Keeping Up Appearances: Best & Worst Looking Consoles

[Arrrhalomynn]

I think the saturn looks horrible. It's just a big black box. The xbox had at least some color and shape added to it.
The dreamcast is ugly too. It looks like one of those hand dryers in a public toilet.



I like the look of the game cube. It doesn't look like a toy, but it still looks playful. It doesn't matter what color it is.
The 32X looks pretty cool too. Too bad it has to be stuck on top of an ugly megadrive/genesis.
I like the looks of the ps2 as well. It looks really cool and high-tech with the blue light.

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Best looking :
Game cube (platinum edition)
Master system
Atari 2600 (woodgrain)
Saturn
Game boy color
Amiga CD 32
Bandai Pippin

The ugliest machines:
Odyssey 2
Coleco vision
Coleco Gemini
Atari 5200

[Kid Fenris]

Of the systems in my collection, I've found the Genesis 2 the most appealing. Monochromatic it may be, but it has a sleek, understated, sports-car style that most consoles can't hope to evoke. It looks even cooler when you attach a second-generation Sega CD.

The ugly plastic mushroom of a 32X obscures the effect, but one can still appreciate the smooth contours of the Genesis/SegaCD union.



On the other hand, I don't really care for Atari 2600 or Pong decks that have a wood-paneling look, as it evokes images of ugly 1970s living rooms. I realize that some are nostalgic for that sort of thing, but I'm not among them.

My least favorite, though, is probably the Playdia, due to its use of colors that would fit a teething rattle better than a game console.

[Vroomfunkel]

I notice that no-one has voted for my favourite ...

the natty little Multimega / CDX ... what a sexy little beast that is! I just sits there begging the visitors to say "What is that?", thinking it to be some new gen piece of business that they haven't come across before. "oh, that's just a Megadrive and a Mega CD in one" . .. and watch their eyes boggle. Then you casually mention that it can work as a personal CD player too....

Plus, when you put the 32x in the top, it bears more than a passing resemblance to the Starship Enterprise - now who could resist that??

Still looks as sleek and beautiful as the day it was born! I love the way that it can sit next to a cabinet full of modern consoles and look not a bit out of place.

Ugliest... that would *have* to be the PS2 for me. What is it, some kind of breeze block that you can put cds into? Not that I don't like the machine, but it looks like crap. Actually, I think the X-Box might pip it to the post in the ugliness stakes, thinking about it. Followed closely by the Megadrive 2 & Mega CD 2 combo. Then the Saturn (currently my fave gaming system. Just not particularly pretty - although some of the Japanese ones I do like. Especially the white one. And not *just* because it looks right when you put it next to the Dreamcast . . . )

Vroomfunkel

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

The Odyssey 2, PSone, and Atari 400 are some of my favorites.

Least favorites? I'm not sure any of the current machines trip my trigger.

[jonjandran]

Best looking "Game Console" is a awesome PC like an AlienWare tricked out with neon and a plexiglass see-through window and a sleek Platinum LCD monitor.
O.K. discuss amongst yourselves.

[Retsudo]

Best looking "Game Console" is a awesome PC like an AlienWare tricked out with neon and a plexiglass see-through window and a sleek Platinum LCD monitor.
O.K. discuss amongst yourselves.

NUFF SAID!!!

But when it comes to consoles...Best looking would have to go to the Neo Geo and the Japanese saturn.
Worst looking is the N64, first Snes, First Genesis, and Atari 2600

[dreamcaster]

Easily, for me, the best looking console is the Dreamcast. Followed by the PAL/JAP SNES. I hate the first U.S. SNES, it's so ugly compared our one! The second U.S. SNES was a huge improvement over the first!

The PS2 also comes up in my good books, but only in the horizontal position - I hate it standing up (as practical as it may be...)

The white JAP Saturn is also pretty good.

The GameCube, while asthetically I find it neither beautiful or hideous, it wins marks simply because its so small and practical!

The Atari 2600 Jr. is another one I like, but is spoiled by cartridges that stick out so much when inserted.

The N64 I found to be very individual in its styling, but it only looks good from the front. It looks silly from any other angle.

Game Boy Advance is quite nice also.

The aren't any consoles that look particularly ugly to me, but the Xbox definitely isn't sexy at all. Boring, angular brick. The second NES seems a bit awkward - its like all the parts don't fit together correctly!

[Anonymous]

The original genny with a model 1 sega cd is the coolest looking combo around. I have a theory that places this combo at the apex of appeal:

Anotherfluke's theory of electronic equipmnt evolution:

in order to avoid the appearance of obsolescence, a device must choose one of two paths: either put lots of buttons, switches, and sliders on the device, or put NO switches, buttons, and sliders on the device

The genny has a slider, a switch AND a button (more than many other consoles), and the sega cd has NO sliders, switches, or buttons. what more can you ask for?

[Ruudos]

Best looking:
1. SNES (PAL)
2. N64
3. Sega Master System II
4. Atari 2600 Jr.
5. Sega Mega Drive I


Worst:
Atari Jaguar (with a Jag CD attached to it, it will probably looks better)
SNES US (1st model)

[Captain Wrong]

I gotta give it up for the DC and the Saturn, espically the Japanese models. Also I like the 5200, but I was into stereo stuff back in the day and admired the Bang & Olfsun stuff Atari's designers stole their ideas from. It's a love it or hate it thing.

I also really think the Odyssey 2 looks cool. Laugh if you want, it's cool though.

Sidenote: ever notice how dated most consoles look now? I guess that's the risk you run when you try to make it look cutting edge.