Consoles Designed To Play The Best Games Of The Past

We all remember our first videogame console -- the moment we brought it home, the first time we powered it on, and the instant we first played a game that radiated our screen with beautiful graphic goodness. If you're anything like us, your first console was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, and what began as a one-system household quickly evolved into a gamer's Mecca with consoles littering your living room. In the spirit of our healthy gaming obsession, IGN has forged a list of the Top 25 Videogame Consoles of All Time, where we have selected and ranked the most influential systems in the history of gaming to be revealed five consoles at a time for five straight days. While it may seem like a simple task on paper, sifting through 37+ years of console history for the best and brightest, while getting IGN's editorial staff to agree on one comprehensive list was an undertaking for the ages.

Each console on the list ahead was selected for its influence on the industry and the gaming culture as a whole, with special consideration for their benchmark titles, peripherals, monetary success, and total hardware sold. But beyond sales figures and critical reception, one of the biggest contributing factors in our ranking process was our lasting impressions of each console, and how it contributed to our love for gaming and inspired us to become involved in the industry.

Manufacturer Magnavox

Release Year 1972

The Magnavox was the very first videogame console ever released, predating even the Atari Pong. A hybrid of both analog and digital circuitry, the Odyssey is the absolute starting point for all subsequent gaming platforms. Although lacking color video output or sound, the Magnavox still managed to sell over 300,000 units. The Odyssey used a cartridge system, although the games more closely resembled computer chips than actual games. The controllers were essentially boxes with horizontal and vertical axis knobs on both sides with very dense wires between them and the base console.

The Odyssey also launched the very first home light gun ever produced, called the Shooting Gallery. The games for the Odyssey consisted of straightforward, single-function titles like Baseball, Basketball, Ski, and more. Due to the simplicity of the console, there weren't any third-party games designed for it. But the precedent established by the Odyssey paved the way for subsequent systems -- a legacy that has secured the console a place in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Our Fondest Memories

"I wasn't even a zygote when the Odyssey first came out, but played around with one years later found at a garage sale. However, I can only imagine what my face must have looked like when I recently found one in mint condition in the original box with all screen overlays still packed with parchment paper between them -- and for only $38. It took me a while to get the Ody hooked up to an older, fickle television. But when it finally did come up on-screen, I could only imagine what kind of revolution this must have looked like in 1972."
– Levi Buchanan, Editor, IGN Retro

Manufacturer Atari Corp.

Release Year 1993

With the failure of the Atari 7800, and with the Atari Lynx on the losing side of the fight against Nintendo's Game Boy, Atari gave the videogame console market one last shot with the Atari Jaguar. The company decided to focus on the numbers game in attracting the gamer: where the Super NES and Genesis were touting the cutting edge of 16-bit technology, the Atari Jaguar surpassed this with whopping 64-bits of raw processing power, the first of its kind in the home market!

Marketing speak aside, the system was, indeed, a capable piece of hardware when compared to the generation it was intended to compete with: it definitely surpassed the Genesis and Super NES in 2D and 3D capabilities. The controller revisited gaming ideals of a previous gaming generation with its keypad and game specific overlays, something familiar to those that grew up on the Intellivision, Atari 5200 or Colecovision. It also offered the potential for CD gaming with a future add-on that seamlessly docked right on top of the main system.

Its claim as the most powerful console was, however, short-lived, as Sony and SEGA were just around the corner with their PlayStation and Saturn consoles. Even 3DO, with its own CD-based gaming hardware, managed to show the market that having 64 bits of processing power doesn't mean much if you don't have the games to back those numbers up.

During its life, the Jaguar managed to make a few cases for a purchase with a couple of solid efforts from id software, Rebellion, and psychedelic visual artist Jeff Minter. Atari's mismanagement of the hardware and company, its lack of internal development teams, its inability to secure key third-party developers, a disastrously terrible pack-in title called Cybermorph, and the fact that the Jaguar system was insanely difficult to program efficiently all played a part in the system's demise.

Our Fondest Memories

"I don't know what it was about the Jaguar – it had to be the Atari brand -- but I was jazzed to pick it up on launch. What a mistake. Other than the occasional game like Tempest 2000, Power Drive Rally, and a really good conversion of NBA Jam, the system had some of the worst designed games ever. It never stood a chance on the market even though I was pulling for it as an advocate of the system."
– Craig Harris, Executive Editor, IGN Nintendo Team

"While I was certainly skeptical of the Jaguar, my appreciation for the Lynx led me to at least give the system polite consideration. That was until I played Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy on a demo Jaguar at an Incredible Universe. (Oh man, remember those stores?) It had a lion in military dress barking orders at me prior to one of the blandest side-scrolling shooter stages ever. The console got better with games like Alien vs. Predator, but that first impression was tough to overcome. However, the homebrew Jag scene is pretty cool."
– Levi Buchanan, Editor, IGN Retro

Manufacturer Atari Inc.

Release Year 1982

The Atari 5200 was designed and marketed as Atari's answer to the Intellivision, but soon after its release in 1982, it became a more direct competitor to the Colecovision instead, which released that same year. The 5200 had some notable feature variations over its competitors, however, such as its analog joystick, four controller ports, and start, pause, and reset buttons. Based off of the Atari 400/800 home computer systems, the Atari 5200 came with a 1.79 MHz processor, 16KB of RAM, and was capable of producing an image with a maximum resolution of 320x192 pixels. While that may not sound like a lot now with consoles like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 boasting high-end processors and video output of 1920x1080 resolution, but at the time it blew away the Intellivision's sub-1MHz processor.

Inevitably, the Atari 5200 was crushed beneath the technological weight of the ColecoVision, which boasted a jaw-dropping 3.58MHz processor, but when it went the way of the dinosaur, the Atari 5200 left behind the its legacy of four controller ports console design and, of course, the analog joystick. Sure, the Atari 5200 analog stick may have been terrible, but every great idea has to start somewhere, and in the case of the analog controller, it was here.

Our Fondest Memories

"After mastering Pitfall II on my Atari 2600, a friend of mine invited me over to his house to help him get through the 5200 version of the game – it was a spot-on conversion, so all my skills carried over. But where the 2600 version ended, the 5200 edition continued on with Pitfall Harry wandering into a new cave with harder enemies and a new area to explore. Unfortunately, after about two minutes in the new area my friend had to bolt for dinner...and then he moved away the next week. So I never got a chance to play that extra part of Pitfall II."
– Craig Harris, Executive Editor, IGN Nintendo Team

"I actually liked the Atari 5200, primarily because of the games I had for it, such as Pengo, Mountain King, The Dreadnaught Factor, and one of my favorite games of all-time, Pitfall II: The Lost Caverns. Now, was the machine an over-sized mess with controllers that broke way too easy? Yes. But if consoles are defined by their games, then on a personal level, the 5200 remains near and dear for not only these titles, but for being a part of my discovery of videogames in the early eighties."
– Levi Buchanan, Editor, IGN Retro

Manufacturer Panasonic

Release Year 1993

The 3DO may not be regarded as one of the most monetarily successful systems in gaming history, but it left its mark on the industry all the same. Released by Panasonic in 1993, the 3DO (aka 3DO Interactive Multiplayer) was a 32-bit, disc-based system that had the technological grit to compete with the leading consoles of its time -- the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, etc -- but was inevitably stifled by its lack of third-party support and high launch price (nearly $700). The system could support up to eight controllers and console expansions such as memory cards, modems, video cartridges and more.

