The best video game consoles of all time, ranked

digitaltrends.com:

What makes a great video game console?

It’s a bit of an existential question. It’s much easier to discuss what makes a great video game, as they can be dissected as communicative artworks. A video game console is different. It’s a hunk of plastic that plays those games. In our modern era, those devices have become more and more homogenized. An Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 have roughly the same features and even share a large library of games. What really differentiates one from the other? Is it the shape of a controller? A handful of good exclusives?

While the exercise of ranking consoles may sound silly, it does force one to meditate on those questions. To create a ranked list of the best consoles of all time, we had to look back at decades of hardware and home in on what makes some stick fondly in our memories. After a lot of soul searching and reflecting on the devices that built gaming’s history, we’ve come up with a list that reminds us what makes playing games so special. It’s not just about the games, but the sense of industry evolution that we get to play a role in as players.

• Your video game consoles could become much more expensive soon
• Best gaming console deals: cheapest prices on PS5, Xbox S and X and Switch
• The best Xbox 360 games of all time

10. Nintendo GameCube

While every aspect of a list like this is always going to ruffle some feathers, I imagine the GameCube’s inclusion over the Nintendo 64 or Wii might be a point of controversy. It’s one of Nintendo’s least successful systems from a sales perspective and certainly doesn’t have the same cultural cache as what came before and after it. Even so, the GameCube earns its spot for one key reason: a fantastic game library. While the Wii’s games often relied on messy motion gimmicks and a lot of