Alright GAF, what 100 million selling system would you erase from history if you had to pick one?

Erase one of the 100 million+ selling systems from existence completely.


  • Total voters
    190
Game Boy. Even with the help of the Game Boy Color's far more impressive library (as we have to include both, the Game Boy itself did not pass 100 million sales, that was both it and GBC's combined sales), I would go with it or MAYBE the DS. I wouldn't worry about the IPs, stuff like Pokémon and Kirby would just be made later.

I like Wii's library well enough to keep it, definitely wouldn't sacrifice PS4 or Switch, and anyone who votes PS1 or PS2 must hate video games or something.
 
PS2. All its games ran or would have run better on GameCube or Xbox.

Also I can't stand its notorious blurry textures and shimmering.
 
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I'm still scrub level so can't vote, but the Switch for me. My family and I still have fun with the Wii. Games were actually unique on there. The switch was just a sloppy seconds dumpster to drop into grubby hands of kids who parents didn't want to parent.
 
Game boy, anybody saying Wii can suck a dick.

Wii's games at least aged well and can be played for fun years later. Game boy had pokemon and even that was way better in the later entries. Outside of a couple gems like Mario Land 2 and Link's Awakening most of Gameboy's major titles were just watered down NES/SNES titles. Slow as shit, screen had so much ghosting, no color etc like i respect it for portable gaming but they should have done the concept years later.

not voting for a console that had Mario Galaxy, Brawl and Metroid Prime Trilogy on it, nope no way....
 
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All the Xbox fanboys in here saying PS4, and sad their 360 isn't on the list…which didn't even outsell the PS3. Also PS3 would be voted against harder if it had entered the 100 million discussion.
 
Game Boy. Even with the help of the Game Boy Color's far more impressive library (as we have to include both, the Game Boy itself did not pass 100 million sales, that was both it and GBC's combined sales), I would go with it or MAYBE the DS. I wouldn't worry about the IPs, stuff like Pokémon and Kirby would just be made later.

I like Wii's library well enough to keep it, definitely wouldn't sacrifice PS4 or Switch, and anyone who votes PS1 or PS2 must hate video games or something.

The Game Boy just has too many straight up good games that came at a time when pickings were slim. I'd rather do without the DS. The GB has to be taken in the context that there was just no other handheld option at the time, unless you also had a Game Gear, which would already be dead (the GB could last a week with the same batteries to feed a two hour GG session). So without GB I'd simply have been totally gameless in many a boring dire situation, and would have had to turn to reading or worse! Its brand of simple, gameplay-first games that start instantly with charming chiptunes are still ROM staples. In that way not only was GB highy wanted/necessary, but it also played a role in shaping gaming history to where it is today along with the NES.

In the end I'd probably ditch DS over Wii in the poll, but it's really close. The DS has an outstanding library, but its mutant design and gimmicks aren't that impressive to me. The Wii is the most distinct system in the lineup even if the motion was forced in too many games where it sucked and the unnecessary power tradeoff made it a casual impulse buy gimmick. The hardware still allowed for something genuinely good and those high highs made a bigger impact on gaming history than a massive deluge of good RPG ports on DS. It feels lame to vote against the only console that tried to be different (even though I already voted lol).
 
The Game Boy just has too many straight up good games that came at a time when pickings were slim. I'd rather do without the DS. The GB has to be taken in the context that there was just no other handheld option at the time, unless you also had a Game Gear, which would already be dead (the GB could last a week with the same batteries to feed a two hour GG session). So without GB I'd simply have been totally gameless in many a boring dire situation, and would have had to turn to reading or worse! Its brand of simple, gameplay-first games that start instantly with charming chiptunes are still ROM staples. In that way not only was GB highy wanted/necessary, but it also played a role in shaping gaming history to where it is today along with the NES.
The Game Boy didn't have that many good games in comparison to home consoles of the time. This console was relevant during the times of Super Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, Resident Evil, FF7, Mario Kart, Sonic Adventure, Megaman X, Streets of Rage, Super Metroid, ALTTP etc etc etc.

Tetris and Pokemon isn't gonna fucking cut it sorry. Even the great games on that system like Mario Land 2 and Link's Awakening just have me wondering what could have been had those been made from the ground up for SNES in mind. The hardware limited the games too much
 
The Game Boy didn't have that many good games in comparison to home consoles of the time. This console was relevant during the times of Super Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, Resident Evil, FF7, Mario Kart, Sonic Adventure, Megaman X, Streets of Rage, Super Metroid, ALTTP etc etc etc.

