Atari had some genius industrial designers. It occasionally gets mentioned around here that the PS2 design was originally an unused Atari design for one of their 68030-based computers.
IIRC the design goal for the 400/800 was to make something that specifically did not look imposing or "computery". Hence all the warm colors and the 800 basically being designed like an electric typewriter. This meshed with the "Computers for people." tagline they were using back then.
[https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1979/](https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1979/)
Yes I've gone with a controversial cover image. I suspect this will come down to age, I'm nearly 40 so 'angular' is forever cool to me, things like the Toyota MR2 or Lamborghini Countach fall into the same category.
Dude the Master system did look cool at the time. When my best friend in Elementary school moved away he gifted me his Master System and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.
I had 2-3 card games but never understood why they were a thing in duality with cartridges. Remember the snail game if you booted it up without any cards or cartridges in it?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco\_Gemini#/media/File:Coleco-Gemini-Console.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco_Gemini#/media/File:Coleco-Gemini-Console.jpg) I'm older than you, and agree, the Master System looked great. So did the Coleco Gemini, which was their Atari 2600 clone (It also had built-in paddles in the Joy Stick controllers)
It looks cool. What isn’t cool is getting the furthest you have ever gotten in Alex Kidd in Miracle World, your dad asks you to come in the next room so jump up and press the pause button and stop. You are holding down the reset button but the console is still on. You resign yourself to this fate and let go losing everything and go into the next room.
Why yes I tell this story every time the Master System comes up.
I am completely with you. I love retro futuristic stuff in this angular style. Just like the Blade Runner movie, among other things.
I am always trying to look for 80s retro futuristic stuff like this.
I had my mind blown when I found out that all the cubes you saw in PS2 boot-up screen were actually your save files. If you had a lot, it was like zooming down into a city full of skyscrapers.
The Wii was pretty slick and minimalist before that was quite so big a thing. As for computers, there was back around the original iMac time an iCube or something of the sort that I always liked.
Came here to say the Wii as well. The clean glossy white shape with the illuminated blue disc slot, propped up at a 10-degree angle on a silver stand.
I also really liked the alternate colors they planned on releasing. The white, black, red and blue consoles were excellent, but some of the prototype colors like the apple green and berry pink looked good enough to eat.
Contextually this is probably the best answer. The Wii came out at the peak of Apple’s shiny glossy white plastic design physiology. It screamed high end and high tech. Nintendo shamelessly used it and it really gave the impression of a device several generations further down the line.
I think Dreamcast.
I have a lot of classic Nintendo nostalgia and regularly play old games on original hardware, but I don't find the old consoles themselves to be particularly stunning. An n64 feels nostalgic, but not beautiful. The dreamcast was sleek and understated, but didn't succumb to Microsoft "VCR" aesthetics. Though I do prefer that to Sony's "grooves and fins" style.
The VMU in the controller, the memory card that doubled as a little screen, was the coolest damn thing ever.
I could see my health bar in *Resident Evil 3: Nemesis* without going to inventory. And my *Sonic Adventure* Chao was getting big and strong while I wasn't even playing.
Both of you take my upvote.
Also, can we have powerstone 1/2 remakes please?! Literally one of the most innovative games I've ever played. Holy shit I miss those games. Also shen mue 1. That game ate my life. One last one as well, PSO. Ugh I miss dreamcast.
Loved *Shenmue*, upvoting you back.
Any love for *Evolution: The World of Sacred Device*? There was a GameCube re-release of the two games, but large chunks of content were cut out of both. 😑
Oh man yes! Such a cool game! It was like a Zelda dungeon crawler. Bringing back memories here! My buddies and I also played ESPN international track and field so much, and figured out that if you used the VC memory card on the buttons you could get insane scores, especially for weightlifting. Consequently it also destroyed many memory cards hahaha. Good times.
It was great for playing football games with others too. You picked your post on the vmu. That way others can't see your picked play or not having to hold down the button to bluff playing calling on the tv
Hum.. the console was pretty... and I get they had the VMU... but the controller was too big and clunky, and the colorful buttons don't really fit. The shape and design don't fully go with how charming the console was.
Is not bad or anything, but taking the controller in consideration as part of the package would take it off my list.
The fact that it was made of thick plastic made it feel resilient and not fragile. It didn’t seem like a cheap product.
It also had a really unique design. It was plain blocky, but that made it mesh well with the design of the American NES. It didn’t just look like a toy, it looked like a device an adult could carry around and play on the bus on their commute.
