Top 10 Best Gaming Consoles Of All Time Reviews of 2024

What are the best gaming consoles of all time? So you’re finally thinking of buying a video game console and need to understand the best gaming console. If you’ve done any preliminary research, that’s what you’ll know. While there are only a couple of central parts in this market, settling on a decision is pretty difficult.

Every one of them seems pretty good and they all have rather ambiguous model names, making it hard to tell the difference even across brands. What’s the difference between the Xbox One S and the Xbox One X? And shouldn’t something be said about the PS4 and the Xbox One in general?

Are there certain games that only work on certain consoles and not on others? If you wanted to buy the perfect gaming console, which would it be?

I can’t tell you what the perfect gaming console is, really, since a perfect anything can’t exist. But I can tell you which are the best for different purposes and then you can pick the one that meets your needs.

Something else I can tell you is, among the central parts, there isn’t really a bad console. No less than none so bad that the others are lightyears ahead. The main thing really matters most to you.

And I would like you to remember that, as you read this survey. All of the current gaming consoles on the market fit some roles very well. Some of them fill a larger number of roles than others, while others have practically assumed control over a particular niche.

But that niche is still important enough that the gaming console is a viable decision, regardless of whether it lags in different areas. By the day’s end, you should pick whichever console fits your preferences.

I can’t tell you your preferences! But I can list for you which consoles do what well. I’ll rank them from best to not-so-best (I don’t have any desire to say worst – as I mentioned, they are pretty good).

If you have any desire to learn a little more about every, then you can read their individual in-depth reviews below. To discover significantly more about gaming consoles in general, then you can read the much more in-depth buyer’s guide that comes toward the end.

Top 10 Best Gaming Consoles Of All Time 2024 Reviews

1. Sony PlayStation 4 Pro – Best Overall

The PS4 Pro’s design is derivative of the standard PS4 that preceded it, however, we wouldn’t say that it’s an exact copy. Actually, a common running joke about the PlayStation 4 Pro is that it looks like 2 PS4s stacked one on top of one another. As a result, the PS4 Pro takes up way more space than its predecessor.

Sony also did a bit of work on the inside. The 8 Jaguar cores of the AMD processor are presently clocked at 2.1GHz instead of 1.6GHz. RAM capacity remains the same with 8GB of GDDR5 but it is presently running up to 218GB/s against 176GB/s for the standard PS4.

The hard drive, at 1TB, has 500 additional gigabytes than the standard version. There is also an all the more powerful 802.11ac Wi-Fi antenna, as well as a Bluetooth 4.0 collector/transmitter.

As for the controller on the PS4 Pro, some changes were noted over the predecessor, however, it still is, at its heart, a Dual Shock 4 controller. The touchpad has a light bar to tell you which player you are, and the buttons feel much lighter and more responsive.

The switch between Bluetooth and wired mode is also seamless in the controller.

The performance of the PS4 is high enough that, assuming that you play VR games or have a 4K TV, you’ll notice the difference over different screens. The data transfer process from an earlier PS4 is easy, as you should simply hook them together with an Ethernet cable. It can, in any case, be a slow process.

All things considered, this console’s increased processing power improves the performance across the table, including HDR, 4K, and VR games, which are growing every year. That improved performance can arrive in a variety of ways. Either you have games playing at 30fps at a 4K resolution, or you have more refined textures, or the ability to play a 1080p game at a higher fps.

Those with 1080p resolution TV screens may not be able to enjoy the improvements meant for 4K TV owners, but they will enjoy better frame rates in their favorite games.

Those with 4K television will see the biggest advantages by far, including older games playing in native or upscaled 4K with HDR.

The VR experience is also bound to improve with the PS4 Pro. They run better on this console and titles with PS4 Pro Mode activated look better and have faster frame rates.

2. Xbox One S: The Best Gaming Console for Multimedia

The Xbox One S is a feat of engineering that wows anyone who decides to give it a try. It manages to put a powerful power supply and a 2TB hard drive in a chassis that is all things considered 40% as large as its predecessor, the Xbox One.

The only sad part is that we may never know just the way in which Microsoft did it. It probably has a ton to do with rearranging the parts on the inside and making for better airflow so the entire console is all the more densely packed but also more efficiently cooled. It might also include employing Santa’s elves, and a bit of wizardry.

The console also has an interesting overhaul over its predecessor in terms of exterior design. Physical buttons have replaced capacitive ones for turning the console on and shooting game disks, and the USB 3.0 ports have been moved to the front face of the console.

Unfortunately, the Kinect port from its predecessor is conspicuously missing – you’ll need to buy a separate adapter if you have any desire to use Kinect.

The console is normally only sold in white, so you don’t get a lot of variety there. So at first blush, there aren’t many style options. In any case, they do have special edition consoles in different color schemes that coincide with game releases.

You can also host a 3rd get-together skin installed on your Xbox, and controllers can be customized through Microsoft’s Xbox Design Lab program.

Microsoft said that the chip on the Xbox One S is the same as that of the Xbox One that preceded it. In any case, the disk drive is Ultra HD Blu-ray capable of 4K and HDR.

The Xbox One S does very well with Ultra HD televisions, however, we wouldn’t put it on the same level as the PS4 Pro. It is capable of 4K resolution, either upscaling games for you or offloading that task to your television.

It also loads content a lot faster, even at a higher resolution, than the Xbox One, which was slower despite dealing with standard resolutions.

On the off chance that you use your gaming console to stream apps like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video, and YouTube, then, at that point, you will be happy to know that each of these apps has a 4K version running on the Xbox One S.

With regards to games, they look far superior to what they do on the Xbox One, despite the fact that they’re only upscaled on the One S. This console will run your favorite titles smoothly, ensuring an extraordinary experience. Something interesting to note, nonetheless, is that Microsoft does not intend to make any exclusives for the Xbox One S.