Tetris and Pokemon isn't gonna fucking cut it sorry. Even the great games on that system like Mario Land 2 and Link's Awakening just have me wondering what could have been had those been made from the ground up for SNES in mind. The hardware limited the games too much

I think Game Boy Color games are being included with the OP's criteria, since the Game Boy alone didn't pass 100 million sales, rather it was the combined GB and GBC sales that did. And the addition of the GBC library offers a good deal more than just a handful of titles.

If it was just the basic Game Boy system and its library pre-Color, then yeah, I'd have no hesitation in picking it as the choice. I still went with the Gameboy option even with the added GBC library but I had to think about it for a minute.

BTW, funny timing, I was just recently revisiting this fan animation of one of my favorite YouTube groups (now split up) Super Best Friends Play arguing about the Game Boy library on one of their podcast episodes.




(for context: when discussing the system, Pat was dismissive of it, as in the original Game Boy, and Woolie got real defensive, but as the discussion went on, his defense got weak once he realized Pat and Matt weren't including GBC games and certainly not Japan-only games that never made it overseas)

The full debate:

 
I think Game Boy Color games are being included with the OP's criteria, since the Game Boy alone didn't pass 100 million sales, rather it was the combined GB and GBC sales that did. And the addition of the GBC library offers a good deal more than just a handful of titles
I was also considering Game Boy Color games, that realistically adds like Shantae GBC into the amount of Game Boy games that I'd revisit in 2025.

I maintain my stance that GBA SP was when handheld gaming truly became something worth considering. Convenient recharging with lithium ion batteries, a proper backlight, and genuinely great games that are backed up by hardware that's capable of more than rendering achromatic Tetris. Stuff that could actually stand up to the 16 bit juggernauts of the prior decade. But OFC the GBA wasn't the 100 million seller here in this discussion, so....
 
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coffee burn GIF
 
Wii

The biggest sales 'paper tiger' in gaming history.
But for pure gameplay, skill level : easy to play hard to master, fantastic multiplayer, Wii Sports might be the purest game ever made - with the Switch version being a great final refinement for Tennis and Golf.
 
But for pure gameplay, skill level : easy to play hard to master, fantastic multiplayer, Wii Sports might be the purest game ever made - with the Switch version being a great final refinement for Tennis and Golf.
I didn't care for it. The veneer wore off for me after one party session with friends.
 
The easy answer for me is the Wii. It was the first home console that Nintendo made that gave me no hype. I remember the memes when the big breakthrough controller was a remote. I used to post on IGN back then and the Vesti just ripped on the thing. I only bought one at launch because I couldn't find a PS3. The system had a few okay ideas, and my favorite 3D Mario. However, 3rd party support was weak and motion controls were mostly a gimmick. The visual upgrade was hardly noticeable. It was a true disappointment to me. It was so disappointing that the Wii U is the only Nintendo home console I never bought new. I only bought the Wind Waker set off of eBay years later.
 
The Game Boy didn't have that many good games in comparison to home consoles of the time. This console was relevant during the times of Super Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, Resident Evil, FF7, Mario Kart, Sonic Adventure, Megaman X, Streets of Rage, Super Metroid, ALTTP etc etc etc.

Tetris and Pokemon isn't gonna fucking cut it sorry. Even the great games on that system like Mario Land 2 and Link's Awakening just have me wondering what could have been had those been made from the ground up for SNES in mind. The hardware limited the games too much

Compared to home consoles maybe lol, but then again as you say it has some titles that stand up to console games (I guess the games either suck, or they're so good they should have been on console. Can't win).

Many of those GB games were good for that exact reason, being tasked to make a GB game after the home console got first servings. But since it was the "other system", needed lots of support and Nintendo was still finding their identity, it had a lot of interesting or quirky takes on Nintendo IP, the most obvious being Mario Land, but the games always felt sufficiently different to be their own thing worth checking out rather than "copied from console except less good".

Like I said in my post if not for Game Boy there wouldn't have been a portable game to play at all. Makes me wonder if you were actually there or just comparing ROM libraries. When you're in a back seat headed to a tourist destination or even just the TV is being used, you prefer the game that exists to the hypothetical one on a home console (which they were still dropping first, ie LA started as a LTTP port but became this mutant side story).

NES resurrected the home console market but GB offshot another one. That's the market that weathered cell phones, buoyed past failed consoles, and existed to merge with consoles come the Switch. Nothing will convince me that's not a big deal lol.