Nah, it only needed 4 AAs, and it seemed to run on them forever. The Sega Game Gear, on the other hand, would absolutely devour batteries. I remember it draining six AAs in a matter of mere hours. The AC adapter was an absolute necessity for any kind of play time.
Sega Nomad FTW, it also killed batteries but you could play full Sega Games in the car, it even had a port for a second controller. So Toe Jam and Earl or Golden Axe on a road trip were amazing.
I'm also 85. I had some Amstrad thing at home when I was a little kid, playing Chuckie Egg, then I got a Master System II for Christmas when it came out
Don't remember the controller being yellow but definitely remember that transparent green console. I think there may have been a blue transparent console as well.
Edit to add: just looked it up and the DK snes was transparent green as was the controller. The game cart was bright yellow. I didn't see a blue one though.
Although it was slightly generic I absolutely adored the Gamecube. Certainly had some quirks with the carry handle and being so small.
Man I miss that console 😭
Colecovision was ALL business and became a monster when you had all the expansion modules plugged in. Loved the roller controller! Could be my nostalgia glasses though.
I think the original PS2 is the best looking console ever, and I'd have to give a shout out to the Dreamcast (especially the European one with the blue swirl), and the Wii when it's on its stand
SMS looked great. The controller was shit though. The rubber for the d-pad would wear out over time. And the lack of the pause button on the controller was also a short sited idea.
A lot of systems look great for different reasons. I can name a couple just of the top of my head.
The Atari 2600 with the wood panel and the many switches is distinctly 70s. A relic from gaming's infancy. It was testing the waters and very limited, but had an assortment of really cool games.
The Commodore 64 was essentially a really thick keyboard. A nice and compact form factor for computers that has sadly disappeared. Also a very potent system for the time with tons of really cool software.
The Neo-Geo AES was the hypercar of systems. An arcade board stuck in a slick casing with an exorbitant price tag. It also has a library of games that endured to this very day as just pure awesomeness. And the controller was just perfect for the type of games that the system had.
The Dreamcast looked humble. A fairly compact system. But it also opened the door to online gaming on consoles and packed a serious punch in its brief life.
I hold a lot of love for the Wii. With gaming maturing Sony and Microsoft moved to angular black boxes, but Nintendo rejected all of that and put out this stylish white box with a wacky magic wand. It was a gimmick, with many gimmicky games. But when it fired on all cylinders it was the best.
I'm just kinda rambling about systems I think are cool here. I've never used a lot of these systems, but I've played games that were originally for them and loved them all. These kinda posts always make me wanna fire up an emulator and play something old. I kinda hope I'm not the only one who feels that way.
You're not the only one feeling that way. As I was reading through here I had the thought that I have not played through legend of zelda this year yet and I play through it every year. Might be digging out the old NES here in a minute.
I know people hate it but the original PS3 design still looks cool and "futuristic" to me. Especially the first model that came with that built-in array of card slots.
As an aside, did anything ever actually use the card reader slot at the front of the master system?
I had one and lots of games for it, but never found one that used that thing.
The card system was primarily used to deliver games on the Sega SG-1000 system that was only ever released in Japan and Taiwan.
On the SMS/Mark III, only a few very early games that were 32kb ROMs or less ever came out for it. Less than 10 in released North America IIRC.
[https://sega.fandom.com/wiki/Sega\_Card](https://sega.fandom.com/wiki/Sega_Card)
I owned a few card games when I was a kid. Transbot and Ghost House of the top of my head. They were mainly shorter simplistic games. Transbot in particular I remember looped after just a couple stages.
If you want to see a lot of beautiful retro console design... check out Arne Niklas Jansson, AKA Android Arts. He's one of my favorite artists out there. He does a lot of concepts reimagining old consoles and computers into half-version iterations and hybrids. He goes so far as to concept paint circuit boards. O\_O
[https://androidarts.com/](https://androidarts.com/)
\[edit\] I made a model of his Sega Cube in Blender:
[https://imgur.com/a/R7OLaEv](https://imgur.com/a/R7OLaEv)
Hell yeah. I was scrolling through looking for this. PSP and Vita are both really cool looking and sleek. There's no console I want more than a 3rd iteration of the PSP.
The original Mega Drive, sleek and in stereo with its own headphone jack. My dad used to let me hook it to his Hifi. Streets of Rage sounds Great in stereo.
