by majormitch
Over the years, I have written a number of lists ranking various video game things. With the addition of tier lists to Giant Bomb, I am going to slowly but surely redo those lists in tier form! This is for a few reasons. First, I always wanted these lists to be tier lists anyway: my rankings regularly have to split incredibly thin hairs, and the ability to group games that are essentially equal into the same tier feels more accurate. Second, it makes it easier to include more items, and create special tiers for unconventional items. Third, it gives me a chance to re-evaluate and update these lists, some of which are quite old. One last important note about these tier lists: since I can't comment on items individually in this format, I will simply make some notes on anything that need it here in the intro section.
For my next list revision: all the consoles and handhelds I've owned and played over the years. There is no grand scientific method to this ranking. I did consider many factors when comparing consoles and handhelds, such as the games I liked on them, the controller and design, how reliable/powerful the hardware was, etc. But the final determination is based on my personal, subjective preferences alone, driven primarily by the games I liked on each system and my gaming tastes. As always, I will add new entries over time as needed.
List Notes:
This list was last updated on June 10, 2026.
I am only including systems I have personally owned in this list. Systems I have played (such as at a friends house) but never owned get their own, unranked tier. I think owning and experiencing the hardware in full is important to a list like this.
Similarly, I am not including systems in the list until they have completed their life cycle. I have a separate tier for systems I own but are still "active".
The primary shared trait for the systems near the top, is that I played a LOT of games on them, over a long period of time, including a handful (or more) exclusives that became all-time favorites.
The Xbox 360 would be S tier if it didn't red-ring on me. But despite how much I played it, I can't overlook that glaring hardware fault.
The PlayStation 2 is the only other system I've had die on me; the disc reader stopped working.
The Nintendo 64 is such a weird one to rank. It had a handful of all-timers, games that I love, and not much else. Its library was certainly quality over quantity. And despite how awkward the controller was (is), it standardized analog sticks and rumble.
I do really like all the systems in B tier. Rankings are relative after all, and they're not all that far away from A tier.
Likewise, I don't hate the systems in C tier, but I simply didn't get into enough games on any of them to justify a higher placement (and both Wii systems annoy me with motion controls and sluggish UI). The Game Boy and Sega Genesis are probably the most surprising ones in this tier. Both systems have great games! For whatever reason though, I did not get into them all that much at the time. Part of it was a discovery issue, part of it was may gaming tastes at the time. I do want to play some of the games I missed for these systems some day, though.
The Xbox One is the only system on this list that I have sold and no longer own. No regrets.
I love the Vita hardware! And I'm happy I have one, especially since I didn't have a PSP and can play a good number of PSP games on my Vita. But I cannot deny all the obvious problems with the Vita experience, primarily a lack of software and Sony abandoning it very quickly.