The Xbox One S controller looks almost exactly the same as the Xbox One controller. Nonetheless, it natively supports Bluetooth and is the first Microsoft controller to have this support. That means you can use it on your console as well as on your PC as well.

The One S controller also has a textured grip, which makes it more comfortable to hold for long stretches, unlike the controller of the Xbox One.

It also has an all-the-more powerful wireless antenna that makes it possible to sit farther away from the television than you could from the Xbox One.

It comes in many different color variations, as well as in some really cool limited designs like the Cyberpunk 2077 edition.

Older Xbox One controllers will also work on this console, which is perfect for those who are used to them. The only thing I would have preferred on this new controller is rechargeable batteries.

3. Nintendo Switch – Best Hybrid Gaming Console

Investigate the Nintendo Switch and you’ll realize doing many things at the same time is trying. Nintendo is trying to do something remarkable, similar to what they have done before. All things considered, these are the same guys that brought us 3D without 3D glasses on the Nintendo 3DS, motion-controlled gaming on the Wii, and presently a hybrid console on the Switch.

Understandably, when you set out to trailblaze like that, expectations and risks are going to be very high. Be that as it may, the Nintendo Switch certainly found its target and over the years the sales have taken a significant take-up.

At the point when you buy the Nintendo Switch package, you’ll find:

A console
Two Joy-Con controllers that are detachable
A grip that enables you to combine them into a single gamepad for play on the TV
Two straps for turning the Joy-Cons into individual controllers
A dock that you can use to connect your console to the television for traditional gameplay
Those are a ton of accessories, and they generally accompany extraordinary quality construction and ergonomics. The whole setup is novel but also has an extraordinary cool factor.

The handheld mode, with its analog controls, is something like the PlayStation Vita. The screen resolution is way better, however, at 720p. In fact, it’s the best screen resolution I’ve seen on a handheld console yet.

The Joy-Cons themselves have quite a ton of functionality built into them. The right hand has the A, B, X, and Y buttons that Nintendo has used since its SNES days and a rather awkwardly placed analog stick. There’s also a start button that is shaped like a plus.

On the left, we have a minus button that is a select button, a share button for taking screen grabs, an analog stick, a d-pad, and 2 shoulder buttons.

The console mode requires docking the console to connect it to your TV. The console actually does the viewing transfer rather seamlessly from the handheld screen to the television screen without needing you to pause your game.

The Nintendo controllers themselves are jacks, everything being equal. They have lots of different configurations, however, they’re not all the most comfortable. My greatest niggle with these was the rather awkwardly placed right analog stick, which needs some finger acrobatics to operate effectively.

The library on the Switch, comparable in size and popularity to those of the PlayStation and Xbox, is still growing every year. In fact, compared to what Nintendo has offered for previous consoles, it is probably the most diverse.

You get extraordinary exclusives like Legend of Zelda Connection’s Enlivening, Super Mario Odyssey, or Creature Crossing: New Horizons, as well as incredible indie titles, like Stardew Valley.

A significant drawback of the Switch is that it isn’t nearly as powerful as either the Xbox or the PlayStation. It definitely won’t support 4K game playing. The handheld will give you 720p while connecting it to the TV will give you a max resolution of 1080p.

Be that as it may, this is adequately good in the event that you’re not particularly looking for the latest visual specs on the market.

One more problem with the Switch is that there aren’t that many third-party titles available for it. Sure, it has The Witcher 3 Wild Chase and Doom, among others, but the majority of these have been available on different platforms for some time already.

In terms of VR, there’s the Nintendo Labo, but it’s, even more, a cardboard fringe as opposed to a fully-fledged VR headset.

Overall, the Switch is an incredible console for portability and versatility, and also on the off chance that you don’t absolutely need power or the latest selection of the most well-known games. On the off chance that you’re comfortable with Nintendo exclusives and Indie games, this should be an okay console for you.

4. Nintendo Switch Lite – Best for Portable Play

The fundamental difference between the Switch Lite and its sibling, the Switch, is that the Switch Lite must be played in handheld mode. You can’t dock it for use with the television. As a result, it is lighter and more minimized than the Switch. It comes with a smaller screen, at 5.5 inches compared to the Switch’s 6.2-inch screen, but maintains the same 720p display.

A direct result of this more noteworthy compactness is that the Nintendo Switch Lite feels significantly more comfortable as a handheld than the Switch. This is especially important on the off chance that you have small hands. All things considered, I still think the most comfortable handheld Nintendo device is the 3DS, which isn’t as wide as either the Switch or the Switch Lite.

The controllers on the Switch Lite are also fixed. So no Joy-Cons with this device. On the Switch, the Joy-Cons were removable so you could dock them to a focal hub for use with the TV.

Here, the controllers are fixed and set up. I would have called them fixed Joy-Cons, except they don’t have each of the controls that the Joy-Cons had. Instead of the directional buttons is a D-Pad which, frankly, I like. It feels more normal to operate.

Both the Endlessly switch Lite permit Bluetooth and Wireless connectivity, however, I need to bring up that you still can’t connect wireless headphones to them. They also both consider external storage through MicroSD. The 32GB inner storage can consequently be easily extended.

In terms of performance, there is very little difference between the Switch and the Switch Lite. The only significant differences I experienced were that the Switch has a slightly longer battery life, doesn’t have the HD Rumble feature that the Switch has, and lacks an IR Motion Camera.

You also can’t play games built exclusively for TV on the Switch Lite. It only works with games that support handheld mode.

Okay, maybe I should accept that back.

Technically, you can play games that don’t support handheld mode assuming you buy Joy-Cons separately (plus their charging grip). You’ll try and be able to use HD Rumble.

But that does include spending more money, and I’m not sure it would be that comfortable to use the Joy-Cons in TV mode with a screen as small as that of the Switch Lite. It sounds like a bit of a stretch compared to just buying the Switch.

