Topic: What do you feel were the most amazing, cool or interesting things about every Nintendo console?

I'm talking about what wowed you the most. Was it the graphics, game library, features or something else?

I'm an old school gamer meaning I've pretty much seen it all from Nes to even before that. As a kid first discovering gaming it was like some kinda magic to me. You had to be there to understand.

For me the most amazing thing about Nes was that i pressed the buttons and stuff happened on the screen. I felt like a god sorta. Like i was in command of whatever character or thing i was controlling. My tiny little mind was like... What sorcery is this?!!! Then i became infatuated with the chip tunes and catchy music of the various games. So much so that i kept hearing them even hours after turning off the system.

Then came every other system and to briefly sum it up here's what i loved about rest of them.

Snes it was Graphics, i was like OMG i thought Nes looked cool but wow! All the extra colors and stuff like mode 7 effects or the part in Super Mario world where bowser flies at the screen and fills it up entirely! Neat stuff! I had to have one and begged my mom until she finally caved one Christmas and got me the Link to the past bundle!

Next came N64. Now I'll be honest. At first it made me sick. I mean literally. The first time games were becoming 3D was one heck of a shock to my brain. I would get motion sickness playing Mario 64 but couldn't stop myself. It was cool but i was not used to it at first. The 3D was making me dizzy i guess. I definitely wasn't impressed with the game library. Seemed like it was Taking forever for new games to come out. I think it's because cartridges were just more expensive to make. It didn't really pick up until about 98 when the almighty Ocarina of time released. Then things got interesting!

Okay so GameCube was next. Again the graphics is what really wowed me on this one. Stayed up all night on launch day playing Luigis mansion and Star wars Rogue leader. Could not believe what i was seeing! I loved the little mini discs too. At the time so much game on such a tiny disc seemed insane. Probably still the best controller design Nintendo ever had. It was slick looking and reliable. I still enjoy many gamecube games today.

Now it's Wiis turn.
The best thing about Wii had to be the Virtual console! I sure miss that. Sorry switch but you really missed the boat on that one. It was like having every Nintendo system up to that point in one convenient box. Awesome! The regular Wii library wasn't bad either. I just hated how too many people thought it was all about the motion based games. I know people to this day who think it's all shake shake and swing swing. They don't even realize there's plenty of traditional button press type of games too like DKC returns, Kirbys return to dreamland or New super mario bros. It kinda got labeled as Grandpa's first Nintendo cause of it's popularity with old people.

Oh boy here we go Wii U.
Now i really don't get the hate for this one. Yeah the name sucks I'll give you that, the gamepad was questionable I'll give you that too but the games were still pretty darn good. I loved stuff like DKC tropical freeze, Mario 3D world and the HD versions of Twilight princess and Wind waker. Plus the off TV thing was cool if only it worked better. Having to be close to the main unit while using the gamepad kinda sucked. At least it still had the VC too. It really got a bad rap and didn't deserve it. Besides that if not for Wii U we wouldn't have...

Switch!
Now this is a great system! It's like a game system that doubles as a transformer! It's a handheld! No it's a console! 😉 There's a seemingly never ending flow of games due to the insane popularity and despite it's age at this point it's still hanging in there. If only it were a bit closer to the power of other systems currently out there but i have no doubt that Nintendo is hard at work preparing the launch of whatever comes next. Let's just hope this time the most amazing thing might be power because it's about time Nintendo fans play with power again. We are all surely tired of playing Second fiddle to every other console out there at the time and getting half assed versions of third party games.

So that concludes my opinion on the most amazing or interesting or things about all the Nintendo consoles.

Share your thoughts on what you liked/loved about each one. Even your least favorite had to have at least something you liked about it. Let's hear it.

NES - Saved console gaming in North America after Atari nearly ended everything.

SNES - Sony's S-SMP sound chip gave the SNES a warmer sound than what was possible on Genesis.

Nintendo Playstation - I will always wonder where both companies would be if Nintendo hadn't dropped the ball with this collaboration?

N64 - The console arrived when hanging out with high school friends until the wee hours of the morning playing whatever four-player game was on offer...was amazing.

GC - Was quietly more powerful than PS2 or OG Xbox but would be the last time Nintendo "fought" against its competition with compute strength.

Wii - Waggle controls are stupid. A platform almost as bad as Virtual Boy, imo.

Wii U - A return to form control-wise, but out of touch compared to what Xbox and Playstation were offering in terms of online connectivity between communities and friends.

