Poll What Was The Best Console Of Last Gen Overall? (10 years) (93 votes)
With the new generation a year in, and last gen finally finishing up, let's look back at what was the best system over all last generation, I'll put come positives and Negatives of each system and you choose which of the 8 last generation consoles is the best.
XBOX 360:
the Xbox 360 released following the standard that the original Xbox introduced at the expense of writing it off. Powerful computer based architecture, Increasing the online and the User Interface for offline with New Xbox Experience (which would later be Windows 8 for further integration, opinion on that varies) tons of features in online gaming and in it's stores, Apps out the wazoo, stable multi-player gaming, and for better or worse, a giant leap into HD gaming beyond what was compatible with the original Xbox, whether that big jump is considered bad or good depends on the person, leading the industry into making bigger and better games, with integrated online experiences, Introducing new, and refined genres and mechanics, graphics that rival and beat PC in some areas (and that may never happen again) with 3 redesigns with faster PU's more stability, bigger storage space, and cool looks, the Xbox 360 was almost 100% ready out the gate,
Positives:
- Online gaming evolution from the standard integration set by the first Xbox console, along with a varied and large store front for games, music movies, apps and other goodies. Online multiplayer way ahead of everyone else.
- The start of the HD gaming revolution past the previous expectation of next generation consoles, allowing for more in depth and sophisticated gaming, influencing competitors as well.
- Multiple SKU's for the casual or hardcore gamer, from storage space, to update frequency, and prices to match.
- Integration between friends through various features like tagging, Party chat, etc. with Profile information and the free ability to add,
- Seamless integration between offline and online play, or even connecting socially within a game that is different from your friend whether it's on MP or SP.
- Double Down on harddrives as storage (although offered a card option for the crazy- I mean dedicated.)
- Tons of customization options on the Xbox interface itself or games (that are compatible)
- Kinect offered people not usual to the Xbox 360 ecosystem to Jump in.
- Achievements allowed developers to offer new challenges to players and give points per game for doing certain objective, adding longevity.
Negatives:
- RROD, latter fixed at the end of 2007, fully being thrown out by mid 2008 (old shipments still being sold not effected)
- Pay Wall for Apps for most of it's life, was debatable in earlier years, but when devices, not just for games, as well as game consoles, started catching up on the Apps and features they still kept the wall.
- Lack of a web Browser for most of it's life, limiting internet surfing to certain apps that had limits or modding (with high risk)
- For a good portion of life, instead of cash value, gift cards were exchanged for "points" that could cause issues with having left overs after buying from online stores.
- Lack of Wifi until the first revision built-in meant you had to either buy an add-on or use Ethernet etc.
- Xbox 360 E revision parts are order only and usually not in stores, except possibly Microsofts, no real advantage, losses a USB port and Enhanced Audio options.
Popular Best Selling Games:
- Halo 3, ODST, Reach, 4 (FPS)
- Gears of War 1,2,3 (TPS)
- Forza MotorSport 2,3,4 (Simuracer)
- Alan Wake (Action Adventure)
- Fable 2,3 (WRPG)
- Skyrim (Wrpg) Oblivion (Wrpg)
- COD MW3, COD BOPS, COD BOPSII, WaW, MW2 (FPS)
- Kinect Adventures (Kinect)
- Kinect Sports (Sports)
- Minecraft (Puzzle)
- Uno (Card game)
- Mass Effect 1-3 (Wrpg)
- Guitar Hero 2-3 (Music)
- Dead Rising (horror Beat em up)
- Splinter Cell Con/BL (Stealth)
- Viva Pinata (Puzzle Adventure)
- Dead or Alive 4 (Fighting)
- Fight Night 3/Champion (Fighting/Boxing)
- Fallout 3/New Vegas (Wrpg)
- GTAIV (Action Adventure)
- Read Dead Redemption (Action Adventure)
- Madden 10,11,12,13 (sports)
- Dance Central (Dancing)
- Crash Bandicoot Titans/Mind over Mutant (platformer)
- Sonic 2006/Unleashed (Platformer)
PlayStation 3:
The PlayStation 3 entered the 7th generation at the most expensive in Sony History up to that point. It was also the second consoles to jump on the HD train, although a bit barren at first eventually the PS3 managed to gain a ton of features including integration with multiple devices. Innovative methods of control like PSmove, and Sixaxis were introduced, the device also sports a Blu-ray player for more dics space, and the Cell CPU which would give the PS3 that much more power than it's predecessor, the PS2. At the start along with Blu-Ray it also came with Wifi, and backward compatibility with the PS2.
