It's been long enough into this generation that we can talk about how and where they stand with respect to one another. The first system of this generation came out in 2011, and the PS4 and Xbox One are both over two years old now. So it's been long enough that we can start discussing this- especially since a few systems of this generation are already beginning to wind down.
So- how would you rank the current generation systems? Personally, here's how I do it. I will not be including the PC in my rankings, because I don't have a gaming PC.
- NINTENDO 3DS
Honestly, the hardware is a bit crap (though at least the New 3DS line fixes that), and the system just doesn't feel nice- it does everything it can to make me not want to play it. But man, all of that takes a backseat to that lineup. Fire Emblem Awakening, Pokemon AlphaSapphire, Super Smash Bros., A Link Between Worlds, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Animal Crossing New Leaf, Xenoblade Chronicles, Majora's Mask, Kid Icarus Uprising, Super Mario 3D Land... there's just a never ending stream of games on this thing, and it doesn't look like the 3DS has any plans to stop any time soon, either. I've rarely spent as much time on a system as I have on the 3DS, and I have done that in spite of the 3DS hardware being as shitty as it is. The system is really a gem, and it takes my spot for the best system this generation (so far). - PLAYSTATION VITA
I adore the Vita. It's the exact opposite of the Nintendo 3DS in that I want to use it as much as I can, but it simply doesn't have enough software support to back that kind of desire. But I've still managed to squeeze so much use out of the Vita- Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward, DanganRonpa, DanganRonpa 2, Hotline Miami, Velocity 2X, Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3, Final Fantasy X, Ys: Memories of Celceta, and of course, my favorite game of all time, Persona 4 Golden. The Vita doesn't have a lot of great games, but what it does have is simply exceptional. I adore the Vita, and it is probably the best piece of gaming hardware ever made. I doubt I will ever have as much fun with individual games as I did on the Vita ever again, and for that, it takes second place for me. - WII U
The Wii U is like a mixture of the 3DS and the Vita- it doesn't give me much reason to want to use it, and it also doesn't have much desirability. What it does have is a killer lineup, one that's made me invest countless hours into the system, and one which has given me so much fun. Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2, Super Smash Bros., Super Mario 3D World, Pikmin 3, New Super Mario Bros. U, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, The Wonderful 101, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, and of course, Spatoon, have all been exceptionally great games- and I haven't even gotten around to getting Xenoblade Chronicles X, Super Mario Maker, or Yoshi's Woolly World yet. Couple that with a surprisingly decent lineup of games this year, and I can't ignore the little guy- it's somehow managed to keep my attention all this time. - PLAYSTATION 4
A year ago, the PlayStation 4 saw literally zero usage from me, and I struggled to justify my having spent $400 on it. That's changed since then, and I really appreciate the console- with games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Bloodborne, Rocket League, and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, it's hard not to give the system its due. The reason it ranks lower than the Wii U is because I still have far less reasons to play it than I do the Wii U, and I still don't enjoy quite as many games on it- of course, with how stacked the lineup is this year, it's probably going to gain on the Wii U and even the Vita. It's getting too much stuff for me to ignore it any longer. - XBOX ONE
In all fairness, I haven't had much time with the Xbox One, so it ranking this low is more a matter of default formality than anything the system itself did wrong. I owned it for a few months, and realized it was a decent system, albeit one with no compelling reasons for me to want it (it still has none for me- I am waiting on ReCore and Scalebound to hopefully change that), which ultimately led to me divesting myself of it. It's a good system I am sure, and I would have a more informed opinion on it had I spent more time with it. I didn't, so I don't, and it ends at the bottom of my list by default as a result.
That's mine, then. How about you? How do you rank your systems, and why?
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