Switch - The worst designed control scheme in the joy-con coupled with a hybrid console design that caused the PC gaming space to chase what Nintendo currently controls, portable core gaming. In my opinion, the best platform Nintendo have ever offered.

I love all the little hardware gimmicks in Nintendo's last few consoles. When motion, touchscreen, cameras etc are used cleverly in a game I'm all over it. I still get a kick out of Wii U games with asymmetrical gameplay between the GamePad and TV.

N64: Going from NES to N64 for me was wild. The exploration of these games worlds was the coolest thing ever, especially OOT which might as well have been TOTK (a TOTK in a world where somehow BOTW didn't exist) in 1998 for how it felt.

Gamecube: Best graphics upgrade ever. Games looked so modern and detailed in ways I couldn't fathom.

Wii: Wild new direction for gaming, and unbelievable retro gaming collection.

Wii U: Crazy new ideas with what a second screen (not connected like a DS screen) can do. Sure wish they found more to do with that.

Switch: HD handheld gaming, actually strong 3rd party support, Nintendo's seven year apology tour for every questionable to bad creative decision they made in the previous decade.

NES: We didn't have, we had a Sega Master System and also a PC. In Australia the NES didn't "save gaming" and was far from the only player in town. Some people had one, most people didn't. Of course I ended up revisiting the NES later on but... at the time it had no impact on me

GameBoy: This is the start of Nintendo for me. Just the pure fact that it was pocketable was enough to make it amazing. It was also the first gaming platform I had that was mine and no the family's. In terms of interesting features? The link cable always fascinated me, didn't use it much until Pokemon but it always interested me as a concept

SNES: Obviously the visuals. I picked up the SNES late but that didn't matter, it still impressed. The SNES was the peak of 2D and, IMO, still holds up to this day while the 3D stuff that came immediately after it does not. On a more personal note, Donkey Kong Country 2 was the game that made me want to become a software developer

N64: I never had one but N64/PS1 was right when I was the main target demographic for gaming. Obviously 3D was the hook. I remember playing the N64 in the shops and wanting one because Mario Kart had slopes... that was pretty much it....

GBC: Colour! Easily the platform I have the most nostalgia for. Pokemon, obviously, being the only game in town by this point. Although TBH I think Mario Tennis was probably my favourite game on the GBC. But yeah, that Donkey Kong Country port? That game became the reason why I had a GBC. The original "impossible port"

GC: I skipped GC entirely. I only ever had a few interactions with even the concept of the GC while it was on shelves. The first was in High School, there was a guy in our friend group who everyone just put up with who always went on about this new Nintendo thing coming out called "project Dolphin". Meh, who cares right? We have PCs. Then probably around 2003 I was in the shops and saw a demo-kiosk with Super Mario Sunshine. Which looked like a huge jump but I wasn't interested because, well, everything around that time was a huge jump. Seriously, the visual jump we had between late 90s through to the mid 00s was INSANE. Finally, 2005, a friend at UNI was talking about how heavily discounted the GC was and it was fantastic value. Which caught my attention but.... at that point I had just spent a grand building myself a new PC

GBA: The GBA was a portable SNES. That's it. That's the hook. I wanted one, didn't get it

DS: Portable, wireless, online, 3D Mario Kart. Picked it up when the DS Lite launched

Wii: By the time the Wii hype machine was starting to get going? We were firmly in the early days of online video. E3 2006 was the first E3 I actually sat down and watch and through a 240p YouTube vid? Super Mario Galaxy impressed. So for me the most interesting thing about the Wii was, oddly, the visuals. Which is odd to say now but.... when I picked one up I was basically just buying it because it was a "Gamecube Pro". Plus, I didn't pick up a HDTV until 2008 so it's not like HD visuals were even a thing I could take advantage of

3DS: Was basically a portable Wii. That was the hook. Got it once OoT 3D released

Wii U: HD Nintendo games was the main hook for me. Although off-TV play was a VERY close second. IIRC the Wii BC mode didn't have off-TV play until a while after launch, which annoyed me. Also I remember going into that E3 before release wanting it and coming out the other side unconvinced. I did end up getting one on day 1 and at the time I probably would've said it was Nintendo's best console. And the software lineup was certainly great. But.... we were basically just beta-testers for

Switch: Wii U v2.0. Everything I wanted from the Wii U but this time sticking the landing

@NeonPizza Agreed, I hope Nintendo's future consoles will still have innovative new features on top of the obvious concept of 'Switch but more powerful'. I don't really have any experience of VR outside of Labo so it would be cool if Nintendo could incorporate proper VR into Switch 2 or whatever.