The video game console industry has a long and rich history, from the early years of Magnavox and Atari to the Nintendo / Sega era to the current triathlon between Sony / Nintendo / Sega.
In other words, there is no real shortage of machines to choose from when it comes to choosing our favorite game consoles of all time. And that’s exactly what we asked Android authority Team to do. We had 11 consoles that made the cut based on responses from 16 of our most passionate console game fans. Here is what our team picked!
The results
The results speak for themselves when you look at the following graphs, in which the results are organized by individual console or manufacturer. Scroll past these graphs for more detailed results and reminders from our team!
Results by console
Results by manufacturer
Sony PlayStation 2 (3 votes)
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
Is it any surprise that the PlayStation 2 was the only console that received more than two votes in total in this poll? Sony’s second PlayStation foray remains the most successful home console of all time, so it stands to reason that some Android authority Team members have a special place in their hearts for this.
Luke Little, Jonathan Feist and Nick Fernandez all chose the PS2 as their all-time favorite. Luke has positive (if cheeky) memories of growing up with the console:
“That was my childhood console. In combination with the HD Loader, which enabled us to save games on an internal hard drive, in the era of game rental from Blockbuster and Hollywood Video (RIP) it was a blasting powerhouse that I still come back to frequently today . “
Meanwhile, Nick says voting wasn’t really easy as he was torn between the PS2 or the original Xbox. “But no matter how much time I’ve spent playing Halo / Halo 2 (I’ve even organized tournaments), I have to work with the PlayStation 2,” he explains. “Everything from the controller to the console itself (I bought the internal hard drive to play FFXI online) was top notch and served as my main DVD player for over a decade.”
Read more: PlayStation History – From console novice to all-conquering veteran
He also points to the “absolutely incredible” game library in each genre, and says there are tons of PS2 titles he’d still love to play. And that’s always a sign that a console was great.
Jonathan chose the PS2 in part because it’s the newest console he owns, but he also has great memories of playing Need for Speed with a projector. “Has PC games counted as a console since then?” He asks. Unfortunately not, Mr. Feist.
SNES (2 votes)
Oliver Cragg / Android Authority
Andrew Grush and C. Scott Brown chose the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) as their all-time favorite game console.
Andrew outlines why he chose the SNES, and it ultimately boils down to horsepower and games:
“Because it had cutting edge graphics and replaced the older Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive outside of North America). Not to mention the games: Super Mario RPG, Mario World, Yoshi’s Island, Chrono Trigger, several Final Fantasy games, Mario Kart, Harvest Moon. The list goes on and on. “
“This was the console I grew up with, so it has a special place in my heart,” said Scott, explaining his decision to join the SNES. He also lists some killer titles for the console, namely Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, and Super Mario RPG.
Scott has yet another reason to choose the SNES, to praise the controller design and to say that manufacturers are still emulating it today. He’s not wrong with companies like 8bitdo bringing out SNES-style gamepads.
Nintendo 64 (2 votes)
Jimmy Westenberg and Oliver Cragg chose the Nintendo 64 as their favorite game console and they both say it was the first home console they ever owned (ah, bless).
Jimmy recalls his experience with the cart-toting console:
“We opened it on Christmas morning. I don’t think there is literally a gift that could beat that! It came with Mario Kart 64 – a classic. I later became obsessed with Super Mario 64, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Star Fox 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Pokémon Snap, Pokémon Stadium, Star Wars Episode 1: Racer, Tony Hawks Pro Skater and of course Super Smash Bros. ”
Oddly enough, Jimmy says he still loves the rather unorthodox N64 gamepad. Oliver, meanwhile, admits that the controller is strange and that many games haven’t aged well. Even so, he still has fond memories of the 64-bit machine.
“I had played console games with friends before, but the N64 was my first real home console (I had an Amiga 500 before). Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Goldeneye, WWF No Mercy, Mario Kart 64, Perfect Dark, Jet Force Gemini, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron; just so many classics. “
Nintendo Switch (2 votes)
Nintendo’s newest console also received two votes, as both Luke Pollack and Chris Thomas cast their votes for the portable machine.
Luke points to Nintendo’s library of first-party games like Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Link’s Awakening. “With most other performance-hungry titles, I can experience this on my PC,” he adds.
More switch coverage: Everything you need to know about the Nintendo Switch
Chris also points out the games library, and kudos indeed:
“I’ve used this console more than my SNES, NES, Xbox and N64 because of the game collections it offers, but also the much more sophisticated control options compared to the Wii.”
Both also point to the switch’s portability factor as the main reason for the choice. Chris says it’s versatile in that regard and that having multiple docks makes life a lot easier. Luke also praises the switch’s portability, citing the example of being able to take it on a flight and seamlessly connect to a big screen when it comes home.
The best of the rest
There were a couple of other consoles chosen by Android authority Team members as their favorites, and we have a Microsoft representative courtesy of Ankit Banerjee and Palash Volvoikar.
Ankit generally chose the Xbox brand, but found that it currently owns the Xbox Series X. Interestingly, he chose the Xbox brand because of a franchise.
Palash, on the other hand, says the Xbox One S is his favorite game console. And its reason lies essentially in the pricing. This is what he has to say:
“Console games have historically not been very accessible in India. Either the consoles were too expensive, or the games, or both. The Xbox One S was a landmark in this area. A price you could justify paired with the Xbox Game Pass – which meant I could pay very little for a fairly compelling package. I’ve had some great days on mine and it’s still a surprisingly sweet gaming experience. “
We also have two Nintendo handhelds on the list as Dhruv Bhutani chose the Game Boy Advance and Matt Horne points to the original Game Boy.
The deciding factor for Dhruv is the GBA’s game library, and it’s hard to argue with that. Nintendo’s 2001 handheld would amass a ton of great titles, from various Pokémon games and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap to the Advance Wars series and the cult classic Golden Sun. There were even loads of SNES ports and a decent selection of first person shooters.
Matt picked the original Game Boy out of nostalgic reasons. Take it away, Matt:
“It was the first gaming device I got and I played with Tetris, Mario Bros and Bubble Bobble for hours!”
We’ve already had three people choose the PlayStation 2 as their all-time favorite game console, but John Dye points to the PlayStation 3 instead. It was a throw between the N64 and PS3 for John, and he remembers renting the N64 and getting excited about titles like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
“Those are intense, positive memories, but in terms of the quality and variety of games that kept me and my friends together as we drifted into different careers, the PS3 has no competition,” he replies, lamenting the button icons on PlayStation Controller. “Just give them letters! I don’t want to waste three syllables telling a friend to press the triangle to jump. “
What’s your favorite game console of all time?
Only one Sega console makes the list, and that’s because John Callaham chose Dreamcast. John points out the great library of games as well as the groundbreaking online connectivity. “Soul Calibur is still my favorite fighting game of all time,” he adds.
Me? I was torn between the Nintendo GameCube and the Xbox 360 and I just had to go with the ‘Cube. Yes, there weren’t many games compared to the PS2 or even the original Xbox. Sure, locating GameCube games locally was a huge challenge as in my part of the world only one retail chain had them in stock (and then abandoned the system a few years later).
But the sheer quality of the GameCube titles was astounding and I found myself playing The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Resident Evil 4, the WWE: Day of Reckoning games, Animal Crossing, and Metal playing Gear Solid: The twin snakes.
My group of friends even shared a memory card and passed Animal Crossing on to each other. That is, when we weren’t playing Mario Kart, Mario Party or WWE: Day of Reckoning 2 for four players.
What’s your favorite game console of all time? Let us know via the comments section below!
