3,4, n ? Nintendo just gave up with true powerful Home Consoles, since Game Cube, and I cannot understand why. They have great developers, and the innovation, the originality(games) comes from the software more than the hardware. Sure Wii was innovative because of hardware, the motion controller, but in the end were you getting more quality AAA games than the best games on N64 or GameCube ? Hell no, it was just the perfect consoles for casuals, nothing more. And now the Switch, a portable which can be connected to a TV. Of course it has great games, but why Nintendo do not think about a true next gen home consoles and release Games like Zelda, Mario, etc in full glory, 4K ray tracing, ultra details ? Nintendo could release a Switch2(basicly a portable) and also a monster Home console, I think N64 and GameCube didn't get the proper attention they deserved because ol lack of strong 3rd party support and non standard format like cartridge and mini DVD. Nintendo has the weapons to be successful in the Home Console Market too, they shoudn't give up ! Thoughts ?

The why is simple; they tried playing the power game and kept failing in sales; (N64, Gamecube) and as development costs increased with hardware power, these failures would only have gotten more and more costly. There was no reason for them to continue to make powerful consoles; it's more expensive and comes with both increased competition and increased losses upon failure. On the other hand, the Wii and Switch showed that by taking a different approach they can be more successful than they ever were making "powerful" consoles.

And I'd say the Wii actually did have more quality games than N64 and Gamecube. Maybe not AAA ones, but since when are those the only kind of games that can be quality? 

Wii, without a doubt. Forced motion controls in many games, hardware is a rebranded GameCube.

From an economical point of view it was the right decision not to release it as a GameCube add-on, but the damage to Nintendo's image can be seen on it's successor, Wii U (though, there are many reasons why Wii U failed). With N64 and GameCube they had the most powerful console in it's generation, since Wii they have the weakest and fell one generation behind.

Since Wii, Nintendo don't have one dedicated controller for their consoles and handling is confusing (Wiimote vertical, Wiimote horizontal, Nunchuk, Classic Controller etc.). Even Switch still suffers from that (in many games you have up, down, left, right buttons instead clear A, B, X. Y instructions).

Switch is very successful, it brings good money to Nintendo, and they could still have a powerful Home consoles with standard format, great 3rd party support and even better specs releasing the machine 1/2 year/s after Sony and MS with a couple of stellar killer App on Launch.   The main problem with N64 and GC was not the power and development costs, but the "non standard" format and not enough 3rd party support. Nintendo can work around this, fix it, and be successful in both Home Console Market and Portable.   They would have the best portable on the Market, and even the best version of multiplatform games on the most powerful Home Consoles and some of the best exclusive jaw dropping games ever.  Can't Nintendo do this ? It's more risky, I give you that, but they can do it !

   And why not some kind of special connettivity between "Switch2" and their new ultra powerful Home Consoles ?  Nintendo have the creativity to do special things. 

I've never seen a SNES, Wii U, or Switch before other than via pictures online, while I've seen and have played on the other systems.
Of the systems that I've seen and have used, I think I enjoyed playing on the Wii the least.

You're suggesting Nintendo return to supporting two separate systems; the whole point of the Switch was them accepting they cannot do this any longer and pooling their resources on a single platform, and doing so has turned out to be one of the best moves they ever made with the Switch selling faster than almost any system in history.

They simply don't gain by making a powerful home console now; there isn't room on the market for three similar systems, never has been. Their current position of having a single hybrid system allows them to make the most games and the most money.

At the time, the NES was amazing. My entire childhood. Today? I can't play it at all. My least favorite.

If we're talking about how much we enjoyed them at the time, I gotta go with N64. It's got some all time classics but it had no representation in so many genres, such huge droughts, so many technical limitations, etc., it made me switch to PlayStation.

Oh man im not sure I can pick. Its between the switch, the wii and the wii u. All 3 because of their libraries. I guess ill take out switch since it, technically, could turn things around. Wiiu by far had the worst library, but the wii is when nintendo basically said they dont give a crap about making games id be into. I guess ill go with wiiu. There were at least some 2nd party and 3rd party surprises that gen. Althought wiiu had the 1st 3d mario I ever got into. No wiiu. Final answer. Snes and cube are probably my fav 2. I think they had the best 1st, and 3rd party lineups in their history.