As someone who grew up during the explosion of modern console gaming – I was born not too long before the 1985 US debut of the NES, which was my first console – picking out a favorite isn’t easy. Sega, when it still produced consoles, was always innovating (Sega CD anyone?) and had the best sports games. More recently, Sony and Microsoft have taken that mantel and pushed graphics and realism to fantastic places. However, my favorite series of all time is probably still Zelda, which means Nintendo, and as much as I love the Wii, I need to give due credit to the N64.
My main argument for the N64 is that it broke ground for a lot of facets of gaming that are still my favorites. Even though it still used cartridges when everyone else was using CDs – which, besides the debatable nostalgia of blowing on a game to make it work, at least meant I couldn’t scratch up my games like I did on my early Playstation – it had 3D graphics that are still playable over a decade later. More importantly, it had four controllers when other consoles still had two during a time before internet multiplayer, meaning it was far and away the most fun to play in a group. This single handedly made games like Super Smash Brothers and GoldenEye 007 amazing, exposing console gamers to a kind of fast-twitch excitement that just wasn’t an option before. And of course, plenty of single player games like Zelda: Ocarina of Time were deep, well thought out and just as fun to play as those on another console.
The Wii may have started the latest revolution with motion sensing, the N64 might not have the graphics chops to compete these days, and Final Fantasy VII for the Playstation just could be my favorite game from that era (don’t make me choose!). Still, the introduction of four person gaming and the genres it spawned, combined with the strong attention given to its single player classics, makes the N64 the best console of all time to me. Set next to an Xbox 360 and Sega Genesis in front of my TV (really), I’ll still pick up the N64 with surprising regularity.
What do you think the best console ever was, and why?