Despite its astronomical asking price, however, the 3DO boasted an impressive library of games and a wide variety of peripherals. Although the system was lacking in the exclusive games department, it did offer some of the most popular iterations of many big-franchise ports, such as Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. The 3DO was also among one of the first systems to undergo several hardware iterations, produced independently by several big name manufacturers, such as Sanyo and Goldstar. Other innovations of the 3DO include daisy-chainable controllers, and surround sound audio support.

Our Fondest Memories

"I remember being the first of the game magazines to get a demo of the 3DO "Interactive Multiplayer" from Trip Hawkins for VideoGames & Computer Entertainment magazine. Trip is a great marketing guy, and I was fascinated by his presentation. However, despite the cool concept and some decent games, it was clear an $800 game system was never going to compete."
– Andy Eddy, Editor-in-Chief, TeamXbox.com

Manufacturer Magnavox

Release Year 1978

Ralph Baer's original Odyssey is the machine that started the home videogame industry. Others may have popularized it beyond measure, such as the Atari 2600 and NES, but the Odyssey series is truly the genesis. The Odyssey was limited, though (all games were onboard, the paddle-like controller was clumsy compared to the joystick), and so Magnavox, the manufacturer of the console, pressed forward with the Odyssey 2. It aped the blockbuster Atari 2600 -- now its chief rival in 1978 -- in many ways, such as using the then-traditional one-button joystick and interchangeable cartridges. While the Odyssey 2's resolution is lower than the 2600, the console surpassed Atari's in a handful of technical areas -- such as the out-of-the-box inclusion of a full keyboard for easy programming and edutainment software and the availability of an optional speech synthesizer.

The Odyssey 2 hosted more games that the Odyssey, too. Magnavox produced just over 50 titles for the machine, including the Pac-Man clone KC Munchkin, one of the system's top-sellers. Far more intriguing, though, are the Master Strategy games which shipped with board game accessories that were actually quite decorative.

Despite the improvements, the Odyssey 2 never quite caught on like the Atari 2600. Even so, the brand did enable Magnavox to move approximately one million systems in North America with approximately one million more sold overseas in markets like Europe and South America.

Although the Odyssey 2 has neither the influence cachet of the original Odyssey nor the runaway popularity of the Atari 2600, it remains an important machine because of its general legacy. Without Baer's original invention, it is likely that an entire industry would never have happened.

Our Fondest Memories

"My best friend had an Odyssey 2, and I have to say that even though I loved my Atari 2600, I secretly wanted his console as well. K.C. Munchkin was so much better than Pac-Man, Pick Axe Pete was way beyond Donkey Kong on the 2600, and Smithereens was one of the most fun two-player games I had ever played at the time. It may not be as well-known as the Atari 2600, but I will always remember the Odyssey 2 with kind regard."
- Talmadge Blevins, Vice President, IGN Games Content

Manufacturer SEGA

Release Year 1986

The SEGA Master System is the videogame console that almost could. Despite its technical superiority to the dominant NES, the machine lacked just one critical thing: Mario. Without this icon and the emergence of Sonic the Hedgehog still five years on the horizon, the Master System ran a far distant second to the NES during the 8-bit generation -- the phoenix-like resurrection of videogames following the Atari 2600-lead industry crash.

The Master System was essentially a conduit for SEGA to get its arcade hits into the home. Even though the Master System did not have the horsepower to completely replicate the experience of SEGA's enviable stable of arcade smashes like OutRun and Space Harrier, there was no other place to play these games outside of an arcade. But SEGA also released plenty of great, original games for the console over its lifespan, including Alex Kidd in Miracle World and one of the greatest role-playing games of all-time, Phantasy Star. However, thanks to Nintendo's iron-grip agreements, few third-party publishers ever supported the machine and software came out at a very frustrating pace. Months could go by between major releases and that made a dud on the Master System feel even more painful.

One of the Master System's quirkiest (and coolest) features, though, was the 3D Glasses peripheral. The thick, wraparound shades may have looked a little clunky from the outside, but the effect was positively stunning. Sadly, like the Master System itself, the peripheral was under-supported with just over a half-dozen games, including Maze Hunter 3D and Space Harrier 3D.

Despite its narrow mass audience, the Master System had -- and still has -- a very loyal fan base. Thankfully, the thumping SEGA received with the Master System did not daunt its quest for the living room, leading to the Genesis, which corrected most of the Master System's mistakes and gave Nintendo a run for its money for the majority of the 16-bit generation.

Our Fondest Memories

"There were two kinds of kids on the playground in 1986: those that thought the NES was the most powerful, most awesome videogame system ever... and those who knew they were wrong. I was a member of the latter group, merrily playing Alex Kidd, Wonder Boy, Fantasy Zone, and Quartet. (I used to even write and draw game manuals for made-up Master System games, that's how over-the-moon I was about vids.) It's not that I didn't like the NES. I certainly did. But I could argue until the sun went down about how Phantasy Star was better than Dragon Warrior. And when the sun did indeed go down, I went home and put on those crazy 3D Glasses that set me back many, many weeks of allowance. I still have them. And 2 back-up pair."
– Levi Buchanan, Editor, IGN Retro

"The SMS getting trounced by the NES is proof that the more powerful hardware doesn't often win in the game industry. But, while Alex Kidd was no challenge to Mario and Luigi, I remember being captivated by the SMS version of R-Type for hours. Being able to shoot the pod out as a remote turret added so much to the gameplay."
– Andy Eddy, Editor-in-Chief, TeamXbox.com

Manufacturer SNK

Release Year 1990

SNK was a heavy hitter arcade manufacturing company and third-party NES publisher back in the late 80s. But in 1990, the company decided to take its knowledge of the arcades to the home market by producing the NeoGeo, a console that, literally, brought the arcade experience home.

And so was born the NeoGeo Multi Video System to make it easy and cost effective for arcade owners to place a larger assortment of games in their establishments. Because the NeoGeo MVS was a cartridge-based system similar to home consoles, SNK made a consumer version of the arcade hardware called the NeoGeo Advanced Entertainment System. Inside the console the hardware was identical to the system SNK used for the arcade units, and compared to the Super NES and SEGA Genesis on the market the NeoGeo absolutely trounced its competition in visual and audio capabilities.

The price tag reflected the power of the system: the NeoGeo home console cost more than 800 dollars, with individual games exceeding $200 a piece. The justification for the price was in the physical size of the games: where Super NES and Genesis cartridges were as large as 16 megabits in size at the time, NeoGeo games could get as big as 330 megabits…more than 20 times bigger!

