Retro Video Game Systems: Which One Do You Miss the Most?

I’ve been thinking a lot about retro video game systems as of late. I want you to think about them, too, and tell me your favorite.

 

This all started because part of my stupid job requires me to look at stupid Facebook. It’s a hellsite and a time suck, but once in awhile it does yield something useful. Case in point: one of my Facebook friends shared a post from a Facebook Group called Righteous Memes for Generation X. It’s a graphic breaking down popular video game systems and platforms by generation and it looks like this:

 

Pretty accurate, right? I mean, I’m Gen X. My first at-home, console gaming experiences were with Atari and Intellivision when I was in grade school. By the time I was in Junior High, we had the SEGA Master System in the house. And when I was in High School, I bought my friend Andy’s used NES from him because he wanted to upgrade to Neo Geo. So yeah, this graphic speaks to me.

 

Retro Video Game Systems: Which One Do You Miss the Most?

So let’s use it as a jumping-off point. I’ve hand-selected a handful of the gaming systems in the Gen X and Gen Y columns above for this week’s 12-Inch Poll. And you know what? We’ll throw a couple from the Gen Z column in, too. The focus here is on “retro.” It’s all about the consoles that are now obsolete that we wish weren’t. It’s all about those early gaming experiences.

 

Scroll through my list and take your pick. I stuck to the biggest, most popular gaming systems for obvious reasons. But if you have a more obscure platform that you want to show some love to, just hit up ROCK 92.9 on stupid Facebook and post up in the comments.

• Atari 2600

  The OG. Omnipresent in middle-to-upper-class suburban homes in the early ’80s.

  

• Intellivision

  Atari’s main competitor. My Uncle Michael was the only person I knew who ever had one, and he owned every game!

  

• NES

  The Nintendo Entertainment System. The 8-bit system that owned the mid-to-late ’80s.

  

• SEGA Master System

  SEGA launched their Master System in North America in 1986 to compete with the Nintendo Entertainment System.

  

• Game Boy

  Nintendo went hand-held in 1989 with the debut of its 8-bit Game Boy. A true game changer.

  

• SEGA Genesis

  Not to be out done by their main competitor, SEGA debuted their 16-bit offering in 1989.

  

• Super Nintendo

  Nintendo blasted into the ’90s with the Super NES and its mind-blowing (at the time) 16 bits of gaming fun.

  

• PlayStation

  Sony’s debut home gaming console. It hit American shores in 1995.

  

• PlayStation 2

  Five years later, Sony followed up with what would become the best-selling home gaming console of all time.

  

• Xbox

  The original Xbox console launched in the U.S. in November of 2001. Like the PlayStation, it’s gone on to spawn an entire line.

  

• Wii

  Launched in 2006, Nintendo game straight at Microsoft’s Xboxes and Sony’s PlayStations with this one.