Positives:
- Blu-Ray had more space for games making multi-disc games very rare.
- At the start, PS3's were BC with PS2 games.
- The PS3 online integration and U.I. drastically improved over the years and offers intuitive use, fast speeds, and simple comprehension.
- PSMOVE offered a more accurate style of play to Casuals over the competition. With tons of family friendly games, and compatibility with core games.
- Wonderbook offered even more options for the younger audience usually associated with consoles by Vtech with interactive story telling through books.
- Free online allowed the PS3 (for better or worse) have all players have access to apps and online Multiplayer.
- PSN+ gen 1, when it started offered free games for your subscription as a reward. Though you need to keep the subscription, a variety of games have circulated
- PS3 offered remote play with Sony's portable system, the PSvita, the first console to do so and further enriching Sony's ecosystem.
- PShome offered new ways of socially interacting with friends. A universal hub.
Negatives:
- The price was way to high for a lot of people, even then losing the company money. This was eventually fixed to an extend.
- Blu-Ray drive in the PS3 required installation of most games to work. Or multiple installations of a game to work during later parts of a game.
- The above was a problem issue with storage for the first several years of life.
- PSN was usually for awhile laggy, lacked a lot of content, and didn't have much stability in design or security.
- The Cell caused numerous issues for developers, and also prevented access to all resource avaialble for games.
- YLOD plagued the PS3 for the first few years, widespread, despite popular belief (but not too much) however this problem has been fixed in recent years. Starting around the introduction of the Slim.
- Further PS3 revisions removed features such as BC with PS2 games, Inside Tray, USB ports, etc.
Popular Best Selling Games:
- Killzone 3,4 (FPS)
- Uncharted 1,2,3 (Action Adventure)
- GTAV (Action Adventure)
- Little Big Planet 1,2 (Puzzle Platformer)
- Resistance 1 ,2 (FPS)
- TLOU (Action Adventure)
- Final Fantasy XIII, XIII-2 (Jrpg)
- GT 5-6 (Simuracer)
- Metal gear Solid 4 (Stealth)
- God of War 3 (Hack & Slash)
- Fifa 10,11,12,13 (Sports)
- Ratchet and Clank ToD/CiT (Platformer)
- Sports Champions (Sports)
- Heavy Rain/BTS (Adventure)
- MotorStorm/PR (Arcade Racer)
- Infamous 1,2 (Action Adventure)
- Assassin's Creed 1,2,BH (Action Adventure)
- Battlefield 3, BC, BC2 (Fps)
- Street Fighter IV,Super,Ultra (Fighting)
- Dark Souls 1,2 (Arpg)
- Resident Evil 5, 6 (TPS)
- MLB Show series (Sports)
Wii:
The Wii was the console that had everyone wondering why. Just when it looked to be a joke it took off with getting kids and adults, not usually interested in gaming, to come to the console primarily with the game Wii Sports, the pack in. The Wii launched at a very cheap price, came with Wifi out the box, and offered Motion control gaming in place of buttons offering very easy and accessible gameplay. The Wii U VC allowed users to download games from older system from Nintendo and other companies, as well and a host of Apps that are accessible through it's online store. BC with the previous Nintendo console, Gamecube, is pretty much built in, and even has the GC controller ports inside, offering even a wider range of gaming experiences.
Positives:
- Offered casual friendly gaming with simple games.
- Improved motion controls for gaming compared to past attempts by companies.
- Cheap price point.
- A lot of initial support (for better or worse)
- It made money
- Wifi out the Box.
- Improved online system enabled for better integration socially with friends.
Negatives:
- Shovel Ware galore
- Very slow online development along with few improvements.
- Ecosystem barren and limited and hard to connect with friends or new people with FC's.
- Graphics were below par for a high profile company.
- Lack of support in later years, crashed and burned.
- Wii Mini revision removed a ton of features, that pretty much made the Wii a Wii.
- Few games took advantage of the motion controls.
- Disc Read Failures in starting years.
- Additional Control methods not involving the Gamecube controller requires to be attached to the Wii controller instead of a stand-alone accessory.
- Lack of over all system improvements through it's life cycle.
- Online Multiplayer heavily unstable with minimal improvement through it's life cycle.
