The Greatest Games Systems Of All Time

[kiwimike]

Don't read it? All Darran asked for was a straight poll, no explanation needed.

It's supposed to be an 'awesome feature' and the most interesting comments will go in the magazine.
It won't be very awesome if it's just a list and it doesn't reflect very well on the community if they're the source of the poll data but fail to say anything interesting enough to print.

That's a very fair and excellent point. I'll edit mine when I get the chance and explain why I picked what I picked.

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

Don't read it? All Darran asked for was a straight poll, no explanation needed.

It's supposed to be an 'awesome feature' and the most interesting comments will go in the magazine.
It won't be very awesome if it's just a list and it doesn't reflect very well on the community if they're the source of the poll data but fail to say anything interesting enough to print.

You know what, you're right.

I missed the last line on Darran's post. Might be because I saw Amstrad in his list right before it and couldn't read for the tears of laughter.

[The Laird]

I still can't believe Darran picked the Amstrad over the Atari Lynx

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

I still can't believe Darran picked the Amstrad over the Atari Lynx

I still can't believe I picked the Amstrad over the PS4

[ZeroCipher]

1 Sega Mega Drive (10)
2 Xbox 360 (9)
3 Sega Dreamcast (8)
4 Game Boy (7)
5 Playstation (6)
6 3DO (5)
7 N64 (4)
8 Saturn (3)
9 SNES (2)
10 Sinclair Spectrum (1)

That was more difficult than I thought it would be, a few other key systems missing (NES, Neo Geo, GBA, Game Gear, PS2, Atari 2600, Amiga) all of which are great.

[ncf1]

PC (10 points). Well overall its the ultimate gaming machine really, for me. Prior to CD-ROM there were other beauties that held my attention but after that it went from strength to strength and my tape copying days were long over.

Amiga (9 points). What a machine, what a leap up from 8-bit, this computer blew us all away at school and quite frankly was responsible for taking up more time than my schoolwork so I shall be suing Commodore at the next opportunity I remember to.

PS1 (8 points). The original PlayStation was mind-blowing and was singlehandedly responsible for closing down all the local arcades, an amazing system and could easily have been number 2, the Amiga just pips it due to nostalgia points.

C64 (7 points). THE machine to have at the time, the games weren't quite up to arcade standard but it was the next best thing, and the not knowing quite what you'll get with conversions actually made things terribly interesting. On top of that you had the countless original games, it was a marvellous home computer let down only by its sould-crushingly bad conversion of Double Dragon which gives me palpitations to this very day. YOU CAN SEE THROUGH THE SPRITE FOR GODS SAKE, CANT YOU SEE THAT PROGRAMMERS??!

Apple II (6 points). Yes, the Apple II. Now we're talking 1979 here and the likes of Space Invaders and Asteroids were still new additions to the mall, so playing games at home that weren't all that far off was just unbelievable. But there was such a quirky nature to the games; the sound and graphics of the Apple II was like no other and had such a charm to them that even if reproduced on a machine with better capabilities still would maintain a character of its own.

Dreamcast (5 points). Arcade perfect games at home on your TV, I think it actually took people by surprise, or the marketing was simply terrible because the PS1 did what It should have done really.

Nintendo DS (4 points). I was never a huge Ninty fan until the DS came along and stole my heart, what an amazing handheld, it was Game and Watch days all over again, but v2.0. Brilliant.

PS2 (3 points). This might have been a lot higher had it come at the right time in my life but I'd only just started playing games on it a year or so ago so unfortunately haven't delved into it too deeply but can see it would have taken up a big chunk of my time at its release, perhaps a good thing in retrospect I didn't rush out and get one and instead went to work for a bit.

Gamecube (2 points). As above, a machine I got into later and had lots of cracking titles on it, just didn't have time for every machine.

Nintendo 3DS (1 point). Fantastic handheld, improves on the DS in every way but the DS had made its impact at the perfect time and was revolutionary, and the 3DS has carried things on wonderfully well.

[pratty]

10 Points: Wii. Multiple control methods, and lots of great games. Also doubles as a Gamecube and the Virtual Console allows owners to download many retro greats. The Wii was more than just a gimmick.

9 Points: Gamecube. Some absolute classic titles, and a good mix of exclusives and multiplats. The hardware was robust and compared to modern consoles there was a comforting simplicity to it's relative plug and play nature. The controller design has stood the test of time and is still prefered by Super Smash Bros. players two system generations later.

8 Points: 3DS. The fist time Nintendo really offered a comparable home console gaming experience on the go. It's great library of games was increased even further by backward's compatability with the DS. It may not have the sales of the DS but it is surely the greatest handheld of all time.

7 Points: DS. It felt like the DS made people sit up and take handhelds seriously, in that they could hold a person's attention away from a home console. The DS did it through the varied use of it's multi-faceted hardware and an impressive library of games.

6 Points: N64. I got so mich enjoyment through a relatively small number of games. Titles like Goldeneye 007 and WWF No Mercy kept me entertained for hours and hours. Also Nintendo hit several home runs with their first swing at taking their franchises into the 3rd dimension.

5 Points: Wii U. Perhaps a case of the right console at the wrong time. If you're a Nintendo fan it still has a lot to offer, ance again Nintendo's backwards compability means the console has more gaming depth than is first apparent. It may only be what the Wii perhaps should have been, but that's not a bad thing.

4 Points: SNES. Some absolute classic games, many of which with visuals that still hold up well today.

3 Points: PS2. A staggering library on a very capable console. Today it may very well represent the best gaming bang for your buck.

