Jump to content
NEurope
tapedeck

Do console designs matter to you? (Is the N64 black, grey or charcoal?)

Recommended Posts

What did the american snes look like? My internet doesnt seem to be working properly except for this site :(

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Someone posted a picture on the last page. Its the one with the purple switches on top.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
panasonic-q.jpg

Wow, I may be the only one here but I think that is the ugliest console I have ever seen.

 

nes_console.jpg

Is that it?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

crap i got the pictures wrong in the quote box thing...

snes-console.jpgsuper%20nintendo.jpg

yay got google working again.

I had the american one when i was young so it looks better to me, maybe its just nostalgia :)

Edited by Diageo

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The 360 looks horrendously cheap. A digusting looking console and those nasty green lights. Just fowl. The opposite of the PS3, it looks nice in PR pics but in the living room it looks naff compared to the other two.

 

xbox360full_500x526.jpg

 

I love the PS3, bar from the stupid USB ports at the front although that problem is slightly less so when it is upright. It looks expensive, which is good because it is. I love the touch buttons on it, just looks incredibly sleek. People say it looks big but it's marginally bigger than the 360. The stupid thing is that in PR shots it looks a bit stupid, but in the living room it looks pretty cool.

 

playstation-3.jpg

 

I love the look of the Wii with the blue light on. I kind of wish it wasn't totally white, maybe had a line of colour somewhere but when it's upright it looks perfect.

 

wii_darth.jpg

 

I'd love it if you could select the light's colours. The Wii could have moods. Would be cool. :heh:

 

Also, I love this little thing. Annoyingly I lost all my GBA games bout the same time I bought it... :(

 

gameboy-micro.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I like the look of the PS3 but the whole disc-loading area just looks wierd.

 

I still think the platinum Gamecube is the best looking console ive had though (when closed)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

To me, the console design is something that does matter to me (to some extent) but nowhere near as much as the look of the controller matters to me.

 

I think the Wii Remote is definitely Nintendo's best looking controller, by far. The Wii is also probably the best looking console they've had. They're both sleek, sexy, and they don't seem too "plasticy" or something that will look dated. At the time, the SNES looked pretty cool to me, but the console and the pad do look a bit bleurgh now.

 

I do bluddy love how my Black Gamecube looks, and I've still got it plugged in my room. Wonderful. Love the controller, too, even if the shoulder buttons do feel a bit annoying. The digital click just didn't take off.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The 360 looks horrendously cheap. A digusting looking console and those nasty green lights. Just fowl. The opposite of the PS3, it looks nice in PR pics but in the living room it looks naff compared to the other two.

 

Don't you find the black of the PS3 to present something of clash of colours when compared to the other modern electronic devices that occupy your living space?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I like the look of the PS3 but the whole disc-loading area just looks wierd.

 

Yeah, I can see that. Actually I think the bit just to the left of the disc-load bit is the bit that looks weirder.

 

I love that you can rotate the PS logo for when it is vertical.

 

Don't you find the black of the PS3 to present something of clash of colours when compared to the other modern electronic devices that occupy your living space?

 

Black clashing? I've never known black to clash with anything. :heh:

 

Well my desktop is black. My television is silver and black. My tv speakers are black. The Wii doesn't clash because it is proper white. The 360 looks stupid because it's off white.

 

Saying that, the PS3 stands out the most, but not in a bad way. It is definitely the centre of my living room set-up.

 

My brother has a massive black TV with a black stand and a little black computer/media thing under it and the PS3 just looks awesome. The mirrored metallic strip looks cool.

 

 

I think that the PS3 and the Wii are the first consoles that really nail their aesthetics. Not saying that consoles before haven't looked good but the Wii and the PS3 look like attractive pieces of kit.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't think the PS3 looks good at all, the material it's made from looks nice but I don't think the shape does.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think If they made a stand for the PS3 so that it would work better vertically (as in not liable to tipping over) I'd get it. It looks great vertical, crap horizontal.

