What’s the Most Popular Video Game Console?
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Nintendo 64 console // Image courtesy of Amazon
This week, we’re doing something different! We conducted a poll about a week ago asking questions to see what some of the most recognizable things in video games were. Questions included things like, “What’s the first video game character you can think of?” and “What’s the worst game ever made?” We sent it to students of the Professional Writing program, as well as a few of our own friends, to see the results among our readers. And this week’s posts will look at the winners and how they gained their popularity!
If you want to see the full results, we’ll be posting them on Saturday, December 9th!
For today’s post, beating out consoles like the Nintendo Switch and Xbox 360 by just a single vote, the first console most respondents think of is the Nintendo 64!
This one actually came as quite a surprise to me! For those unfamiliar, the Nintendo 64 released in 1996 here in North America. The console’s biggest competitor was the original PlayStation... and the PlayStation trounced it! The Nintendo 64 sold less than 33 million units—making it one of the worst-selling consoles in Nintendo’s history—while the PlayStation sold a whopping 102 million units, more than three times the amount the Nintendo 64 sold. This was partially due to Nintendo’s decision to stick with cartridges. Their limited storage capacity compared to the PlayStation’s discs convinced several developers that had stuck with Nintendo’s consoles up to that point to change priorities. Companies like Square, Capcom, and Enix moved development to the PlayStation to create bigger games than they could on Nintendo 64. Franchises like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest released on PlayStation instead, after being Nintendo-exclusive up to that point.
Image Courtesy of Reddit user Lucashenrr
But despite all this, the Nintendo 64 comes to mind before any other console for those who took our poll. Why might that be? While an objective answer might be hard to pin down—poll results are based in opinion, after all—I believe that the answer likely lies in how each console’s library has been presented in the years since their release.
When people think of the original PlayStation, games like Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, and Parappa the Rapper likely come to mind. But I don’t think these games’ identities are really tied to the PlayStation.
Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid have been ported to most modern platforms. Resident Evil got a GameCube remake that has been ported to modern platforms as well. Even Parappa the Rapper, a game that is owned by the PlayStation company, has been ported to both the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 4. Notably, since many of the PlayStation’s flagship games were developed by third-party studios, the developers have since ported them to non-PlayStation platforms, and these re-releases aren’t often branded as “PlayStation Classics” or anything. New players may not even be aware that these games were originally designed for it.
From Top to bottom: the wii shop channel, wii u eshop, and nintendo switch’s nintendo 64 app // images courtesy of extremetech, niche gamer, and nintendo
By contrast, Nintendo 64 games have always felt more closely tied to their original platform. While Nintendo has ported many of the Nintendo 64’s games to the platforms they’ve released since, these re-releases are always prominently branded as Nintendo 64 games. On the Wii, Nintendo 64 games were made available on the Wii Shop Channel. To get to them, you went to the Nintendo 64 section of the shop. The Wii U was much the same; Nintendo 64 re-releases were available on the Wii U eShop’s Nintendo 64 section. And on their current platform, the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 64 games are made available through a dedicated Nintendo 64 application.
Top it off with the fact that many games for the console had “64” in their titles, like Super Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, and Wave Race 64, and you’ve got a library that’s always going to be tied to its original console.
On top of that, games like Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time are revered today for revolutionizing their genres, and they’re also popular as speedrun games online. So people who like watching live streams or YouTube videos will likely be exposed to the Nintendo 64 library frequently, further cementing its modern popularity.
Up to now, my posts have always revolved around a single topic that is backed up by the facts, but in this case, the results of the poll went against what you might expect when looking at the raw data and sales numbers, which I thought was pretty interesting! I’m interested in hearing from you readers: do you think these results would be the same if the survey had been given to a wider audience?
Wesley Naylor is a second-year student of the Professional Writing program who thinks games are rather neat! He likes learning about what goes into the development of games and seeing how they’ve evolved over time.
He also likes writing... and on this blog, he can combine those interests, just for you!