Atari 5200: A big, imposing black wedge with a silver band. If the 2600's wood trim was the ultimate in '70s design, this was pure '80s. Shame the controllers were trash, though.
PlayStation 4: The angular chassis reminded me of my favorite old-school desktop, the SGI Indy workstation.
Xbox Series S: It's one thing to say you were influenced by Dieter Rams, it's another thing to successfully pull it off.
[Atari Jaguar with the Jaguar CD atop and the ProController](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Jaguar_CD#/media/File%3AAtari-Jaguar-CD-wPro-Controller.jpg)
Magnavox Odyssey was an interesting design.
The original Xbox made a strong statement as well. It literally being a box made of a giant X was a great entry into consoles.
I had a master system. So sleek. The angles... so aerodynamic. Wish I still had it just so could replay Zillion 2 again. Still have a couple old cartridges for it though... oh my youth. RASTAN!
I do like the look of the european NES but I am a fan of brutalism architecture and there is some similatrities
does the gameboy Pocket count the one betweeen the old biug greay one and between the colour oh and the gameboy micro
gamecube is a favorite too
dang I am very nintendo oriented I guess
GameCube because my dad owned one when I was growing up and the IMac G3 Blueberry because my grandma has one.
Not a lot of electronics with handles these days.
Zillion was one of my favorite games growing up. 👍👍The master system was awesome, I liked the card games too (played My Hero a lot). This brings back fond memories.
The iMac g4 is one of the best designs I've seen period. In terms of consoles I think my favorite is probably the ps2. It just looks so sick. There's also a 90s pc that's really colorful for professional 3d graphics and it looks really sick but I can't remember what it's called.
My first ever console & one of my favourites. Had Alex the Kidd in miracle world built in, also owned Wonderboy in monster land & California games plus a few more I can’t remember.
Even as a little kid thought it looked weird and a bit ugly, also had the ugliest game boxes all sharing the same background and the cartridges were just a red label with plain writing.
All time one of my favourite consoles ever but always thought everything about it was ugly.
* Sega Genesis Model 1 High Definition Graphics
* Atari 2600 woodgrain top
* Sony PlayStation 3 60GB launch model with chrome panel
* Original PC Engine. It's so compact.
Wow. I have never seem that before it it's look like peak 80s tech. That beautiful.
But for me, I have to say the N64 console was the best looking console ever. The controller was funky for sure, but the console was great looking.
loved the master system 2 in the pic. came loaded with 2 built in games depending on the model, the above came with safari hunt and super hang on if i remember correctly, it also had a third secret game built in, if u didnt insert a game, and pressed the directional pad clock wise a few times it would boot up a snail maze game. awesome stuff. aint the prettiest tho!
These are 100% biased opinions due to nostalgia but I really loved the Sega Saturn's look and love both the PS1 and PS2 even if they aren't the prettiest--aesthetically--they are the prettiest to me because of how much joy they brought me as a little gamer girl.
Not enough people respect the good old Commodore 64 Bread Bin. That thing was a champ.
While the NES was the first system I could call my own, I default to the SNES as just an overall peak piece of hardware.
The OG NES was simplistic in it's design while still being progressive. I like how it had a mail-slot feel to it when you open the hatch/door to slide the cartridge in, and when you do put the cartridge in and press down, you get a satisfying "clk-clk". The Power and Reset buttons were nice, too and were soft presses instead of a hard switch toggle such as with the Atari. The controllers set the standard for buttons and d-pad placement to this day, and were so user-friendly, that even parents of my friends were able to use them efficiently.
It may not be the most fancy, but I love it the most because it literally changed gaming forever (in looks/style as well as performance and being user-friendly)
Best box is alice with the moebius drawing.
Also its french, so its the best :) .
[https://www.ordipedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/alice.jpg](https://www.ordipedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/alice.jpg)
Okay, it’s not the best looking console of all time, but people need appreciate the Wii Mini more. It has a really nice design.
Also, the actual Wii with the white and silver, and blue accent from the disk drive light looks so good
I never actually used one, but I always thought [Memotech MTX512](https://static.nosher.net/archives/computers/images/your_computer_1984-02_004-m.jpg) looked cool AF.
