If there's one console maker of the big three that puts the most work into creating a solid, fun local multiplayer environment with its hardware, it's Nintendo. Whereas PlayStation and Xbox put a bigger emphasis on online multiplayer gaming, Nintendo has made in-person multiplayer with friends and family one of its primary selling points and mission statements as a platform holder to both developers and players, and its various flagship systems over the years have continuously innovated with new local multiplayer ideas

Famicom/NES - Came with two controllers right out of the box (Famicom even went as far as to have them hardwired to the console itself).

Game Boy - Introduced the Link Cable, allowing for two player action in compatible games

Super Famicom/SNES - Refined the classic two-player multiplayer approach of the NES and Game Boy, becoming a popular platform for fighting games and brawlers

Nintendo 64 - Included four controller ports built-in, allowing for 4-player gaming as standard

Pokemon/Game Boy Color - Made handheld multiplayer a phenomenon by adding collecting and trading elements to the mix

Game Boy Advance - Brought 4-player gaming to handhelds, as well as introduced a multi-boot function for multiplayer games off of one cartridge

Nintendo GameCube - Refined the N64's 4-player approach, some games allowed you to use a GBA as a controller

Nintendo DS - Took handheld multiplayer wireless, and improved upon the GBA's single-cart multiplayer features with DS Download Play

Wii - Not only added motion controls, but also allowed for multiple controller options in select games

Nintendo 3DS - Refines the DS' wireless features, and introduced StreetPass, allowing for multiplayer elements, without directly meeting someone

Wii U - Introduced asynchronous multiplayer with the Wii U GamePad, and expands on the Wii's multiple controller option concept with many games supporting a range of controllers (Wii U GamePad, Wii Remote, Wii Remote + Nunchuck, Pro Controller, Wii Classic Controller), some games allowed for up to eight players

Nintendo Switch - Streamlines the Wii/Wii U's multi-controller aspect with just two controllers (Joy-Con in Grip, Detached Joy-Con, Single Joy-Con, Pro Controller) and adopts Famicom's built-in 2 player, and local wireless connection from the DS/3DS.

Of these systems, which do you think had the best enviroment for local multiplayer?

Wii.

There was nothing quite like those crazy nights in Uni playing Wii Sports or Mario Kart Wii late into the morning hours, fuelled by pizza and alcohol, cheering and laughing and yelling in victory or dismay.

It was the ultimate party console.

The only Nintendo console I still play local multiplayer on from time to time is GameCube with Mario Kart Double Dash!! and to a lesser extent smash bros Melee.

Best for its time is a different story. Played so darn much multiplayer on my Nintendo ds, everyone had one and one game was enough and no annoying cable like with GBA. Played so much Tetris, Metroid Prime hunters, 42 all time classics, Mario Kart DS and maybe most of all mini games from New Super Mario Bros. never before and since played as much local multiplayer.

We all have different experiences and memories, but objectively it gotta be Wii. The console which was designed with local multiplayer in mind and it was so good at it that it brought whole families and generations together. We only got more alienated since then.

Home Console wise probably the Wii or the Switch.

Handheld definitely DS/3DS, probably DS. Download Play was such a massive advantage for local multiplayer. Still remember 8 player Mario Kart DS at school with only one cartridge.

WiiU it did what the Wii did plus game on Wiiu pad plus wii remote on tv for COD was perfect for local multiplier for those who liked traditional controller vs pointer.

Wii, literally had seniors in rest homes playing

N64. Maybe my age but staying up all night playing Mario Kart 64 and Mario Party on school nights high as fuck. It was an amazing experience. Playing Goldeneye with my brother and fam and we are all tethered. So when one got mad and threw a controller the whole console moved and messed us all up. Pure chaos in the most wonderful, memorable way. I never played 4 player stuff on Wii out side of brawl once online. So not local.

I'll rank the home consoles (and Switch) based on how I think they did for local multiplayer.

1.  Wii - It was built from the ground up to be about local multiplayer first, and Wii Sports was bundled with the Wii in most regions.  Wii Play, Wii Sports Resort, Mario Kart Wii, and NSMB Wii are also great multiplayer titles.  Really the system was designed from the ground up to be the ultimate local multiplayer system.

2.  NES - It came bundled with 2 controllers and many bundles included the Zapper.  (Did you know Duck Hunt was a simultaneous multiplayer game?)  It also simply had a ton of local multiplayer games.  Not only did it have a ton of sports games, but it had top tier action/adventure games built around local multiplayer like Contra and Double Dragon 2.  A lot of what made the NES great for local multiplayer is that many arcade games were made for local multiplayer and the NES has lots of arcade ports.

3. SNES - It gets ranked #3 because it is a lot like the NES.  It came with 2 controllers, and it had a good amount of arcade ports.  Most importantly it had a 6-button controller for Street Fighter which was the top arcade game of this era.

4. Switch - Joycons are potentially 2 controllers in one (at least for some games).  The games that allow play with a single joycon get the most benefit from this: Mario Kart 8, SSBU, Puyo Puyo Tetris, Mario Party, etc....

5. N64 - First system to natively allow 4-player local multiplayer.  It deserves a lot of credit for this alone.  Also Mario Party and 3D Mario Kart started on the N64.

6.  Wii U - Mostly gets credit by inheriting the Wii remote and having some of the local multiplayer games that the Wii had (e.g. Mario Kart, Smash Bros., etc...).  A few games allow unique local multiplayer with the gamepad (e.g. Hyrule Warriors, Minecraft), but overall this feature was under utilized.

7.  Gamecube - One of these systems has to be in last place, but even the Gamecube had great local multiplayer like Mario Kart DoubleDash with 4 players.

N64 because im biased.