What is the best looking retro console or PC?
What is the best looking retro console or PC?
I'd have to go with the wood grain Atari 2600, I'm a sucker for 70's designed electronics.
Technically neither a console nor a PC (in the IBM-compatible sense), but the Commodore PET has a certain kind of 70s futurism about it.
Note the integrated tape deck for all your storage needs.
The keyboard pictured, while interesting looking, is a complete POS. Later PETs had a more usable keyboard with a better layout.
Edit: I don't think that red button at the bottom right is stock. It's almost certainly a hardware reset button, which on the Commodore machines is typically done by shorting a couple pins on a user expansion port.
The 2600 depicted in the article thumbnail, was absolutely a beauty in its native environment of the late 1970's:
I'm very partial to the IMSAI 8080!
Incredible. This might be my new favorite.
I built a replica one that a dude in Australia designed. Its really fun to mess with. I played Zork on it the day I finished it.
This scratches an itch I didn't know I had.
gorgeous, had never heard of this.
You can build a replica from this dude!
while not necessarily the prettiest console by any means but i always thought the Og xbox home menu went way harder than it needed to, now that's presentation!
They said retro, the Xbox can't be retro, its only been around for- oh. Oh no.
Nintendo's GameCube. It's cubical. Cubical!
It came with a beat carry handle and drug-hiding compartments!
Game Boy Advance. Actually all 3 variants (GBA, SP & Micro) are beautiful consoles.
I love how the SP looks. The original feels better in the hand but the clamshell looks so good and it feels great to open and close.
I'm tempted to get a foldable as my next phone because I miss that design.
I'm partial to the translucent version of the OG GBA.
Oh yeah right... the Gameboy advance can legally be considered as a retro console...
Good pick!
The Mega Drive is the best looking retro console, I mean look at it
This one looks a little naked. Needs more "High Definition Graphics" or whatever it says
Best looking and best name.
I like the woodgrain look, but I don't think the Atari 2600 is a very good example of it. Lots of audio equipment from the time does it better. Especially when combined with brushed aluminum or stainless steel.
Purple GameCubes are retro now, so I'll go with that as my favorite.
Console: Sega Dreamcast
PC: Any IBM beige box from the 90s
PC Engine. Not only does it look like a prop from the set of TNG, but it is delightfully tiny. The cartridges are little cards that you slot in the front. There is literally nothing bad about a PC Engine. (Except for maybe that it's only got one controller port)
+1.
Also it can be turned into a coolest spaceship, with its CDRom attachment, a very first in 1988!
Also the HuCard format for its games is unbeatable!
Speaking of spaceships...
Not the most practical PC engine model, because it lacked the extra oomph of the SuperGrafx and you couldn't attach a CD-ROM² - but just look at it
The PC Engine/Turbagragix 16 also had a handheld (PC Engine GT/TurboExpress) that was way ahead of its time. It had the same power as the home console, was color, had a backlit display, and even had a TV tuner attachment. And it was released in 1990. The Sega Nomad basically copied these features in 1995, and Nintendo didn't have a colored, backlit handheld until 1998.
I loved mine.
The Sega Saturn, especially the Japan version:
Although I never owned this model myself, I recently picked up an 8bitdo replica (M30 bluetooth) of the Japan controller and it looks and feels great, although not strictly a direct copy of the original.
The Dreamcast is up there too imo!
I ended up getting a Japanese Model 1 years ago, but I always wanted the Model 2.
Wow
This but the mark III with the FM sound adapter
I never understood the choice to put a flowchart on the front of this one. 😆
Very sciencey, not a toy. Hilariously, Nintendo fought hard to get their competing "Entertainment System" recognized as a toy and not a computer, for import tax purposes.
Vectrex, hands-down.
Remember having one of these at school in the late '70s / early '80s
OH MY GOD! I had one of those! I haven't seen a picture of one since.
The keyboard was so awful. I don't remember getting it as a birthday or other gift so it must have been a hand me down from a family friend or something.
Membrane keyboards are really the worst. I completely understand wanting to cost-cut to get units into schools and into the hands of kids, but that's too much. It's like someone saw a speak-and-spell and said "that's the ticket."
Intelligang represent!
Intellevision may not have the best controller design out there, but the versatility with the different card inserts made playing games easier when I was a kid. Basically a guide in the palm of your hands for each game you owned. Losing them did blow however.
BAM THERE IT IS !!!
We had both this one and the 2nd gen gray one! Plus the voice synthesizer addon. My dad would replace the touch pad inserts so we didn't have to buy new controllers.
Amazing console way ahead of it's time.
Needs a Sonic 3 cartridge plugged into a Sonic & Knuckles cartridge plugged into the 32X plugged into the Genesis to get the full Sega experience.