You are counting franchises like what it "delivered" like Pokemon, we are talking about a time where buying Qbert on a cartridge wasn't a joke, that's why we dealt with B&W screen, the gimmick of game boy was a game existing at all, GB was like the PC of portables...it was the default option to have a handheld game, another didn't exist. Honestly back then I was lucky to score a used Game Gear too but I only played a few games on it and it was always tethered to a wall. "Game Boy" meant for portable game what Kleenex meant for tissues.

GB came out in 1990, before Sonic 1. Try to think about the context of the world it was unleashed to, that is why it was STILL relevant when Mario 64 came out. Instead of comparing it unfavorably to Mario 64, think about what an impactful, juggernaut platform it had to be to still be relevant in 1996.
 
We should "erase" the platform, which didn't bring anything that couldn't have been done better on the other console(s).

PS2 is exactly such a platform! It had the weakest hardware and zero innovations!
 
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still hate the wii
lost nintendo gen

...kinda love the late gen limited edition wiimotes though
wii_u_remote_6_pack.jpg

metroid3 with a wiimote was fun though
wiisports and the tank game arent bad
and it introduced us to its differently-abled stepbrother the wiiu
 
still hate the wii
lost nintendo gen

...kinda love the late gen limited edition wiimotes though
wii_u_remote_6_pack.jpg

metroid3 with a wiimote was fun though
wiisports and the tank game arent bad
and it introduced us to its differently-abled stepbrother the wiiu
Wii brought new controls, new game mechanics, unique gaming experience. It's absurd to consider the console redundant on the market!
 
I guess the games either suck, or they're so good they should have been on console. Can't win
I never thought this way about later handheld system titles though. Games like Zero Mission, Castlevania Aria of Sorrow, Advance Wars, Rhythm Heaven, NSMB, etc were games that while might be cool on console, already realized most of their potential on a good handheld. I'm not going to beg for some console port of them because they didn't need to be.

I can't say the same for GB because its just such a limiting and restrictive system. No amount of quirky additions and takes on the games they ported over or copied from console can negate the massive shortcomings the system has for me- how slow the games are, the ghosting, and a lot of the library just being reheated and worse versions of those console games you could play at home. It feels like it came out too early, ahead of its time, and not in a good way
NES resurrected the home console market but GB offshot another one. That's the market that weathered cell phones, buoyed past failed consoles, and existed to merge with consoles come the Switch. Nothing will convince me that's not a big deal lol.
And I'll praise GB for its influence. It did bring the portable gaming market into a new era.
However, I rate stuff based on how well it stacks up in the current day. I'm not one to judge on more nebulous concepts like impact or popularity. They're big factors sure, but they're temporary- life moves on, and when all's said and done the only thing left is the games for the system and how well it stacks up compared to everything else. We have better hardware now, so I want to see what makes this system more interesting over the other juggernauts listed here, what makes it stand the test of time.... and Game Boy easily has the weakest library of the 7 consoles listed here.
 
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What an awful thing to do. I don't want to think about it. How exactly would you motivate me to choose because I might just take the medicine before fucking with the world timeline.
 
I never thought this way about later handheld system titles though. Games like Zero Mission, Castlevania Aria of Sorrow, Advance Wars, Rhythm Heaven, NSMB, etc were games that while might be cool on console, already realized most of their potential on a good handheld. I'm not going to beg for some console port of them because they didn't need to be.

I can't say the same for GB because its just such a limiting and restrictive system. No amount of quirky additions and takes on the games they ported over or copied from console can negate the massive shortcomings the system has for me- how slow the games are, the ghosting, and a lot of the library just being reheated and worse versions of those console games you could play at home. It feels like it came out too early, ahead of its time, and not in a good way

And I'll praise GB for its influence. It did bring the portable gaming market into a new era.
However, I rate stuff based on how well it stacks up in the current day. I'm not one to judge on more nebulous concepts like impact or popularity. They're big factors sure, but they're temporary- life moves on, and when all's said and done the only thing left is the games for the system and how well it stacks up compared to everything else. We have better hardware now, so I want to see what makes this system more interesting over the other juggernauts listed here, what makes it stand the test of time.... and Game Boy easily has the weakest library of the 7 consoles listed here.

The wording of the threads question led in the opposite direction, at least the way I read it..."what would you erase from history" implied some sort of consequential effect on history as a result of your choice, but maybe I'm reading too deep into it!

Edit: Taking it literally, erasing from history means there would be many spots in my own past where if not for GB I would have no games to play, which is horrible to think about, because GB saved my butt in many a boredom-inducing situation when it was the only viable thing. OG GB is the one I most seriously played Pokemon on and used the link cable with a bunch of different people, I never used the feature again in any future version, the time, place and context it was released in counts IMO
 
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