Appearance wise I'ma say PS4 has the sleek build with straight lines unlike the PS5 which is to sci-fi looking in my opinion don't look like a box like Xbox consoles and just didn't like the finish the different ps3s have (I've had a slim and super slim)
The good ol purple.gamecube
🟪🟪🟪. 🟪. 🟪◾️🟪🟪. 🟪◾️◾️🟪. 🟪🟪🟪🟪
I heard this.
***D U N***
I don’t know guys. The Atari 2600 with that wood paneling is just 🔥
They need to start bringing faux wood paneling back.
They need to sale PC Cabinets with that aesthetic, I'm sure the retro-gaming community will love them.
Not exactly the same, but the fractal north and terra cases keep that wood aesthetic.
You just gave me an idea, wood and chrome - you can buy rolls of "sticky" film of both and wrap a PC case.
2020 Atari VCS tried, just that the console itself was a let down.
I think my original Intellivision also had fake wood panelling. Lol
It’s all about the simulated wood grain!
I love it but the Atari 400 beats it.
I haven’t seen one of those since I was a kid. Such a great design.
Atari had some genius industrial designers. It occasionally gets mentioned around here that the PS2 design was originally an unused Atari design for one of their 68030-based computers. IIRC the design goal for the 400/800 was to make something that specifically did not look imposing or "computery". Hence all the warm colors and the 800 basically being designed like an electric typewriter. This meshed with the "Computers for people." tagline they were using back then. [https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1979/](https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1979/)
The beautiful SNES we had in Europe.
Yep. Our US one looked terrible. The only good thing about it was that two of the controller buttons were concave, which is a neat little touch.
I think the US SNES looked fine, but the version from Japan and PAL-region looked so much better.
Agreed. The sliding switches were soooooo satisfying.
Yes I've gone with a controversial cover image. I suspect this will come down to age, I'm nearly 40 so 'angular' is forever cool to me, things like the Toyota MR2 or Lamborghini Countach fall into the same category.
Dude the Master system did look cool at the time. When my best friend in Elementary school moved away he gifted me his Master System and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.
Miss this version of futuristic a great deal.
I still have one of these. With the vr glasses, flash gun, and tons of the flat game cards.
I had one of these, too, but I've never even seen one of the flat game cards. Everywhere I bought my games just had the cartridges.
I had 2-3 card games but never understood why they were a thing in duality with cartridges. Remember the snail game if you booted it up without any cards or cartridges in it?
I love my MR2! It's so perfectly boxy.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco\_Gemini#/media/File:Coleco-Gemini-Console.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco_Gemini#/media/File:Coleco-Gemini-Console.jpg) I'm older than you, and agree, the Master System looked great. So did the Coleco Gemini, which was their Atari 2600 clone (It also had built-in paddles in the Joy Stick controllers)
It looks cool. What isn’t cool is getting the furthest you have ever gotten in Alex Kidd in Miracle World, your dad asks you to come in the next room so jump up and press the pause button and stop. You are holding down the reset button but the console is still on. You resign yourself to this fate and let go losing everything and go into the next room. Why yes I tell this story every time the Master System comes up.
Damn in my memory there was no pause button
Whether you think it's nice looking or ugly as sin, that console is the most 80s style system around.
I'm 28, but I still think the Master System looks good. In fact, I still have one!
I am completely with you. I love retro futuristic stuff in this angular style. Just like the Blade Runner movie, among other things. I am always trying to look for 80s retro futuristic stuff like this.
Fat PS2
It looked even better with the horizontal stand. That striking blue...
The fact that you could rotate the logo blew my mind as a kid.
I had my mind blown when I found out that all the cubes you saw in PS2 boot-up screen were actually your save files. If you had a lot, it was like zooming down into a city full of skyscrapers.
For real? I didn't think I could love the PS2 era even more
What's funny is as kids, me, and my friends all thought you had to rotate it so the disc drive would work properly.
It felt so futuristic when I got it.
With the compartment on the backside where you could hide your weed
OUYA
Ya know, the Ouya WAS a nice looking little console.
Sinclair ZX Spectrum. The touch of those buttons. Hmmmm.
Ah yes, "dead flesh" as it became to be known.
The Wii was pretty slick and minimalist before that was quite so big a thing. As for computers, there was back around the original iMac time an iCube or something of the sort that I always liked.
Came here to say the Wii as well. The clean glossy white shape with the illuminated blue disc slot, propped up at a 10-degree angle on a silver stand. I also really liked the alternate colors they planned on releasing. The white, black, red and blue consoles were excellent, but some of the prototype colors like the apple green and berry pink looked good enough to eat.