Because of the cost of the system very few retailers were willing to stock the NeoGeo home console and it quietly disappeared less than two years after its debut. SNK attempted to revive the unit with the NeoGeo CD, but it, too, failed to attract the necessary audience. The arcade version, however, has seen extremely fantastic success and has been the vehicle that drove many fighting hits including the King of Fighter, Fatal Fury, and Samurai Shodown series.

Our Fondest Memories

"I knew the retail days on the NeoGeo were numbered, but I actually sold one of these beasts when I was merely a sales associate at a Babbages back in 1990. A son dragged his mother in and she started asking questions like "does the NeoGeo have better graphics than the Super NES?" I did not lie...it definitely does and I told her so. She bought it and a game for a $1000 receipt. I couldn't believe anyone would actually shell out the dough for it, but I witnessed it firsthand."
– Craig Harris, Executive Editor, IGN Nintendo Team

"The fact that it was the Neo-Geo's King of Fighters games that allowed me to bond with my female acquaintance-turned girlfriend-turned wife sticks out most in mind. While most folks in the crowd of gamers we were hanging around with were stringent Street Fighter players who didn't care one iota about KOF, my interest in the SNK series and the girl playing it went hand in hand. Our constant matches against one another allowed us to talk for hours, which led to us getting to know each other better before eventually falling in love. Sure, there were a lot of other contributing factors that led to our relationship becoming what it did, but it was KOF that was the ice breaker, and that's pretty awesome."
– Jeremy Dunham, Games Editorial Manager, IGN.com

Manufacturer SEGA

Release Year 1995

As part of the so-called "5th Generation" of games consoles the SEGA Saturn was a follow-up to the SEGA Genesis (or Mega Drive) and it's many add-ons. The system made a splash in the gaming world at the Electronic Entertainment expo of 1995 by having a surprise launch at the event, four months prior to its previously announced launch date.

SEGA was hoping to get the jump on Sony before it released the PlayStation that holiday season. While the Saturn ended up losing the popularity contest to both Sony and Nintendo it was host to a library of classic titles that epitomize the early days of SEGA's innovation in software. NiGHTS into Dreams, the Virtua Fighter and Panzer Dragon series are all examples of exclusive titles that made the console a fan favorite.

Perhaps more than anything else, the Saturn was a gem for importers and hardcore gamers. The hardware's architecture made it inferior to the PlayStation for three dimensional games (like the popular Tomb Raider) but many proud Saturn owners knew that it was the only console to enjoy the best versions of many 2D fighters, just ask any real Street Fighter fan.

What really bolsters the Saturn in its rankings among the greatest game consoles of all-time is the staying power of its rare and unique library. Shining Force III may have only released the first installment of a three part series in the United States, but ask anyone who was lucky enough to track it down and they'll sing its praises.

Our Fondest Memories

"Finding the good videogames on Saturn was like a game in itself. By the end of the system's short life, stores rarely carried more than one or two copies of even the biggest games and so my friends and I would go on massive road trips around the state to track them down. I still remember the joy we had when we found Panzer Dragoon Saga. That single copy got passed around until everyone had a go before we set off in search of the next rare release."
– Erik Brudvig, Executive Editor, IGN Xbox Team

"Believe it or not, my fondest memory of the Saturn had nothing to do with getting one -- but rather, drooling over the games I wanted before I did. Reading magazine articles and ogling ads that featured Albert Odyssey, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers, NiGHTs and Dragon Force had me second-guessing my choice to go with PlayStation and Nintendo 64. The day I finally got the system, and most of the titles I mentioned, was a good day indeed."
– Jeremy Dunham, Games Editorial Manager, IGN.com

Manufacturer Atari Corp.

Release Year 1986

The Atari 7800 was a sleek and capable videogame console released in 1986. While it had a solid offering of its own games, the 7800 featured a prime system feature: full, built-in compatibility with the Atari 2600. While consoles of the past could play Atari 2600 games through the use of an optional adapter, the 7800 accepted these cartridges right in the main slot and played them without any extra add-ons.

The Atari 7800 was originally designed to succeed the Atari 5200 in 1984, but the system's launch was shelved when Atari was sold to new owners who wanted to focus on the computer market instead. The console was, instead, officially launched two years later in response to Nintendo and SEGA entering the US home console market with the Nintendo Entertainment System and Master System respectively. Many of the console's planned features, such as a high score saving cartridge, were never released.

With the 7800 launch, Atari put a focus on "budget" gaming, with many games selling for less than $19.99. Because the system was all ready to go back in 1984, most of the launch titles were arcade titles from several years prior. The system was very capable in visuals as seen in games like the bundled Pole Position II. But its sound system lacked: the system designers created a cheap sound chip that could be included in cartridges, but to keep costs low, Atari limited the sound chip in very few titles. With Nintendo locking up third-parties with its two-year exclusivity agreement, Atari also had a hard time convincing third-party companies to produce games for its console – as a result, the company went after the rights to popular games that were available only for computers.

Its delayed release, its cancelled peripherals, and a lack of financial backing from the company's new owners all combined to ensure that Atari 7800 would never see any success beyond being a sexier way of playing Atari 2600 titles.

Our Fondest Memories

"When no amount of solder could salvage my aging 2600, in 1986 I needed a replacement. My mom suggested the 7800 since it played the older games as well as new ones. I bought one with my paper route money and was happy with my purchase...until a week later when Nintendo started airing the "Now You're Playing With Power" commercials and showing Super Mario Bros., an arcade game I was currently playing at a 7-eleven game room. "
-Craig Harris, Executive Editor, IGN Nintendo Team

"By the time the Atari 7800 launched, it looked like old news to me. I was hooked on my Commodore 64 and the NES was exploding. However, all that changed when the 7800 became the only place to play one of my all-time favorite arcade games: Food Fight. Then I suddenly coveted the console. It became my "Food Fight machine" that also happened to play pretty good ports of Joust, Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, and Xevious."
– Levi Buchanan, Editor, IGN Retro

Manufacturer Nintendo

Release Year 2001

Nintendo's little, purple cube-shaped videogame console is sometimes criticized because it looked almost toy-ish and lacked some technical features present in competing systems -- like, for example, a digital output. But the truth is, GCN was, despite its cute exterior, a very powerful games player which housed an impressive number of outstanding, unforgettable games. GameCube not only marked Nintendo's departure from cartridge-based home systems, a significant development for a company used to following its own path, but the platform's cutting-edge internal guts -- namely the IBM-developed "Gekko" CPU and ATI-created "Flipper" GPU -- have enjoyed one of the longest shelf lives in the history of the industry; it is, after all, this same technology, slightly enhanced, that powers Wii.

Even as Sony successfully marketed the slick and cool PlayStation 2 as a high-tech home media device, Nintendo tried to sell GCN as a simple games player for the whole family -- in hindsight, probably a mistake. GameCube looked like a lunchbox and, save for the fantastic Nintendo-published exclusives like Metroid Prime and Super Mario Sunshine -- it didn't really sport any distinguishing features over its competitors. The machine sold almost exclusively to Nintendo fans and younger gamers, which is why it was also largely shunned by third-parties, whose software usually performed better on other platforms. Nintendo ultimately sold about 22 million GameCube systems worldwide -- roughly 118 million units less than PlayStation 2.