5. ASUS ROG Phone 2 – Best Android Gaming Device

Truth be told; this is a phone that is also a gaming console. The worth is in the specs, like the fact that the ROG 2 comes with an octa-center Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus processor. Ultimately, it can arrive at up to just shy of 3 GHz processing power, meaning this phone can play some games better than even some mid-level gaming rigs on a tight spending plan!

But there’s lots of other hardware that makes this gaming phone worth your time. For instance, it comes with an incredible 12 gigs of LPDDR4X RAM packed into a chassis so small that it can still fit in most pockets. All that RAM ensures fast response times and rapid loading of modern games.

The included 1 TB of storage means you can have various games installed at the same time, as well.

Add to all that a 6.6-inch display capable of projecting at 2340×1080 resolution at 120 Hz, and you have an extraordinary piece of gaming hardware on your hands. It even features a 1 ms response time, so you’ll be able to play competitively in many of your favorite games without suffering compared to those on traditional consoles.

We also really like that you can play plenty of top-level titles on this gaming phone. Over 100 games are available at 120 FPS, including several modern classics like Minecraft, Sanctuary Run 2, and more.

It’s a little sad that several battle royale titles, such as Fortnite, are locked to 60 FPS, so they can’t exploit all that this phone has to offer.

As a piece of gaming hardware, the ROG 2 features several vents to keep the inside cool as the hardware works to deliver an incredible visual experience. A 6000 mAh battery provides sufficient juice for about two days of use before you need to re-energize, in any event, when you factor in the 120 Hz refresh rate.

Re-energizing this gaming phone is pretty easy thanks to the side charging slot, and there’s an additional USB-C charging port on the bottom, alongside a headphone jack. Different ports include a dual nano-SIM card slot, plus volume and power buttons on the right-hand side of the device. It’s ultimately a pretty easy phone to use.

Moreover, the ROG 2 comes with a durable “air” case that can improve heat dissipation without compromising the overall integrity of the device. Since it comes with the purchase, you don’t need to waste time picking up a dedicated case sometime later.

Indeed, even with all the excellent gaming-focused features, this comes with a pretty solid dual camera as well. The camera can take 48 or 24 MP photos depending on whether you use the back or front lenses, and it’s compatible with most GSM networks, including several staples like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and more.

With everything taken into account, the ROG 2 is essentially a small gaming PC you can save in your pocket for quite a hefty asking cost. On the off chance that you can stomach the cost, it’s an incredible way to enjoy a more mobile gaming experience without sacrificing graphics or processing quality to an extreme.

6. Microsoft Xbox One X – Best for Gaming addicts

The Xbox One X is about power. On the off chance that you really need the bleeding edge of power in terms of gaming consoles currently on the market, then, at that point, outshining the One X is hard. Of course, it will be outdone by Microsoft’s new Series X slated for the near future, but for the present, the One X remains the ruler.

The genuine win for the Xbox One X is just how much crude power it packs. It comes with an 8-center central processor clocked at 2.3GHz with a 12GB GDDR5 RAM chip. It also offers 6 teraflops of GPU power by means of a 1172MHz (clocked speed) GPU.

This is some serious registering power for a gaming console, and it’s everything for good reason since it’s everything to enable native 4K HDR gaming. The only flop in the hardware department is the HDD, which is locked at 1TB of storage space. 4K games are large, so the HDD has a tendency to fill up pretty quickly.

Because of its immense power, the Xbox One X performs very well. Every one of the games looks way better, whether they’re 4K or only 1080p.

In fact, for 1080p games, the Xbox One X does supersample to improve the images. Supersampling works by driving the game to render in 4K on the off chance that it was connected to a 4K television, leading to about 4 times as much detail as you would get at a 1080p resolution.

Presently, of course, this data can’t be generally displayed on a 1080p screen, but the detail will still be more extravagant than it would otherwise have been.

As a result, images look sharper and less jagged. Not everyone will see the value in this feature, but individuals who really care about quality will adore it.

The full power of the Xbox One X is unleashed on a 4K HDR screen, where you can see yield from native 4K HDR games in its full glory.

The Xbox One X also improves frame rates. Indeed, even the best consoles struggle to hit 60fps and frequently drop down to 55 or lower. The Xbox One X has significantly fewer of those drops, offering a more consistent frame rate overall.

In terms of design, the One X is similar to the One S. In fact, I would say the only difference between the two is the color scheme and the positioning of the disk tray. One more difference between the disk trays, however, this one isn’t a visual difference, is that the disk tray on the One X can play 4K Blu-ray disks.

7. PlayStation 4 Slim – Best Starter Console

The PS4 Slim is an excellent starter console. Every one of the exclusives that are available on the PS4 Pro is available here. In any case, to fork out extra dollars for all the performance perks of a PS4 Pro, then, at that point, this is an excellent alternative.

This standard PS4 will take care of business for most games, with a respectable 30FPS and 1080p resolution. Actually, these specs are good enough for most individuals to enjoy their favorite games, and only the most well-informed consumers will yearn for something all the more powerful.

I would say that best case scenario, the PS4 Slim is a 1080p console, and really can’t go beyond that.

The one significant spot I would say beats the PS4 Pro is in terms of energy efficiency. Sony claims that this console consumes up to 28% less power than the PS4 Pro. I can’t test that, but I can say the fan wasn’t as noisy as the one on the PS4 Pro.

Fan noise is a good indicator of how much power a machine is using, as an overworked machine will draw more air to cool itself down.

All things considered, I still felt like the disk drive was quite noisy, whether I was installing a game or just playing a Blu-ray.

Pretty much everywhere else this console is similar to the PS4 Pro. The UI seems a bit more responsive, but I’m not sure such a significant improvement you’ll notice the difference.

The network performance on the PS4 Slim seems just as fast as the PS4 Pro. This is understandable. Considering the number of streaming services that are built into this console, including a game download store and online gaming, it is heavily dependent on network performance.

