Best/Worst looking Game Console

[JunkTheMagicDragon]

best:
panasonic q
ps2 phat
wondermega

worst:
playdia
intellivision
xegs

[eskobar]

In my opinion:

Best Looking: Playstation 2 - Original Fat Console.

Why: It's monolith contemporary design is quite elegant and the logo is discrete and in a very harmonic color. The console has enough detail that shows all the work of the designers, very nice looking color LEDs for the power button.

Follow-Ups:
Nintendo DS. Elegant and neutral contemporary design that will look good even in 20 years. Good materials and well manufactured.




Worst Looking: Atari Jaguar

Why: There is nothing sexy about the Jaguar, boring curves, boring details, looks cheap and its control design is one of the worst ever; you can forgive the intellivision control design because it was launched in the fall of the 70's. It's "toilet-esque" desing of the CD add-on looked even worst .... ugly.

Follow-Ups:
Super NES. I love the SNES but it looks really ugly, the plastics are cheap, almost every SNES alive presents discoloration ....

[VG_Maniac]

Best - Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Atari 7800

Worst - Playstation 3, Intellivision, Game Cube

[Sonicwolf]

Best - Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Atari 7800

Worst - Playstation 3, Intellivision, Game Cube

I agree with that list except I always found the Nintendo 64 to be kind of awkward looking.

The PlayStation 3 will always be the George Foreman Grill. Hideous

[Ruudos]

Best: SNES (PAL), N64, Sega Master System

Worst: SNES (US)

[Diosoth]

Best: Gamecube, PS1 slim, PS2 slim, Genesis model 2, Dreamcast. They take up very little shelf room.

Worst casing: Xbox, Saturn, model 2 Sega CD, Odyssey 2, Atari 5200. They take up a lot of room.

Worst looking: PS2. It's plain and ugly. The "actual" power switch is on the back. TurboGrafx-16. A box with a slot on the front. Nothing to look at.

[A Black Falcon]

The PlayStation 3 will always be the George Foreman Grill. Hideous

At least it looks better than the PS2 or the original PS1...


Hmm, though, what would I say for a list... there are a lot of systems that I think look good. Aside from the PS2, I don't really dislike the design of any of the consoles I have. Some are a bit better than others, sure, but all are at least serviceable... this seems true for most systems, really. Obviously I'm not much of a design critic.

I really can't judge first or second generation systems, as I've never used them and have only very rarely seen them. By my "the NES is the first console I remember" thinking though, most of them look blocky and poorly designed in comparison... the Odyssey 2 looks kind of cool, though, in pictures. The original Atari 2600 perhaps as well, I'm not sure. I'd need to see more of them.

Anyway, my favorites...

Nintendo 64 - It has such a beautiful design... nicely curved with no straight corners, great layout... this is definitely one of my favorites. No fans either, great! The detachable but internal power brick is a fantastic design, and the prominent controller ports really say "play multiplayer on me!" I've loved this design ever since I first saw a picture of it in a magazine back in 1995 or so, and still do.

Dreamcast - In design, at least, the system looks beautiful. In operation I'd definitely rank it behind the Saturn and Sega Genesis/Sega CD (2), because it's so, so loud while both of those systems are whisper-quiet and barely make a noise (and they look reasonably good, too, if not quite as great as the DC), but it looks fantastic.

Toaster NES - the original and the classic...

I also like the SNES (original US design), the original Game Boy, the Saturn and Genesis 2/SCD2 as mentioned before, the Genesis 1, etc.


Least favorite?

Playstation II (original style) - Ugly, pretty loud, bad "ridges" design along the sides, somewhat flimsy construction (this is the only system I own that a piece actually broke off of -- the disk tray door end. I still have it, but it comes off constantly.)... I've never liked Sony, and their designs don't help their case.

Playstation (original style) - I don't have one of these, mine is a PSone (the small kind) and I think that that one looks okay (it's so small... , but the originals... ick, I don't know, I've always really disliked this thing for some reason. I hate the controller, for one, it's one of my least favorite designs ever, but I never liked the system design either, somehow... still dislike it. It's like some kind of grey appliance or something...

Hmm, not sure what else to put here. There are some that I dislike in comparison to others that show up in the 'good' list, though... I don't really consider them "bad", but "worse than the good list systems" at least.

-Game Boy Color - as I said in the recent GB thread, I've always thought it looked cheaper and less well designed or built than the original GB. The plastic is lighter, the design not quite as "cool" looking somehow, it has near-useless design elements like the IR port... (you had to put the systems on a table, like two inches away, for it to work...) it looks okay I guess, but I've never loved this design.

I also think that the toaster NES looks cooler than the NES 2; though the small size of the NES 2 is a big advantage, the toaster is special. And the SNES 2 and Genesis 3 don't match up to their predecessors design-wise, though as I said I think the Genesis 2 is just as good as the original model so redesigns aren't always worse looking. The PSone would be another example of that I guess.

Overall, I vote the PS2 the worst of the systems I own. I can't say that it's the worst overall, though; CD/DVD-player style systems like the CD-i and Nuon look terrible, for example. Some 3DOs seem pretty bland too... but the PS2 design is bad.

[boogiecat]

Why is there so much hate for the Super Grafx look?

It is a marvel of art.

The design is supposed to be that of an engine from a motor vehicle. A V6 engine to be more precise. Many Japanese engines at those times were I-4 motors and the V6 was a performance upgrade and the Super Grafx was supposed to be like that of a high performance PC Engine.

Anyways, the worst looking console…



Viewmaster Interactive Vision

What the heck was that???

