Nintendo Entertainment System
Hacker ApprovedRanked 14 of 29 game consoles by recommenders
People recommend the NES for its strong library and nostalgia, with the classic games still playing well today. Critics point to aging hardware that often needs repair.
People recommend the NES for its strong library and nostalgia, with the classic games still playing well today. Critics point to aging hardware that often needs repair.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 76%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Strong game library
“By the end of the NES life, the games had gotten really good, some games could almost compete with the early SNES titles.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES” “mario and Zelda on the nes played like nothing else”
Comment from 26 Oct 2026 in “IBM CEO says open weight models are now good and cheap on-prem” “Everyone, including the adults, knew a fun time when they saw it.”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “Former Nintendo employees reveal what it took to launch the NES” Nostalgia and fond childhood memories
“I inherited my grandmothers NES which I have fond memories of playing any time I visited her.”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “We discovered a new variant of Super Mario Bros” “i can bring up my 40 yrs old NES and it works every time.”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers” “I got one about 1992ish I think.”
Comment from 28 Feb 2026 in “Ghosts'n Goblins – "Worse danger is ahead"” Better than earlier consoles
“The NES was a huge improvement over the previous console”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “The Sega Master System” “It felt almost like what going from a NES to a Super Nintendo to a N64 felt like.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Intel 486 CPU announced April 10, 1989”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Mechanical and cartridge failures
“the actual cause of failure in the NES was NOT the cartridge connector, but rather, the poorly implemented security chip”
Comment from 9 Jul 2026 in “How Donkey Kong Toppled Atari” “the NES had mechanical problems”
Comment from 9 Jul 2026 in “How Donkey Kong Toppled Atari” “the original nintendo cartridges we blew in and wiped with alcohol”
Comment from 26 Apr 2026 in “The Super Nintendo Cartridges”
Other game consoles people recommend
The four most recommended other game consoles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valve Steam Machine | 326 | 240 | 58% | 12 | 1 mo5 owners | — |
| PlayStation 5 | 121 | 181 | 40% | 12 | 3 yrs8 owners | — |
| Xbox console | 62 | 212 | 23% | 12 | 21 yrs6 owners | — |
| Xbox 360 | 41 | 19 | 68% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Nintendo Entertainment SystemThis page | 16 | 5 | 76% | 10 | — | Approved |
What people said
21 of the 22 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“mario and Zelda on the nes played like nothing else”
“Mostly sold as a bundle with the NES itself around $100.”
“I inherited my grandmothers NES which I have fond memories of playing any time I visited her.”
“I thought the NES looked like a glorified Apple 2.”
“the actual cause of failure in the NES was NOT the cartridge connector, but rather, the poorly implemented security chip”
“the NES had mechanical problems”
“they put a giant custom connector on the bottom of every system that never ended up getting used for anything”
“This is far more exciting, since it adds functionality to they system.”
“i can bring up my 40 yrs old NES and it works every time.”
“the original nintendo cartridges we blew in and wiped with alcohol”
“the pause feature impressed me even more than did the graphics”
“It felt almost like what going from a NES to a Super Nintendo to a N64 felt like.”
“The console defaulted to booting.”
“They work, as long as you replace all of those leaky caps”
“I got one about 1992ish I think.”
“the NES is better because you get two entire screen buffers”
“By the end of the NES life, the games had gotten really good, some games could almost compete with the early SNES titles.”
“Apple, and Nintendo (NES)”
“The NES was a huge improvement over the previous console”
“Everyone, including the adults, knew a fun time when they saw it.”
“The NES had more interesting output with its triangle and sawtooth wave output and it gave it more edge and character.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.