Plus I don't like the rumours of it breaking if you play discs when it is standing.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My little table where my TV and PS3 are situated don't allow my PS3 to lie down and I have never had any problems with discs or anything else, just the rare freeze now and then.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Heh, isn't it funny how this generation all three consoles can be placed either vertically or horizontally? I remember I placed my XBOX vertically last generation, just to see how it looked, and it was pretty bad, haha.

 

I think the general idea is for the console to become a part of the home, like a DVD player or TV. So, partly why they look sleek and sophisticated over previous generations, and partly why we have the option to display the consoles in different ways. My Wii has never really looked out of place in my living room, and my housemate's 360 never really looks out of place in his room either.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Heh, isn't it funny how this generation all three consoles can be placed either vertically or horizontally? I remember I placed my XBOX vertically last generation, just to see how it looked, and it was pretty bad, haha.

 

I think the general idea is for the console to become a part of the home, like a DVD player or TV. So, partly why they look sleek and sophisticated over previous generations, and partly why we have the option to display the consoles in different ways. My Wii has never really looked out of place in my living room, and my housemate's 360 never really looks out of place in his room either.

 

....I read that as 'my Wife' and didn't do a double take until I got to never looked out of place in the living room.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
....I read that as 'my Wife' and didn't do a double take until I got to never looked out of place in the living room.

 

Haha. That made me chuckle. :)

 

Infact, I need to pee...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wii looks good for its price defo. Nintendo did a good job there. Dont like the plastic stand though. The blue light is abit much. More subtletly would be nice.

 

GBA micro looks nice as well as DSlite. Nothing to complain about.

 

PS3 looks like a high end device which i like. The touch buttons and lack of addons help. Wish there were back USB ports. Sleek is a good word.

 

I think the Wii Remote is definitely Nintendo's best looking controller, by far.

 

Yeah very clever by making it look like a remote. Then making it nice and modern.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

 

Also, I love this little thing. Annoyingly I lost all my GBA games bout the same time I bought it... :(

 

gameboy-micro.jpg

 

It's funny but that's the shape of the front of the 360, which you claim to look nasty. :heh:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think the PAL SNES is one of the best designs outthere. Not quite that fond of the NSTC-version, but that's nostalgia clouding my judgmement. ;)

 

I thought it was a shame the NSTC-version ditched the four-colour-logo and went for purple instead. Now, purple is my favourite colour (more on that in a sec), but some ingame-references were lost in translation.

 

I absolutely loved my purple Gamecube! Gotta love that handle for 'taking your console over to a friend' (why doesn't said friend come over to you, the lazy bastard), adventing the non-online stance Nintendo would take during the GC-era. It was a funky design, and I really likes the purple colour. No other fancy colours for me! Well, one possible exception...

 

149393444_fa54fcc8fb.jpg?v=0

How phonky can you get?

 

I also likes the Dreamcast. Simple, yet effective. Prefered the blue PAL-swirl over the american orange one. I think it made it seem more stylish somehow.

The original Xbox... Well, even the official Xbox magazine made jokes about that so enough said. The original PS2 was more a radiator than a console, but the redesign redeemed it. The original NES was simple. nothing more, nothing less. The N64 was stylish, but too big. Can't have everything, I'm afraid.

 

Anyways, retro-stuff notwithstanding, of all current-gen consoles, I think it's hard to pock a real winner. The 360 has some great design: nice whites, curvy, sleek (shame about the noise, though). The PS3 isn't so bad as originally made out. It's certainly not the BBQ as originally made out, and it's stylish sheen makes it a fashionably item under the TV. It also has a rather clean look to it. While the Wii is without any doubt the smallest and lightest of them all, I'm actually not really a fan of its design. I'd even go as far as to say that of all of Nintendo's design, this is the worst. It's okay-ish in its stand, but without it it looks like an external discdrive for a PC. It's hard corners and fiddly buttons aren't up to the former great Nintendo-designs. It's a no-nonsense-approach, and a great design if you realise what actually comes with it (4 GC-slots, 2-memory-card slots, etc.), but I still feel they haven't gone the extra mile with the looks. It feels more like a prototype.

