Top 15 Consoles of all Time
Video gamers rejoice! I, one of the hardest of the hardcore gamers, am here to count down the best of the best. Since I was 6 years old, I have played video games to the point of obsession. In my lifetime, I have owned: A Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, Sega Game Gear, Game Boy Colour, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP, Playstation, Playstation One (both the bulky original model, and the sleeker thin model) Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, Playstation 2, Nintendo Gamecube, Xbox, Playstation Portable, and various different computers.
I feel that I am therefore extremely well qualified to rank these and other systems in an all time list which will determine once and for all which system is the best of all time. Since this list is dealing with gaming systems, I will have to eliminate the PC from the competition. The PC has changed so much, and yet remained so similar over the years, that it would be impossible to rank it against the others. Therefore, the PC will be an honorable mention in the history of gaming, and will serve as the example for my explanation of the scoring system. This will be counter-balanced against the Panasonic 3DO system, which is a system that appeared in the mid-nineties, but failed due to a lack of decent software, and the fact that Panasonic forgot to copyright the system, which allowed other companies to come in and make their own 3DO's, effectively running the system into the ground. I use the 3DO to explain the system as how it relates to consoles.
One other note, only exclusive games are considered in the scoring systems, not including PC ports. For example, Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit, is considered a Playstation exclusive, despite that it appeared on the PC as well. However, if a game was exclusive to a system before being ported over to other systems, that is acceptable. For example, Splinter Cell was released on Xbox months before PS2 and Gamecube, so it counts as an Xbox exclusive. Therefore, while Mortal Kombat II was a great game in its day, since it was available for both the SNES and Genesis at the same time it cannot be factored into the scoring system.
The list will be determined mathematically, in various categories from a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best. The categories are as follows:
Overall Game Library: This category ranks the overall average quality of most games. All systems have their share of stinkers, but the more classics that exist for the system, the higher the score here will be. For example, The Panasonic 3DO had some great games such as Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Samurai Shodown, but was completely dragged down by an overwhelmingly bad library of full motion video games and lousy fighting games. The 3DO would rank a 2 out of 10 in this category, while the PC would rank a 10, as it has had a strong library of games for over 20 years, with hundreds of classics such as the Quake Series, Civilization, Doom, Half-life, WarCraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Descent, Rainbow Six, System Shock, The Jedi Knight Series, Battlefield 1942, Counter-strike, Sim-city, The Sims, and the list goes on and on. In other words, this is asking the question, how good were the system's BEST games?
Graphics: This category ranks the graphics the system was capable of AT THE TIME OF ITS LIFESPAN. Essentially, this category ranks the graphics at the beginning and at the end of its lifespan. For example, the 3DO was churning out some pretty good graphics at first, but by the end of its life, it was completely decimated by the Playstation, Sega Saturn, and even the Super Nintendo. Therefore, the 3DO ranks a 5 in this category. The PC, however, would get a 10, because the PC has always been the place for the cutting edge for graphics. There is a reason that the PC had Doom 3 a half year before it appeared on the most powerful console, the Xbox. The PC always trumped the graphics on most gaming consoles. The consoles have been closing the graphics gap for some time now, but the PC is constantly evolving, while console gamers are stuck with the same hardware for each 5-6 year hardware generation.
Controller: This category discusses the system's controller, how practical, innovative, and comfortable to use it was. The 3DO had a three button controller which was very similar to the Genesis. It was rather clunky and hard to use, not to mention having an odd number of buttons for the controller was a terrible idea, as most games use an even number of actions. Therefore, since the controller for 3DO was a rip off of another controller, uncomfortable, and unpractical, it ranks as a 3 overall. The PC, on the other hand, has many different controller options. You can get steering wheels, gamepads, Joysticks, and the trusty Keyboard and Mouse. With so many options, you're bound to find one that suits you just right. Therefore it ranks a 10. But of course, since there is no sense of standard among the PC, other than the keyboard and mouse, it cannot be compared to other consoles.
Features and innovation: This category discusses the features that a particular system offered compared to its competition AT THE TIME. The 3DO had a built in Audio CD player in addition to its gaming capabilities. Therefore, it would rank a 6, since it had a few extra features to it that few other systems had at the time. Another system which is not on the list, the Nintendo DS, would likely get a 10 in this category, for introducing a touch screen to video games, something which is quite innovative. The PC, of course, ranks a 10 in this area, as a computer can do much more than play games.
Longevity: This category takes into account both how well the games play today, and how long the system itself lasted. The 3DO, in this case, would certainly rank a 1. The games for 3DO today all play like garbage and look just as bad. Since the 3DO only lasted a year or two on the video game market, this only serves to further emphasize its lack of longevity. The system has a very small place in the grand history of video games. This lack of placement gives the system is ridiculously low score. The PC, on the other hand, has been a gaming phenomenon for at least 20 years and is still going strong. Therefore, the PC gets a ten.
The scores are then added together, and an overall score out of 50 is obtained. The system with the highest rating will be crowned number 1. Easy enough, no? In the two examples above then, the 3DO will rank a pathetic overall score of 17 out of 50, which is a failure under any categorization. The mighty PC, on the other hand, ranks a perfect 50 out of 50. However, since we are ranking consoles, the PC remains only an honorable mention. Sorry PC gamers, hopefully I gave you enough of your due. But enough PC ass-kissing, I'm a console gamer at heart, and its time to get this party started!
Be sure to check in each week this summer, as the count down will be one system each week until we hit number 1, 15 weeks from now.
On to Number 15
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