DIGITISER
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ

THE GENERATIONS GAME: WHICH GAMES MACHINES WON?

2/2/2016

35 Comments

 
Picture
Since the dawn of gaming, every generation of hardware has instigated a war between supporters over which is best.

History may declare the winner by how well a system sold, but that's not how we do things here at Digitiser2000: we're too drunk to look up the figures.

Nevertheless, we have appointed ourselves The Arbiters of Taste, and have decided to settle, once and for all, every debate ever regarding which games system is the best - "best" being an entirely arbitrary epithet that we shall struggle to quantify, coming, as it will, from our gut - the same place, not coincidentally, where our poo doth lurk. So here we go then: let's do this. Let's solve everything.

ZX SPECTRUM vs COMMODORE 64
Picture
Picture
Though bright and colourful, the Spectrum's graphics were an epileptic's second-worst nightmare (their first-worst nightmare would involve a Spectrum... and a scary monster!), and it was capable only of music that sounded like a randy fox trapped in an empty skip.

The Commodore 64 was a more powerful machine on paper. It sounded better, had more oomph under the bonnet, but everything on it looked as if it had been designed by a Sontaran; it's basically a computer for people who really like earth colours/brown.

On the plus side: better keyboard. On the down side: there were fewer classic games on the C64, and those which made it to both machines were somehow better on the Spectrum. Also, that iconic rainbow stripe indicated that the Spectrum was the world's first LGBT-friendly computer, which is nice.

VERDICT: ZX Spectrum.
MASTER SYSTEM vs NES
Picture
Picture
Let's face it - there was just something a bit rubbish about the Master System, wasn't there? The NES felt like a machine that had been designed by a company that knew what it was doing... providing you ignored the Power Glove and R.O.B.

But even they, in their own way, were sort of exciting - the closest the Master System ever got to innovation was its ill-conceived and under-utilised 3D goggles, and that screw-in joypad nub.

Just on games alone, the NES trumps on the Master System's head - Alex Kidd in Miracle World, or Super Mario Bros 3? Admittedly, the Master System got some decent games later in its life, but by then it was just treading water alongside the Mega Drive. And by "treading water" we mean rolling around on its back in a puddle, shrieking and kicking its legs.

VERDICT: NES.
MEGA DRIVE vs SUPER NES
Picture
Picture
The Mega Drive - or "Genesis" if you're a prog rock fan - was inexplicably cooler than the Super NES, due to some slick marketing from Sega. But the Mega Drive launched with a handful of mostly terrible games, and when the SNES eventually arrived it seemed to appear fully formed.

Plus, while Sonic the Hedgehog may have have been perceived as more slick than Mario, he had the equivalent endurance of a boyband called The Pubeless Wonderz.

The Mega Drive may have some great games, but there are just so many all-time classics on the Super NES; Super Mario World, Link to the Past, F-Zero.... Also; the SNES felt nice and robust. Pick up a Mega Drive and it rattled like a half-empty charity tin.

VERDICT: Super NES
AMIGA vs ATARI ST
Picture
Picture
Oooooh! The Atari "Saint" can do many MIDI things! Much as it pains us to say it, this one is a no-brainer. Sorry, ST fans. Perhaps you'd like to instigate a months-long letter-writing campaign to convince us that our opinion is wrong? That always works.

​VERDICT: Amiga.
PLAYSTATION vs NINTENDO 64
Picture
Picture
There's no real point in including the Saturn in this generation, given that it flopped harder than hot air balloon striking an electricity pylon.

The N64 might've boasted some of the greatest games of all time, including Super Mario 64, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Goldeneye et al - but we all tended to overlook its fuzzy, smeary, visuals. Frankly, it was like playing games on a telly that some lunatic had covered with Vaseline.

Plus, the physical hardware felt oddly cheap for Nintendo, as if all the money had been spent on that needlessly complicated trident joypad. The PlayStation made the N64 look like a toy by comparison, and was the first console to become a bona-fide lifestyle accessory, whatever one of those is.

There's no arguing with the likes of Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil, Wipeout, Ridge Racer, Tekken, Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill. Although, we're sure you'll prove us wrong on that count.