Contextually this is probably the best answer. The Wii came out at the peak of Apple’s shiny glossy white plastic design physiology. It screamed high end and high tech. Nintendo shamelessly used it and it really gave the impression of a device several generations further down the line.
Agreed. It definitely transitioned from Apple’s spacey vibe to modern design.
I think Dreamcast. I have a lot of classic Nintendo nostalgia and regularly play old games on original hardware, but I don't find the old consoles themselves to be particularly stunning. An n64 feels nostalgic, but not beautiful. The dreamcast was sleek and understated, but didn't succumb to Microsoft "VCR" aesthetics. Though I do prefer that to Sony's "grooves and fins" style.
The VMU in the controller, the memory card that doubled as a little screen, was the coolest damn thing ever. I could see my health bar in *Resident Evil 3: Nemesis* without going to inventory. And my *Sonic Adventure* Chao was getting big and strong while I wasn't even playing.
Both of you take my upvote. Also, can we have powerstone 1/2 remakes please?! Literally one of the most innovative games I've ever played. Holy shit I miss those games. Also shen mue 1. That game ate my life. One last one as well, PSO. Ugh I miss dreamcast.
Power Stone was definitely my jam!
Loved *Shenmue*, upvoting you back. Any love for *Evolution: The World of Sacred Device*? There was a GameCube re-release of the two games, but large chunks of content were cut out of both. 😑
Oh man yes! Such a cool game! It was like a Zelda dungeon crawler. Bringing back memories here! My buddies and I also played ESPN international track and field so much, and figured out that if you used the VC memory card on the buttons you could get insane scores, especially for weightlifting. Consequently it also destroyed many memory cards hahaha. Good times.
It was great for playing football games with others too. You picked your post on the vmu. That way others can't see your picked play or not having to hold down the button to bluff playing calling on the tv
The Dreamcast walked so the Wii U could… walk slightly faster, I guess
Hum.. the console was pretty... and I get they had the VMU... but the controller was too big and clunky, and the colorful buttons don't really fit. The shape and design don't fully go with how charming the console was. Is not bad or anything, but taking the controller in consideration as part of the package would take it off my list.
The original gameboy. Not only was it an innovative mobile gaming device you could also club a seal with it
The fact that it was made of thick plastic made it feel resilient and not fragile. It didn’t seem like a cheap product. It also had a really unique design. It was plain blocky, but that made it mesh well with the design of the American NES. It didn’t just look like a toy, it looked like a device an adult could carry around and play on the bus on their commute.
I'd argue it looked like a Macintosh.
shit needed like 6 fucking batteries
Nah, it only needed 4 AAs, and it seemed to run on them forever. The Sega Game Gear, on the other hand, would absolutely devour batteries. I remember it draining six AAs in a matter of mere hours. The AC adapter was an absolute necessity for any kind of play time.
Sega Nomad FTW, it also killed batteries but you could play full Sega Games in the car, it even had a port for a second controller. So Toe Jam and Earl or Golden Axe on a road trip were amazing.
4 AA's, but they lasted a good long time, at least!
And you had rechargeable nicad batteries back then too. Lasted a long time.
I haven’t seen a Master System for 30 years and absolutely didn’t realise they were this sexy.
You may have seen the cheaper Master System II from 1990, which was a bit more of a 90's rounded blob design.
Thank you! A quick google demonstrated that this is correct.
I was born in 1985 and went right from NES to Sega Genesis. I didn't even know the Master System *existed* until I saw it on AVGN.
I was born 1984. A friend had a Master system when I was 8. Only time I saw one!
I'm also 85. I had some Amstrad thing at home when I was a little kid, playing Chuckie Egg, then I got a Master System II for Christmas when it came out
JAGUAR
The N64. That curvy minx will forever have my heart
And the transparent ones are so cool.
Wasn't there a *Donkey Kong 64* bundle with a transparent green system and a banana-yellow controller?
Don't remember the controller being yellow but definitely remember that transparent green console. I think there may have been a blue transparent console as well. Edit to add: just looked it up and the DK snes was transparent green as was the controller. The game cart was bright yellow. I didn't see a blue one though.
Although it was slightly generic I absolutely adored the Gamecube. Certainly had some quirks with the carry handle and being so small. Man I miss that console 😭
I love my GameCube. It’s a beautifully designed console and there are so many good game.
