this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2025
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I'd have to go with the wood grain Atari 2600, I'm a sucker for 70's designed electronics.

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[–] RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 18 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

While I definitely agree the overall best design goes to the Atari 2600, this comes in close second for me:

This bad boy (or girl, rather) is the Casio Loopy. Yes, Casio, the company primarily known for making wristwatches. This console was only released in Japan, and when it launched it had a target demographic of girls and young women. The console came with a built-in sticker printer, and the games were woman-targeted games in genres like romance, fashion, and life simulation (like Animal Crossing). Only 10 games were ever made for the Loopy, by the way. Its biggest failure and reason for not selling well was being a console that had games that looked like the SNES but having to directly compete with the PS1 and N64, as well as the replaceable sticker cartridges being very expensive.

Now, I am a man, and I am clearly not a part of the target demographic of this console. The games are entirely uninteresting to me, except maybe the Animal Crossing-like game "I Want A Room In Loopy Town." But something about the curved shape of the console and its cool purple hue speak to me. The black cover for the sticker ejection port has me imagining a newer version playing an animated logo on that part if a small screen was behind it. The absurdly massive Eject button just looks like it gives the most satisfying "kerchunk" when you press it to eject a cartridge.

In third place I'd have to give a shout out to the Apple iMac G3, even though I really dislike Apple products and its neither a game console.or made for gaming in general, something about the white and bold color combo just looks really cool. The mouse was really bad though. Got a bit of that Frutiger Aero look.

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[–] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Something about the Power Macintosh 6100, and the chin that does it for me. Plus the name, POWER Macintosh does it for me.

Also that prowler on the screen. I wonder if they had some sort of deal with Chrysler.

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[–] B0NK3RS@lemmy.world 42 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

Game Boy Advance. Actually all 3 variants (GBA, SP & Micro) are beautiful consoles.

[–] DmMacniel@feddit.org 7 points 3 weeks ago

Oh yeah right... the Gameboy advance can legally be considered as a retro console...

Good pick!

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[–] stargazingpenguin@lemmy.zip 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I've got to go with the 2600 as well. Mostly because of the wood grain!

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[–] redbrick@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Does anyone here know the thought behind the wooden front trim fascia look?

[–] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 18 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I think they were trying to make it look like the stereo equipment of the day.

The 70s were big on wood paneling in general.

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[–] Atomicbunnies@lemmy.dbzer0.com 63 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

I'm very partial to the IMSAI 8080!

[–] ElcaineVolta@kbin.melroy.org 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

gorgeous, had never heard of this.

[–] Atomicbunnies@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
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[–] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 16 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Incredible. This might be my new favorite.

[–] Atomicbunnies@lemmy.dbzer0.com 40 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I built a replica one that a dude in Australia designed. Its really fun to mess with. I played Zork on it the day I finished it.

https://thehighnibble.com/imsai8080/

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[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

PS2 slim deserves a mention, I feel.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

PS2 slim is now retro

👵 ➡ 💀

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 12 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's now older than the NES was when it was brought back on the Wii via Virtual Console.

[–] DmMacniel@feddit.org 11 points 3 weeks ago

Stop it she already turned to dust!

[–] maxprime@lemmy.ml 16 points 3 weeks ago
[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 29 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)
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[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 weeks ago

PlayStation is one of my favourites but it also comes down to that shade of grey being my absolute favourite shade of grey. And the OG pre-dualshock/analog potentially being my favourite shape of controller too. I have a modded Bluetooth one but sadly there's not too many modern games (outside of fighters) that don't need both the dpad and analog.

I also love the Gameboy color's shape. As an adult it's great for one handed gaming for rpgs.

[–] Evil_incarnate@lemm.ee 9 points 3 weeks ago
[–] metaStatic@kbin.earth 14 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Six switch woody can't be beat

Original C64 is a close second

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Six Switch Woody is the name I've given my next bdsm orgy party.

[–] metaStatic@kbin.earth 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

it's can't be beat though ...

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[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Dreamcast and the first Playstation.

For pure old school retro it would be the old Compaq suitcase-sized laptop PC.

~This~ ~comment~ ~is~ ~licensed~ ~under~ ~CC~ ~BY-NC-SA~ ~4.0~

[–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 21 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

Japan had some killer PC designs in the 80's and 90's. But I'd say my favorite is a toss up between the X68000 and the Sony MSX 2

For consoles, I still think the Sega Genesis Model 1 is a masterclass in visual design.

[–] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

That MSX 2 is sick.

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[–] Deceptichum@quokk.au 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

I’m a fan of the Dreamcast and GameCube. Or the PS2 mini. I appreciate that early y2k aesthetic.

Oh and the Master System 1 was pretty cool with its 80s cyberpunk shape.

[–] metaStatic@kbin.earth 5 points 3 weeks ago

I love my Gamecube

I'd love it more if it was a Panasonic Q

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[–] Zedstrian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Although the wood-grain Atari 2600 was also my first thought upon reading the title, I think the Wii's minimal footprint is impressive considering that—in the case of the original model—it's also a GameCube.

Wii Mini, Wii, and Wii U

In contrast to the Wii's 2006 release, the Wii Mini is arguably not yet 'retro' with its 2012 release, but definitely looks a lot sleeker, albeit not worth the loss of GameCube functionality for its minimal size savings.

Compared to both, the Wii U is super bulky, and lacks much use beyond improved emulation capabilities now that nearly all of its exclusives have been re-released for the Switch.

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[–] DmMacniel@feddit.org 12 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Might be biased, but the Commodore 64 is just iconic and good looking (what is not to love about a breadbox?)

[–] Noerttipertti@sopuli.xyz 8 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Personally prefer sx-64, but breadbin is a close second.

[–] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 26 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

My uncle had this. So much Frogger!

[–] DmMacniel@feddit.org 3 points 3 weeks ago

sx-64

damn, I've never know that there was a luggable variant of the 64 :D

[–] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Well, that was my second choice. Classic.

[–] DmMacniel@feddit.org 3 points 3 weeks ago

very nice :)

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