VERDICT: PlayStation.
XBOX vs GAMECUBE
Picture
Picture
The PlayStation 2 was far and away the winner of this generation, and the Dreamcast flailed around in last place going "Oooh, look at me everyone, it's the taking part that counts" - but the battle for runner-up is our focus here. 

The first Xbox was a huge, unwieldy monstrosity, that had no real identity of its own. Halo was obviously a game changer, but the GameCube had Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin, Metroid Prime and more.

​You could only play Nintendo's games on the GameCube, and it was the only machine you could carry around like a square handbag. For that alone... it wins (second place).

​VERDICT: GameCube.
WII vs PLAYSTATION 3 vs XBOX 360
Picture
This might be the toughest one to call. The Wii is so radically different to its competitors, it almost seems wrong to include it alongside them. It certainly has the edge in terms of innovation. Wii Sports became the first game since Tetris that everybody played.

The Xbox 360 had a rough start, with its red ring of death, and struggled at first to wrestle public opinion out of the hands of the PlayStation brand... but 360 games were easier to get going with; the PS3 seemed to constantly require updates and installation before you could play anything.

It's also hard to think of any PS3 games that really defined the system, whereas the 360 could at least boast the continuing adventures of Master Chief, and Gears of War. Also: it had a much nicer controller, given Sony's stubborn refusal to fix its monstrous bow tie-shaped joypad. 

VERDICT: Xbox 360. 
PLAYSTATION 4 vs XBOX ONE
Picture
Picture
Forget the Wii U - it's a horrible failed experiment, with only a handful of reasons to pick up that wretched portable television controller. The sooner Nintendo gets around to the NX the better.

The Xbox One got off to the most ignominious of starts, by forcing customers to sniff the diseased underbelly of its wretched Kinect 2.0, but has since done well to eke back a good degree of respect, with some decent exclusives.

Unfortunately, both the PS4 and One have struggled to carve out any real identity of their own - in part, perhaps, because the machines are both bland black slabs, and because there's so little between them in terms of technology. Who knows, frankly? Sony and Microsoft are clearly in this one for the long haul.

VERDICT: Hung jury.
PRESS REVEAL TO SEE WHAT INSINCERE DAVE THINKS:
Picture
I can't wait to hear what all the zealots have to say about this one!!!!!??!!!!! I totes love those guys!!!!!?!!!!
      /
FROM THE ARCHIVE:
SUPER-QUIZ 33: Are You a Gaming Addict? - Presented by BW
TRAILER ANALYSIS: FALLOUT 4
TRAILER ANALYSIS: RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER
35 Comments
Da5e
2/2/2016 11:10:03 am

Masayuki Uemura done a talk about the design on the NES last week at the National Videogame Arcade, and heavily implied that R.O.B and the powerglove were indeed the result of people who had no idea what they were doing being allowed into the design process.

Reply
Mr Biffo
2/2/2016 11:12:39 am

There you go then!

Reply
marty
2/2/2016 12:28:58 pm

What the Hell is that monstrosity between the PC Engne and steering wheel device down the bottom?!

Reply
Darth Tinder
2/2/2016 01:34:58 pm

Bandai Playdia, innit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playdia

Reply
Stoo
2/2/2016 01:39:28 pm

I had no idea myself so did some searching. Apparently it's something called a Playdia, from Bandai:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playdia

Reply
Vending Machine
2/2/2016 12:53:39 pm

I actually agreed with you on every single choice. Amazing.

Reply
Voodoo76
2/2/2016 12:53:55 pm

Even the failed machines had some classic games....VF2 and Sega Rally on the Saturn, hmmm yes please!

Reply
Chris
2/2/2016 12:59:16 pm

My life as a gamer began on the Atari ST, with its vast array of options such as Chess, or Albert's House. This range was multiplied by almost 1.1 when we got an Apple Mac. There it remained stagnant until I went to university and was allowed to buy my own PC.

I'd be a top-flight games journalist if I'd had any real systems! Also totally ethical. Instead I'm a bloody scientist, I mean, really, what good is science to anyone compared with having your own Youtube channel?!

