The fifth gen poll was disappointing, but I have faith for the sixth gen poll. Don't let me down GAF.
Anyway...
The PS2 was even more dominant in its era than the PS1 had been in its. It was so utterly dominant that it remains the absolute highest selling console of all time to the day, a feat that no system since has matched (so far anyway). But the PS2 also ran up against some incredible consoles in their own right - in some other time, those consoles might have done a whole lot better for themselves than they ended up doing, in this timeline of course, they had the misfortune to go up against the PS2.
So let's talk about those other consoles:
The Dreamcast was Sega's last gasp, and what a finale it was. Beautiful and elegant hardware, designed to be very powerful and very cost effective, and supported with an incredible and relentless lineup of fantastic games for the 2-3 years that the system spent on the market. Sega went HAM with the Dreamcast, putting out banger after banger after banger after banger, across all genres and styles and formats, bringing back classic IP in a big way (like with Sonic Adventure), introducing ambitious new IP (like Crazy Taxi and Shenmue). Third parties put out some great games on the Dreamcast too, from SoulCalibur to Tony Hawk. Fantastic, excellent console, one that deserved a far better fate than it got.
The GameCube was Nintendo's last traditional console, and they went all in. While at the time it was mocked, time has been kind to the GameCube and its legacy stands out in its elegant design, its great hardware, and most of all, its incredible, fantastic lineup of generation and era defining games that were so ahead of their time and so good that they could be released as is today for full price and still stand up to scrutiny - we know this because this has actually happened multiple times in the last few years. Between Nintendo's own classics such as Metroid Prime, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Mario Kart Double Dash, Pikmin, Animal Crossing, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and F-Zero GX (made with Sega!), to third party hits like Resident Evil 4, Tales of Symphony, Skies of Arcadia, and SoulCalibur 2, the GameCube was an incredible system with an incredible lineup.
The Xbox was Microsoft's first entry into the console market, and there is a case to be made that it remains the best. It had Microsoft investing in all sorts of games to secure exclusives, first and third party, and it brought to much to the table - it was extremely powerful (way more powerful than any other system that gen), it properly codified online gaming (something theDreamcast had taken tentative steps towards but not been able to substantiate before it died out), and the games! Halo, Halo 2, Forza Motorsport, Project Gotham Racing, Fable, and third party stuff like Knights of the Old Republic, Morrowind, and Ninja Garden Black, the Xbox made its presence known very effectively and set Microsoft up for success with their follow ups in the future. The Xbox was another excellent console with a great lineup and en enviable feature set that legitimately made it feel like something from the future.
Which of these three do you think was the best, and why?
Anyway...
The PS2 was even more dominant in its era than the PS1 had been in its. It was so utterly dominant that it remains the absolute highest selling console of all time to the day, a feat that no system since has matched (so far anyway). But the PS2 also ran up against some incredible consoles in their own right - in some other time, those consoles might have done a whole lot better for themselves than they ended up doing, in this timeline of course, they had the misfortune to go up against the PS2.
So let's talk about those other consoles:
The Dreamcast was Sega's last gasp, and what a finale it was. Beautiful and elegant hardware, designed to be very powerful and very cost effective, and supported with an incredible and relentless lineup of fantastic games for the 2-3 years that the system spent on the market. Sega went HAM with the Dreamcast, putting out banger after banger after banger after banger, across all genres and styles and formats, bringing back classic IP in a big way (like with Sonic Adventure), introducing ambitious new IP (like Crazy Taxi and Shenmue). Third parties put out some great games on the Dreamcast too, from SoulCalibur to Tony Hawk. Fantastic, excellent console, one that deserved a far better fate than it got.
The GameCube was Nintendo's last traditional console, and they went all in. While at the time it was mocked, time has been kind to the GameCube and its legacy stands out in its elegant design, its great hardware, and most of all, its incredible, fantastic lineup of generation and era defining games that were so ahead of their time and so good that they could be released as is today for full price and still stand up to scrutiny - we know this because this has actually happened multiple times in the last few years. Between Nintendo's own classics such as Metroid Prime, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Mario Kart Double Dash, Pikmin, Animal Crossing, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and F-Zero GX (made with Sega!), to third party hits like Resident Evil 4, Tales of Symphony, Skies of Arcadia, and SoulCalibur 2, the GameCube was an incredible system with an incredible lineup.
The Xbox was Microsoft's first entry into the console market, and there is a case to be made that it remains the best. It had Microsoft investing in all sorts of games to secure exclusives, first and third party, and it brought to much to the table - it was extremely powerful (way more powerful than any other system that gen), it properly codified online gaming (something theDreamcast had taken tentative steps towards but not been able to substantiate before it died out), and the games! Halo, Halo 2, Forza Motorsport, Project Gotham Racing, Fable, and third party stuff like Knights of the Old Republic, Morrowind, and Ninja Garden Black, the Xbox made its presence known very effectively and set Microsoft up for success with their follow ups in the future. The Xbox was another excellent console with a great lineup and en enviable feature set that legitimately made it feel like something from the future.
Which of these three do you think was the best, and why?