I never liked the side-by-side Mega CD.
The stacked one looked better. Like an old hifi system.
Is PS Vita a retro console? If so that.
I'd say PSP is, but Vita isn't. DS is, but 3DS isn't.
To me, no. PS2 is a retro console, but PS3 (Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., Crysis 2) is not. I mean, look at those games' graphics, they look FENOMENAL.
I've still got mine, and it still works great! I sold my PSP to get a used one about a month from launch, and I've kept it ever since. It's a great console, if only there were more games for it.
It came out in 2011/2012, I wouldn't classify that as retro
The 2600 was retro and quaint by 1990.
Humm, for PCs I’d have to say iMac
For game consoles it’s a hard debate between the GameBoy Pocket or the GameBoy Micro. One is the essence of a GameBoy shrunken down to a power efficent and usable design. While the other is the smallest you can make a console while still having it usable.
I still have that GBA micro laying around somewhere. An ex GF stole my reloadable cartridge though. :(
Mine has a black face plate.
Apparently, the Micro was the last Game Boy product that Nintendo made.
Very elegant.
I would say the cutoff is Game Boy Advance SP and Micro is a poseur, because Micro can't play original Game Boy or Color games. If one is counting GBA, then the DS and DS Lite could still play those.
Edit: Get a flash cart and you can unofficially play old GB on any GBA-compatible using Goomba Color. Micro is awesome at what it does, I just hate that it has the Game Boy name yet can't play GB games and had yet another different link cable and charging port because Nintendo!
Why does there have to be just one? So many consoles are awesomely designed and reflect their eras well. I’m partial to colecovision and the Intellivision II. The redesign of the intellivision had an entire suite of peripherals to match the new design, including a musical keyboard.
I got my start with atari 2600 but I think the GameCube was the best looking in both form and function. Best looking computer is an IBM Aptiva S
Japan had some killer PC designs in the 80's and 90's. But I'd say my favorite is a toss up between the X68000 and the Sony MSX 2
For consoles, I still think the Sega Genesis Model 1 is a masterclass in visual design.
The MSX design space was such an exciting place.
For anyone curious about the above, it's like this:Imagine Nintendo said "instead of manufacturing the Switch 2, we released the specs and invited everyone else to build their own. You're welcome to buy the Xbox Switch 2, the Sony PlaySwitch 2, the Philips Switch 2-i, the Sega Switch 2 & Knuckles, or the TRSwitch80 2. They're all guaranteed to be compatible with our software lineup." and then like, that actually happened.
Sounds similar to the 3DO's situation!
That MSX 2 is sick.
I'm a fan of how ENIAC really used the space
If we're also talking old computers then it's hard to beat the Cray-1
Also had the advantage of fooling your house guests into thinking it's a weird, modernist couch that makes conversation really hard.
While I definitely agree the overall best design goes to the Atari 2600, this comes in close second for me:
This bad boy (or girl, rather) is the Casio Loopy. Yes, Casio, the company primarily known for making wristwatches. This console was only released in Japan, and when it launched it had a target demographic of girls and young women. The console came with a built-in sticker printer, and the games were woman-targeted games in genres like romance, fashion, and life simulation (like Animal Crossing). Only 10 games were ever made for the Loopy, by the way. Its biggest failure and reason for not selling well was being a console that had games that looked like the SNES but having to directly compete with the PS1 and N64, as well as the replaceable sticker cartridges being very expensive.
Now, I am a man, and I am clearly not a part of the target demographic of this console. The games are entirely uninteresting to me, except maybe the Animal Crossing-like game "I Want A Room In Loopy Town." But something about the curved shape of the console and its cool purple hue speak to me. The black cover for the sticker ejection port has me imagining a newer version playing an animated logo on that part if a small screen was behind it. The absurdly massive Eject button just looks like it gives the most satisfying "kerchunk" when you press it to eject a cartridge.
In third place I'd have to give a shout out to the Apple iMac G3, even though I really dislike Apple products and its neither a game console.or made for gaming in general, something about the white and bold color combo just looks really cool. The mouse was really bad though. Got a bit of that Frutiger Aero look.
iMac G3?
More like... eMachine eOne!
How many consoles look like toilets?
Also, most useful as a toilet.
It just looks so sleek. For me, it was the future of gaming.
Something about the Power Macintosh 6100, and the chin that does it for me. Plus the name, POWER Macintosh does it for me.
Also that prowler on the screen. I wonder if they had some sort of deal with Chrysler.
That display had some cool features that were underutilized — like an s-video port for video camera capture. Also some of the best sound to come out of an Apple monitor.
But I don’t know that I would call this a”console”.I’d love to get one of these displays for that very reason. But I ain’t shipping something like that, and I’m sure people want too much money for it online anyways.
