What are the best gaming consoles?

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22

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Considered

59

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Recs.

Oct 22, 2019

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

20 Options Considered

Best gaming consoles	Price	Better than ps4?	Last Updated
-- Nintendo Switch	$299.99	-	Oct 22, 2019
-- x86 PC with Steam Big Picture	-	-	Oct 22, 2019
-- Playstation 4	$349	-	Jul 10, 2019
-- Xbox One	$399	Yes	Jul 9, 2019
-- Nintendo 3DS and 2DS	$199.99	-	Dec 1, 2018

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score 7 · Answer 1

Nintendo Switch

Top Pro

You can play in your home or go portable and take your game anywhere

What's nice about Nintendo Switch is you can play it at home using your TV. But you can also turn this into a handheld device that you can take anywhere just by sliding the controllers into the Nintendo Switch. See More

Top Con

Problems with screen glare

It's difficult to play with a lot of light falling on the screen due to glare issues. For example, you probably will not be able to play outside in the sun, since the game is simply not visible. See More

Top Pro

Environmentally friendly

While gaming the system needs only 12 W, compared to a PS4 Pro(150 W) and a Xbox One X(~170 W) which is a clear advantage. See More

Top Con

Nintendos policy is questionable

Nintendo sued many fan projects and rivals over the last years. See More

Top Pro

There are other accessories available for you to buy and switch to and play with

They have stuff like the Joy-Con charging grip that lets you still play even while you're still charging and the Joy-Con Wheel, which looks pretty much like a driving wheel of a car for those racing games. See More

Top Con

Doesn't have a wide variety of popular games yet

If you are not into playing Zelda, there's not that much for you to do with this console right now. The game lineup is not comparable to Xbox One or PS4. The console is not backwards compatible, so you will not be able to play your old games on it either. See More

Top Pro

You can use your controller for one or two players

Depending on the game you're playing, you can actually use your left and right controllers as one unit or give the other half to another player. See More

Top Con

Poor battery life

If you're playing for example Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you can expect 3.5 hours of gaming before you have to charge the console. Many other portable consoles last longer. See More

Top Pro

It's easy to put your controllers in other control accessories

You just have to slide the left and right controllers out to remove, and slide it into the slots to attach to another accessory. See More

Top Pro

It provides you with everything you'll need to dock and play in TV mode

You'll get a Nintendo Switch Dock, Nintendo Switch AC adapter, and an HDMI cable to use on your TVs. See More

Top Pro

The left and right controllers are detachable

As the name implies, you can just remove and switch your controllers to other available accessories. See More

Top Pro

Very flexible

You can use it as a stationary console with your TV or transform it into a portable gaming device in literally seconds. You will keep all the data and can continue your game on the go. See More

Top Pro

It has great graphics and controllers and games

Top Pro

Comfortable to hold

Nitendo Switch is light and feels comfortable in hand. It doesn't cause any wrist strain. It also has a kickstand that folds out from the back of the console, so you can put it on the table. See More

Top Pro

Unique

This sounds obvious, but if you really think about it, this is a much rarer feature than it should be. Console makers were once praised for their innovation, bringing new ideas into the industry, but today, we just get two companies essentially making prebuilt PCs and competing with each other for benchmarks, and a third company taking risks and making truly unique gaming machines. See More

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score 3 · Answer 2

x86 PC with Steam Big Picture

Top Pro

Quickly supports new features

As the PC-Platform constantly evolves, so does your machine. It is a long-term solution as you can always replace older hardware with newer too keep your system up-to-date. See More

Top Con

Still needs a keyboard or a mouse

The system still needs a keyboard or a mouse to comfortably configure the underlying Windows or Linux system.(It also works with a Steam Controller and the virtual keyboard) See More

Top Pro

Games are cheap

There are plenty of stores and key-stores where you can buy Steam games. See More

Top Con

Hardware is expensive

Hardware is more advanced and powerful, however its also far more expensive than a console that shares the same Hardware for many years. See More

Top Pro

Customizable

Hardware configuration depends only on the budget you want to invest See More

Top Con

PC becomes almost useless for other PC tasks

If you use SteamOS or a WindowsPC that is configured to directly boot into Steam BigPicture it's now very hard to use the PC now for other tasks than gaming. See More

Top Pro

Plenty of games

You can run any game made for PC, there are also emulators for almost anything from Android to NES. See More

Top Con

Windows based Steam machine is not ready to go

To use a Windows PC as a Steam machine you might need some custom tweaks like: Windows Explorer(default shell) must be replaced with Steam Big Picture Windows autologin must be configured Steam user needs full Windows administrator rights Note: Some PC manufacturers already sell preconfigured PCs that directly boot into Steam. See More