The PS4 Slim features an 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 5GHz connection coupled with an Ethernet jack. This is an improvement over older PS4s, which only had a 2.4GHz connection.

Sharing gameplay videos and images is also super easy on the PS4 Slim. A dedicated ‘Share’ button on the controller allows you to save as long as 15 minutes of gameplay, which you can then save to a flash drive or upload to Sony’s PSN network or YouTube and Facebook. Holding down the Share button will take a screenshot.

The PS4 Slim also supports live streaming on Twitch, however, you’ll need to make sure you have a fast web connection to make this possible.

8. SNES Classic – Best for Classic Game Lovers

The SNES Classic is a great decision for Nintendo fans who are nostalgic about the 16-bit age of gaming consoles and games. These were the times when great titles like Earthbound, Super Metroid, and Legend of Zelda: A Connection to the Past were released, many of them acquiring a standing as some of the best games ever to be released.

In terms of design, the console looks very similar to the NES Little, right down to the power and reset buttons found on top of the console. There’s even a phony ‘Discharge’ button to finish the retro feel.

On the front are phony controller ports, which you would need to eliminate to get at the genuine ones behind them.

This may have seemed like a good idea to the designers, but it actually leads to a cluttered look while you’re using the console since it looks less business-like than its predecessor.

While the controller cords are fairly short at 56 inches, the controllers themselves feel quite comfortable in the hand. While the buttons might not feel as clicky as those on the Nintendo Switch, they’re certainly usable and responsive.

You might plug the controllers into your Wii or Wii U by means of a WiiMote and enjoy games that aren’t in the SNES Little.

All the more good news is that the SNES Smaller than usual Classic comes with 2 controllers in the box, meaning you can enjoy multiplayer games without having to buy an extra controller separately.

The user interface on the SNES Classic is the same as the first. By scrolling left or right you can choose from a list of games sorted by the number of players, name, publisher, release date, or even the way that recently the games were played.

The games are excellent emulations of the originals, however, they accompany a smoothing calculation to make the pixels feel less unpleasant than the first. You could, nonetheless, select completely flawless copying or a CRT filter that emulates old CRT screens on the off chance that you need it.

The game library includes only 20 games, which not everyone will be happy with. All things considered, there are lots of reports that the SNES is as hackable as the first, and that means you might be able to extend the game selection in the event that you need it. But that is all unofficial.

Luckily, many of the games already included are pretty cool and have aged well, including Super Metroid, Legend of Zelda: A Connection to the Past, Final Fantasy III, and Super Mario World.

The most notable game inclusion, notwithstanding, is Star Fox 2. This game was rarely released, as of recently. All is right with the world a sequel to the first but was canceled without a second to spare. It doesn’t come easy. You’ll need to finish a bit of the first Star Fox to open it.

In any case, when you do, I promise you will enjoy it. I certainly did!

9. Google Stadia – Best for Online Gamers – Great Streaming Platform

Google Stadia refers to two things. First is the game-streaming service provided by Google and second is the store where you’ll be buying the games you stream. You’ll get to keep every one of your games, but you’ll also probably be paying the maximum for those games.

The fundamental selling point of Google Stadia is that it will be possible to play games from anywhere and on any device. Provided you have a sufficiently good web connection. That way you can stream games on various devices, including Smart TVs, PCs, and Chromecast.

Assuming that your web connection is powerless, you can reduce the graphical fidelity to make the game easier to play. There is also a development studio for developers who would like to build exclusives for the platform.

Google Stadia has a proprietary controller that can directly connect to Wi-Fi. And it can also work with third-party controllers, including the DualShock 4 and Xbox controllers. The proprietary controller, be that as it may, is very convenient as it gives you access to special social features available on the platform.

This game platform requires a fast web connection, however not so fast as to be unrealistic. 10Mbps is enough for standard gameplay while 4K HDR games will expect somewhere around 35Mbps.

Something else you’ll need is a Stadia Pro subscription. Google is intending to make it possible for you to play games you have already purchased without paying for this subscription. Notwithstanding, for the present you need to pay the monthly subscription to enjoy 4K HDR games.

This offers you a couple of free games and a discount on some others. All things considered, it’s anything but a Netflix-style buffet. The exact structure isn’t clear-cut just yet, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to play just any game you like because you have the subscription.

With regard to game selection, this platform is a bit mixed. There’s good stuff, like Human Kombat 11 and Red Dead Redemption 2, and some different games that are slightly interesting, best-case scenario. All things considered, the selection is expected to develop rapidly as the year wears on, with additional exciting games coming to the platform, including many great exclusives.

Google Stadia is an exciting concept since Google is trying to bring streaming, gameplay, and social media in one spot, and move gaming to the cloud, like many different sectors. It’s still in its baby stages, but the kind of thing has immense potential.

10. Apple iPad Pro 11 – Best iOS Gaming Device

In the event that you’re in the mood for a mobile gaming platform, the Apple iPad Pro 11 might be a great pick for the vast majority of your favorite games. For starters, it features an 11-inch liquid retina display, which provides higher levels of pixels per inch compared to different LCDs.

This means that individual pixels can’t be viewed by your naked eye; at the end of the day, games look great on this device’s screen.

Other specialized upgrades, like ProMotion and Genuine Tone additions, make the display truly charming, capable of projecting a wide variety of colors and detail regardless of what you need to play or view. It’s also exceptionally bright (however it very well may be turned down for eye solace when necessary).

It’s also a pretty fast tablet, even compared to many PCs. It features an A12Z Bionic Chip and octa-center processing capabilities, allowing it to outperform many budget gaming rigs. As a result, it’s a good decision for games like Fortnite, Progress VI, and more.

It’s powered by a battery with enough squeeze for as long as 10 hours of use before needing to re-energize. It also comes with four speakers around its border to allow you to blast decent-sounding audio around as you play your favorite games.