2 Points: PS3. Another strong library that could probably provide a lifetime of high quality gaming. The PS3 gets the nod over the similar Xbox 360 on account of it's relatively better reliability.

1 Point: GBA. A strong handheld system in it's own right, once again benefiting from the selling point of backwards compatibility.

Honurable mentions: Sega Megadrive, Sega Dreamcast, Xbox 360.

[the_hawk]

Aaaaaaargh I'd typed out a big post & when I hit send itall deleted!!!

Ok here goes again...

10pts ZX Spectrum - Still can't believe how much gaming goodness can be packed into a device so small with technology from 35 years ago.

9pts Sega Mega Drive - The moment for me that arcade games came home.

8pts Atari 2600/VCS - My first love and amazing that I'm still discovering playable games from a machine almost as old as I am.

7pts PSP - The greatest handheld of all time, even before cfwing it.

6pts PS2 - Bought it for the DVD player and backwards compatibility. Kept it for the huge library of diverse games.

5pts Wii U - Can't believe this wasn't more successful, when the touchscreen is used properly it is an incredible device.

4pts Atari Lynx - The greatest handheld of all time unitl the PSP came along.

3pts PC - Basically used for emulation, Championship/Football Manager and Civ 2. I'm sure other games were available.

2pts Gameboy Advance SP - A portable SNES. Nice.

1pt XBox - Basically a PC without the complicated graphics chips sound cards and complicated thingymabobs.

For fairness I've only gone with systems I've owned. If I'd ever owned a decent spec PC then that'd probably be higher. I'd probably also have found space for a PC Engine, PS3/4/Vita, XBox360/ONE.

[NorthWay]

Let's try another one if you are having a bad day:
1 Amiga (10 pts)

I can't say that any more truthfully.

[PostieDoc]

1 Amiga (10 pts) A magnificent all round gaming machine and a very noticeable upgrade on the 8 bit systems.

2 PC (9 pts) Backwards compatibility and unrivaled power.

3 Spectrum (8 pts) My favourite 8 bit. Still play many of its games today.

4 Xbox 360 (7 pts) Not overly experienced with consoles but this is the best one in my opinion. It is where I discovered Forza and played MW2 and Black Ops with my workmates.

5 Commodore Plus/4 (6 pts) My first computer with a surprisingly decent selection of fun games. Plus it has Berks 3.

6 Xbox One (5 pts) My current console which I would describe as a steady performer.

7 Amstrad (4 pts) The first real computer that I played on thanks to my neighbours and as such deserves points for igniting my gaming interests.

8 C16 (3 pts) Nearly all the games available for the Plus/4 work on the C16 as well, so have some points.

9 Atari 2600 (2 pts) My family had one of these briefly in the early eighties. I loved Combat but after the first few days everyone else got bored of it and wouldn't play me anymore.

10 Wii (1 pt) My brother owned one and the sports games were kind of fun.

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

Ah, I see there is a bit of free-form reply here. Well, let me ungratefully exploit that with my 1 to 10 list:
1 Amiga (10 pts)
2 Amiga (9 pts)
3 Amiga (8 pts)
4 Amiga (7 pts)
5 Amiga (6 pts)
6 Amiga (5 pts)
7 Amiga (4 pts)
8 Amiga (3 pts)
9 Amiga (2 pts)
10 Amiga (1 pt)

I can't say that any more truthfully.

It's worth noting that by doing this you're actually throwing away all your votes.

[kebabinho]

Commodore 16 plus/4 (10 pts) - First computer which had some great games and I learnt to program on. Still have it and play on it to this day.

BBC Micro B (9 pts) - Second computer, my dad got it from his school and it had some great games including thrust and bullseye (never played elite though !)

Sega Master system (8 pts) - First console, used to be jealous of my mate so begged my parents for one. Sonic is still better on this than the megadrive

Wii (7 pts) - Offered something unique and original over the Playstation and XBOX which were just updated textures and nothing new

PC (6 pts) - Has my favourite game of all time, Doom, on it. Interesting to see how gaming has evolved from minesweep and other puzzle games.

Sega Megadrive (5 pts) - Ordering street fighter and the 6 button pad from Rumbelows and went in each day pestering for when it was released. Sank a lot of hours into that game

Amiga (4 pts) - Games like cannon fodder and SWOS kept me entertained for hours. First system I had with a mouse

Game & Watch (3 pts) - Ok technically individual games, but can I vote for them as a collective?? or just climber. Bought from Spanish market years ago and played to death. Found it recently and realised with was a Game & Watch

N64 (2 pts) - Never had one but spent many hours at Uni playing Goldeneye

Amstrad (1 pt) - My cousin had one and whenever I went round we would spend hours playing Daley thompson

[Matt_B]

I'll go for these:

1. PC
2. Sinclair Spectrum
3. Nintendo GameBoy
4. Nintendo 3DS
5. Atari ST
6. Nintendo Wii
7. Amstrad CPC
8. Acorn BBC Micro
9. Sinclair ZX81
10. Atari 2600

[Eric]

1. Mega Drive
2. Amstrad CPC
3. Saturn
4. Dreamcast
5. Amiga
6. Atari 2600
7. Super Nintendo
8. Xbox Original
9. Xbox 360
10. Game Boy

[GarryG]

1 Vectrex
2 Dreamcast
3 Atari 800XL
4 VIC 20
5 Spectrum+ 48k
6 Master System
7 Megadrive
8 Amiga 600
9 PS2
10 Nintendo DS

Well that's my list, hard to keep it to 10!