Top Pro

Much cheaper in the long term

A PC is much cheaper than a console since you don't have to reinvest every few years in to a new console generation that is incompatible with you current one. See More

Top Pro

Desktop Mode

You can do a lot more with a PC than with any console eg install a text/word editor, add a printer to it and you have a office station. See More

Top Pro

Supports almost any controller/gamepad

Any controller that has an USB connector or supports Bluetooth will probably work See More

See All

score 3 · Answer 3

Playstation 4

Top Con

Not cross-platform-friendly

Sony doesn't support cross-platform gaming. See More

Top Pro

Controllers have headphone jack, touchpad & speakers

Top Con

Vita's remote play still needs work to be useful

Top Pro

Some classic PS3 games can be played on PS4 through Playstation Now

Top Con

Online multiplayer requires a monthly subscription

Top Pro

Great controllers

Top Pro

Cross-play support allows seamlessly continuing a game between Vita and PS4

See All

score 4 · Answer 4

Xbox One

Top Pro

Stream games to PC

Top Con

Pay for online multiplayer

On top of having to pay for the console and games you have to pay for online multiplayer, not once but monthly. See More

slantkid's Experience

I like it because I have it too and it works great. See More

Specs

Better than ps4?:Yes

Top Pro

An external hard-drive can easily be connected to increase storage space

Top Con

Online multiplayer requires a subscription

Playing against others over the internet requires a subscription of $2.50/month. See More

Top Pro

Amazing reddit community

Active community can be found on the subreddit /r/xboxone. See More

Top Con

Kinect's voice control still needs some work

Top Pro

Beam streaming app

Top Con

Weaker graphics

Many games designed for multiple platforms, for example PS4 or PC (as well as X1), have to be upscaled when deployed to X1 due to lack of raw graphical power. See More

Top Pro

Kinect is optional

Xbox One can be bought without a Kinect See More

Top Con

Very few games with proper Kinect support

Top Pro

Kinect allows controlling the console using voice commands

See All

score 2 · Answer 5

Nintendo 3DS and 2DS

Top Pro

Nintendo exclusives

Has tons of awesome exclusives you can't get on any other system. See More

Top Con

Portable device

It has a tiny screen. See More

Top Pro

Highly portable

The 3DS is small and wireless so you can take it on plane rides or with you to school. See More

Top Con

Lacks games of certain genres

Especially in racing and shooting games. See More

Top Pro

The design is so good

In my personal opinion it looks better than the switch in looks not hardware See More

Top Con

Virtual console is weak

The virtual console could be so much better than it is. It's very lacking in games compared to a console like the Wii's virtual console. See More

Top Pro

Download Play

Download Play enables wireless connections for local multi-player games, which works great when playing with friends. See More

Top Pro

Free online multiplayer

Online multiplayer is free, there is no cost to play online at any time. See More

Top Pro

Cheap cost

Cost less than most systems of this generation, though this is a portable and is comparatively priced when taking that into account. In the long run, this is also a less expensive system as the games are cheaper over other consoles as well. See More

See All

Answer 6

NVIDIA SHIELD Console

Add Video or Image

score 2 · Answer 7

Nintendo Wii

Top Con

Nintendo Store and friend codes no longer work

However, you can get around some of these issues using downloads on the internet and an SD card. (Ex: Importing friend tokens) See More

Top Pro

The first Nintendo console to introduce the modern features we take for granted on the Wii U and Nintendo Switch

These include Nintendo store, the Mii, friend codes, integrated internet, integrated Netflix, etc. See More

Top Con

Discontinued

The console was discontinued in 2017 Worldwide See More

Top Pro

Completly backward compatable with GameCube

This includes the Game link controller. See More

Top Con

In most games the motion controls feel extremely forced

See All

Answer 8

PC Engine (TurboGrafx 16 in the US)

Top Pro

Great shoot 'em up Arcade ports

It had the best Shoot 'em up ports of 4th gen consoles. See More

score 1 · Answer 9

PlayStation 2 Slim

Top Con

Difficult to find good condition games anymore

Any games found for the PS2 are pretty much guaranteed to not be in the original packaging. You would be lucky to find a like new condition game. See More

Top Pro

Many classic games were made for it

Original Battlefront 2, Kingdom Hearts, etc. See More

Top Con

Discontinued

See All

score 1 · Answer 10

Nintendo GameCube

Top Con

Discontinued

Top Pro

Compact design

Top Con

Games can be expensive

Especially now. This is because of the unusual disk size and console/game popularity. See More