Five studio-quality microphones ensure that your gaming experience will not be hampered by the onboard speakers or power you to use headphones.

Of course, even beyond all the gaming benefits, this tablet comes with several features that make it a versatile device for other digital needs. For instance, it features a remarkable camera with 7MP TrueDepth technology for truly extraordinary shots.

The camera features 12/10MP lenses for the front and back, respectively, and a LiDAR scanner for better light assortment and saturation. Also included are typical Apple tablet device additions, like Apple Pay functionality, and Face ID options for secure opening.

You can easily use this as your staple tablet in addition to a gaming device thanks to these inclusions.

You’ll also be able to add various attachments like Apple Pencils, an Enchanted Keyboard, and more. A USB-C connection port can be used for charging and for connecting different accessories to the fundamental device.

With everything taken into account, it’s a quality all-around tablet and a decent gaming platform thanks to its excellent inside hardware and versatility. While it’s not nearly as high-power or appropriate for graphics-focused experiences as a dedicated gaming PC. It’s a good middle ground on the off chance that you’d like something more mobile for household enjoyment.

Buyer’s Guide: Best Gaming Consoles Of All Time

We should start with a fundamental question: what is a video game console?

At the point when the concept of a gaming console started, the devices made it possible to play games on your television, despite the fact that televisions had no innate gaming capabilities.

You would connect the gaming console to the television and then, at that point, play games using controllers that accompanied the console, or reseller’s exchange controllers that were compatible with the console.

Some games were built into the gaming console, but generally, you could buy game cartridges and later DVDs and other storage media that allowed you to expand your list of games. As long as the game was compatible with the console you could play it.

There were also handheld gaming consoles, which you could carry around and play games on, instead of delaying till you returned home and sat in front of the television.

Today, gaming consoles have evolved far beyond this. You can stream videos with them, allowing your friends online to follow your game in genuine play. You can also record your games and share them with individuals.

Gaming consoles can follow voice commands, have built-in browsers for surfing the web, permit you to use streaming services like YouTube and Netflix, and a whole parcel of different things.

We even have the next age of gaming: Google Stadia, which won’t need gaming consoles, or powerful and expensive PCs, to play. You’ll be able to do everything by signing into the platform and utilizing its powerful registering abilities to process the latest and most resource-intensive games.

Another question you need to ponder before you buy a gaming console is: Who is it for?

You can bet your money that you will be getting a remarkable experience from every one of the consoles listed in this survey. They all have strengths that make them best suited to certain types of players.

It’s not just about thinking about what the edge is for the player you’re buying the console for, regardless of whether that player is you. You also need to consider how that player intends to use the gaming console.

Some individuals buy gaming consoles only for gaming, but some also need to use them as a multimedia platform to watch movies or stream Netflix.

All modern devices are creating some distance from specialization to generalization. Over the years, for example, your smartphone has developed more capable of doing the stuff your laptop or desktop PC is capable of.

The same applies to your smartwatch, your smart television, and of course your gaming console. They became, with the latest age, a genuine multimedia hub.

One might in fact contend that we’re tending toward a future where storage capabilities, but most of figuring power, even on a retail level, is migrated to the cloud.

And we will all carry a single device with which we do everything, switching from one platform to another when we need to carry out specialized tasks.

Anyway, that is something we will discuss all the more some other day. For the present, let it suffice to call attention to that our gaming consoles have become capable of substantially more than just gaming.

Where could I have been? Gracious, right: who are you buying the console for?

Just something more to make reference to here: some individuals might need traditional gaming with traditional controls while others might need motion control or even VR. Just consider it while you’re picking out a gaming console.

Something else you should ponder is the possibility of spending more than the purchase cost of the gaming console.

Actually, consoles themselves don’t inherently do that much out of the box. To play games, you’ll need to buy them, which usually cost something like $50. On the off chance that you need online play and to access additional features on the console, there’s usually a subscription expense to be paid.

Also, you may need to buy more controllers if you have any desire to play with your friends.

By considering these things, you will have chopped your options down significantly and will have a smaller pool of consoles to choose from.

Now that we have that far removed, let us look at the individual gaming consoles.

Frankly, this market is something of an oligopoly. There are a couple of central parts that control something like 70-80% of the market, and then the rest are pretty much fighting over crumbs.

I don’t know whether this is something good or something bad. From one perspective, there is so much rivalry between the principal market players that quality shoots up every year and you’re guaranteed to be getting a great console on the off chance that you’re buying from any one of these key parts.

Then again, who can say for sure what incredible new products and ideas we would have in the industry assuming there were more brands fighting for top position?

I can’t tell you much about the thing we might be missing, but I can tell you a great deal about what we have, and most of it is really about a comparison of the top 3 gaming console manufacturers:

• Sony
• Microsoft
• Nintendo

Together, these 3 brands control the majority of the market share. As a result, they will pretty much control this buyer’s guide as well.

There are a couple of gaming consoles, but the data on them is brief sufficient that I have included it in their individual reviews. As for the buyer’s guide section, let us look at the 3 largest brands and compare them.

We’re in the 8th era of gaming consoles, and the buzzwords of the year are “4K” and “VR.” We also have the hybrid console, which can be both handhelds and connected to a television.

We’ve had the PlayStation 4 by Sony and the Xbox One by Microsoft for a long time now. Sure, there have been upgrades during that time, but there has been a general mood that it’s the ideal opportunity for an overhaul.

Those overhauls should be coming this year with the PS 5 and the Xbox Series X coming out later in 2023. I can hardly hold on to see what those consoles have in store. Elsewhere in the world, the Nintendo Switch has really carved out a niche for itself.

While it doesn’t really hold a candle to the graphical capabilities of its fundamental competitors, it certainly has made tremendous progress in the retail market.

What I believe we should look at is the means by which these significant brands compare to one another based on a couple of factors.

Cost

For gaming consoles, the anchor value seems to be about $300. Most base versions of the significant brands in the market hover around there, including the Nintendo Switch (despite its more fragile graphics).

