5. Nintendo Wii  Song of the System: Final Destination – Super Smash Bros. Brawl

With most people considering the Wii Nintendo’s lucky money printing machine that rode the wave of excitement created by the fact that the entire world was amazed by how you could virtually bowl by swinging a stick, many will probably be surprised to see it so high in a list of the greatest five video game systems the world has ever seen. Though overlooked, I believe that the Wii has one of the strongest libraries of all systems. And though its most noted feature is introducing the world to sometimes excellent, sometimes game-destroying motion control, the Wii allowed players to use Gamecube controllers, SNES styled classic controllers, or simply turn the Wii Remote sideways to emulate the feel and function of the original NES gamepad. This was awesome for lots of Wii games released, but this is also connected to another of the Wii’s strengths. It could play Gamecube discs, and the Virtual Console system allowed you to download games from the excellent systems of Nintendo’s past. If you look beyond the shovelware and plastic snap-on Wii Sports accessories, the Wii has tons of worthwhile games and plenty it can do (especially if you mod it).

Worthwhile Games: Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, Pandora’s Tower, No More Heroes series, MadWorld, Fatal Frame 4 (JP only), LightGun games (Resident Evil Chronicles, House of the Dead series, Ghost Squad, etc), Super Mario Galaxy series, Disaster: Day of Crisis (no US release), Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Lost in Blue: Shipwrecked, Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, and more.

4. PlayStation 3  Song of the System: Old Snake – Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots

A system that launched with the awkwardness and arrogance that matched my attitude at the time as a 13 year old, later grew into a respected, well rounded system, with tons of abilities, which will hopefully match up with my life any day now (;.;). Having been late to the Nintendo vs. Sega party, and never understanding the debate between Sony and Nintendo fans (why not both?), this was the console war I fought in. The pride of many angry teenagers on the Xbox 360 side was crushed under my wordy posts on how nothing released on their system would ever match the marvel, hype, or excellence of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. I stand by that statement, but I look back on all those early teenage, early PlayStation 3 years with embarrassment, as I’m sure Sony does. After being served an entire humble pie in the form of losing market share to Xbox, and having Nintendo Wii rocketing past both systems so early in the race that they wouldn’t catch up in their entire lifespans, the PlayStation 3 had a huge turnaround. Thanks to incredible new exclusive IPs like LittleBigPlanet, Uncharted, Heavy Rain, and inFamous, stealing exclusives back from Xbox like the Tales of series, Dead Rising, Ninja Gaiden, and Mass Effect, effective marketing campaigns,  and being the go-to system for JRPGS, the system finished neck and neck with the Xbox 360 in sales before the launch of the 8th generation, but far ahead both Xbox and Nintendo in terms of game selection in the 7th gen. With an excellent digital selection, the introduction of the Netflix-for-Games styled service PlayStation Plus, its impressive multimedia functionality, and full backwards compatibility in its first 3 models, the PS3 lands at fourth for me.

Worthwhile Games: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, Elder Scrolls series, Killzone series, Resistance series, inFamous series, Uncharted series, LittleBigPlanet series, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, Deadly Premonition: Director’s Cut, Catherine, Dragon’s Crown, Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, Journey, Flower, Shadows of the Damned, Gran Turismo series, 3D Dot Game Heroes, Demon’s Souls, Ratchet & Clank series, Puppeteer, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Fallout 3 and New Vegas, God of War series, Sly Cooper series, Hyperdimension Neptunia series, Tales of series, Datura, The Last of Us, and more.

3. Nintendo 64

Song of the System: Title Theme –  The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (here’s why)

Having four controller ports and being the home to some of the greatest multiplayer games of all time (Mario Kart 64, Super Smash Bros, Mario Party, Pokemon Stadium, GoldenEye 64), you’ll likely still see this system taken to parties and gaming gatherings even today.  However the 64 isn’t known only for its Martian controllers or couch-filling software. The N64 launched with Super Mario 64, a game that has influenced every 3D platformer since. Most importantly, with its aging cartridge format and awkward (in appearance, at least) controller, the system was the only place to play the highest ranked game on Metacritic to this day, and near universally agreed upon “Greatest Game of All Time”, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. And if you asked the few who don’t believe Ocarina to be the all time #1, they’ll probably say its Majora’s Mask, which is an N64 game as well.

