POLL: Objectively, what is the best console ever? And in each generation?

[Jon1]

Of course the PS1 is regarded as the best from that generation. It's not my preference though. There was a time in gaming where everything was pure. The PS1 ended that era for good.

[Sut]

Been playing a lot of MegaDrive recently and realised why the 4th generation is the best (IMO).

The games were distinct from different regions. You had the well designed smooth Japanese games, the gorgeous and expansive European designed games and the gritty in yer face American designed games.

All three regions were coming together on the same systems but still showed their independent game styles.

[scotland]

Yeah Fourth Generation!

Even a minor league (in the US at least) console like the TG-16 still is a lot of fun, plus the under rated adventure that was the Sega CD. The MegaDrive and SNES are still wells of untapped games for me, and the more I explore the best of the Sega CD, the more I enjoy it. I just got "Twinkle Tale" to try for the MegaDrive, so looking forward to that.

Its not hard to see that we could have had a 5th generation extension of the 4th, with cartridges, 2D, sprites, platformers and schmups, simple joypad controllers, and Sega Vs Nintendo continuing to evolve and expand. However, between optical storage technology and both the interest and technology was able to give us the move toward polygons and 3D, analog controllers, the rise of Sony, and the fall of Sega and decline of Nintendo.

I too was excited by all of the changes that the Playstation brought us, and at the time, I really enjoyed it. I do think that the Playstation represents a tipping point in gaming. There was a before Playstation, and an after. In retrospect, one more generation of 2D sprites would have been awesome.