All things considered, you will need to pay extra to enjoy the full benefits of 4K gaming. That is around $100 to $200 extra, depending on whether you’re upgrading to a PS4 or an Xbox One. For the PS4, better VR performance and 4K gaming will cost an extra $100, bringing your underlying absolute to $400.

For the Xbox One, 4K gaming will cost an extra $200, bringing the underlying absolute to $500. And this is all before considering the extras I mentioned earlier, such as online gaming, extra controllers, streaming services, and so on.

For most of these, there is a tie between Xbox and PS 4, and both will run you two or three hundred dollars extra, depending on what kind of upgrade you’re getting.

Controllers

For you to really enjoy the gaming experience, you need to have good controllers. The PS4 and the Xbox have done well in that respect, with both having some all-around designed gamepads. Both work pretty well, and whether one works better than different has more to do with a little ergonomics and a great deal of aesthetics than it does functionality.

The Xbox One controller is an advancement of the Xbox 360 controller. The significant updates are that the trigger buttons each have their own feedback while the pad as a whole has much more curves.

A great aspect of the Xbox One controller is that it is compatible with PCs and has excellent Bluetooth connectivity. This is expected, considering that Microsoft owns both Windows and the Xbox. T

There is also a great service offered by the Xbox Design Lab where you can design your own Xbox One controller. You can choose your own custom patterns and colors and get an Xbox Controller that looks like no other. You don’t get that service from Sony.

As for the PS4 controller, the DualShock 4, there seems to be a lot greater overhaul. It’s definitely based on the PS 3 controller, but it works a lot harder to differentiate itself, keeping only the very best aspects of the DualShock 3 while doing away with the entirety of the worst.

The trigger buttons respond faster, the analog sticks are more comfortable, and the controller fits nicely in your hand. It has a touchpad in the middle, which can be useful, and a built-in speaker which definitely ups the cool factor.

Things get much more interesting when you consider the Nintendo Switch. You can use it as a game console at home and also as a handheld system. The Joy-Con controllers can either be snapped on the sides when it is handheld or connected wirelessly when used as a home console.

These controls feel pretty comfortable in the hand, however, I wouldn’t say the direction buttons are as responsive as those on the Xbox One or PS4 controllers.

All things considered, the technology in the Joy-Con controllers is just something else. They have an NFC reader for special Nintendo figures (Amiibo), an infrared camera, and a great rumble impact.

You also have the choice to either join them to one another like a traditional gamepad or use them separately, with a Joy-Con in each hand, giving you substantially more freedom during gaming. You don’t get the ability to hold a portion of a controller in each hand with the DualShock 4 and Xbox One controllers separately.

One more great feature of the Nintendo Switch is that you can use third-party controllers. You can use the Joy-Cons, the Switch Pro, or gamepads from Hori and 8Bitdo.

In addition to the fact that you get to use the versatile Joy-Cons, you can also use the Switch Pro, which feels more like an Xbox One, as well as high-quality third-party controllers.

With the PS4 and Xbox One, there isn’t widespread support for third-party controllers. There are a couple of wired options, and also products from Underhanded Controllers and SCUF, however, you can expect to pay a pretty penny for those.

Graphics Capabilities

There isn’t a lot you can compare between different game consoles. For starters, they all have different architectures and working systems. There also isn’t any kind of benchmarking that is consistent among all gaming consoles.

That makes it pretty difficult to compare their hardware components. But there is one thing we can compare fairly well, and that is the graphics of each gaming system.

In terms of graphics capabilities and game performance, the Xbox One and PS4 are ranked about the same. With regards to individual games, some will run better on one than the other, but the differences aren’t so gigantic that most individuals will notice.

What happened is that somewhere in the center of the 8th era, Microsoft and Sony both launched 4K-enabled versions of the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro. These versions were capable of both HDR (High Dynamic Reach) and 4K as well as being substantially more powerful than their predecessors.

Something to note here is that, despite the fact that these consoles are 4K capable, that doesn’t mean every game you play is going to be in 4K. This is an issue with individual games, rather than the console or your 4K television.

What typically happens is that the rendered resolution of the game is somewhere in the UHD range (between 1080p and 4K). The gaming console then up-converts the resolution to 4K before sending it to your TV.

There isn’t a lot to say about the crude power of the Nintendo Switch, which falls behind its competitors here. Remember that the Switch is, even more, a tablet as opposed to a powerhouse console. As a result, it can’t be as powerful. It does, in any case, have a great structure factor.

At the point when you play it as a handheld, you get 720p. At the point when you connect it to the TV, the max resolution is 1080p. It also has a lower frame rate than its more powerful competitors.

Nonetheless, you’re not going to get that many handhelds with a 720p resolution, and the frame rate on TV is good enough for most purposes.

Game Selection

The largest game publishers, such as Activision and EA, make mostly cross-platform games, that is games that can play on a variety of consoles. Some games, in any case, are exclusive to a particular console.

In the event that you have your eye on a particular game, you should check whether it’s cross-platform or exclusive. In the event that it’s an exclusive, and you don’t have the right console, you’ll need to make the difficult decision of whether buying a whole console just to enjoy one game is worth the effort.

Sony games tend to only be available on the PS4, while Microsoft games tend to only be available on the Xbox One. There is a bit of an extra here, which is that Xbox exclusives can be played on your Windows PC, owing to Windows 10 availability for most Microsoft releases.

PS4 exclusives are only available on the PS4. This gives Sony an advantage, but not its customers. Exclusive games make life harder for the consumer, and only really benefit the console manufacturer and game publishers.

If we somehow happened to compare the exclusives, the selection seems to be better on the Sony side, with titles like Death Stranding, God of War, Skyline: Zero Dawn, Gran Turismo Sport, and Bloodbourne. Of course, Microsoft also has some great games like Gears 5, Corona 5: Guardians or Forza Skyline 4. The final call is entirely a question of individual taste.

