The best game consoles, according to hackers
29 game consoles were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 11 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The three most recommended game consoles with the badge. Each figure is 5 people. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Strong game library
Recommended for its strong game library, good controller and online play. Main caveat: frequent Red Ring of Death failures.
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Fans keep returning to it
Recommended for its huge game library, low price, and DVD playback; critics say its hardware was weak and its floating-point unit is hard to emulate.
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Family and group play
Fondly recalled for casual, family-friendly play, a TV-friendly interface and easy modding. Critics say its graphics and motion controls were weak.
We may earn a commission. It never changes the order.
We may earn a commission. It never changes the order.
All 29 game consoles, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valve Steam Machine | 326 | 240 | 58% | 12 | 1 mo5 owners | — |
| 2 | PlayStation 5 | 121 | 181 | 40% | 12 | 3 yrs8 owners | — |
| 3 | Xbox console | 62 | 212 | 23% | 12 | 21 yrs6 owners | — |
| 4 | Xbox 360 | 41 | 19 | 68% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Tied 5 | PlayStation 2 | 40 | 6 | 87% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Tied 5 | Nintendo Wii | 40 | 10 | 80% | 10 | — | Approved |
| 7 | PlayStation 3 | 35 | 43 | 45% | 10 | — | — |
| 8 | MiSTer FPGA | 23 | 2 | 92% | 10 | — | Approved |
| 9 | Xbox One | 21 | 45 | 32% | 9 | 10 yrs3 owners | — |
| 10 | Xbox Series X | 19 | 13 | 59% | 8 | 5 yrs3 owners | — |
| 11 | Sega Dreamcast | 18 | 7 | 72% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Tied 12 | Nintendo 64 | 17 | 12 | 59% | 9 | — | — |
| Tied 12 | Super Nintendo Entertainment System | 17 | 4 | 81% | 9 | — | Approved |
| 14 | Nintendo Entertainment System | 16 | 5 | 76% | 10 | — | Approved |
| 15 | Sega Genesis | 15 | 4 | 79% | 10 | — | Approved |
| 16 | PS5 | 14 | 16 | 47% | 8 | — | — |
| 17 | PC Engine | 13 | 1 | 93% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 18 | Sega Saturn | 11 | 2 | 85% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Tied 18 | Nintendo GameCube | 11 | 4 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Tied 18 | Original Xbox | 11 | 2 | 85% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Tied 21 | Nintendo Wii U | 7 | 11 | 39% | 6 | — | — |
| Tied 21 | Atari 2600 | 7 | 5 | 58% | 5 | — | — |
| Tied 21 | Sega Master System | 7 | 1 | 88% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 21 | Nintendo Virtual Boy | 7 | 4 | 64% | 2 | 24 yrs3 owners | — |
| Tied 25 | Analogue 3D | 6 | 2 | 75% | 5 | — | — |
| Tied 25 | Neo Geo | 6 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| Tied 27 | Xbox Series S | 5 | 6 | 45% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 27 | PlayStation 3 | 5 | 3 | 63% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 27 | Nintendo Entertainment System | 5 | 4 | 56% | 4 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same game console in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to game consoles that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.