You get only 3 systems.......

[chronotigger65]

Saw this thread on another forum and thought trying it here. Basically the idea is that you can only have three game systems for the rest of your life.

For me I would pick ones with backward compatibility with other games from other systems.

PS3 or PS2-First pick would depend on what version of system. Love the PS2 and its games but would like more games from other Playstation platforms. The PS3 I choice would be the one of the early ones which can play PS1 and 2. If I couldn't get it then the PS2 would be the pick.

Gamecube-Like the system and with the Game Boy Advance Player it allows me to play all Game Boy series of games.

3DS-Choose this one as it can play DS games. Also want at least one portable system in my collection.

[Apollo Chungus]

Easily answered.

Xbox 360 - Great library of games, along with a good chunk of the OG Xbox library. But what tips it for me is the awesome Music Player option, where you can play ANY music burned onto the console or through a USB and it'll automatically mute the in-game music without any hassle. This has made several sandbox or large games much more enjoyable for me, and I wouldn't want to play them without this option.

PlayStation 2 - Of course. The PS1 and PS2 libraries are abundant with all kinds of classics and experimental games that I'd always find something new to enjoy.

Nintendo 3DS - My favourite handheld console by a mile. Not only do you have both the libraries of the DS and 3DS to get stuck into, but the built-in Music Player has been a simple, versatile godsend for me when I need music to listen to while walking, working, calming down, or any other state of mind I find it necessary. (In fact, I'm listening to it right now.) I wouldn't want to be without this lovely little system.

[chronotigger65]

Didn't know the 3DS could play music.

[Snake]

For hackable systems, I'm completely content with a Super Famicom Mini.  The current build I have has an overwhelming library from MAME/arcade, MSX, Famicom, Wonderswan, Virtual Boy, PC-Engine/Turbografx, all the way to Playstation and N64.  I don't think I would get through all the games thoroughly in my lifetime...

Ditto on a Nintendo 3DS and DS games library.

I'll bank on PS5 to be backwards compatible to the previous systems.  


For systems as is:
The early PS3 which goes backward compatible with PS2 and PS1.

Super Nintendo, and break the plastic prongs inside to fit Super Famicom games.

Nintendo 3DS

[Ace Whatever]

Just based on the amount of games I want to play:

BC PS3 so I can have 3 generations of games in one console

Wii so I can play both Wii and GC games (if hacking is allowed replace with Wii U so I get 3 generations of games again)

3rd device I'm a bit torn between the 3DS and the Vita (if hacking is allowed). I've generally played 80-90% of all the PSP games I ever want to play but Japan-exclusive games are still getting fan translated.

[ommadawnyawn2]

High end PC
High end Android phone
Best current console that can be modded or perhaps something with a hardware gimmick like 3DS

No hacking:
Switch PC for a MD
Same phone
Console with the most older games available for it

[Deleted]

Assuming no hacking (cos that's just cheating), I'd honestly be happy with just one - Nintendo Switch. More games that appeal to me than any other system by far, and of course more on the way so I'd still be able to look forward to new releases.

Since you're being generous and allowing 3:

PS2 - backwards compatibility with PS1 and covers a wide a variety of quality titles

PC Engine Turbo Duo - For my arcade fix


The 3DS music player was pretty cool. I remember a couple of games even had player modes themselves so you could listen to the soundtracks with the system closed. 

[dsparil]

Wii - There's a lot of good Wii games and some are best on the system even if they have newer ports. GameCube support and the best Virtual Console selection round it out. Although VC is less important if you factor in the shop being discontinued.

3DS - Great library and DS support

Switch - Also a great library with a wider variety of third party titles

Another possible set:

GameCube - Game Boy Player gives you GB, GBC and GBA. Pretty much any multiplatform title also came out on GC in that era.

3DS - same as above

Wii U - Going with this over the Switch does have serious disadvantages, but it gives you Wii support (and maybe the compliment of VC and WiiWare), a decent amount of still available VC although the exclusive system overlap with the GC and 3DS, and there's still some worthwhile exclusives that haven't been ported off.

[dr_st]

Of course, PC. With emulation (DOSBOX included) nothing else comes close.\

If you are going to say emulation is not "fair game" (and assuming that whatever new consoles do to support old console games is not considered 'emulation'), then... well, still PC. Yeah.

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

Switch: Great big library of titles from all over gaming history.

3DS: Very interesting library and if you're gonna count backwards compat, it has access to the similarly great DS library.

SNES: Most interesting/well-rounded library out of all the retro systems. Even taking into account the 3DS VC and NSO SNES games, it's worth including.

[halftheisland]

I've been thinking about this a fair bit and I think it's testament to just how good the current (well, technically last now) gen has been that my first two choices are have to be Switch and PS4. I'm going on the assumption that we're focusing solely on what the systems will natively support / is officially released, so no hacking or emulation considered.

Switch - you've got all the first-party Nintendo stuff and it's also a really strong machine for indie titles. The seamless switching between docked and handheld makes it ideal for almost any circumstance and game type. There are a lot of games that I wouldn't necessarily sit down with for a long play session with, but which are perfect for a console which makes it so easy to pick up and play 30 minutes or an hour here and there.

PS4 - pretty much the best place to play most multi-platform stuff and has a really strong library of its own. I feel like there has been a real push to bring across a lot more Japanese stuff that in previous years would have flown under the radar or just not been brought to Western markets - thinking here of the Yakuza remasters, for example - and a fair number of classics from previous Playstation generations has been brought on to the system through remakes and remasters.


I've gone back and forth a lot on the third system and I think I have to settle on PC. It was my first real gaming platform and there are still a lot of genres that work best on PC or just aren't available elsewhere - particularly thinking of city builders, real-time strategy, grand strategy and simulation in particular. I'm sure there are some great examples of those genres being done well on consoles, but it feels to me like it's always going to be hard to beat PC as the place to play those games. It might be bending my own rule a little here*, but with the efforts of the likes of Good Old Games over the years to make older games runnable on new machines, PC also gives you access to literally decades of gaming history all on one machine.

* For the sake of argument, while using something like DOSBox would count as emulation to me, if a game is commercially released and packaged with DOSBox (or similar) as a way to officially play it, I consider that to be acceptable.

[Owlman]

If a PC doesn't count, I'll go with the SNES (has some of my personal favoruites), Nintendo Switch (portable and tons of ports and original games), and... maybe PlayStation 2? Not the biggest PS2 fan, but it does have some good titles that didn't get PC ports.