Reply
Tetsuo
2/2/2016 01:13:30 pm

Congratulations for keeping alive the N64's time-honoured 'vasaline smeared graphics' idiom! Despite having heard it a hundred times before, I still find it an utterly bizarre statement.. Maybe I need to grease (Saaandy!) up my TV and it will hit me?

Reply
J Griffin
2/2/2016 04:40:08 pm

Always thought it odd how everyone made such a thing about the "fuzzy" N64 graphics and not so much with those weird undulating polygons PS1 games had where it looked like everything was barely holding together. Worked a treat for Silent Hill, mind.

Reply
Darth Tinder
2/2/2016 04:53:53 pm

I still maintain that at the time the N64's graphics weren't THAT bad. Of course if you try playing them now it's like someone's buried your telly under a pile of dirt and second hand smoke.

Admiral Spiney O'Sullivan
2/2/2016 07:26:33 pm

I've never really understood the problem with the N64's textures and antialiasing either. It looks fine, and holds up better than many of the eye-searing visuals on even the PS1 games that I love.

That's the only one of the above that I'm torn on. In pure subjective gaming terms, there just aren't as many PS1 games that I'd go back to play now (I still go back for Mario 64 every couple of years, and it actually looks and plays unexpectedly decently). That said, shutting up my inner 14-year-old's console grudge (even though I had both!) for a minute, the PlayStation's success wasn't just a sales numbers thing, it was a bona fide cultural phenomenon. The impact on the gaming landscape was incomparable. It might not have had a Goldeneye, a Perfect Dark, a Mario 64 (no, Spyro is not the same...), a Banjo Kazooie, a Smash Bros, or an Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask, but it didn't need to. Much as we might all act very mature and point to Tomb Raider's oversized pointy chest as being beneath us now, the impact of that game alone on how the wider world saw videogames is huge. And I'll even begrudgingly give that same credit to Gran Turismo, even though I still think any racing game that doesn't have weapons, combat or stunts is a bore.

Reply
CdrJameson
2/2/2016 08:33:01 pm

I spent ages trying to tune my TV into the N64 'properly'. Silly me.

And I agree with the Admiral that Playstation 1 games have not aged well. Like most early 'textured' 3D games they look much, much worse than the previous generation's slabs of solid colour. Recently I've only played Bishi Bashi Special and The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, and the 3D on that looked terrible even back then. N64 games get much more emulator play.

RG
2/2/2016 01:22:09 pm

I started my gaming life with an Amstrad CPC 464 which was much better than the C64 or Speccy. I agree that the Speccy wins due to market penetration (matron!) and amount of games, but the Amstrad definitely beats the Commodore.

Reply
Deathhamster1
2/2/2016 09:25:12 pm

I showed an American acquaintance some YouTube vids of Amstrad games and he was quite impressed with the side scrolling and the overall quality. A much underrated (and very successful) system, sadly sidelined because popular memory fixates on the hipsterish nostalgia for the Speccy and the C64.

Reply
RG
3/2/2016 11:34:15 am

It was certainly more stable than its contemporaries.

combat_honey
2/2/2016 01:37:05 pm

I tend to feel as though the PS4 is winning this generation by quite some distance. It just feels as though the PS4 has much better exclusives - Uncharted, No Man's Sky (presuming it ends up being as good as promised), The Witness, Soma, Bloodborne. And Microsoft's absurd, self-defeating parity clause has stopped some excellent-sounding indie games from arriving on Xbox One also (including Biffo favourite Broforce, which I'd dearly love to play). The only truly special Xbox One exclusive I can think of is Sunset Overdrive.

Then again, it could just be that, as an Xbox One owner who doesn't read much games media, I don't tend to realise which Xbox One games are exclusives. And it could also be that I think Microsoft's big, exclusive franchises that everyone love (GoW and Halo) are the most deathly dull franchises to have ever existed.

Why did I buy an Xbox One again?

Reply
J Griffin
2/2/2016 04:45:30 pm

It's worth mentioning as kind of a follow-up to the PS3 bit that they did finally fix that godawful controller too. The PS4 effort is much better.