While we’re discussing exclusives, it almost seems like Nintendo prefers nothing else. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey are some of the best in their series. Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, Luigi’s Mansion 3, and Super Smash Bros. Extreme are other great titles.

There are lots of great games that are available only on Nintendo. The significant trade-off here is that you don’t get that many AAA games, such as Vital mission at hand. That looks like it might change, nonetheless, as some significant titles have been porting to Nintendo, including Doom from Bethesda and The Witcher 3 Wild Chase from CD Projekt Red, among others.

Another area where the Nintendo Switch shines is its great support for third-party publishers in general and indie developers in particular. The fact that you can play games both on TV and on a handheld has made it possible to reconsider lots of smaller and older titles that previously only worked on TV.

Games like Dark Souls, Okami, both Bayonettas, and Katamari Damacy are classic games that have been remade to make the most of the Switch.

Great indie titles have also come up, including Empty Knight, Dead Cells, Stardew Valley, and Night in the Woods. Considering the fact that the Nintendo Switch has been around for just a couple of years, the selection is astounding.

Media

The PS4 and the Xbox One S might both access online streaming services at any point like Netflix and play Blu-ray movies. With the Xbox One S, you get a little more since it can play Blu-ray in Ultra HD and also has a television joining.

There’s an HDMI pass-through that allows you to run your satellite or cable box through the console. You may need to have a Kinect to control it easily or buy a third-party infrared blaster.

With the HDMI pass-through, the Xbox One’s menu will include your cable provider’s live television. A third-party USB tuner allows you to look after the-air television.

The Snap feature allows you to split the screen so that you’re playing a game or browsing on one half and sitting in front of the television on the other.

The OneGuide program guide shows you what’s available on Machinima and Hulu Plus while displaying live television, giving you lots of control. The PS4, unfortunately, can’t play ultra HD Blue-Ray.

Nintendo doesn’t offer nearly as much variety. You can only stream on Hulu and there are no streaming services for music.

Online

If you have any desire to watch Netflix, or even play games online, you’ll need to connect your console to the web. The PS4 connects you through the PlayStation Network while the Xbox One uses Xbox Live.

For both, you’ll need a subscription to intend to play your favorite games online. For the PlayStation Network that is the PS Plus plan while the Xbox has the Xbox Live Gold arrangement.

Much really interesting, Microsoft has the Xbox Game Pass, which includes the Xbox Live Gold and allows you to access to over 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 games, including the greatest hits such as Red Dead Redemption 2 or NieR: Automat.

Nintendo also has its own exceptional subscription service, which it launched recently: the Nintendo Switch Online. While it doesn’t have as many features as the PS4 and Xbox One services, it is usually less expensive and offers some free games, and has a growing list of NES titles, which is an incredibly good deal.

Catching Games

With game-streaming services like Twitch growing massively in popularity and recordings of gameplay on YouTube being something big, it has become mainstream to catch a game film. The PS4 and Xbox One are both onto this and so have built-in game-catching features.

With the Kinect, you should simply say “Xbox, a record that ” or double tap the Xbox button on the controller and then, at that point, press X to save a screenshot and Y to save a video cut. You can also record as long as 5 minutes of game film on the fly by snapping the DVR application to the side of the screen.

The PS4 is not to be abandoned. It has a dedicated share button on the DualShock 4. You can use it to take a screenshot, save as long as 15 minutes of gameplay, and even start live streaming to Twitch or the PlayStation Network.

The fact that the PS4 has a longer catch time (15 minutes compared to 5 on the Xbox One) and greater convenience in the setup than the Xbox One puts it ahead on this particular feature.

The Nintendo Switch has a dedicated Catch button. Nonetheless, not all games support recording videos and you can’t live stream, making the Catch button not nearly as utilitarian as the Share button on the DualShock 4.

Also, to recover whatever screenshots you took, you’ll need to eliminate the microSD card and transfer the files to your PC by means of a card reader.

Virtual Reality Capabilities
Sony is a central part of this field since it launched the PlayStation VR just a couple of years prior. The PlayStation VR headset is compatible with the PS4, but is also very comfortable and affordable, compared to other tethered headsets in the market. It also has a great selection of games.

Microsoft has the Windows Mixed Reality platform on Windows 10, which is compatible with both Oculus Fracture and HTC Vive. The problem is these work only on PC and isn’t compatible with the Xbox One. I also haven’t yet heard Microsoft declare plans to send off a VR headset for the Xbox.

Nintendo is a flake-out here, with no VR capabilities whatsoever.

A Note on Different Types of Consoles

Not the consoles on this list are all from the big 3 manufacturers. Some are retro gaming consoles, such as the SNES classic, and others are Android consoles. The retro gaming consoles are nostalgia machines, returning us to the days of Atari, Super Mario, and Sonic.

The greatest drawback is that they of course will not be compatible with the games available today.

Then again we have mobile gaming. Over several years it has captured a large part of the market and will continue to develop.

This mobile gaming world is made of 2 continents: Android and iOS. Google’s working system is installed on around 85% of smartphones while Apple occupies the 15% left. That represents something like 2.4 billion mobile gamers worldwide.

The way you will play on your phone or tablet is very different than how you manage your gaming console. You can bring your games everywhere with you, play on the bus, in the subway, while holding up at the doctor… any place, and at whatever point you need.

There are tons of games available, allowing you to find a wide range of games: shooter, sports, arcade, and reflection.

Players will have shorter sessions without a doubt, but they will play all the more frequently as they carry their gaming devices with them the entire day.

That is the strength of playing on mobile.

Mobile platforms also don’t suffer from the exclusivity problem. Smartphones. Smart TVs. Tablets. They all use the same working systems. The Xbox, PS4, and Nintendo consoles are pretty much walled off, with almost zero cross-compatibility, making it hard to frame a truly boundless gaming community.

