Poll: Which is the most significant gaming device?

[NDstephan]

I gotta go with the Playstation on this one. Granted it wasn't the FIRST CD based system; it WAS the first to do it right.

And while I know Nintendo has the powerhouse names like Mario and the original Final Fantasy, I take points away for sticking with the cartridge with the N64 when the PSone was showing superiority in game graphics and costs.

 

[Awexsome]

NES was the one that started it all. Playstation was HUGE for making the next step onto disks but the NES was the one who made videogames popular to make that step to begin with.

Oh and it's really easy to find the PC fanboys when they have to bring up their oh so perfect PC in an argument about the significant consoles. Just sad...

 

[Woodsey]

The PC, since that's what they're made on.

 

[Donbett1974]

I say pong arcade without it there would be no video games.

 

[F-I-D-O]

NES brought games back to life
Playstation introduced the CD format, and was a major competitor for Nintendo (fun fact: originally worked with Nintendo on a CD reader for the S/NES, but when Nintendo stopped the project, Sony made the console anyway)
Then Gameboy, as handhelds introduced even more to gaming
Then XBox for Halo. Because of Halo, consoles finally had a FPS to be proud of, and made huge leaps for the genre
Then Wii. Motion controls are a big deal, but arcades had much older motion controlled punching games/fishing games. Not exactly new tech, it just brought it into the home.
Never used a Mega Drive

 

[F-I-D-O]

I think it is the Playstation. It brought memory cards
snip

Don't remember when the Dreamcast was made, but there where special memory cards for it that could be programmed to show things on it's screen (say, health or inventory in a RE game), and could even play special games (maybe raise a Cho (I think) from a Sonic game) on the go. That might predate handheld games.
Forgot about the good ol' dualshock. That was a huge leap for consoles.

 

[loc978]

Of that list, the NES... it really continued popularization where Atari left off.

For an "other" option, the personal computer. Hear me out, now, I'm not just fanboying. Major leaps forward in hardware have generally been due to PC makers competing for who can make the highest-end server system (including the current-gen consoles, which use derivatives of IBM server hardware). Every game you play on a console was also designed on high-end editing PCs (mostly macs) loaded with design software that retails in the thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars. Basically, the entire video game industry as we know it today grew out of the computer industry...

 

[IamQ]

I'm gonna go with the NES, since it revitalized the gaming industry after the video game crash of 83 and brought gaming closer to the mainstream. Who knows what gaming would look like today without it? I don't.

Aye, this man be talking sense.

 

[Savagezion]

pc. without it. none of these would exist. very poor choice in poll options

I think this is the best example of a few peoples comments on this. If you read my further information, this is only for 'gaming devices', a PC is in part a gaming device, so were the Atari series, Apple II, Commodore 64, the list goes on, but their primary function encompasses more than that, so I couldn't include any of these, despite the fact some were quite well known for being associated with gaming.

So this is why PC isn't a valid option. I own a gaming PC, I built it, and I built it solely with games in mind, does it do anything else? Yes, it does. Some have also mentioned, that the the 'pure' game device is rarer these days, as everything is blending into one, phones are gaming devices, gaming devices are internet browsers, soon phone will be an add-on to something with another primary task, possibly (eg. iPads ect). But I still retain that something built, with the primarily objective of gaming in mind, will remain for some time, and therefore I stand by my poll choices.

Actually I was going to vote on the Atari as the Atari 2600 was solely for gaming and was pretty big. It kind of geared the culture in the west to be prime for the NES. Of the options I voted NES and will stand by that vote because the NES for a long time actually made people to refer to "video games" as "Nintendo". It would be like referring to all shoes as "Nikes". No other console has ever done that. Nintendo made itself the icon of video gaming from that system alone.

 

[parasyteFMA]

I would say Playstation only for the sole fact that it was the first system to successfully use discs as software.

 

[Jazoni89]

I think it is the Playstation. It brought memory cards, popularised the use of CD's for games, allowing for masses of content, brought us a stellar library of games, in my opinion topped only by the PS2, and brought in the dual analog sticks we see used today. I don't really feel the other even come close, except for the NES, because it saved video games and really brought them into people's homes.

But anyways, that's what I think without doing any research, just off the top of my head. Please correct me if I'm wrong at all.

Also, feels good to post again.

Contrary to popular belief, the Psone wasn't the first console to have memory cards, that honour goes to the Neo-geo AES which was released in 1990 (a full five years before the Playstation).