Top Pro

Many add on features available

You add on a device to play GBA and GBC games on your TV. See More

Top Con

Not backward compatible with Nintendo 64

To play those games you have to buy extremely expensive promo disks. (Ex: The $200+ Zelda Promo disk just for Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask) See More

See All

score 1 · Answer 11

Xbox 360 Slim

Top Con

Discontinued

Top Pro

Xbox LIVE connectivity allows for fun online multiplayer gaming experiences

Top Pro

The Xbox 360 has a huge game library

Top Pro

Quiet operation for a gaming console

See All

score 1 · Answer 12

Super Nintendo entertainment system

Top Con

Discontinued

The console was discontinued in 2003 Worldwide See More

Top Pro

The peak of 2D gaming

score 1 · Answer 13

Atari 2600

Top Con

Discontinued

Top Pro

Games

Has a large library of enjoyable games from Atari, Activison, and Imagic. See More

score 1 · Answer 14

Nintendo entertainment system/Family computer

Top Con

Discontinued

Top Pro

A classic

It's one of the first home consoles and had many classics are available. See More

Answer 15

Gameboy and Gameboy Colour

Top Con

Discontinued

Answer 16

Sega Mega Drive (Genesis in the USA)

Top Con

It's really outdated

Sega Genesis was discontinued in 1997. See More

Answer 17

Gameboy Advance

Top Con

Discontinued

Top Pro

Portable magic

Answer 18

Nintendo 64

Top Con

Discontinued

Top Pro

One of the first steps into 3d gaming

Answer 19

Philips CD-i

Top Con

It's just horrible in all ways

score 1 · Answer 20

Ouya Android Video Console System

Top Con

Controller-lag

The controllers can take upwards of 3 seconds for their input to be sent to the console at times. See More

ReveredKuiXing's Experience

The BEST console See More

20 Options Considered

My Recommendation for Nintendo Switch

My Recommendation for Nintendo Switch

You can play in your home or go portable and take your game anywhere

Problems with screen glare

Environmentally friendly

Nintendos policy is questionable

There are other accessories available for you to buy and switch to and play with

Doesn't have a wide variety of popular games yet

You can use your controller for one or two players

Poor battery life

It's easy to put your controllers in other control accessories

It provides you with everything you'll need to dock and play in TV mode

The left and right controllers are detachable

Very flexible

It has great graphics and controllers and games

Comfortable to hold

Unique

My Recommendation for x86 PC with Steam Big Picture

My Recommendation for x86 PC with Steam Big Picture

Quickly supports new features

Still needs a keyboard or a mouse

Games are cheap

Hardware is expensive

Customizable

PC becomes almost useless for other PC tasks

Plenty of games

Windows based Steam machine is not ready to go

Much cheaper in the long term

Desktop Mode

Supports almost any controller/gamepad

My Recommendation for Playstation 4

My Recommendation for Playstation 4

Not cross-platform-friendly

Controllers have headphone jack, touchpad & speakers

Vita's remote play still needs work to be useful

Some classic PS3 games can be played on PS4 through Playstation Now

Online multiplayer requires a monthly subscription

Great controllers

Cross-play support allows seamlessly continuing a game between Vita and PS4

My Recommendation for Xbox One

My Recommendation for Xbox One

Stream games to PC

Pay for online multiplayer

An external hard-drive can easily be connected to increase storage space

Online multiplayer requires a subscription

Amazing reddit community

Kinect's voice control still needs some work

Beam streaming app

Weaker graphics

Kinect is optional

Very few games with proper Kinect support

Kinect allows controlling the console using voice commands

My Recommendation for Nintendo 3DS and 2DS

My Recommendation for Nintendo 3DS and 2DS

Nintendo exclusives

Portable device

Highly portable

Lacks games of certain genres

The design is so good

Virtual console is weak

Download Play

Free online multiplayer

Cheap cost

My Recommendation for NVIDIA SHIELD Console

My Recommendation for NVIDIA SHIELD Console

My Recommendation for Nintendo Wii

My Recommendation for Nintendo Wii

Nintendo Store and friend codes no longer work

The first Nintendo console to introduce the modern features we take for granted on the Wii U and Nintendo Switch

Discontinued

Completly backward compatable with GameCube

In most games the motion controls feel extremely forced

My Recommendation for PC Engine (TurboGrafx 16 in the US)

My Recommendation for PC Engine (TurboGrafx 16 in the US)

Great shoot 'em up Arcade ports

My Recommendation for PlayStation 2 Slim

My Recommendation for PlayStation 2 Slim

Difficult to find good condition games anymore

Many classic games were made for it