Still, from Resident Evil 4 to F-Zero GX, Super Smash Bros. Melee to Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, and from Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader to Pikmin 1 and 2, GCN was home to a stellar lineup of fantastic games -- titles that could not be found on any other system. And ultimately, it's the software and not the design of the system or its installed base that really counts, which is why GCN easily earns a spot on our list.

Our Fondest Memories

"The N64 was a bit of a dud, but I was still stoked about GameCube's release when I was a senior in high school in 2001 (especially with that big, ugly black and green box coming out in the same week). The console went underappreciated for its entire lifecycle, but I never understood why. By the time I was a young college student, I dumped hundreds of hours into the likes of Eternal Darkness, Wind Waker, Viewtiful Joe and, of course, Resident Evil 4. Thankfully, my grades didn't suffer as a result."
– Colin Moriarty, Associate Editor, IGN Guides Team

"I was in line at Best Buy the morning the GameCube was released. The next few months was a glorious time, filled with Rogue Leader and Pikmin. I couldn't be bothered to buy a PS2 until a year later, and only then because it doubled as a DVD player. Those were the days when we actually got together to play games together in the same room, and the GameCube was simply the better console for that with titles like Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Super Monkey Ball, and Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour."
– Daemon Hatfield, Editor, IGN Downloadable Games

Manufacturer Sony

Release Year 2006

The PlayStation 3 may still be coming into its own, but it has already had a great number of titles see their release on the system and, along with the Xbox 360, it has helped completely redefine what people think about gaming in terms of online accessibility and functionality. Gone are the days when everything you played on a console was burned onto a disc. Online systems like the PlayStation Network have introduced the ability to buy and play complete games without having to leave your couch, not to mention the advent of downloadable content that can expand games exponentially.

The PS3's game library, while already stellar, continues to get better and better. We've seen the release of fantastic, exclusive games Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Killzone 2, Flower, Warhawk, LittleBigPlanet and Infamous (among others), and let's not forget about cross-platform games like Grand Theft Auto IV, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Fallout 3, BioShock and many, many more. Keep in mind that the system currently has yet to see releases from some of Sony's biggest franchises, including God of War, Gran Turismo or a Team ICO title, though all are on the way.

It's also worth mentioning that like the PlayStation 2 and DVDs before it, the PlayStation 3 put Blu-ray players into millions of homes world-wide and helped it overtake HD-DVD as the HD format war winner. Coupled with downloadable videos via the PlayStation Network, the PlayStation 3 also serves as much more than a gaming device, which is certainly a plus.

Our Fondest Memories

"While I still rail against Sony for some of the mistakes that it has made with its most powerful system to date, like removing backwards compatibility and stubbornly refusing to drop the price of the system, I still have fond memories of playing Metal Gear Solid 4 on the system multiple times over around the world, staying up all night long playing Warhawk with a core of dedicated players as the game launched and playing some incredible games of baseball with The Show over the past few years. Sure, it's hit some stumbling blocks, but the PS3 is one of those systems that has yet to showcase its true potential, and it'll be awesome to see what developers can squeeze out of the console in the years to come. "
– Jeff Haynes, Editor, IGN PC Team

"It's hard to narrow down my fondest PS3 memory -- namely because I'm still making them. I guess through all the SingStar parties at my apartment, getting my first Platinum Trophy, and getting goose bumps while watching the E3 2009 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves demo, my favorite memory is when I was lugging my PS3 back into work, my IGN bag broke, and the system tumbled to the concrete. Other than a dinged corner, the system was still in tip-top shape. An Xbox 360 would've shattered like the T-1000 in Terminator 2."
– Greg Miller, Editor, IGN PlayStation Team

Manufacturer Mattel

Release Year 1979

Intellivision, the mashing of the words "intelligent" and "television," hit the market as one of the Atari 2600's major competitor just a year after Atari's console offering landed on shelves. It didn't reach full market saturation until 1980, as the initial 1979 release was only in select markets and only had four games available.

The hardware was undeniably more advanced than the Atari 2600, with the ability to display higher resolution graphics and a more versatile color palette. The gamepads also showed how more advanced the system was over the "simple" Atari: these controllers featured a unique disc input system that predates the Nintendo thumb pad innovation, and offered a versatile telephone-like keypad as well as four action buttons, two on each side. Games made for the Intellivision featured specific overlays with artwork that slipped right on top of these 12 buttons to make it easy to understand which button does what.

Mattel excelled at marketing the device against Atari to show just how advanced it was, going so far as to hire author George Plimpton as the voice of Intellivision for its advertising campaign. The company also pushed for licenses in its games to strengthen the brand: the company offered MLB, NHL, NFL, and NBA licensed sports games, and even locked down the Tron franchise for a series of games in time for the potentially blockbuster film.

Though the Intellivision never managed to dethrone the Atari 2600 as the top system of its era, the console brought forth many considerable innovations: along with the advanced graphics, the system offered an add-on that brought speech to games, and it also introduced the concept of downloadable games with its ahead-of-its-time, test-marketed PlayCable that offered Intellivision games distributed over television cable.

Our Fondest Memories

"Remember when you could rent video game systems from mom-and-pop video stores in the early eighties? I was a regular renter of the Intellivision. It wasn't George Plimpton that convinced me, though. It was the screenshots of Imagic (one of my favorite third-party publishers ever) games on the Intellivision that were just not possible on the Atari 2600. Microsurgeon? Dracula? Beauty and the Beast? These were among the first games I picked up when I entered my collecting phase in 1999 and went daffy over buying back my childhood."
– Levi Buchanan, Editor, IGN Retro

"Before writing about games for a living, I worked full time as a technician at a cable TV company in Connecticut and was a game hobbyist on the side. When the NFL went on strike in 1982, we thought it'd be a goof to offer a "replacement" to "Monday Night Football" by getting some local kids to play Intellivision Football on our public-access channel and do play-by-play over it. When "MNF" came back on after the strike ended a couple of months later, the public-access director started getting calls asking where our "show" went, so we started doing a sports-based video-game show as a regular thing for a while, taking calls and demonstrating some of the new games. We had no idea people would be so into it."
– Andy Eddy, Editor-in-Chief, TeamXbox.com

Manufacturer NEC Corporation

Release Year 1989

NEC had a hit on its hands in Japan with the PC Engine in 1987, a console that regularly outsold the Famicom (the Japanese NES) and wanted to replicate that success in America. So it turned to a marketing company to repackage the underpowered 16-bit machine and go head-to-head with the dominant players in America: Nintendo and SEGA. Perhaps it was the lack of third-party support. Perhaps it was the absolutely goofy inter-capped name TurboGrafx-16. Whatever the culprit, the Turbo just never made a dent in the American market.

