Topic: Aesthetically Pleasing Home Consoles

[Pixelated Pixies]

One of the items I think we all expected Nintendo to address at E3 2012 was the matter of what the Wii U console itself would look like. I don't think many of us expected that the console shown at E3 2011 would be the actual form factor which would be released to the public later this year. As it happens it was. As it goes, Wii U is perhaps Nintendo's most non-descript design we've ever seen; being essentially a smoother version of the Wii. When it comes to video games systems people rightly remember the games, but being a bit of a romantic for the devices themselves, I often find myself admiring the shape and design of the consoles themselves.
 
Car enthusiasts judge the worth of a car not purely on it's performance, but also on its aesthetic qualities; it is something to be admired with the eye as much as it is something to be driven. As a video game enthusiast I too find myself admiring not only the technical specifications of video game consoles, but also their aesthetic design and how they're constructed. Whereas the technical enhancements we see with each generation of consoles lessens our appreciation of previous generations' graphical and audio quality, good design is timeless. These are my Top 10 most aesthetically pleasing home consoles.
 
10- PC Engine - A very minimalist design with some unique dimensions.
 

 
9 -Magnavox Odyssey - Has a bulky frame, but I love its unorthodox shape. It's almost like something out of CEOTTK.
 
 

 
8 - Atari 2600 - Designed to look like it was chiseled from a solid piece of lumber, the 2600 is pleasing on the eye almost despite itself.
 

 
7 - Dreamcast - A very clean and precise design punctuated by two irresistibly chunky buttons.
 

 
6 - Playstation 3 Slim - A significant improvement on the original, the PS3 Slim is an impossibly slick looking device and also allows for more room and less finger prints.
 

 
5 - Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Japan & Uk) - Moving away from the VHS styled NES, Nintendo sought to remove any harsh angles and round off the corners in what is a classic design.
 

 
4 - Wii - With  its iconic glowing disc drive and it's inclined stand, the Wii is proof, if any were needed, that Nintendo know how to execute on clean utilitarian design.
 

 
3 - Famicom - It's been reported in recent years that the Famicom's colour scheme was not a matter of design but rather a matter of cost. It seems that the iconic white and scarlet colour scheme we know and love was a financial consideration, as those two colours happened to be the cheapest plastics to obtain. Regardless, it's still an incredibly evocative looking system.
 

 
2 - Xbox 360 Slim - As far as I'm concerned, this is when Microsoft finally got it right. Improving upon its predecessor in every concievable way, the slim took the concave shape of the original 360 and compacted it into a much sharper looking design.
 

 
1 - Gamecube - There is something indefinably joyous and fun about the design of the Gamecube. Much like a small wrapped gift, it's cuboid frame for some reason brings out the child in me. Everything from its shape, to it's large buttons, to the fact that it has a handle, just makes me remember what games are supposed to be. Fun.
 

[Ceric]

You use the wrong color of Cube.  Both the Odyssey and the 2600 where from a time where the Game Console was a statement of itself and were designed accordingly. They were something to show off.  Now days Game Consoles are less centerpieces then what they were.  It is what happens when you get mainstream acceptance.

[Pixelated Pixies]

You use the wrong color of Cube.

...No, I'm pretty sure I had the black one. lol.
 
That's the one I had, and that's the one I loved.

[LOZman]

Same here, I also own a black Gamecube. I still play on that system a lot actually. I know I could play Cube games on the Wii, but I will always prefer the Gamecube.


I completely agree with the number 1 choice for your list, the Gamecube is my favorite system.

[Ceric]

Deep down every Black Gamecube wanted to be an Indigo one.  Its people like you who kept them from their dreams.  Don't you feel terrible for keeping such a cute and powerful lunchbox from its Dreams?

This is what happened to the poor testers who tried to force their Gamecubes to be Black:

Nintendo made a revision to the hardware stripping there networking abilities and this power away from them before public shipping because, of the problem.

[Ian Sane]

I don't like how the Japan/UK SNES has two shades of grey.  The American one has a much cleaner look, at least until it becomes all yellow.  The Famicom looks tacky and like a flimsy plastic toy.  It's design doesn't suggest being an electronic device.

I don't like the Wii name but the system itself looks very cool.  I always liked the Saturn's look.  The second model of the Genesis, along with the second model of the Sega CD, looked like a black muscle car and the Saturn was a natural progression from that.  The Dreamcast looks cool, too.  Sega knew how to make their system look attractive.

I used to think the N64 looked cool.  Now it looks silly.  The problem with videogame systems is that they're very much a design of their times so their physical appearance can often be based on the then current fads and trends.  The Atari 2600 wood paneling and the NES's boxy design with 80's science fiction font really reflect some embarassing and very dated trends.  But you can tell the time period they're from just by looking at them.

I think the Wii looks nice but that white, reflective plastic Apple look is currently very hip.  Ten years from now that might look silly and dated.

The Gamecube looks cool but the purple on the game cases looks really lame in retrospect.  The neon green Xbox boxes look worse though.  Of that gen the PS2 case design holds up the best, partially because it there isn't much to it.  It's just a black DVD case with the black "Playstation 2" on the top.  It's very neutral and plain and ironically that makes it look more timeless.

The coolest game case however is the early black Genesis design with the silver grid.  Later they switched to a big red spine and that is one of the WORST designs ever.

[Ceric]

Though at a general 5 year life span a console really can go with a good fad.  Most design doesn't look retro even in todays world till closing on 10 years.

[Pixelated Pixies]

That's what happens when Nintendo testers try to force their Gamecubes to be black? It looks more like what happens when Nintendo try to take cues from Sony's Marketing team circa 2004. 0:15 was truely, truely disturbing.
 
Welcome to the third place indeed.