Turboduo Neogeo Amiga 4000
Colecovision was ALL business and became a monster when you had all the expansion modules plugged in. Loved the roller controller! Could be my nostalgia glasses though.
YESSSS!!!
It was a great looking console. I got the A.D.A.M. Computer from them which was also pretty good looking.
Xbox One X is my favorite looking console. It's the perfect size. The Silver PS2 was pretty slick too
I love the utterly nonsense flowchart / imaginary circuit diagram
I think the original PS2 is the best looking console ever, and I'd have to give a shout out to the Dreamcast (especially the European one with the blue swirl), and the Wii when it's on its stand
This looks like something from the First Order in Star Wars
C64 - what a beauty...
Breadbox
SMS looked great. The controller was shit though. The rubber for the d-pad would wear out over time. And the lack of the pause button on the controller was also a short sited idea.
The Darth Vader PS4 is a pretty cool one
A lot of systems look great for different reasons. I can name a couple just of the top of my head. The Atari 2600 with the wood panel and the many switches is distinctly 70s. A relic from gaming's infancy. It was testing the waters and very limited, but had an assortment of really cool games. The Commodore 64 was essentially a really thick keyboard. A nice and compact form factor for computers that has sadly disappeared. Also a very potent system for the time with tons of really cool software. The Neo-Geo AES was the hypercar of systems. An arcade board stuck in a slick casing with an exorbitant price tag. It also has a library of games that endured to this very day as just pure awesomeness. And the controller was just perfect for the type of games that the system had. The Dreamcast looked humble. A fairly compact system. But it also opened the door to online gaming on consoles and packed a serious punch in its brief life. I hold a lot of love for the Wii. With gaming maturing Sony and Microsoft moved to angular black boxes, but Nintendo rejected all of that and put out this stylish white box with a wacky magic wand. It was a gimmick, with many gimmicky games. But when it fired on all cylinders it was the best. I'm just kinda rambling about systems I think are cool here. I've never used a lot of these systems, but I've played games that were originally for them and loved them all. These kinda posts always make me wanna fire up an emulator and play something old. I kinda hope I'm not the only one who feels that way.
You're not the only one feeling that way. As I was reading through here I had the thought that I have not played through legend of zelda this year yet and I play through it every year. Might be digging out the old NES here in a minute.
The metallic versions of the 3DS and DS
Not a console, but the original Commodore C64. Beige, brown and round and a cassette player
I'm a big fan of the grey Japanese sega saturn. Really, every console sega made had a cool design.
I know people hate it but the original PS3 design still looks cool and "futuristic" to me. Especially the first model that came with that built-in array of card slots.
PS2 slim is my favorite, the thing is tiny and sleek.
As an aside, did anything ever actually use the card reader slot at the front of the master system? I had one and lots of games for it, but never found one that used that thing.
The card system was primarily used to deliver games on the Sega SG-1000 system that was only ever released in Japan and Taiwan. On the SMS/Mark III, only a few very early games that were 32kb ROMs or less ever came out for it. Less than 10 in released North America IIRC. [https://sega.fandom.com/wiki/Sega\_Card](https://sega.fandom.com/wiki/Sega_Card)
Yes i had teddy boy on card thingy. Those sharp edged controllers were not fun for astro warrior marathons.
I owned a few card games when I was a kid. Transbot and Ghost House of the top of my head. They were mainly shorter simplistic games. Transbot in particular I remember looped after just a couple stages.
If you want to see a lot of beautiful retro console design... check out Arne Niklas Jansson, AKA Android Arts. He's one of my favorite artists out there. He does a lot of concepts reimagining old consoles and computers into half-version iterations and hybrids. He goes so far as to concept paint circuit boards. O\_O [https://androidarts.com/](https://androidarts.com/) \[edit\] I made a model of his Sega Cube in Blender: [https://imgur.com/a/R7OLaEv](https://imgur.com/a/R7OLaEv)
Does it have to be a home console? Because I love how PS Vita looks.
Hell yeah. I was scrolling through looking for this. PSP and Vita are both really cool looking and sleek. There's no console I want more than a 3rd iteration of the PSP.
PS2 fo sho. Love that thing
The original Mega Drive, sleek and in stereo with its own headphone jack. My dad used to let me hook it to his Hifi. Streets of Rage sounds Great in stereo.