It did not help that NEC marched right into a perfect storm. The Turbo was released in August of 1989, just as the hype wars between the SEGA Genesis, the NES, and incoming Super NES were at a fever pitch. The pack-in game, Keith Courage in Alpha Zones, was an unknown compared to Altered Beast for the Genesis, which was a port of a popular arcade game that looked remarkably close to the coin-op version. Though the launch library had a couple of gems, like the pinballer Alien Crush, there was just no shaking the competition. The Turbo did not benefit from early realization that the machine was just straight-up underpowered compared to the Genesis. It didn't even have a second controller port; you needed to buy a peripheral so two people could play at the same time. It's no wonder the Turbo quickly fell to fourth place behind the NES, Super NES, and Genesis -- and stayed there.

But a lack of sales does not necessarily mean the console is without merit. The TurboGrafx-16 is home to a solid catalog of games worth playing, such as NEC's attempt at a Mario-like mascot with Bonk's Adventure, the top-down shooter Blazing Lasers, and Namco's side-scrolling horror classic Splatterhouse. These are games worth playing. The Turbo was also the first system to have a CD-drive attachment, the $399 Turbo CD, which was grossly overpriced at $399, but was recognition that the days of cartridges were coming to a close as the new disc medium offered vastly superior storage.

Our Fondest Memories

"I never owned a TurboGrafx and never wanted one, but I do remember one of my co-workers' eyes lighting up when he was describing to me Bonk's Adventure after he went and saw it at a retailer's show. His animated description was enough for me to get excited along with him, and when it eventually came out I was right there with him all jazzed about this crazy prehistoric platformer."
– Craig Harris, Executive Editor, IGN Nintendo Team

"It's sad the TG-16 didn't catch on here, but after being the most popular game system in Japan (where it was called PC Engine), NEC was sure it was going to explode in the U.S. Developers and publishers I spoke at the time said that NEC was hard to work with and charged high fees to put games on the system, so many of them decided to wait for the TG-16 to build for a larger user base before devoting their efforts to it, which in turn made for a pretty weak game library at its debut (and with few third-party games). It's very likely that NEC's cocky attitude ended up destroying the potential for a game console that should have sold much better here."
– Andy Eddy, Editor-in-Chief, TeamXbox.com

Manufacturer Coleco

Release Year 1982

As the Atari 2600 and the Mattel Intellivision was getting on in years, toy manufacturer Coleco, who had already dabbled in electronic games such as plug-and-play Pong clones and licensed single game handhelds, decided to jump into the market in 1982 with a console of its own: the Colecovision.

Colecovision's claim to fame was its incredible accuracy in bringing current-generation arcade hits home. Coleco aggressively went after the rights to produce home versions of games that were enjoying success in game rooms, and the powerful hardware inside the Colecovision made it possible for programmers to produce close-to-perfect adaptations. Or, at least, far better adaptations than either the aging Atari 2600 or Intellivision systems could provide. Coleco even produced peripherals such as steering wheels and trackballs to even more closely convert the arcade experience for the home.

Coleco used Donkey Kong as a pack-in to show just how arcade perfect the system could be, and the inclusion of Nintendo's big arcade game as a bundle definitely attributed to the early success of the Colecovision. But this success was short-lived: the industry crash in 1983 took Coleco's console down with it.

Its strengths as a gaming console are its downfall when it comes to reliving the system in today's generation: most of, if not all, of the biggest hits on the Colecovision were games that Coleco didn't own. The company held very few gaming intellectual properties, instead putting all its money behind licensing other publishers' products. Telegames produced an official Colecovision compilation featuring emulated games for the Windows platform, but it lacked many of the titles that made the platform a popular system to own in the early '80s.

Our Fondest Memories

"I remember getting the dreadful 2600 version of Donkey Kong for Christmas and seeing the god awful Intellivision edition at my friends place. And then I saw the game come out as a pack-in for the Colecovision. Even when I was 10 I knew there was shenanigans at play – clearly Coleco intentionally sabotaged the other versions to make sure that Coleco's own console version was the one everyone wanted. It worked: I really, really wanted a Colecovision after playing its version of Donkey Kong at a toy store. "
– Craig Harris, Executive Editor, IGN Nintendo Team

"Before I had a console of my own, I used to head to my cousins' house for holidays, and the main draw there was always the Colecovision. I spent dozens of hours playing excellent arcade ports of Donkey Kong or Zaxxon, and hundreds playing the underrated Mr. Do."
– Chris Carle, Entertainment Editorial Director, IGN.com

Manufacturer Microsoft

Release Year 2001

The original Xbox brought Microsoft into the console gaming world. And while it didn't have the prettiest design or the greatest library of games, it laid the groundwork for many of today's gaming standards. Xbox gave us two important contributions to gaming: Halo and Xbox Live.

N64 fans will cry foul and suggest that GoldenEye made first-person shooters possible on a console, but it was Halo that modernized the genre. Almost every FPS that came after Halo utilized its control scheme and a modified version of its health system. But where Halo truly succeeded was in providing console gamers with the first-of-its-kind 16-player LAN battles. Halo was the first shooter that made PC gamers jealous and it signaled the beginning of a power shift in the genre.

The second contribution, Xbox Live, proved a testbed for the version that's become so beloved on Xbox 360. Though the SEGA Dreamcast had broadband gameplay, Xbox's Live service was the first that managed to capture a high level of quality among a large number of games. It gave us the first iteration of a Friends List and even had a few Xbox Live Arcade titles. The service kicked off with MechAssault and continues on through Halo 2, a game which is still played online by hundreds of thousands of gamers. With Live, the Xbox showed us the future of console gaming.

The original Xbox helped usher in a new era in videogames. From that point forward, consoles began drawing in PC gamers, while still servicing the core console gamer. While the console itself was not among the ten greatest of all time, its impact will be felt for the next decade.

Our Fondest Memories

"The very first day Microsoft showed up at the IGN offices with the system, I knew it was going to blow people's minds. It was pitch black in the demo room and the title screen of Halo booted... the Gregorian chants commenced, and I got goose bumps. It was that moment I jumped on the bandwagon, and I haven't fallen off since."
– Chris Carle, Entertainment Editorial Director, IGN.com

"When I first fired up the Xbox and logged into Xbox Live, I knew that Microsoft was on to something. Prior to that system, console-based online gaming was more or less a supplemental feature, the Xbox was the first to take the concept of online integration and run with it. I've been hooked ever since, if it isn't online-enabled, chances are I'm not playing it."
- Scott Lowe, Editor, IGN Gear

Manufacturer Nintendo

Release Year 2006

The Nintendo 64 and the GameCube were capable, sustainable consoles with excellent support and fantastic games, but the increased competition from Microsoft and Sony made it difficult for Nintendo to see the same victory it did in the previous years. After two attempts to repeat the success it had with the NES and Super NES, Nintendo decided to shake things up and offer gaming experiences that stray from the expected.

Enter the Nintendo Wii, a system that put much more emphasis on the user interface than it did on the high definition, surround sound experience. The way we play was the biggest change to what we play: the idea was to introduce something that anyone could pick up and understand, and with the new input, it was hoped, a new market would form and a new audience would step forward to play games.