 

I'm surprised we haven't seen coloured Wii's or Wii-remotes yet. Very un-Nintendo.

Edited by Strange Cookie

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I loved how my SNES looked in my parents living room back in the day. It was so clean looking with it's gentle curves and the way the controllers clicked into their sockets showed true design thought. I love the way the Wii looks with its angular approach and clean simplistic lines UNTIL you plug in a GC controller and flaps and shit start appearing out the top of the thing. It goes from clean to cluttered in the blink of an eye. Nasty.

 

For those of us with Wavebirds couldn't they have built in the sensors for those controllers with a option in the Wii system menu to switch the sensor configuration. I'm sure those techno boffins at Ninty could have figured that out, afterall they did give us motion sensing.

 

The Black GC was pretty spunky too. I liked the subtle curvy orange light next to the disc cover. Class.

 

I'd love to see their next machine have cartridge ports for the NES, SNES and N64. No need to worry about plugging in old machines or lack of VC games. You could have your entire collection working off one machine (assuming you haven't sold your old games).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The N64 was stylish, but too big. Can't have everything, I'm afraid.

 

The N64 too big? Never thought I'd read that anywhere...

 

 

The 360 has some great design: nice whites, curvy, sleek (shame about the noise, though).

 

HDD installing with NXE ended the noise problem, that's not an issue anymore.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The N64 too big? Never thought I'd read that anywhere...

 

Hmmm, must have been my memory playing tricks on me. I looked it up, and it indeed doesn't seem very big now. I remember I thought it was absolutely MASSIVE when I first unpacked it. Oh well, soon there will be a N64 next to the other consoles under my TV, so it'll be easier to compare. ;)

 

HDD installing with NXE ended the noise problem, that's not an issue anymore.

 

Haven't downloaded the new NXE yet. Actually, come to think of it, haven't played with the 360 for an aweful long time. The last game I bought for 360 was... Dead Rising at launch? Whoopsy... :red: Truth is, I haven't played 360 at all since I had my Wii and PS3. But that's a different discussion altogether.

 

Anyhoo, if I have to vote for the best external design this generation, it's Xbox 360. The only thing that bothers me from a design point-of-view is the disc-drive. I'm more of an selfloading-drive-man myself.

My vote for the best design of all time goes to PAL SNES. Gaming hotness. In plastic.

 

In the end, it's not as important as with handhelds, but I'd rather have a SNES or 360 than a Xbox or original PS2 sitting under the TV.

Edited by Strange Cookie

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It's funny but that's the shape of the front of the 360, which you claim to look nasty. :heh:

 

What a bizzare comparison. If you really think that, you have absolutely no idea about design.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hmmm, must have been my memory playing tricks on me. I looked it up, and it indeed doesn't seem very big now. I remember I thought it was absolutely MASSIVE when I first unpacked it.

 

Hmm, I don't know, I really think you might be mistaken, cause I remember the first time me and a few mates saw the console and picked it up, we really thought it was super small and super light. Since it was so powerful we expected a monster. It's smaller than both the original Playstation and the Sega Saturn, if I remember right. I have my N64 right here, I just don't have the PS or Saturn to compare it to.

 

What a bizzare comparison. If you really think that, you have absolutely no idea about design.

 

Really? Just look at it. It's the same damned shape, man. I just don't remember the name of that shape now... It's a squeezed in rectangle. Same shape of a famous cookie I don't remember the name now, too. Look at the GBA and look at the front panel of the 360. And look at the cookie, if you know the one I'm talking about. Same shape. Undeniable fact.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I personally loved the redesign of the PSOne, it was just so cute :)

 

psone.jpg

 

I also love the white PS3, I wish it got a release over here.

 

white_ps3.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

×