Worthwhile Games: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Mario Kart 64, Super Smash Bros, Mario Party series, Pokemon Stadium series, Pokemon Snap, Hey You! Pikachu, Killer Instinct Gold, GoldenEye 64, Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64, Pilotwings 64, Hybrid Heaven, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Banjo Kazooie series, Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, Super Mario 64, Paper Mario, Mario Tennis, WWF No Mercy, Wrestlemania 2000, Star Fox 64, F-Zero X, Animal Forest (JP only), Harvest Moon 64, Mystical Ninja starring Goemon, and more.

2. PlayStation

Song of the System: Time’s Scar – Chrono Cross

Born from a broken partnership with Nintendo, the Sony PlayStation launched with a fury in 1994 and changed video gaming from child’s play to a national pastime.  The world was not “red e”.

The PlayStation’s disc format allowed for games to include beautiful music and full voice acting for the first time, and despite “crispy” looking graphics, had games with beautiful worlds. Games with pre-rendered backgrounds were huge on the system, and also benefitted from the space afforded on CDs. Due to its impact on video gaming as a whole, along with its multiple “greatest of the generation” candidates (Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX,  Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2, Crash Bandicoot 2, Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night), the PlayStation is my second favorite system of all time.

Worthwhile Games: Final Fantasy series, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil series, Crash Bandicoot series, Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Spyro series, Bloody Roar series, Tekken series, Medievil series, Hot Shots Golf series, Ape Escape, Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu, Parappa the Rappa series, Silent Hill, Echo Night, LSD: Dream Emulator (JP Only),  Gran Turismo series, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, Legacy of Kain series, Bust a Groove series, Einhander, Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring, Oddworld series, Dino Crisis series, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, Breath of Fire series, Brave Fencer: Musashi, Parasite Eve series, MegaMan Legends series, The Legend of Dragoon, and more.

1. PlayStation 2

Song of the System: Hikari Orchestra – Kingdom Hearts

The most important piece of consumer technology since the television, the PlayStation 2 is the greatest selling video game console of all time, undoubtedly helped by the fact that it has more games than any other console (2000+). I’ll never forget the feeling of coming home from school and seeing the beautiful blue box in my living room. My first play blew my mind, and I’d go to bed late every night and wake up every morning before school to play. For a kid already way too invested in characters made of pixels or a few polygons, to see characters I was already familiar with as blocky dolls in Tekken 3 become PHOTOREALISTIC (I felt at the time) in Tekken Tag Tournament opened my eyes to the potential and possibility of video games. The PlayStation 2 had this miraculous thing happen where the cost of development wasn’t exorbitant, and the install base was incredible, so developers could try crazy things without risking bankruptcy. The Nintendo Wii could have had the same situation, but unfortunately its gimmick lead to more shovelware, as opposed to creative games. But the PS2, Jesus, the PS2 had it all. Niche games, experimental games, kids games, AAA games, annual games, online games, shooters, simulators, genre bending games, genre defining games, and the creation of franchises that gaming wouldn’t be the same without today are all found on the PlayStation 2. The PlayStation 2 helped make DVDs a standard format, was one of the first systems to have backwards compatibility, and created one of the few golden ages in video game history. If the PlayStation made video games appeal to teens and adults, the PlayStation 2 made them appeal to the world. You should go back and play it sometime, it’ll still remember you. There will never be a game console with a library as diverse, plentiful, and enjoyable as the PS2. I’m going to go cry now.

Worthwhile Games (Oh, geez): Dark Cloud series, Airblade, the Bouncer, Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 3, EOE: Eve of Extinction, Fatal Frame series, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XII, Grand Theft Auto series, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Ratchet & Clank series, Gran Turismo series, Kingdom Hearts series, Indigo Prophecy, Mad Maestro, Mister Mosquito, Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color, God Hand, Red Dead Revolver, Max Payne series, Metal Gear Solid series, Onimusha series, Resident Evil series, Primal, Yakuza series, Orphen: Scion of Sorcery, Persona series, Shin Megami Tensei series, Silent Hill series, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, Siren, Tsugunai: Atonement, Viewtiful Joe series, Okami, War of the Monsters, Suikoden series, Spy Fiction, RAD: Robot Alchemic Drive, Echo Night: Beyond, Legacy of Kain series, Soul Calibur series, Tekken series, Virtua Fighter series, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Tony Hawk’s series, Jak and Daxter series, Sly Cooper series, way too many more to list.