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The GameCube (2001–2007) was Nintendo's first disc-based home console. Its compact cubic design, unique handle, and iconic mini-DVD format set it apart. Despite modest sales, it be…

Owner's note: "Of all the consoles that pass through our hands, the GameCube is the one that makes people stop and …"

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The Super Famicom launched in Japan on November 21, 1990, as the successor to the world-conquering Famicom. Marketed in North America and Europe as the Super Nintendo Entertainment…

Owner's note: "The Super Famicom had a feature called Mode 7. It could take an entire background and rotate it, sca…"

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The Family Computer Disk System launched in Japan on February 21, 1986. An expansion unit that clipped beneath the Famicom, it introduced rewritable magnetic disks, expanded storag…

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The Sharp Twin Famicom (AN-500/AN-505) was a Nintendo-licensed machine that combined Famicom cartridge playback with the Famicom Disk System in a single unit. Released in Japan on …

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The Nintendo 64 launched in Japan on June 23, 1996, arriving two years after both the PlayStation (1994) and the Sega Saturn (1994). In an industry moving decisively toward CD-ROM,…

Owner's note: "So many Nintendo 64 controllers are brought to me broken. Or rather — to put it precisely — it isn't…"

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The original Game Boy launched in Japan on April 21, 1989, and reached North America on July 31, 1989. Designed by Gunpei Yokoi and Satoru Okada under Nintendo's R&D1 division, it …

Owner's note: "My fondest memory of the Game Boy is playing out on the laundry deck, basking in the sun. The warmth…"

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The Family Computer — Famicom — launched in Japan on July 15, 1983. As the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) it reached North America in 1985 and Europe in 1986. It rescued a col…

Owner's note: "I first met the Famicom at a friend's house. It sat there on the kotatsu table, and somehow it felt …"

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The New Famicom — officially the AV Family Computer, model HVC-101 — launched in Japan on December 1, 1993, ten years after the original. Priced at ¥6,800, less than half the origi…

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The Sega Mega Drive launched in Japan on October 29, 1988, and reached North America in 1989 as the Genesis. A 16-bit console built around the Motorola 68000 — the same processor p…

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The PC Engine launched in Japan on October 30, 1987 — and nothing about it looked like it should work. A near-perfect 14 × 14 cm white cube, smaller than any home console before or…

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The PlayStation launched in Japan on 3 December 1994, sold 100,000 units on its first day, and went on to sell over 102 million units worldwide — becoming the first console to cros…

Owner's note: "The PlayStation was one astonishment after another. 3D games ran with a perfectly straight face, as …"

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The PlayStation 2 launched in Japan on 4 March 2000 and went on to become the best-selling video game console of all time, with more than 160 million units sold. Built around a cus…

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The PocketStation (SCPH-4000) launched in Japan on 23 January 1999 for ¥3,000. It was a PlayStation memory card with a 32-bit processor, a 32×32 monochrome screen, five buttons, an…

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The Sega Saturn launched in Japan on November 22, 1994 — the same holiday season as the PlayStation. It carried the weight of Sega's arcade legacy on its shoulders: Virtua Fighter,…

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The Dreamcast launched in Japan on November 27, 1998 — Sega's last home console and their most ambitious. A built-in modem made it the world's first internet-ready home console. It…

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The Game Boy Color launched in Japan on 21 October 1998 — a colour display upgrade to the nine-year-old Game Boy that kept Nintendo's entire handheld library alive. Its Sharp SM83 …

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The Game Boy Advance launched in Japan on 21 March 2001 at ¥9,800. Built around a 32-bit ARM processor, it delivered roughly Super Famicom-class 2D graphics on a 240×160 screen — a…

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The Neo Geo AES launched in Japan on April 26, 1990, at ¥58,000 — the most expensive home console ever sold at retail. Its hardware was identical to the Neo Geo MVS arcade system: …

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