The post is best console or PC.
One more vote with OP. That Atari is a nice looking machine.
(I'm sad no one uses faux-marble anymore.)
the atari 2600 looks like it could take you back to the future with enough jigawatts
Might be biased, but the Commodore 64 is just iconic and good looking (what is not to love about a breadbox?)
I've got to go with the 2600 as well. Mostly because of the wood grain!
Best ever is the pic OP posted along with the game!
The Atari XL seriea computers cut a nice space between retro and futuristic.
They're much sleeker looking than their 400/800 predecessors, as well as the Apple II and the breadbin VIC 20/64/C16. Only the 64C and Plus/4 really look similarly minaturized and not-in-need-of-a-big-wristrest-for-comfortable-typing.
The use of metal and smoked plastic trim gives it a premium appearance. The 1200XL even hides the cartridge slot on the side to avoid anyone nistaking it for a mere console..
I would choose the Super Famicom. It just looks so sleek. I don't know why they changed it with the SNES, it looks ugly.
I had this one many moons ago. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco_Telstar_Arcade#/media/File:Coleco-Telstar-Arcade-Pongside-L.jpg
Wood grain, triangular, and it had a gun.
If we're talking strictly design, my personal favorite is a generic fat PS2, probably tied with my model 1(?) Sega Genesis (none of the things like 32x or CD, which I desperately want to get some day).
If we're talking like PC with OS, the 90s Amiga lineup because I think the Amiga Workbench 3 line and the icons they used look absolutely beautiful. Definitely would love to get my hands on a 1200, but they're expensive. So no getting into that hobby for me just yet.
About the A1200, I think there's a niche for Raspberry Pi cases that look like vintage computers. Imagine having a case that looks like an A1200, another one that looks like a Falcon, the Sony HitBit, ...
Funny thing about the PS2 Fat design: it's an Atari design. It was a project for the Falcon 040 that was never released.
The Atari Portfolio (the one John Connors uses in Terminator 2) or the ST Book.
I’m a fan of the Dreamcast and GameCube. Or the PS2 mini. I appreciate that early y2k aesthetic.
Oh and the Master System 1 was pretty cool with its 80s cyberpunk shape.
I love my Gamecube
I'd love it more if it was a Panasonic Q
Happy cake day!
Although the wood-grain Atari 2600 was also my first thought upon reading the title, I think the Wii's minimal footprint is impressive considering that—in the case of the original model—it's also a GameCube.
In contrast to the Wii's 2006 release, the Wii Mini is arguably not yet 'retro' with its 2012 release, but definitely looks a lot sleeker, albeit not worth the loss of GameCube functionality for its minimal size savings.
Compared to both, the Wii U is super bulky, and lacks much use beyond improved emulation capabilities now that nearly all of its exclusives have been re-released for the Switch.
Even before the Wii Mini, "regular" Wiis were being made without all the GameCube ports and functionality... then the Wii Mini cut costs even further and did not even have Wi-Fi!
Damn, wood. Or wood-looking material at least.
NGL, that fine-wood version of the Atari looked so slick. Too bad I only got the cheap plastic one.
Original sony playstation. I don't know why, i just love it
I think I preferred the design of the ps2, personally.
I love that one too
Does anyone here know the thought behind the wooden front trim fascia look?
I think they were trying to make it look like the stereo equipment of the day.
The 70s were big on wood paneling in general.
Faux-wood was just everywhere at the time indeed. It was a mix of the materials getting affordable and a certain commodification of the hippie aesthetic. Electronics were more perceived as appliances back then, and it was a common trend to make appliances less sterile by adding “natural” materials such as wood.
Hol'up.
Atari's only had 4, not 6, switches on them?
Nope, there were two different versions! The 6 switch is the original. (And in my opinion the better looking one!) The 4 switch came later, and still has 6 switches, they just moved the difficulty switches to the back. I believe it saved them some money and made production a little easier because everything was on one circuit board with that setup.
Mega Drive 1 and 2, they both looked awesome
The headphone port on the Model 1 was so ahead of its time. Although I was stuck without an extension chord for my Koss Porta Pros (so couldn't actually use it), it was my first taste of relatively high quality sound.
PlayStation is one of my favourites but it also comes down to that shade of grey being my absolute favourite shade of grey. And the OG pre-dualshock/analog potentially being my favourite shape of controller too. I have a modded Bluetooth one but sadly there's not too many modern games (outside of fighters) that don't need both the dpad and analog.
I also love the Gameboy color's shape. As an adult it's great for one handed gaming for rpgs.
Dreamcast and the first Playstation.
For pure old school retro it would be the old Compaq suitcase-sized laptop PC.
