Topic: Most underrated Nintendo console (excluding Wii U)?

GBA was kind of underrated, but not nearly as much as GCN and N64. That was mainly because of Nintendo, too. They ran the GB for like 14-15 years before it was time to move on. GBC was a slightly enhanced GB, then GBA came along with it's SNES graphics, but neither of those consoles ever had nearly as much life as the original GameBoy. I wouldn't say the Micro was underrated, though. It was cool how small it was, and the design was appealing, but if all you wanted to do was play GBA games, then you could have coughed up the extra $50 to play GBA games on a new DS, which would support upcoming new games, and that's exactly how I looked at it. The brighter version of the SP obliterated the Micro in BC, screen size, brightness and color, with the DS also existing, so it's not all that surprising that stayed around for as short as it did.

So ya, GBA wasn't as popular, because it just wasn't around for as long. Considering gaming and technology as a whole is advancing all the time, the DS and 3DS are actually proof that Nintendo can keep up in hardware, for the most part, because it is still significantly better the the previous thing.

The idea of keeping up with the latest technology doesn't make sense unless PC starts fully dominating the market.

Nintendo's practically just waiting for a discount on that technology while others pay all the money to make and use it first. It just matters that they keep up with successful technology.

I am not stating new information.

Alot of people don't understand that, though. The same exact logic applies to smartphones and handhelds(3DS, Vita) as it does to home consoles and PC. Smartphones and PC are always pushing the technology a bit more, while consoles and handhelds are basically just maintaining it. The politics are a different subject, but are obviously still affected by the hardware.

We're just lucky that Nintendo knows how to fully support a traditional handheld that has alot of quality for what it is, in comparison to a spec and shovelware(in terms of games) type race that takes place in the smartphones.

It probably is the Wii because it had most of the best unique games of the last generation including a few that changed gaming. It now gets slaughtered by 'gamers' for a number of reasons which shouldn't affect whether people like a console or not. Top 25 lists compiled by major gaming sites completely omit some of its best games and stick stupid ones in instead.

I'd give an honourable mention to N64 because people actually believe PS1 had better games (it had more good games but no games that could compete with the top tier N64 games. It also had atrocious loading times compared to N64)

Gamecube was treated like the Wii U by the gaming press and the PS2 crowd when it was on sale. There are probably still 100M people that think the PS2 was more powerful. Its 3rd party retail support seems amazing compared to Wii U but it was considered to have no 3rd party games at the time.

Even the SNES and NES have to suffer being unfavourably compared to Sega consoles by people who buried their heads in the sand when SMB3 and DKC came about.

GameCube. It was a console for gamers. Good game library, great controller and no gimmicks.

I'll go Gamecube because I was personally teased for owning and constantly defending that system back when it was relevant. I had a pal who owned an Xbox with only Halo & 4 other games. Meanwhile I had over 20 stellar GC titles and yet he'd still swear it was a piece of crap.

Funny thing is, a year into his Wii's life, he would only use it to play Gamecube games. Its insane just how ignored and dismissed that amazing console was. It was/is my 2nd favorite console of the generation & of all time. Only after Dreamcast.

Wii. It have a large number of nice gems but developers/publishers abuse the popularity of the controls and new audience creating the stereotype that motion control is a gimmick (negative meaning) and the system is not for "hardcore" gamers. I remember pre-motion+, so many developers was obsessed with motion sword fighting and mastering 1:1 controls. By the time motion plus came out, there was hardy any developers that took advantage of the upgrade. Also the elite hardcore made it widely known on the web that the Wii is for kids and old people and there is little to no games for true gamers.

If it's on the internet, then you know it true

I agree its the Wii even though its the second best selling home console of all time and Nintendos best selling home console ever.

It has a bad reputation among gamers but it really has an excellent library of games people missed out on if they skipped it.

Underrated by whom? If you mean the general gaming audience, it's the Wii. If we talk about ''Nintendo fans*'' alone, it's the GameCube. The Wii had a great and large library that was never appreciated by other gamers, well, they probably didn't even know about it. The GameCube is one of Nintendo's worst selling consoles; in that sense, it failed in appealing to the same audience the N64 and previous consoles had.

(*: or gamers in general who would buy a Nintendo system)

It's the Wii. Many people discard the Wii as a "casual" and "gimmicky" console, but that's not quite true. The Wii has a great games library with some very hardcore gems. And there is waggle and good implementation of motion sensing. The latter can be found on the majority of Nintendo 1st party offerings. On top of that, there are classic controller options.
Truly does not deserve the disdain it gets from the so called "serious" gamers. The GameCube was also underrated at the time, but is now held in high regard as it should be. So, maybe time will do the Wii some justice.

Uhm, I can definitely say the Wii. And the reason I can say that is because I WAS one of those people who never owned it and dismissed it as only a motion gimmick. I made fun of it just like all the cool kids, and probably only saw a handful of games played on it. Heck, I even totally missed out on Twilight Princess (never owned a GameCube, either, but my brother did) and Skyward Sword because I refused to purchase a Wii, and I LOVE Zelda more than anything.

So yea, the Wii.

The Wii. Some Nintendo "fans" claim to hate it but i loved it. Beside the motion control revolution it also brought a couple of brilliant games like the Mario Galaxies, Mario Kart, Metroid Prime and Skyward Sword. And it got me laid.

I'd like to see a full list of "hardcore" Wii games NOT made by Nintendo. I've seen a few listed, but what else do you guys got?
Not throwing stones or anything, just really wanna see what games you all are referring to. I know the Wii has some good games, even some great ones..but it sounds like you guys are talking stacks upon stacks of classics here & I just don't see it. Please prove me wrong though. I want to be.

dude you forgot the best two of them all - Muramasa and Little King's Story!! Samurai Warriors 3 was also brilliant. And Dead Space Extraction, Tatsunoko vs Capcom, RESI Darkside Chronicles, La-Mulana and the only console version of Cave Story. This machine was packed with games.

GameCube. People criticized it for not having third-party support but it had actually had a lot for a Nintendo console and it had fantastic First-Party exclusives like
Super Mario Sunshine
Luigi's Mansion
The Windwaker
Super Smash Bros. Melee
F-Zero GX
Mario Party 4
Mario Party 6
Mario Party 7
Sper Mario Strikers
Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door
Kirby Air Ride
Four Swords
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
and more!

To call Mario Party 4 6 and 7 "fantastic" is kind of a stretch.

The gamecube is the greatest console IMO, so it is my choice as the most underrated.

Either Gamecube or GBA. Both because they tended to have the most underrated Nintendo games on them, with their installments in the Mario and Zelda series being some of the least appreciated.

I'd say the GBA because although the Gamecube in its time was extremely underrated, the Wii U is starting to turn the tides on that. Wind Waker was generally disliked but add some small tweaks such as Swift Sail and less Triforce maps (3 instead of 7) and it becomes rather loved (similar situation would likely happen with Super Mario Sunshine if it got a HD remake). The GBA however only really has Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald in its favour.