The company gave birth to the Remote, a device that had few buttons but offered motion control as well as a pointing device, two ideas that were relatively new to the console market. But to get this to become a standard, Nintendo had to introduce it as the core device of a new system, not as an optional peripheral for its current hardware.

The strategy worked. The Wii isn't much more advanced than the GameCube, but the controller – a device Nintendo has stated began as a GameCube peripheral – has converted millions of casual gamers to become system owners. The idea of bundling Wii Sports with the system was an incredibly smart move, as people immediately understood what the Wii was and what it could do in a simple to play, well designed experience.

The Nintendo Wii, in its fourth year on the market, continues to shake up the industry and shifting its direction, inspiring competitors like Microsoft and Sony to adopt this new way to play for their own videogame strategies.

Our Fondest Memories

"Not since the launch of the Dreamcast had I been as excited to get a new console as I was when the Wii debuted. It looked fresh -- and fresh was definitely something I needed. (Let's face it, how many games have felt truly "new" since the original Jet Set Radio?) I still believe in the machine and think hardcore gamers don't give it the respect it deserves, partially due to loads of shovelware (that Nintendo should have pushed back against from Day One), but also partly because it's easy to poke fun of it. Waggle is for teh babys. Haha. Oh well. It's their loss because there truly are some magnificent videogames on the Wii."
– Levi Buchanan, Editor, IGN Retro

"A technology geek to the end, I had greatly anticipated the arrival of high-definition consoles, so when Nintendo chose to stay conservative with Wii's graphics, I wasn't sure what to think of the system. I remember finally getting it, though. Not with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption -- I played it early on and the controls still needed work -- but with Wii Sports bowling. So simple. So effortless. So much flippin' fun! Nintendo had talked blue and red oceans, ranted on about expanded audiences, and it was all gibberish. But rolling that virtual bowling ball with a realistic flick of the wrist felt so incredibly natural that I didn't want to put the Wii remote down. That was when I finally understood what the company really hoped to achieve with the console."
– Matt Casamassina, Editor-in-Chief, IGN Nintendo Team

Manufacturer Nintendo

Release Year 1996

Nintendo's last cartridge-based home console, N64, may go down in history as something of a disappointment (compared to expectations) and primarily because of its media format, but it actually housed several major hardware innovations as well as some of the biggest and most beloved games of the generation.

The Big N had even bigger plans for the once-codenamed 'Ultra 64,' including revolutionary control mechanisms, cutting-edge graphical processing power and an exclusive list of handpicked third-parties (known as the "Dream Team"), and it certainly started the system off with a bang. Not only did legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto unveil the N64 controller complete with the uber-sensitive analog stick and rumble pak, but he also showed off the genre-shaping platformer Super Mario 64, considered to this day to be one of the greatest and most important videogames ever made. And yet, even with a string of hits, some of them monumental, N64 never came close to matching rival PlayStation in popularity. In fact, Sony's disc-based platform outsold Nintendo's by a margin of more than three to one.

Despite the PlayStation's bigger install-base, third-party advantage (including Dream Team members), Nintendo and Rare still churned out N64-exclusive master works from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (one of the only games to earn a perfect 10 rating from IGN.com) to Conker's Bad Fur Day and GoldenEye 007.

Our Fondest Memories

"The N64 presented me with a key experience in my 30+ years of gaming that I will never forget – and will likely never experience again that same way. It was that first moment I stepped out into the 3D world of Super Mario 64 and just "played around" in the castle garden. I had played 3D games before Mario 64, but there was something different here; a unique feel and sense of complete freedom of movement that just seemed so "right." I knew that gaming had changed forever."
– Peer Schneider, Senior Vice President, IGN.com

"The N64 and its flagship game Mario 64 hold a special place in my heart as they are what initially led me to (what would become) IGN. I got the system and game my freshmen year of college and my buddies and I would hole up in my dorm room, methodically trying to collect every star. We found out you could find game help on this fantastic new resource called The Internet, and an AltaVista search for "Mario 64" returned N64.com, which is where IGN got its start. "
– Daemon Hatfield, Editor, IGN Downloadable Games

Manufacturer SEGA

Release Year 1999

Despite its comparably short lifespan, the SEGA Dreamcast was the first system in the sixth generation of video game consoles, which included the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox. The Dreamcast first hit stores in 1998, over two years before the PS2 and three years before the GameCube and Xbox. Although the Dreamcast had sizable chronological leeway over its contemporaries, it was inevitably stifled by stiff competition and the advent of DVD technology. But before it met its untimely demise in 2001, the Dreamcast certainly left its mark on the console industry.

As its second disc-based console, SEGA sought to learn from the mistakes it made with the Saturn with the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast marked a comprehensive overhaul of SEGA's marketing and design strategy, aiming for a more diverse audience with quality software and a number of technological innovations. The Dreamcast was the first console to incorporate a built-in modem for online play, and while the networking lacked the polish and refinement of its successors, it was the first time users could seamlessly power on and play with users around the globe. Additionally, the Dreamcast also launched its own proprietary disc format, GD-ROM, which boasted an extra 500 MBs of data capacity over CDs.

As a platform, the Dreamcast brought SEGA's biggest franchises to the next generation, including Sonic the Hedgehog and Virtua Fighter, but also introduced new series like Crazy Taxi to the gaming community. Unfortunately, the Dreamcast was SEGA's last venture into console territory; but its impact, legacy, and notable franchises are still evidenced today.

Our Fondest Memories

"The Dreamcast launch was a huge deal for me. In fact, the day before the launch, this really amazing girl came into my work and asked me out. And we were on a date that was going so well, but I kept looking at my watch thinking, "I have to get ready for the DC launch." Yeah, I chose the Dreamcast over hooking up with a hot girl and I'd do it again."
– Hilary Goldstein, Editor-in-Chief, IGN Xbox Team

"Mere weeks after I bought the Dreamcast, my VMU--or "Virtual Memory Unit," aka memory card with a useless LCD screen--started beeping at me in desperate want of new batteries. I never even unplugged the thing from the controller, must've shipped with bum batteries. I dutifully loaded the VMU with a fresh set, and in less than a month it was beeping again. That was the only time I bothered, and now that beeping triggers in me a response not too unlike the salivation of Pavlov's dogs. Except I pine for Marvel vs. Capcom 2, not Kibbles 'n Bits. "
– Mark Ryan Sallee, Editor-in-Chief, IGN Game Help

Manufacturer Sony

Release Year 1995

Sony's first foray into the console market kicked off a big change in the long-time, one-on-one war of Nintendo versus SEGA. Not only did the system help open up the doors for Microsoft to enter the market in the following generation, but it also helped transition the industry to a disc-based format, introduced the Dual Shock controller and its classic form (which is still being used and mimicked to this day), and introduced a number of incredibly important and classic titles. Like the SEGA Saturn and Nintendo 64, the PlayStation was among the generation of consoles that helped bring gaming from the 2D days of old to the current 3D content that we're still playing to this day.

