Let's take a look at the very best video game console that released in the last decade.
Well here we are, just days away from Y2K 3.0. The 10s’ are staggering to an awkward finish-line, and the roaring 20s’ are upon us. It’s hard to imagine the next ten years could possibly be as weird as the last ten, but I suspect they’ll be even weirder. Things like climate change, AI and probably flying cars are all in our sights now.
But instead of looking forward, this is one of those rare occasions when we should look back—back upon the last decade and specifically the last decade of video games. I’ll have another post about my favorite and most important video games of the decade, but for the purposes of this post, let’s take a moment to acknowledge the very best console the last ten years have given us.
The Wii U.
Ha, just kidding. Not the Wii U. It was actually a pretty decent console—but far from the very best.
The actual honor goes to . . .
The Ouya!
No. No it doesn’t. I’m just playing.
It actually goes to . . .
The vanilla Xbox One!
Okay, I’m kidding. Sorry. Truly sorry. I can’t help myself. There’s nothing like another decade passing to make you feel old. One may as well laugh at it all.
The Xbox One has made leaps and bounds since its comedic inception, but even the remarkably powerful Xbox One X doesn’t qualify as the best console of the decade, no matter how beefy it is.
Xbox One X
Many people were still playing their Wiis and Xbox 360s and PS3s when the decade began, but I don’t think those can be included here. The Xbox 360 released in 2005, the PlayStation 3 a year later alongside the Wii. That’s many years before the current generation. There was a long, long gap between the release of those three and the consoles we all play on now.
The Wii U came out in 2012, followed a year later by the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Another long gap has ensued, with the PS5 and Xbox Series X not releasing until 2020.
That leaves us with:
- Nintendo 3DS
- PS Vita
- Wii U
- Xbox One (and Xbox One S/X)
- PS4 (and PS4 Pro)
- Nintendo Switch
And a whole bunch of semi-consoles or Android-based consoles and other stuff that frankly doesn’t count—including the various “retro mini” systems released by Nintendo, Sega and so forth. Oh, and the Ouya. Never forget the Ouya.
So which of these is the best? How do we determine that? Is it lifetime sales? Innovative design? Horsepower? Content? Sexiness factor? All of the above?
For me, it’s partly the content and partly the horsepower. The Nintendo Switch has tons of content, an innovative design and still lacks the oomph necessary to play the most demanding games at a high frame-rate. Even Fortnite is too jittery on the Switch. As much as I love Nintendo’s latest system, it simply falls short in too many ways.
So then the Xbox One X—that must be the one. It’s the most powerful. Microsoft has introduced cool things like Xbox Game Pass and backward compatibility.
Well, sure, it’s a great system with impressive power and some great features. I really love the gamepad, and especially the Elite Series gamepads which are pretty much the best in the world, the best of all time. If this post were about the best video game controller of the decade, the Elite would be the winner by a long mile.
Still, when all is said and done, it’s the PlayStation 4 Pro that wins the race as far as I’m concerned, even though the actual physical design of the system leaves much to be desired (when trying to find the eject button or plug in an HDMI cable, in any case).
The PS4 has a great user interface, for one thing, and while the PS4 Pro isn’t as powerful as the Xbox One X, for the most part you can’t really tell the difference—at least not most of the time. I certainly don’t notice much of a difference from one system to the next in terms of graphical fidelity, but I definitely prefer navigating the PS4 Pro’s menus.
PS4 Pro
That’s not the most important thing, however.
To me, the PlayStation 4 represents a golden age in gaming. The system’s exclusive content is unrivaled. Nintendo comes very close with the Switch, but the Switch can’t handle third party games as well, and doesn’t have as many third party offerings outside of its robust indie catalogue. If the Switch were as powerful as the PS4 Pro we’d be having a different conversation—but it isn’t. Even if it were, I’m not sure where the chips would fall.
The PlayStation 4 Pro wins this contest because of its power and its content and its ease of use. Just think of the great games we’ve played over the past six or seven years:
- Bloodborne remains one of my top ten games of all time.
- God of War reimagined that series and gave it far more emotional depth.
- The Last Of Us was also a PS3 game, and The Last Of Us Part II will also be a PS5 game, but both games will be on the PS4.
- Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy were both brilliant.
- Persona 5 was a phenomenal game.
- Until Dawn, inFamous: Second Son, Tearaway Unfolded, Ratchet & Clank, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian...
- Oh, and don’t forget the wonderful Marvel’s Spider-Man
You just can’t compete with this list if you’re an Xbox One or a Nintendo Switch (or Wii U, for that matter—or Ouya). Sure, both those consoles had some great games—the Nintendo Switch had some of the finest games of the decade with The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, Smash Bros Ultimate, Super Mario Odyssey and a plethora of remastered Wii U games like Super Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze.
But the combination of excellent first-party content, great support for third-party content, and plenty of power to get the job done in a system that’s reliable and easy to use makes the PS4 the best console of the decade. No, you can’t take it with you like you can with the Switch, but that’s less of a consideration as far as I’m concerned.
If I had to pick just once console to own since they released earlier this decade, it would be the PlayStation 4. The PlayStation 4 Pro is just a souped up version that’s even better. I don’t know where the next-gen will take us, especially with Microsoft gobbling up so many indie studios, but Sony has done a terrific job at creating must-play content on an impressive system. Now Sony just needs to either remaster Demon’s Souls or come out with a sequel. For the PS5.
What was your favorite console of the decade? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2019/12/28/the-best-video-game-console-of-the-decade/
2019-12-28 14:00:00Z
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