Topic: Your Ranking for the 8th Generation of Home Consoles

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I'll count handhelds. They were still significant players in the market (...well, OK... one of them was). It makes sense not to count retro consoles or PCs, though.

I've owned all the 8th gen systems except the PS4 Pro (I own a vanilla PS4) and every iteration of the Xbone.

I'll start with my least favorite and go down to my most favorite.

PS4
Oooooo. Controversial pick around these parts, I take it. It's not a bad console at all, and I can see why people would love it. It just... doesn't do much for me. Most of the multiplatform games play better on my PC. The exclusives... well, I really dig some of them, but, overall, I don't really jive with Sony's game design philosophy more broadly. It's also worth mentioning that until 2015 or so, its exclusives game was VERY anemic. The home screen is a cluttered nightmare, frankly, and I hate all the stupid apps and stuff that I can't delete. Reminds me of the bloatware that clogs up my phone. I still struggle to remember which button ejects the disc, and which turns it off, which is really annoying (in fairness, I'm mostly digital, so I don't have to engage with this problem too often). The console just feels very plain to me. As a jack-of-all-trades system, it does its job well, but aside from PS+ and a few exclusives, I don't have too many reasons to use it, which means I've gone more than half a year at a time ignoring the thing. The DS4 is a pretty good controller, but the battery life is abysmal and its best function is only unlockable when used as a PC controller (why give it a perfectly good gyroscope and then only use it for virtual keyboards and Gravity Rush?). I still like the PS4, but it doesn't really command my attention like the first two Playstation consoles did. Also, I have to factor Sony and their recent censorship policies into my feelings on the device, since they're started altering games that release on the system, and it is just really putting me off of them in a broader way.

PS Vita
While I've played some of my all-time favorite games on it (all the Danganronpas; the last Zero Escape; all the Corpse Party games; Gravity Rush; Castlevania: Rondo of Blood; etc.), I can't deny that the library has utterly suffered from a lack of support from the big players over the years. Now that all of its exclusives have been ported onto more successful platforms, it feels... kind of redundant. I still love mine, but there's no reason to buy one these days, and I primarily use it a portable PS1 (which is nothing to sneeze at, I might add). Hardware-wise, the back touchscreen is totally obnoxious, and the proprietary memory cards are just awful. Also hate that there's only one set of shoulder buttons. The screen is beautiful, though, and I really dig the D-Pad. The UI is also a favorite of mine, being very customizable and easy to engage with. Lots of love/hate here, but the highs are a lot higher than the lows are low.

Wii U
The biggest problem with this console is how much reliance it placed on the GamePad. Like, you can't get it to work without one, which is a major issue. Also, while the GamePad is very cool and is utilized extremely well in a few games, it seemed like Nintendo either ignored it entirely (DKC: Tropical Freeze) or ruined games by making gameplay highly reliant on looking at it constantly (Kirby and the Rainbow Curse; Star Fox Zero). It also suffered by missing out on some big Nintendo franchises, and also because of a lot of its more niche releases getting censored (Tokyo Mirage Sessions was so butchered that entire storylines and character motivations were changed). With that said, it's high on my list for a reason. The GamePad, when it did work well, was pretty awesome, and could bring new life to familiar experiences. The system is backwards compatible with the Wii and has a decent VC, making it the single best all-in-one Nintendo system I can think of. It did have a number of awesome exclusives, including the fantastic new I.P. Splatoon. The biggest problem with buying one today would be that, like the Vita, most of its best exclusives have been ported elsewhere, although Nintendo at least spared a few of the really good ones, like Pikmin 3, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Super Mario 3D World.

Switch
Still relatively young, but it got off to one hell of a start and has been ticking away since. Third party support, while still lagging behind the PS4/Xbone, is the healthiest Nintendo has seen since the days of the SNES. I love the wide range of controllers that are compatible with this console (I often use the DS4 to play my docked Switch games instead of buying an expensive Pro controller). While underpowered as a home console, the hybrid design is brilliant and makes games feel so much more accessible as opposed to PS4/PC. I do like the joycons, although the lack of a D-Pad and the drifting issues the sticks develop are really obnoxious. I LOVE the clean and lightning-fast UI. While it's lacking in a lot of the multimedia functions that the PS4 has, I dig the fact that it's wholly designed to facilitate the playing of video games, and it does this very well (PS4's rest mode works well enough, but it feels positively sluggish when compared to how quickly the Switch can rest and reopen for you to continue playing your games). The machine is quickly developing a large stable of must-play exclusives, and games I'd have usually ignored on my other systems will see play here, so much do I enjoy engaging with the hardware. The system is a bit uncomfortable in handheld mode, though, so grips are needed to full enjoy the system, imo, which is extra money to spend. In general, I feel like this system has a larger reliance on extra accessories than I would like. But it's a small price to pay to have your dream console.

3DS
With that said, the 3DS is still my favorite device this gen, and my favorite portable system overall. While early models had some growing pains (really annoying that the original 3DS's border on its bottom screen would scratch the top 3D screen), I feel like the New 3DS/New 3DS XL are basically perfect. I have no complaints. The face-tracking 3D works incredibly well without glasses, and even though mine often throw off the tracking, I can still disable this function and have the older 3D effect back. The analog nub works well enough as a second stick for use as a camera. It has full compatibility with thousands of amazing games on DS and 3DS as well as a decent VC that encompasses a variety of systems. ESPECIALLY the Game Boy/Game Boy Color. It has some of my all-time favorite Nintendo and Atlus games. The 3D effect works really well in a number of games and adds a visual dynamic that is missing from games on every other system. This sits alongside the PS1 as one of my all-time favorite gaming devices.