The library of original titles introduced on the PlayStation can read like a history lesson in videogames. The likes of Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, Resident Evil, Tony Hawk and much, much more were seen here for the first time, and these franchises continue to be some of the biggest in all of gaming. Were it not for the PlayStation, a number of genres that we take for granted these days may never have come to fruition, or at least been popularized so well.

One interesting bit about the PlayStation's marketing and focus is that it was targeted to an older audience than most any system before it, helping to establish the PlayStation brand not only as something that kids played, but that their parents enjoyed as well. This shift in marketing has continued across the industry to this day.

Our Fondest Memories

"For me, I'll never forget my best friend and I renting Army Men and Metal Gear Solid a few days after I finally picked up a PlayStation. Army Men sucked (of course), so we popped MGS in and kicked back in my basement. In an instant, our lives changed. One game blew the doors off what I thought a videogame could be, and my perspective hasn't been the same since."
– Greg Miller, Editor, IGN PlayStation Team

"I credit PlayStation for my enduring fighting game obsession. My buddies and I started with the idiot Tekken 2, graduated to Street Fighter Alpha 3 where I learned the uselessness of combo memorization, moseyed over to Dead or Alive because we were teenage boys, and eventually settled on Guilty Gear. My friends are brothers, and trash talk often ended in fraternal violence. Good times."
-Mark Ryan Sallee, Editor-in-Chief, IGN Game Help

Manufacturer Microsoft

Release Year 2005

As the first high-definition game console ever introduced, the Xbox 360 represents a milestone in videogame hardware history. The Xbox 360 represents a first-time shift in standalone platforms to crisp, clean, high-definition graphics with advanced shading and physics effects. While these features were long-since a staple of PC gaming, they had never before been seen in the console market. Additionally, the Xbox 360 was also the first console to hit the market with an integrated wireless controller system. Although wireless controller solutions were present in previous game systems, wireless connectivity could only be achieved through external dongle attachments.

But beyond its hardware innovations, the Xbox 360 marked a huge software push in terms of creating an all encompassing media and gaming platform. The Xbox 360 launched with a completely revised Xbox Live online networking system, which enabled new and unprecedented ways of accessing video, audio, and game content, as well as connecting with friends. Xbox Live has since grown to be one of the most successful console-based online gaming networks ever created, with over 17 million members as of January, 2009. Through its extensive online-integration, which allows for practically boundless optimization, feature additions, and improvements, the Xbox 360 has drastically extended the lasting appeal and life expectancy of the average console.

Our Fondest Memories

"Recently, the best memories have come in late night Halo Wars matches. I was playing with co-workers Dave Clayman and Ryan Clements so late into the night one weekend that I fell asleep mid-match. I woke up about ten minutes later to the voice of Ryan screaming for help. Asking if we were still playing wasn't what he wanted to hear."
– Erik Brudvig, Executive Editor, IGN Xbox Team, Executive Editor, IGN Xbox Team

"I'll never forget the time my launch Xbox 360 red ringed. It was a rainy day in March. I wore my green cardigan and she wore a FEAR faceplate. It was love. True love. But then she died on me. Maybe I pushed her power button one too many times. I couldn't help myself – I liked playing games in HD and with Microsoft's amazing online service. She just couldn't handle the strain. Sure, she was easy to replace. And so was the next one that died. But I'll never forget my first. Especially not after I had a picture of her red rings tattooed on my chest. Rest in peace, little 360. Rest in peace."
– Hilary Goldstein, Editor-in-Chief, IGN Xbox Team

Manufacturer SEGA

Release Year 1989

The Genesis was known for having classics in nearly every genre with support from Electronic Arts giving it the edge in the sports category (go NHL '94!), the bloodier Mortal Kombat, and what some consider to be the greatest controller ever created: the six button.

It isn't difficult to prove why the software lineup was so successful considering the recent release and success of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. Just tick down the list and you'll find a bundle of absolutely brilliant games. The Phantasy Star and Shining Force series combined to offer role playing options that were equal to, if not better than anything available from the competition and titles like Ecco the Dolphin and Comix Zone offered dashes of edgy action that were highly original at the time.

There were brief moments when the SEGA Genesis overtook Nintendo in terms of market share and at the time they were the only two players in town. This meant for a time, the Genesis was the most popular game console in the world and for a good reason.

Our Fondest Memories

"In college, my then-girlfriend bought me what stands as one of the best presents I have ever gotten: a Sega Genesis. NHL was my favorite game on the system, and I played '96 so much that I actually took every single team in the NHL through a season and won the Stanley Cup each time."
– Chris Carle, Entertainment Editorial Director, IGN.com

"I remember renting Phantasy Star IV and getting up extremely early on a Saturday morning to attempt to beat the game before having to bring it back to the rental store. When I advanced to the part of the game where you blast off and unlock the solar system my mind was blown. I was both dismayed that I'd never complete the game in time and astounded that a cartridge could contain such a large adventure."
—David Clayman, Editor-in-Chief, IGN Shared Content Team

Manufacturer Nintendo

Release Year 1991

The first true battle of the consoles began in 1991 with the US release of the Super Nintendo. Boasting 16-bit graphics and a superior soundcard than its competition (the audio system was entirely standalone), Nintendo pushed its art style and name branding against SEGA's "SEGA does what Nintendon't" campaign, but in the end it was what Nintendo did – or had, rather – that put the SNES higher on our chart. Despite "hardcore-minded" competition, Nintendo pushed a pedigree of original content, starting with the debut Super Mario World and carried on through titles like Super Metroid, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, F-Zero, Mario Kart, and the dawn of the FX chip which brought the debut of Star Fox. Developer Rare continued to push the console in its later years with the help of Nintendo, introducing larger cart sizes with Donkey Kong Country, and a flood of third party support pushed the Super Nintendo to legendary status with games like Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Gradius III, Contra III, Mega Man X, Secret of Mana, and many, many more. When it comes to a pure concentration of AAA titles, few consoles – if any – can stand up to the Super NES.

The sales showed it as well, with the first true console war ending in an important Nintendo victory on both the hardware and software front. The Super NES's library was the start, or continuation in some cases, of franchises that are still alive and well today both on a first party and third party front – proof of its legacy. The Super NES controller laid groundwork for the now-mainstream four-button face of both the PlayStation and Xbox controllers, and the experimental first steps into 3D gaming (both real and faked via the FX chip and Mode 7 technology respectively) laid the groundwork for the industry's future.