[Sonicwolf]

At least it looks better than the PS2 or the original PS1...

I always found that the PlayStation, although bulky and plain, looked like a good console. The color was just grey but it still looked alright. It was like many electronic items in the 80s and 90s. People didnt care a huge amount about asthetics, more about features and functionality.

For Example: VCR's in the 80s, much of the time, sacrificed cosmetics for abilities. They were build massive, heavy and with many, many buttons for the many, many features. One old Betamax VCR I have is ugly as hell but it is built like a tank and looks like an impressive and powerful piece of technology.

THEN IN 1987 PEOPLE DISCOVERED THE FORD TAURUS AND HAD TO MAKE EVERYTHING LOOK LIKE A POTATO.

[A Black Falcon]

Oh, I forgot to mention, I think the SuperGrafx looks fantastic, one of the coolest looking consoles ever. I definitely wish I had one.

I always found that the PlayStation, although bulky and plain, looked like a good console. The color was just grey but it still looked alright. It was like many electronic items in the 80s and 90s. People didnt care a huge amount about asthetics, more about features and functionality.

Completely bland, generic, and boring... its major competitors (and the consoles of the previous generation or two) look better. But of course, my bias against Sony likely has always affected my opinion of their hardware design... but it does look like something aimed at being a boring, mass-market people wouldn't notice next to the rest of their electronics, while the N64 looks much more interesting and at least the Saturn doesn't look awful, just large (and both have like ten times better controllers, but that's a different issue).

For Example: VCR's in the 80s, much of the time, sacrificed cosmetics for abilities. They were build massive, heavy and with many, many buttons for the many, many features. One old Betamax VCR I have is ugly as hell but it is built like a tank and looks like an impressive and powerful piece of technology.

THEN IN 1987 PEOPLE DISCOVERED THE FORD TAURUS AND HAD TO MAKE EVERYTHING LOOK LIKE A POTATO.

Hah, potato? How so?

I do agree though, the older things focused on features and durability, but newer stuff cut back on that in favor of "looking better". Just look at that Game Boy vs. Game Boy Color comparison for a perfect example of that.

[Sonicwolf]

Hah, potato? How so?

If you knew what I meant... TOO BAD.. Im still gonna rant. (I just hate new cars now)

In the mid 1980s, when Ford released the Taurus, everyone was like "Gotta get me some of that" Thus, it became the bestselling car in America. All of the other companies are like this "Oh crap, were still selling BoxMobiles. We have to design our cars to be modern and curvy, just like the Taurus." Thus began the GREAT TAURUSIZATION of the auto-industry, which eventually leaked into every other industry of design also. By the late 80s, most cars that had a major design change after the release of the Taurus were now Taurus lookalikes ...what with the whole "Potato with wheels" idea being applied. Eventually, as evident today, Most cars made after the mid 90s were so curvy that sometimes you couldnt tell the ass end from the front. IM LOOKING AT YOU FORD TAURUS!

Funny thing is that the Taurus was, ironically, killed in the auto industry due to its own curved designs. By the mid 90s, Ford decided to make the Taurus even curvier then before. Thusly making it completely butt-ugly. BEHOLD

1986 TAURUS http://www.allblueoval.com/ford/imag...ord-taurus.jpg
1996 TAURUS http://repo.net/repoimag/96taurus.jpg

and who can forget... THE 1996 TAURUS WAGON http://daddytypes.com/archive/v8showagon_photo.jpg

That Taurus wagon is hideous.

Just like the PlayStation 3. Too much curve, too little effort.

[Technosis]

Best:
Gamecube: What test marketing did Nintendo do to think a purple cube is what people want?

I'd love to hear the reasoning behind the "handle" and if the designer that suggested it is still employed (knowing Nintendo probably )

[Technosis]

Best:
Gamecube: What test marketing did Nintendo do to think a purple cube is what people want?

I'd love to hear the reasoning behind the "handle" and if the designer that suggested it is still employed (knowing Nintendo probably )

P.S. I'll go with the O2 as being amongst the worst designs

[Sonicwolf]

I'd love to hear the reasoning behind the "handle" and if the designer that suggested it is still employed (knowing Nintendo probably )

I always wondered what good that handle was. That and the color. That purple was completely awful and should have never been used. Nintendo wasnt helping their struggles out of the kiddy reputation with that decision...

[crom]

the snes and its smoker yellow plastic makes it the ugliest system...

the 3do goldstar is pretty nice although very big...
dreamcast is proportioned perfectly and designed practicly so its the best looking in my book...

the cdx would get my first vote but it doesnt count because Ive only seen one in my life...

[Sonicwolf]

the snes and its smoker yellow plastic makes it the ugliest system...

Not all of the SNES'S are like this. I have 3 and they arent yellow at all... It is still ugly though. lol.

[crom]

Not all of the SNES'S are like this. I have 3 and they arent yellow at all... It is still ugly though. lol.

yeah i know, its just the first gen ones with there defective plastic they used...

but still its funny that all the ones I come across at thrift shops are these ones... lol

[Sonicwolf]

but still its funny that all the ones I come across at thrift shops are these ones... lol

Exact opposite for me. Every SNES I see is unyellowed... Well, all but one.

[ApolloBoy]

Best:
Atari 2600 Jr/5200/7800
Atari XEGS (minus the pastels)
Famicom
SMS
PC Engine

Worst:
RCA Studio II
Amstrad GX4000
SuperGrafx

[Sonicwolf]

It seems that the Supergrafx is a heavy favorite for worst looking console. lol.