Popularised the use of disc for games?, Hardly. Their was the 3DO, Sega CD (Mega CD), Jaguar CD, Saturn, and the Amiga CD-32 that came out way before, and that's not even counting the hugely popular 1993 PC game Myst. It was that game which pioneered the use of cd's in games, and not the Playstation.

On topic, i think the Dreamcast, for the only reason that it gave us something us console owners now take for granted, and that is online play (though in a much different guise as it is today, and it was a much less convenient).

It was also way ahead of its time. Its hard to believe that Sonic Adventure with its bright colourful clean graphics came out in 1998, when something like metal gear solid came out on the psone on the exact same year. That just boggles the mind.

 

[random_bars]

Probably the Xbox, considering it pioneered online gaming on consoles (as far as I know). And considering this is the basis for the best selling franchise ever... Yeah, most significant IMO.

 

[loc978]

Probably the Xbox, considering it pioneered online gaming on consoles (as far as I know). And considering this is the basis for the best selling franchise ever... Yeah, most significant IMO.

The PS2 and Dreamcast actually pioneered that... the XBox popularized it.

 

[minisammy]

NES. That console was before my time but still had the biggest impact of all the options

 

[Conza]

I think it is the Playstation. It brought memory cards, popularised the use of CD's for games...

Popularised the use of disc for games?, Hardly. Their was the 3DO, Sega CD (Mega CD), Jaguar CD, Saturn, and the Amiga CD-32 that came out way before, and that's not even counting the hugely popular 1993 PC game Myst. It was that game which pioneered the use of cd's in games, and not the PlayStation.

On topic, i think the Dreamcast, for the only reason that it gave us something us console owners now take for granted, and that is online play (though in a much different guise as it is today, and it was a much less convenient).

It was also way ahead of its time. Its hard to believe that Sonic Adventure with its bright colourful clean graphics came out in 1998, when something like metal gear solid came out on the psone on the exact same year. That just boggles the mind.

Depending on how you read that, one of us has misunderstood the comment, if he means console games, not games in general, then I believe he's correct. Can you name one console that was released post the PlayStation that used cartridges? Are there any? PlayStation introduced laser discs as a 'standard', for consoles (so how I read it, the Myst comment helped popularise the CD-ROM for gaming, in general, but not for consoles). I think the earlier consoles you referred to helped kick off the idea, it certainly wasn't original to the PlayStation, but the PlayStation?s success can be clearly correlated to the death of cartridge consoles, and the era of laser disc consoles.

Interesting how you think of Dreamcast, I was tempted to list it, but ultimately, despite its internet gaming pioneering, as a failed console, meant I couldn't add it, its largest significance I think would be it was the departure of Sega from consoles.

Actually I was going to vote on the Atari as the Atari 2600 was solely for gaming and was pretty big.

In hindsight, I think if I were to re-do this, I'd remove Game Boy, and make this a purely 'console' based discussion, I'd add the Mega Drive (properly) and another Sega System either Dreamcast or Saturn, the PS2 and the Atari 2600, as that is a valid point, I didn't do enough research into the Atari systems, which although started as computers, turned into consoles, beginning with the 2600.

However, despite this poll not being perfectly designed, at the moment, we can conclude that the NES is thought to be the most significant, followed by the PlayStation, with the others trailing quite a bit behind.

 

[SeaCalMaster]

Probably the Xbox, considering it pioneered online gaming on consoles (as far as I know). And considering this is the basis for the best selling franchise ever... Yeah, most significant IMO.

I'm curious as to what you think is the best-selling franchise ever. Wikipedia's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_game_franchises] list doesn't contain any online-based franchises until the 16th entry.

 

[Irishhoodlum]

You need to divide it into more than just "playstation, xbox, NES etc". Why are half the Nintendo consoles in their own category while the Sony and Microsoft ones are divided? The 360 was "significantly" more popular than the original, but they're lumped together? And why are the Wii and NES divided, but no the N64? There is literally no sense to your organization.

Hypothetically however, if we were talking about individual gaming CONSOLE (which you could have mentioned in the title) then it would be the PS2 hands down. It's sold the most units by a wide margin and is still in use today. The only two that might come close are the NES and the Gameboy color.

 

[Aur0ra145]

The Dreamcast.

It was realms ahead of any console at the time.

Thanks varulfic.

As for you other three, I hope you're all writing posts to this thread, seeing as you voted.

EDIT: Nine people now, nine, voted without posting, thanks guys, this is great discussion happening right here.

Deal with it.

I came in here with the intent of referencing the Dreamcast, mainly because of its internet capabilities. It was the first console to include a built-in modem and Internet support for online play.