Our Fondest Memories

"I lived in Japan when the SNES (Super Famicom) came out. Whenever I got together to play multiplayer games with my buddy, D.J., we'd completely overdo it. Remember how looking at your opponent's screen was a crucial tactic in playing Mario Kart? After what must've been a 20-hour Battle Mode marathon, I noticed that D.J.'s Yoshi kept on driving straight into a track barrier. The bastard had fallen asleep in the middle of the game, with his finger on the accelerator! Armed with a red shell, I positioned myself at the far end of the stage, lined up the shot, woke up D.J. and pointed his head at the screen to make him witness the glorious takedown. Yep, it's all about the little things in life."
– Peer Schneider, Senior Vice President, IGN.com

"The Super NES was probably my first system purchase bought on Day One on the system launch, and the first system where I knew I bet on the right horse. I spent more hours playing Pilotwings than Super Mario World, which might tell you where my tastes of gaming have been evolving. And then, Super Mario Kart landed on the system, and that could easily be called my favorite game of all time the way it always managed to end up in my rotation."
– Craig Harris, Executive Editor, IGN Nintendo Team

Manufacturer Sony

Release Year 2000

The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling videogame console ever with more than 130 million units sold by the end of 2008. That alone says a lot regarding its place in history and its reception amongst the general population. The PS2 was not only a major highlight in Sony's history (for both its games business and the company as a whole), but it also helped launch the DVD format into the VHS-killer that it became.

But company financials and movie formats aside, it's really the games and wide accessibility that made the PS2 what it was, and even now, nearly a decade after its release, it still is. The fact that the system is supported to this day and that we're still seeing games released for it on a weekly basis is a strong testament to its staying power.

Looking at the system's library (which is nearing 2,000 titles at the time of this writing), there are a number of games that were not only breakout releases, but have defined what we're playing today. Grand Theft Auto III and Guitar Hero are two that paved the way for some of this generation's most popular genres, and when you're talking about software as an art form, you needn't look any further than titles like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.

It may be long in the tooth, but without the PlayStation 2, gaming today, and even home entertainment in general, may be a lot different were it not for Sony's über-popular console.

Our Fondest Memories

"The PS2 holds the honor of being my first major purchase on my own -- as in my parents didn't help me one bit. I worked all summer at Wal-Mart dreaming of Smugglers Run, Silent Scope, and the ability to finally play DVDs. I even started buying DVDs in June preparing for the October launch date. I waited nine hours in line at Meijer (I was No. 1, bitches) to get that blue box, and I loved every second of it."
– Greg Miller, Editor, IGN PlayStation Team

"Yeah, the PS2 is the system that helped land me a permanent job at IGN, but that's one of just many a fond memory of Sony's awesome console sequel. What really sticks out for me, though, was the huge buzz that the system had garnered in my neighborhood because it had Tekken Tag Tournament. Tekken Tag was THE game in our local arcades, and when a friend of mine convinced his girlfriend to buy him an import PS2 with Tekken Tag along with it, it was like having an extra Christmas. Our whole crew spent months learning techniques, brushing up on our skills and having an all around great time with our Tekken parties."
– Jeremy Dunham, Games Editorial Manager, IGN.com

Manufacturer Atari Inc.

Release Year 1977

This is it -- the console that our entire industry is built upon. Though it also nearly took videogames to the brink in the system's latter years, the Atari 2600 was a certifiable phenomenon in its ascendancy as the herald of a new entertainment medium.

Shepherded to market in 1977 by visionary Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, and his head engineer Allan Alcorn, the Atari 2600 was the second home videogame console to use removable, programmable cartridges instead of being a dedicated machine like Atari's own Pong (The Fairchild F beat Atari to the punch by a year). The system was not an immediate success, though. It wasn't until 1979 when the videogame craze truly exploded did the 2600 begin its meteoric path. Atari was quick to license popular arcade games for the machine like Space Invaders, Missile Command, and Pac-Man, which also helped it become the dominant console in American living rooms. By 1982, the 2600 was a $2 billion business for Atari.

But the good times were not to last and the skyrocket trajectory of the Atari 2600 was partially to blame. With videogames white-hot, everybody wanted in. And Atari did not have any solid quality-control mechanisms in place. No game epitomizes this lack quite like E.T., a licensed title that was forced to market after a five-week development cycle. Atari took a bath on E.T. and consumers started to sour on the breath of subpar games clogging shelves. Thus began the great video game crash of 1983 which laid waste to the entire industry.

It is this incredible story, a console that is responsible for the incredible games we're playing now yet almost drove a stake through the heart of the industry.

Our Fondest Memories

"I begged Santa to get us an Atari for Christmas 1980, and my parents decided to give me my wish...but they planned it as the final present I opened by stuffing it as far behind the tree as possible. Unfortunately, I grabbed a present I probably shouldn't have, "Bowling" for the 2600...pretty much destroying any Christmastime strategy my folks planned out. I still feel guilty about that."
- Craig Harris, Executive Editor, IGN Nintendo Team

"The 2600 had a lot of fabulous games, and I remember playing River Raid so much that I had a callous between my thumb and index finger from the base of the not-too-ergonomic 2600 joystick rubbing on it. But I think the game we played the most was Maze Craze, which randomly generated a new maze every game and offered some great competitive multiplayer gameplay (for its time). That was perhaps the first "party game"—at least at our house."
– Andy Eddy, Editor-in-Chief, TeamXbox.com

Manufacturer Nintendo

Release Year 1985

Prior to 1985 in the US, Nintendo was a strong name in the arcade with Donkey Kong and it was cleaning up in the toy aisle with its Game & Watch handhelds. But the home console industry was buried under the figurative dust after the industry collapsed on itself, and "videogame" was considered a bad word. Nintendo set to change all that with the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The company was already seeing insane success with the Famicom in Japan with its release in 1983, and after two years, it was time to bring that success to a new territory. After a failed attempt to partner with Atari to bring the system to the US, the company decided to do the job itself. The Famicom hardware was given a sleeker, more Western-friendly appearance, and the NES was born. The initial release in 1985 was only a test in specific US markets, but it was shipped across the country after the Holiday season in 1986.

Nintendo instituted a strict licensing program to ensure that the industry crash – with its glut of games of questionable quality -- would not happen with the NES. No unlicensed games would be tolerated on the NES platform. All games would have to be approved by Nintendo and third parties could only create a certain number of games a year for the NES, while the same games could not be made for competing consoles for two years.

The strategy worked. Nintendo's quality first-party efforts as well as the incredibly powerful third-party support resurged and revived the home videogame industry. If Nintendo didn't step up to the plate, the industry as a whole may have turned out entirely different.

Our Fondest Memories

"I'll always credit the NES for getting me back into gaming – for good. As a kid, I was addicted to escaping from blocky cats on my brother's Fairchild Channel F, worked my way through various Atari machines to the C64... and suddenly fell out of love with gaming altogether. The NES brought it all back. As much as I tried, there was no escaping the power of Mario! The NES made me a gamer for life."
– Peer Schneider, Senior Vice President, IGN.com

"Despite the fact that I played the heck out of the NES, it was more than just a great videogame system to me. It was also the platform that grew my social and bargaining skills. Not only did my friends and family bond with me over sessions of Super Mario Bros. and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, but my friends in particular started haggling with me because of my obsession with getting new NES games. Baseball cards, comic books, and toys were commodities that I used weekly to talk my way into getting new games out of pals via trade all the time, and the feeling of accomplishment from those trades and the fun I had playing those titles afterward is still something that sticks with me to this day."
– Jeremy Dunham, Games Editorial Manager, IGN.com