In the event that your device is running Android or iOS, it doesn’t make any difference which device you have. You should be able to play just about any game. Benchmarking is also a lot easier since the basics (engineering and OS) are similar. Contrasting the performances of phones or tablets is easy.

As a result, mobile gaming is expected to take up an ever-increasing number of shares of the market. They may not yet be as powerful as any of the big 3. Still, every year they gain stronger processors, faster RAM, faster and larger storage capabilities, and more exact and responding displays. The potential they have is immense.

A Note on PC Gaming

There certainly is a case to be made for PC gaming. For example, PCs and shooter and strategy games seem to be made for one another. Sure, you can play games like Fortnite and PUBG (Player Obscure Battle Ground) on consoles as well. Notwithstanding, it’s really hard to tear group-based serious games like Counter-Strike: Global Offense and DOTA (Defense of the Ancients) away from the PC.

There are also publishers that seem to only release PC exclusives, with many of these titles, like Class of Legends, staying among the most well-known games in the world. You also can’t disregard MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Pretending Games) like World of Warcraft, which have practically generated their own economies and are majorly played on PCs.

It’s not just that many publishers are making games purely for PC. Many titles that used to only be available on consoles are also being made for PC. With platforms like Steam bringing us the next age of gaming marketplaces, increasingly more console-only games are becoming available on PC.

The primary drawback of PC gaming is that there is a bit of expense to it.

To be able to play the latest games, with the same visual and performance experience as you would get on a console, you should expect to spend north of $2,000 on a gaming laptop or PC, and that is even before considering the peripherals, like the keyboard and mouse. That is the bad news.

That’s what the good news is in the event that you spend that much on a gaming PC setup, you’re probably going to survive a couple of generations of gaming consoles without needing to upgrade.

These are state-of-the-art laptops and PCs with extremely advanced tech (so advanced that GPUs, which were initially a gaming peculiarity, proceeded to find applications in arising fields like bitcoin mining and presently computer-based intelligence).

In the event that you have that kind of money, you can trust that buying a gaming PC will be a pretty good investment.

One way to get around this is to build your own gaming PC, rather than buy a total one.

In addition to the fact that it is less expensive since you can source the components all the more cheaply, it’s also lots of tomfoolery assuming you’re the kind of person who enjoys DIY projects. Then again, on the off chance that that is not your type of thing, then, at that point, you’re probably better off just getting a total build from a manufacturer that you trust.

What’s the Future?

What’s in store is already here. Sony is expected to release the PS5 in the not-so-distant future. Microsoft is also expected to release the Xbox Series X. All specialized specifications have been revealed to the public.

These two consoles will provide massive power with AMD Harmony processors, AMD RDNA 2 graphics, and SSD storage. They will be able to unleash from 10 to 12 TFLOPs, which is enormous compared to the 1.4 TFLOPs and 1.8 TFLOPs from, respectively, the Xbox One S and the PS4. It’s also pointed out that current-age games will be compatible with the next console age.

Some of these games will benefit, at no cost to the player, from graphics improvements to the use of the full power of the PS5 or Xbox Series X. I’m excited to see what both concoct when they finally send off the games.

The genuine kicker, in any case, is Cloud Gaming. Significant actors like Google with the Stadia platform, Nvidia with GeForce Now, or even Microsoft with Project Xcloud are pushing like that.

Video streaming is already a success, so presently the time of game streaming has truly begun. With such services, the problems associated with moving up to additional powerful machines might be a relic of times gone by.

As I’ve mentioned in the individual survey of the Stadia platform, I’m really excited to see where modern consoles are going.

FAQs About the Best Gaming Consoles Of All Time

1. What is the best-selling gaming console of all time?

• The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling gaming console of all time, with over 155 million units sold worldwide. It achieved this milestone thanks to its vast game library, DVD playback feature, and wide appeal.

2. Why is the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) considered one of the best consoles?

• The NES is credited with reviving the video game industry after the crash of 1983. It introduced iconic franchises like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, setting the stage for modern gaming.

3. How did the PlayStation 4 dominate its generation?

• The PlayStation 4 dominated its generation due to its strong lineup of exclusive games, robust online services, and user-friendly interface. It sold over 116 million units, making it one of the most successful consoles ever.

4. What makes the Nintendo Switch unique?

• The Nintendo Switch is unique because it functions as both a home console and a portable device. This hybrid design, combined with a strong lineup of exclusive games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, has made it a massive success.

5. Why is the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) significant?

• The Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) is significant for its role in the “console wars” of the early 1990s against the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It introduced popular franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog and had a lasting impact on gaming culture.

6. What was the first gaming console to feature 3D graphics?

• The Nintendo 64 is often credited as the first console to popularize 3D graphics in gaming, with games like Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time setting new standards for the industry.

7. How did the PlayStation 2 maintain its popularity for so long?

• The PlayStation 2 maintained its popularity due to its massive game library, backward compatibility with PlayStation 1 games, and its use as a DVD player, which was a key feature at the time of its release.

8. What role did the Xbox 360 play in online gaming?

• The Xbox 360 played a crucial role in the rise of online gaming. It popularized features like Xbox Live, achievements, and downloadable content (DLC), setting the standard for online gaming on consoles.

9. Why is the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) so highly regarded?

• The SNES is highly regarded for its stellar game library, including classics like Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Chrono Trigger. It is often celebrated for its high-quality games and the longevity of its influence.

Conclusion – Best Gaming Consoles Of All Time

And with that, we reach the end of our audit. Whether you’re getting a console for yourself or for someone else; whether you deeply enjoy gaming or you’re just looking for something to assist you with staving off boredom while you’re at home, the solid consoles in this survey should keep you and yours highly entertained for quite a while.

Regardless of your tastes, I’m pretty sure you’ll find something here that works well for you, and I’m confident you’ll enjoy it. Until next time, have a good time!

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