Popular Best Selling Games:
- Wii Series (Wii)
- Just Dance Series (Dancing)
- Red Steel 1,2 (FPS)
- Sonic Secret Rings/Colors/&Mario (On rails/Platformer/Sports)
- Zelda TP/SWS (Action Adventure)
- Mario Galaxy 1,2, NSMB (platformer)
- Super Smash bros. Brawl (Partyigthing)
- Mario Party 8,9 (Party)
- DKC R (platformer)
- Kirby Return/Yarn (platformer)
- Metroid Prime 3 (FPS)
- Big Brain Academy (Education)
- Super Paper Mario (Jrpg)
- Animal Crossing (AnimalcareSimulator)
- Micheal Jackson Experience (Sing/Dance)
- Carnival Games/New Carnival Games (Party)
Hyperscan:
The Mattel Hyperscan, like all attempts at gaming Mattel does with hardware, introduced innovative features that would eventually become a big deal in the industry years later. Hyperscan, while at various retailers, was primarily partnered to be sold through Radioshack stores as well as Staples (.......) and uh, introduced the concept of NFC for use of saving data, adding characters to a game, or using it to develop characters and use them at a friends consoles. This very idea worked seamlessly and ended up a big deal in the industry later. Mattel intended this for the entry level casual gamer, especially younger kids using popular franchise at the time through exclusive licensing deals. All games are not too complicated with a color coded controller, and cards being scanned without hassle. Graphics on the hyperscan focus on 2D gameplay then most other consoles at the time.
Positives:
- A new interactive way to play games.
- Cheap Price
- Intuitive design and gameplay
- Welcoming to casuals
- Exclusive games with big names from companies like marvel.
- Seamless integration.
Negatives:
- Mattel seemed unsure to even release the product with a severely cautious approach including horribly low initial shipments hurting demand and retailer interest. A very limiting retail association as well.
- It has like 6 games. Probably another concern of whether this system would work. Should have gone deeper in.
- Lack of online support and modern features really hurt the console.
- The 2D graphics are quite poor for todays standards.
Popular Best Selling Games:
- Marvel Heroes
- Spider-Man
- X-men
Zeebo:
Zeebo is a system aiming for emerging markets in mind or as a cheap alternative to other consoles. Zeebo is a more download based system that is used to play games already available on other platforms, however at very odd graphical settings and with less OR extra features not scene in other games. Games like SFIV, RE5, ifa, Need For Speed, Prey etc are examples of full fledged games, Angry Birds, Crash nitro Cart 3D, and Mobile Version of China Town Wars are examples of Phone games. The Zeebo, slightly more powerful than the Wii, ghas a vast library of existing games for cheap prices, whether it be a full AAA games, the mobile version of a full AAA or just a mobile games up-ported to the console with graphical enhancements. Using a similar controller set-up as the then popular Wii at the time of the systems release and support, to attract more People, the Zeebo was available in numerous countries. The console also has a couple dozen exclusives as well.
Positives:
- A large game library where even old content has updates.
- Cheap price
- Easy to access games with simple U.I.
- Good specs.
Negatives
- Not too many exclusives
- Requires Internet connection for access to a lot of games, hurting emerging markets factor.
- Terrible marketing.
- A lot of port rush jobs.
- Lack of games to push power of system.
- Other consoles ended up being toward the same price with more bang for the buck, slow price drop progress.
Best selling popular games not available.
Gamewave:
The Game Wave Entertainment System is a DVD player the focuses on the interactive part of the DVD player instead of being a actual DVD player or a games consoles, this is interesting due to the fact that it could seamlessly play movies with great quality out the box, beating other DVD players available at the time. The games used it's Remote control like controllers and can handle up to 6 players each, mostly geared toward family games or games that are turn based like playing triva games, or tic tac toe, board games, puzzles, etc. it even comes with a side slot that is attached solely for putting your Cases in.
Positives:
- Infrared Remote controllers for easy acess for casual families.
- Educational potential
- Place to put your game cases.
- Can Play DVDS better than most low-end DVD's at the time.
Negatives:
- Missing a lot of what a modern device, let alone a console, can do.
- Very small library of games.
- Lack of genre variety
- Very laggy interactivity.
- Tons of loading
Best selling popular games not available.
Well there you have it, these are the consoles that defined last generation, which was the best? Considering this generation is the most hard for many to decided it should be interesting.
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