Nintendo of course. Having been one of the major console manufacturers for the past almost 20 years and still fighting on strong. Sega and Sony both are good, but in the end, Ninty has them all beat. Their consoles have always been top tier, not to mention their handheld dominance.

I say Sony simply because they aren't afraid to throw new technology in their systems.

Nintendo, by far. Best games, most reliable, and overall most fun.

Nintendo basically started gaming, but Sony took it to a whole new level with CD's in the ps1, dvd drive in the ps2, blu ray drive in the ps3. Sony arnt afraid to try new technology. It always pays off for them.

Next I would have to say Nintendo then, Sega

But for individual consoles, I cant choose between the ps1 and the ps2. To many countless classics.

who ever created the ps2 wins.

1. Nintendo - I was going to leave this blank -- no explanation should be necessary. But it IS necessary for some, so: simply put, Nintendo has been behind almost every advancement in controllers to date. D-pad? Nintendo, Game&Watch/NES. Shoulder buttons? Nintendo, SNES. Diamond-pattern face buttons? Nintendo, SNES. Trigger button? Nintendo, N64. Thumbstick? Nintendo, N64. Rumble? Nintendo, N64. GOOD wireless? Nintendo, Gamecube(Wavebird). (Although the industry has not adopted them, I firmly believe that the Gamecube's new arrangement of face buttons is superior, and that its triggers are an ingenious way to put two shoulder buttons in the space of one.) The DS has so many new control features it's ridiculous; not all of them may endure, but touchscreens ARE here to stay. The Wii is just the next triumph in a long line of Nintendo's industry-leading controllers.

Oh, and the games.

2. Sega - They had more innovations than I think most people realize -- among the first (the first?) to use CDs; first to have good online gaming; and the games were pretty awesome, although they were usually in Nintendo's shadow and a lot of them are forgotten because the IPs are pretty dead.

3. Sony - Love 'em or hate 'em they ruled the industry for over a decade. The (revised) controller, although it had copied (Nintendo's thumbstick) and stolen (rumble) technology, was SUCH a good controller that they've gotten away with leaving it basically unchanged for the entire time. Sony also expanded the audience of video games substantially -- by attracting casuals, of course.

4. Microsoft - With Sega dead, only the most basic, pathetic lip service was directed toward online gaming until the Xbox stepped onto the scene. That is a huge feather in MS's cap. Although it was so big it spawned an Internet meme (LOL XBOX HUGE) it was a pretty solid system, aside from being more than half PC. That made the hardware almost impossible to streamline later on, but MS ate the difference so we didn't care. Unfortunately, while they stepped up the online this gen they also passed down the cost, unlike the others, and also unlike the others passed down massive hardware faults which they tried very hard to make US pay for. Bad form.

Nintendo has always been loyal to the consumer. Best first party titles.

It won a place in my heart.

Sega by far. They were always more innovative then nintendo in regards to hardware.

You forgot about Mattel and their wonderful Intellivison. This thread fails because you forgot about them.