Reply
Angry Terry
2/2/2016 02:06:26 pm

This list is of course ignoring the PC Master Race, which trumps all these puny consoles by way of sitting on them until they break.

Upgrade that, Ninten-doh!

Reply
Mr Biffo
2/2/2016 02:25:13 pm

Pfffffffffft!

Reply
colincidence link
3/2/2016 11:22:38 am

It's PC gone mad!

Reply
Damon link
2/2/2016 03:00:22 pm

As much as I like the WiiU - mostly because animal crossing but also because I am a sucker for the first party Nintendo games (a lot of other games have similar experiences you can get on the PC).

That said I was discussing the PS4 vs XBox and really the only reason to pick one over the other is that the XBox is ignored in Japan and if you're a console gamer you're probably into JRPGs which won't be coming to the Nextbox or Xbone.

Reply
combat_honey
2/2/2016 03:21:58 pm

"if you're a console gamer you're probably into JRPGs"

Is this really the case? Most of the gamers I know are console gamers, and none of them are at all into JRPGs (and personally, I can't stand them).

Reply
Mr Biffo
2/2/2016 03:35:53 pm

I would concur with this...

Reply
Euphemia
2/2/2016 08:13:33 pm

I will NOT concur with that. Although, I do agree with it.

Ha.

Dogson
2/2/2016 06:28:00 pm

It's hard to disagree with any of that.

I do hope Nintendo give up on hardware pretty soon. I'd very much like to play their games and they'd surely duodecuple their profits by releasing them on PS4 / Xbox One.

Reply
CdrJameson
2/2/2016 08:37:21 pm

Oh, and you forgot ZX81 vs Vic20, and Atari VCS vs something by Grandstand or Binatone.

Reply
Mr Biffo
2/2/2016 08:40:09 pm

No I didn't. NO I DIDN'T. You just failed to read between the lines.

Reply
Penyrolewen
2/2/2016 09:19:35 pm

No defenders of the wii u here then. Yes, Nintendo totally cocked up the marketing. No, no one has really made the gamepad indispensable but for all that it ain't bad. Once you get used to a well-planned gamepad (like in the wind wakes for instance) it's hard to see how else it could be done without breaking the flow of the game more. And there are some great games - zombieu, mariokart, mario bros 3D world, splatoon and more. Failed experiment? Harsh. Unjustly ignored and awfully marketed attempt to keep gaming fun? I reckon. I don't have a next gen console yet, I was just too jaded with the same old same old but prettier of the last one. The wii u has helped me to rediscover the fun in gaming. Generation winner it's not but it's still a good console. I hope Nintendo keep on making hardware - but they need 3rd party support bad, bro. Dunno how they can get it though if they insist on going their own way and not basically making a pc in a box. But would we want them any other way than totally, incomprehensibly incomprehensible? I mean, who understands Mario? And who'd want to? Gaming will be a duller place if they ever go under.

Reply
Admiral Spiney O'Sullivan
3/2/2016 01:20:05 am

The WiiU is sadly pretty much a failure, and I say this as someone who owns one as well. Unclear marketing lost the new gamers they picked up with the Wii, and Nintendo didn't really manage to get back the old ones they lost because of the Wii. That said, though I only have two games on my WiiU (the least games I've owned for any console ever), Smash Bros and Mario Kart 8 both get a lot of play. Both are great fun, and even made DLC worth buying. For getting friends round to play multiplayer on a couch, nobody beats Nintendo.

Reply
Damon link
3/2/2016 05:28:21 am

Failure is a little harsh but I wouldn't try and make a case for it doing well. Maybe not quite as dismal as people think but... I still can't make any case for it doing well in traditional sense, though it's far from Nintendo's Dreamcast and it's still doing better than the Virtual Boy.

For some reason I own more WiiU than 3DS games (counting only 3DS games) by one title (6 and 7). The Game Boy Advance was the console I just never bought games for, for some reason, I only ever had four, three of which I bought on release. This does actually tie with the Virtual Boy, but let's not even open that can of worms.

(I own a Virtual Boy only because it was released on my Birthday - Wario Land is probably the only game really worth playing on it.)