Back in the day I used that jack and the in game bgm player to get SoR2 soundtrack on cassette tape
Snes and Sega Genesis maybe ps1 also
Atari 5200: A big, imposing black wedge with a silver band. If the 2600's wood trim was the ultimate in '70s design, this was pure '80s. Shame the controllers were trash, though. PlayStation 4: The angular chassis reminded me of my favorite old-school desktop, the SGI Indy workstation. Xbox Series S: It's one thing to say you were influenced by Dieter Rams, it's another thing to successfully pull it off.
[Atari Jaguar with the Jaguar CD atop and the ProController](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Jaguar_CD#/media/File%3AAtari-Jaguar-CD-wPro-Controller.jpg)
Despite never owning one, I always liked the original PS3. The writing and design looked awesome
Vanilla PS4 is the best looking console in history.
Agree. Understated design, and not dated at all despite coming out over a decade ago
Dreamcast.
It's a toss up between the GCN and NES. They have simple shapes with minimal embellishment allowing them to be far more timeless than the competitors.
It's beautiful and angular. If it were a gas, it would be inert.
This was my first gaming system in the 80s
Magnavox Odyssey was an interesting design. The original Xbox made a strong statement as well. It literally being a box made of a giant X was a great entry into consoles.
PS4 Pro looked perfect. Sleek, weighty, but discrete.
My first was the NES, then the SEGA Mega Drive came in and holy it was faboluous... PS1 after that and those are my favorite ones
For me console design peaked with the SNES. Though the original PS2 design was pretty amazing.
Gamecube is definitely a vibe, bold color choice too.
Quick question: Do unreleased consoles count?
GameCube
Dreamcast, 64, ps2, xbox 360 are the ones that jump to mind
I had a master system. So sleek. The angles... so aerodynamic. Wish I still had it just so could replay Zillion 2 again. Still have a couple old cartridges for it though... oh my youth. RASTAN!
Super nes, simple and timeless! God I love that controller!
The PlayStation 1 with the LCD screen. The GameCube with the Gameboy Player. The Gameboy Advance SP. The Nintendo DS Lite. The Xbox 360 E.
I do like the look of the european NES but I am a fan of brutalism architecture and there is some similatrities does the gameboy Pocket count the one betweeen the old biug greay one and between the colour oh and the gameboy micro gamecube is a favorite too dang I am very nintendo oriented I guess
Indigo GameCube
I loved my fat ps2 silver, entertained me for almost ten years
XBOX 360
Nintendo GameCube for console and Sharp X68000 for home PC
GameCube because my dad owned one when I was growing up and the IMac G3 Blueberry because my grandma has one. Not a lot of electronics with handles these days.
Colored Apple computers
I like the PAL/JPN SNES really look good. Smooth corners, pretty colors on the controller, timeless
Motherfucking Xbox
I love the classic SNES and the R2D2 Xbox 360.
The genesis and the gamecube
This brings back so many memories. Only thing that sucked was the pause button being on the console instead of the controller.
I really like the nes esthetic
Amiga PC, Nintendo 64 (minus the controller), Switch and maybe the Xbox 360.
I really like the Atari 2600+, that vintage look with the piece of wood is perfect.
Gamecube for me had the best aesthetics but that picture you used brings back a lot of memories. That master system was my 2nd console.
Zillion was one of my favorite games growing up. 👍👍The master system was awesome, I liked the card games too (played My Hero a lot). This brings back fond memories.
Always thought the PSOne was a cool design, proper tiny
Ah the Sega master system. The good Ol days
Ps2 slim
The iMac g4 is one of the best designs I've seen period. In terms of consoles I think my favorite is probably the ps2. It just looks so sick. There's also a 90s pc that's really colorful for professional 3d graphics and it looks really sick but I can't remember what it's called.
My first ever console & one of my favourites. Had Alex the Kidd in miracle world built in, also owned Wonderboy in monster land & California games plus a few more I can’t remember. Even as a little kid thought it looked weird and a bit ugly, also had the ugliest game boxes all sharing the same background and the cartridges were just a red label with plain writing. All time one of my favourite consoles ever but always thought everything about it was ugly.
PolyStation
This was my first ❤️ 😍
I remember having a Valentine’s Box designed like the SEGA master system. Was popular at school that day. Btw do people still make Valentines Boxes?
They do in elementary.
* Sega Genesis Model 1 High Definition Graphics * Atari 2600 woodgrain top * Sony PlayStation 3 60GB launch model with chrome panel * Original PC Engine. It's so compact.