[Ian Sane]

I like the way the Gamecube looked but it was totally the wrong design to follow the N64 with.  So you have this negative (and largely undeserved) image as a "kiddy" company and what do you do?  You make your system a purple cube with a handle that looks like a kid's toy.  Could you possibly play up to your detractors' negative exceptations ANY BETTER?!

[Pixelated Pixies]

I don't like how the Japan/UK SNES has two shades of grey.  The American one has a much cleaner look, at least until it becomes all yellow.  The Famicom looks tacky and like a flimsy plastic toy.  It's design doesn't suggest being an electronic device.
 

Perhaps it's just nostalgia, but I honestly think the Japanese/Euro SNES looks better. The North American version for me has too many unnecessary angles and contours. You're correct, though. The Famicom does look like a toy, but that in and of itself is not necessarily bad. I kind of like the fact that it doesn't look like other devices from the '80s.

The problem with videogame systems is that they're very much a design of their times so their physical appearance can often be based on the then current fads and trends.  The Atari 2600 wood paneling and the NES's boxy design with 80's science fiction font really reflect some embarassing and very dated trends.  But you can tell the time period they're from just by looking at them.

True, that's half the fun. I enjoy pulling out these old systems and enjoying them for what they are and were. I don't have any illusions about it. It's almost entirely sentimental.

 

[ThePerm]

I still think the n64 looks cool, i would like to see the n64 in 1950's Chevy White and Blue. Its design invokes the idea that theres something powerfull underneath.

edit: thats why they invented the internet...this is close



what i would really like is chrome instead of grey, and then of course everything is shiny painted metal.

[MagicCow64]

You're forgetting about this beautiful bombshell:



The 3DO looks like a set prop in a Space Quest game.

[ShyGuy]

No Genesis?

[ThePerm]

Genesis 3 looks sweet



as does the atari jaguar

[Stogi]

How could you forget the Panasonic Q

[Chozo Ghost]

I'd like to see the return of wooden consoles such as the Atari 2600. Everything is always striving for a futuristic high tech alien space ship look, and I'm kinda sick of it. It would be nice if a console manufacturer decided to go the opposite way and have a primitive looking console that looks like it was put together by Amish craftsmen.

Maybe using real wood isn't an option, but can't they just use plastic that has the look of wood?

[S-U-P-E-R]

PURE SEX until they changed it to be slightly less sexy I guess

[oohhboy]

She's got some good curves on her. A bit of a shame she gets a little rough and dusty on her control stick.

[S-U-P-E-R]

I like my women like I like my N64 controllers

a new one every 3 months

[Ian Sane]

I think it's funny how changing the name from "Ultra 64" and going with primary colour buttons really changes the image of the N64.  That system was really where the "Nintendo is kiddy" thing came from.  But back when it was the Ultra 64 and Killer Instinct and Cruis'n USA were the first expected launch games it sounded like the the coolest system ever.  Then they change it the "fun machine", give Mario a voice you would expect on Treehouse TV, and it's instant kiddy.

[Stogi]

...and it's instant kiddy.

And fun.

Can't imagine turning on Mario 64 and being greeted any other way. That game...changed me.

[Chozo Ghost]

They should have had Captain Lou Albano do the voice of Mario in the video games, just like he did on the TV show. When I was a kid that was how I knew Mario to sound, but then they went with Charles Martinet and it was the exact opposite of what I had grown to expect.

[Ian Sane]

...and it's instant kiddy.

And fun.

Can't imagine turning on Mario 64 and being greeted any other way. That game...changed me.

Yeah I guess if Super Mario 64 had a different voice or no voice at all it wouldn't be fun?  It would still be an awesome game but one crucial decision had a major impact on the image it presented.  I was hugely turned off the first time I heard Mario's voice.  Give him a voice more like the cartoon show you lose ZERO of the kid audience while not alienating any teens or adults.  There was no benefit in giving him that voice at all.  You also lose no kids with the original Ultra 64 colour scheme in that image above or with the "Ultra 64" name.

[Stogi]

But does ultra 64 not sound kiddy to you? I mean anything with Ultra is like the prefix 'Hella', as in it's hella-lame.

Weren't you the one advocating that the Wii U just be called Nintendo 7 or whatever? And didn't you like the name Nintendo Entertainment System? So what's so wrong with Nintendo 64? Why is Ultra inherently better when?

And Mario's voice is iconic. We can agree to disagree on that one.

[Ian Sane]

No adult would not buy an "Ultra 64" because the name is somewhat corny but pre-teens and teens would have liked the name.  It just sounds a little more hip and remember to think of the name around 1996.  It sounds much sillier now than it would have then.

Nintendo 64 isn't a particularly kiddy name but "fun machine" sounds childish.  The name is just not as cool as "Ultra 64" and then you have bright primary colour buttons and "fun machine" on the box and Mario with his pre-school appeal voice and it's all looking a lot more childish than the Playstation.

I was 14 when the N64 came out.  The Ultra 64 with Killer Instinct as the flagship title had everyone pumped.  The Nintendo 64 Fun Machine with Mario sounding like an Italian Barney went over like a fart in church with very image conscious teens.  I was the exact age of the gamer Sony was trying to win over and Nintendo was trying and failing to keep.  The N64 was not cool but it had been when the Ultra 64 logo was appearing on KI and Cruis'n USA arcade machines.  Even the logo made a huge difference.  The Ultra 64 logo is silver and black and the N64 logo is all bright colours.

Sega had spent five years telling everyone that Sonic was cool and Mario was not.  Then Mario speaks for the first time and completely confirms what Sega has been saying.  Yep, Mario is not cool.  No one who talks down to me in a goofy voice like I'm five years old is cool.  Nintendo is astonishingly good at doing the exact thing that will completely play into the hands of their detractors.