When we talk about the 8-bit generation today, we are first and foremost talking about the NES, which in many ways is the ancestor of the modern console. Not because it was the best or the first, but because it had the best games in a perfectly designed console with a brilliant controller. But it had a competitor, even if it didn't offer much competition. Sega released the far more powerful Master System (1987 in Europe) and delivered plenty of great games. But Nintendo were smart businessmen and made sure that those who released games for the NES were not allowed to collaborate with competitors. It didn't help that the Master System had lots of cool accessories that revealed Sega's willingness to experiment even back then, and just three years later, the Mega Drive was released in Europe, sealing Master System's fate forever. In total, around 12 million units were sold.
A few days before the Game Boy was released and changed portable gaming forever, Atari had released its Lynx. Where the Game Boy could display four shades of grey, Atari filled it with 4096 colours and a gaming experience that far surpassed any desktop console in existence. Plus, the cartridges looked extremely high-tech, and I remember how I could barely speak when I first saw one and how excited I was when I bought one and took it on a class trip. Unfortunately, it kept eating batteries like they were cornflakes, but thanks to an included adapter, it was still possible to keep it alive. As with the PS Vita, however, games were lacking and in the end, the Atari Lynx sold a paltry two million units, although it was undoubtedly ambitious like few others at the time.
We all remember this console, right? Few thought Sony would return to portable consoles after the death of the PSP, but they announced the technological miracle that is the PS Vita, which today truly exudes equal parts ambition and luxury. What's more, it was incredibly cleverly designed in terms of both hardware and software working beautifully together, and the entire back was a single touch surface that enabled new types of games. But Sony quickly lost track and released half-baked portable versions of their biggest console series, leaving the PS Vita to live off indie games before Sony had enough and pulled the plug. The PS Vita would have been higher on the list as a piece of hardware if Sony had given it more love, but this high-tech marvel was allowed to die on its own and when the Switch was released, it was goodnight forever, with an estimated just under 16 million units sold.
When the Neo Geo was released in 1990, it was primarily an arcade machine. But the system became popular and SNK released the home version AES - and never before or since has a console been so overwhelmingly superior to the competition in terms of performance. But it came at a price, and the Neo Geo was originally intended to be a rental-only system. Fortunately, SNK changed their minds and started selling the device with games that, in today's currency, cost the equivalent around $200 each (yes, that's no exaggeration). They never reached a large audience with these prices, but the Neo Geo became a cult classic and lived for seven years, selling a million units for the home version - and game development continued right up until 2003. Even today, you only have to look at Neo Geo to realise that it oozes exclusivity, and playing Art of Fighting, Magician Lord, or Metal Slug 3 on a real device is still powerful.
A serious contender for being called my favourite console of all-time is also the flop that was so bad that Sega decided to stop making consoles and just focus on games instead. I'm talking of course about the Dreamcast, which I first saw at the home of a Gamereactor colleague long before it was released in Scandinavia. I had good Japanese contacts at the time and managed to buy a unit myself, which I had a great time with. The console itself was absolutely stunning and incredibly stylish, complete with an unrivalled ergonomic controller, accessories and games straight from the arcades. All topped off with built-in internet and a memory card with a screen that you plugged into the controllers so they also had screens (so you could see your character's life in Resident Evil - Code: Veronica without a meter on the screen). It's hard to describe how much fun I had with this superior contraption, which disappeared when Sony released the best-selling console of all-time - the PlayStation 2 - and at the same time Nintendo launched their lovable GameCube and Microsoft suddenly wanted their own console. The Dreamcast was loved and missed, but only sold nine million units.