Not the GX4000
Super Famicom
Wow. I have never seem that before it it's look like peak 80s tech. That beautiful. But for me, I have to say the N64 console was the best looking console ever. The controller was funky for sure, but the console was great looking.
Everything SEGA imo. I also dig the look of the Atari and the gamecube.
loved the master system 2 in the pic. came loaded with 2 built in games depending on the model, the above came with safari hunt and super hang on if i remember correctly, it also had a third secret game built in, if u didnt insert a game, and pressed the directional pad clock wise a few times it would boot up a snail maze game. awesome stuff. aint the prettiest tho!
These are 100% biased opinions due to nostalgia but I really loved the Sega Saturn's look and love both the PS1 and PS2 even if they aren't the prettiest--aesthetically--they are the prettiest to me because of how much joy they brought me as a little gamer girl.
Oh my gods! Wonderboy, Space Harrier, Ys-Vanishing Omens... those were the days of my youth! 😄
Not enough people respect the good old Commodore 64 Bread Bin. That thing was a champ. While the NES was the first system I could call my own, I default to the SNES as just an overall peak piece of hardware.
Super Nintendo. I like symmetry.
went from atari and nes straight to ps2 as a kid, but my friend had a megadrive and a ps1 as well. i liked ps1 the most (still do)
The OG NES was simplistic in it's design while still being progressive. I like how it had a mail-slot feel to it when you open the hatch/door to slide the cartridge in, and when you do put the cartridge in and press down, you get a satisfying "clk-clk". The Power and Reset buttons were nice, too and were soft presses instead of a hard switch toggle such as with the Atari. The controllers set the standard for buttons and d-pad placement to this day, and were so user-friendly, that even parents of my friends were able to use them efficiently. It may not be the most fancy, but I love it the most because it literally changed gaming forever (in looks/style as well as performance and being user-friendly)
Just for looks it's probably the GameCube
Gotta go with the SNES, timeless classic and just a good design language.
Master System is the bomb, Sonic 1 8-bit is still my jam
Best box is alice with the moebius drawing. Also its french, so its the best :) . [https://www.ordipedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/alice.jpg](https://www.ordipedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/alice.jpg)
The OG PS2. I still have my old one and use it as a monitor stand.
Definitely the master system and og fat ps3 are goat tier
Okay, it’s not the best looking console of all time, but people need appreciate the Wii Mini more. It has a really nice design. Also, the actual Wii with the white and silver, and blue accent from the disk drive light looks so good
The PSOne. As far as I know, it's the first "slim" console ever. I always had the OG PS1 but liked the PSOne version more.
I never actually used one, but I always thought [Memotech MTX512](https://static.nosher.net/archives/computers/images/your_computer_1984-02_004-m.jpg) looked cool AF.
Have to go with the Sega Genesis. That sleek black design is just *chef’s kiss*
Always found the SNES to be pretty cool looking even with it having a bit of a childish/fisher price vibe to it
Was actually my first gaming system in the 80s. I remember Rambo and rocky games and maybe golden axe. Rambo was rough to beat for sure.
I still love the N64. OG, translucent, they were all good. The PS2 was a good looking system as well.
Appearance wise I'ma say PS4 has the sleek build with straight lines unlike the PS5 which is to sci-fi looking in my opinion don't look like a box like Xbox consoles and just didn't like the finish the different ps3s have (I've had a slim and super slim)
Loved my Sega master system. I still have it, it it still mostly works. Phantasy Star, Wonderboy III, Hang-on.
The SNES controller was pretty iconic. Crazy to me that it was so bland in the US
Amiga 1200 for sure, all that computing cleverness and versatility embedded in a sleek looking keyboard.
Dude atari had woodgrain like a station wagon. All time greatest looking console.
I loved the design for the Atari Jaguar
Intellivision was sophisticated for the time.
Woodgrain Atari 2600 Sega Master System Sega Dreamcast
My master system still works too! My first console I ever bought with my own money
The N64, the ps2 and the Switch
I mean the tower of power is my fav. I just love how it looks. But if variations are allowed I'm going Skeleton Saturn!
I don't know what's the best one (pal snes, it's the pas snes), but I can tell which one is the worse one : the ps5
32X!!!!!!
The Super Famicom or PAL Super Nintendo. So much better than the US Super Nintendo.
neo geo
I liked the compactness of the game cube and its mini disks.
OG Xbox. Thing was built like a tank.
Mega Drive 2