Admiral Spiney O'Sullivan
3/2/2016 06:20:08 pm

If it's not their Dreamcast, it's sadly at least their Saturn (another console I own and like despite all actual reason). It's selling about half as well as the GameCube in a market that's far bigger than it was back then. Sales figures aren't everything, but people are barely even aware of it. I have had to tell people I know that it was even a different thing form the Wii. The WiiU's gimmick just doesn't have any impact on the public imagination, since it's basically being a bigger DS made worse by putting about 6 feet of distance between the screens. It's useless in some games (Smash Bros), and outright unhelpful in others (Mario Kart 8).

That said, on the occasions that the second screen is meaningfully integrated, it can be fun. The 3vs1 games in Nintendoland are great fun for games nights. The Luigi's Mansion, chase, and Animal Crossing games are excellent. Sadly the (not even huge) complexity of those was never going to make them accessible to the market that the Wii opened up, and doesn't really do much to bring back the market they lost.

Damon link
3/2/2016 08:42:13 pm

@ Admiral Spiney O'Sullivan

I would say it could be their Saturn but Nintendo is also in a very different position than Sega was. Nintendo may be hurting but they aren't hemorrhaging and they weren't counting on the WiiU to save them. Also the DS and 3DS continue to do very well.

The second screen actually by design *can't* be used in a meaningful way if the ability to play only on the pad is taken into account. Not sure what Nintendo was thinking, there.

I feel like the idea looked better on paper but neither the consumers nor the developers bought into it. It wasn't really "sold" to anyone feature-wise. It was marketed akin to any other toy and I think that's sort of what hurt it. It has an identity but not as a gaming console. I'm also not sure I can say I honestly thought it could do well, it's so different from PS4 and Xbox that it's a struggle to compare it.

The games get consistently good reviews... perhaps the solid first-party titles just came out too late in the console's life? Surely good solid titles is what sells a platform? I don't know if Nintendo honestly mistook the casual Wii players as people committed to the brand of if they hoped they could bring in new people. The WiiU seems to almost want to be a console for the whole family... but that's not how consoles work in the Western markets.

Chris
3/2/2016 04:25:55 pm

The Wii U is, IMO, the best console Nintendo’s produced in generations from a gameplay perspective. I've never had such enjoyable and satisfying gaming experiences (both solo and party) on any other console in decades, including the 360, and in no small part to how the controller is used and what it offers (albeit not by third parties).

When the term “failure” is branded around, it’s usually by those who’ve fallen victim to the idea that sales figures and popularity equate to quality of gaming experience. The only people who should care about success from a sales perspective are profiteering shareholders who are out to make a fast buck at any expense. Gamers really aren't directly affected regardless of how well an established console sells. Zealots also seem to care about sales figures, again falling victim to the fallacy.

Bad marketing cost the Wii U; it wasn’t portrayed and therefore seen as the popular Wii sequel and next generation Nintendo console, but seen as some aging Wii addon. As such, along with the infamous oxymoron of console ‘power’ being seen as important rather than what you do with that power in games, negative memes spread and killed an otherwise marvellous gem. I've never been as satisfied with a games console since the SNES, and it’s leaps and bounds better than the Wii.

Reply
IVGNC link
3/2/2016 10:08:51 pm

Really Biffy? Is this kind of click bait garbage the best you can come up with? It was fun back in the day but maybe that's where you and Digi should have stayed. Taking pot shots at sega every time you mention them is immature and quite frankly embarrassing in this day and age, your war with mean machines and the official sega mag is long over.

I almost regret sending that email to Metro's Game Central telling them to shut down anc clear off now that Digi was back. Almost.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:


    Current Number Of Columns are = 2

    Expand Posts Area =

    Gap/Space Between Posts = 12px

    Blog Post Style = card

    Use of custom card colors instead of default colors = 1

    Blog Post Card Background Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Border Color = current color

    Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results

    Picture
    Support Me on Ko-fi
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    RSS Feed Widget
    Picture

    Picture
    Tweets by @mrbiffo
    Picture
    Follow us on The Facebook

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2022
    May 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