Steam deck

Dreamcast.

I had a retro game emulator on a burnt disc and that was the most fun I’ve ever had.

Then I dated a crack enthusiast who stole it.

I think my all time favorite is the N64. Some aspects haven’t aged all that well — the controller is obviously weird by modern standards — but it was such a huge jump from 2D gaming. It was new and exciting in ways that are almost impossible now.

And I still like how weird it was. There was tons of experimentation by developers while figuring out how this new era would work on top of the usual fun, Nintendo quirkiness in the first party games. The PS2 and Xbox ended up setting the standard for modern gaming controls, optical discs, and all the rest but the N64 lived in a weird, fun transition space between retro and modern.

PC

Ooh, that's a tough call... I really can't say I have a single favorite, best I can do is say a favorite per generation:

1. Pong - the one that started it all. Also taught everyone about screen burn in.

2. Atari 2600 - Hands down, one of the all time greats.

3. NES - Hard to beat Super Mario 3, but my favorite game of this generation was Phantasy Star on the Sega Master System.

4. Sega Genesis - Sorry, the SNES never grabbed me, although Super Star Wars was a great game. Best home version of Street Fighter II was on the Turbo Grafx/Duo of all things.

• I'm going to add an "unofficial" generation here. You will never see this on any official list. Call it 4.5. There was a weird period of time where everyone and their cousin was doing a CD based machine. Sega CD, Turbo CD, Pioneer LaserActive, a whole bunch of crappy "set top boxes" like the Phillips CDi and Tandy Viz. The best of the bunch, with the most games and the best games was the Sega CD.

5. Playstation - Another all time great.

6. As much as I love the Dreamcast, it was murdered pre-maturely by Sega. Xbox and Halo just demolished everything else. I don't know that we ever got an official "Halo Killer" until it suicided with Halo Infinite.

7. Xbox 360 - Sony handicapped itself with the overly complex cell processor. Games just weren't as good as the 360.

8. PS4 - In this case, Microsoft handicapped itself by fundamentally misunderstanding why people buy consoles. It's to play games, not "tv, tv, tv, tv, tv, sports, tv, tv, tv."

• Another unofficial generation, call it 8.5, where you had the PS4 Pro, Xbox One S and Xbox One X - The One X was the clear winner with more power, 4K enhancements and a 4K Blu Ray player.

9. Playstation 5 - Microsoft is losing the plot with Gamepass, to the detriment of the entire industry.

PlayStation 2 due to it’s game library.

SNES. The console had enough power for great games while still having obvious limitations the developers acknowledged. The great SNES games still look and play good today.

The PSX/N64 generation, despite having some great games, has aged horribly because they started chasing that photorealism dragon.

Wii U

It's a 3-way tie I think. Since the Steam Deck can emulate almost anything, that's a winner. But for legacy consoles, the 3DS and PSP have probably eaten up most of my game time. Between those two, the 3DS has a massive catalogue of games unique to its dual-screen touch interface, so...I guess the 3DS?

SEGA Genesis. Altered Beast is still a favorite game.

PlayStation 2. Some of the best games ever made, full compatibility with its predecessor which itself had an incredible library, AND easily hackable!

Shame about the controller, though.

The Wii U.

Steam Deck, for sure. I can play games from any other console.

Probably Nintendo game cube. But from what I now a Wii U that’s modded can natively play Wii and GameCube games and emulate the earlier Nintendo games.

I like couch party games and between the Wii U and n64 there is no shortage of them.

Xbox 360. Best controller only slightly beat by the Xbox One/Xbox Series X because of USB type C but I miss that ergonomic feel of the 360 design and the Xbox metallic button with that light that told you which player you were.

Most of my favorite games are on that system or their first entries started there (Gears of War, Crackdown, etc.) and I had some good memories from that time in 2006-2009.

Also miss that classic Blades dashboard. Wish I could go back to some late night gaming with that UI and Halo 3/Call of Duty 4/Rainbow Six multiplayer or single player on Fable II and F.E.A.R.

3ds just beautiful, good library, affordable, still running to these days

Definitely the Okama Gamesphere.

Nintendo DS had the most insanely stacked library, way too many incredible games.

It's a shame how many of them are unlikely to ever see a rerelease on modern hardware. Or how many of them wouldn't be the same experience even if they tried.

I have trouble choosing between SNES, GBA, and GameCube, but probably SNES

Switch because it's been amazing for indies and the modding scene is fire.

Tough call.

Probably the PS2, for access to the entire PSX and PS2 library. But I'm afraid that it would feel dated if I actually went back it - I haven't played one in years, and it was my childhood console gen, so it's possible it's the nostalgia speaking.

Probably the PS3. Got it at a time in my life when I didn't have much direction, and then stumbled into Demon's Souls while I thought I was waiting for Skyrim to come out. I still play my second PS3 after playing my first one to death.

The X-Box 360 takes it for me as an overall winner. It had a great and expansive library of games, and aside the red ring of death (I never got one) it just worked.

I'd almost put the N64 as a second place contender because it has so many great games, but that controller has never been good. It might be visually iconic but it's so clunky. 3rd part controllers exist now that are more shaped for human hands and I am baffled why Nintendo didn't do that from the start.

As a kid we had the coleco.

Then I was in college and poor. Then working. And working. And working. I honestly never (re)gained the ability to fight with my thumbs, but I'm a force of nature on a bog-standard Dell keyboard and mouse.

I've had most of them, the big exceptions being the SNES and anything Sega. I think the one I've used the most, have had the most games for, and hands down my favorite, is the PS4.

PS3 and N64 are a close second and third.

I am most nostalgic about the PS1 era. But I could probably be persuaded to pick some others, it is a close call.

I grew up with a Wii and an Atari 2600, and my favorite console is, no surprise, probably the 2600. Both because I put wayyy too much time into it, and because it's incredibly neat from a hardware perspective (seriously, that anyone actually managed to make functioning games on it is a miracle).

Atari 2600. It’s the only console I ever owned and played. It was C-64/128, then nothing but PCs until today.

Nintendo Switch OLED.

In my opinion it's the perfect console form factor. Portable yet dockable when needed, detachable Joycons that can turn into 2 controllers for multiplayer games and a bright and vibrant OLED screen.

it's unfortunate that it's severely locked down by Nintendo, held back by its weak processor and Nintendo dropped the ball with Joycon drift.

Xbox Series X but it is the only console I ever had.

Mine. It has all my games on it.

I have a nostalgic attachment to the Nintendo GameCube. It was the first console I bought with my own money and I spent possibly THOUSANDS of hours on that thing.