What is the most reliable console ever made?

Forgive me if this thread doesn't belong here, but I thought this would be fun to find out what you guys have found to be the most reliable console you've ever owned.

Personally, I would have to say my Atari 2600 since it still works after almost 30 yrs now.

The Gamecube. Thing was built like a tank. My own Gamecube has been through so much, so much of it (drunken) abuse, and it works as good as it ever did, with nary a scratch on it either.

Probably a Nintendo device

Gameboy survived Gulf War bombing. Not much else needs to be said.

@Vaasman said:

Gameboy survived Gulf War bombing. Not much else needs to be said.

Funny story, the original Nintendo DS actually survived a trip to the top of Mount Everest, at an altitude where conditions are so hostile that most equipment, even dedicated mountaineering equipment, has trouble keeping up.

Just another interesting addition to the chronicles of hardy Nintendo handhelds.

Nintendo consoles in general. Just pick one. Any one and it'll have a better track record of durability than its competitors. My top 3 in durability would be 1. Gamecube 2. N64 and 3. NES. But really all of them are nigh indestructible.

NES? I hope you mean the top loader version.

The original Xbox. You could throw that shit from a building and nothing would happen to it

The guts themselves were always fine. The only issue was the pin connector. Even then all you'd need to do is replace it with a new one and you have a Nintendo that will start the first time every time. Even almost 30 years later.

i sold my other consoles, only the Xbox360 broke on me. but im not gonna sell my PS3 and Wii this time. i had almost all consoles and handhelds, i just sell them when they're time is over

Good thing this is for consoles only as we know the horrific track record of PC reliability

Pretty much any Nintendo console, although the Wii is not as durable as past consoles. The GameCube in particular is virtually indestructible. I've dropped that thing on pavement and it didn't even chip.

That is true, but the fact remains it still isn't reliable. If you have to fix something within a short time frame then we can't really call it reliable.

Back in the 80's/90's it wasn't easy to find a new 72 pin connector. You would have to send your NES in for repairs. Thanks to the internet retro gaming is made easier.

the original xbox

GameCube. Survives pretty much everything. Including getting dragged behind a car on asphalt. I seriously don't know how the hell Nintendo makes their things so damn durable..

Their stuff is made of Nintendium™, the hardest substance known to mankind.

Xbox 360

Yeah lots of Nintendo hardware is ridiculously durable.

I gotta give props to the Dreamcast though. One of my X's sons would yank on the controller a lot and at least three times a day the Dreamcast would drop 4 feet and smash into the hardwood floor. Never fucking phased it.

Nintendo's. Although I'm not sure if it's because of the lack of use.

That's easy, the 360 of course. :P

Serially, I suppose I couldn't argue, Atari 2600 sounds good to me.

Any Nintendo console except maybe the Wii U and Wii, I mean hell there's still Snes and NES that work to this day.

Most of the executives are made of Nintendium™ as well. Explains why evolution in Nintendo is hard fought.

Personally, my launch unit PS2. Used it for 7 years, only opened it up 1 time for cleaning and yet it always worked 100%. I even managed to sell it. Don't know for how long it lasted with it's new owner though. I remember my SNES being quite durable as well... but I can't precise for how long it was usable.

There will be fully functional original Gameboys still around long after your children's children are pushing daisies.

Think about that

apart from the dreamcast Sega consoles were sturdy.

my genesis and Saturn still work fine today and they have both had a tough life and lots of use.

I dropped my Saturn more times than I can remember when I used to take it round to a friends house.

@Vaasman: Yep, Gameboy. That's damn incredible that it survived being roasted.

Nintendo 64. Same goes for the carts.

Gamecube for disc based.

I've owned a NES, SNES, Genesis, Saturn, N64, PS1, PS2, Gamecube, Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 and a PS4 as well as a Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS XL and PSP. You could even include PC in there as that's what I mainly game on since 2007.

The only one that has failed yet was the Xbox 360, twice. I've had minor software issues with PS4 around launch, and PS1 disc drive was finnicky but all still worked well. Most reliable so far is my PC, especially considering the fact its on 24/7 and I've never had a single hardware issue with my PC. Strictly talking console, the N64 was solid, the controllers not so much.

The original Xbox, probably the most sturdy piece of tech after the Nokia 3310.

Cartridge based consoles are more durable than disc based consoles and Nintendo consoles are more durable than any other brand's consoles, so I would say either the SNES or N64.

Most likely an older Nintendo console, probably the snes, since the nes was often having trouble reading the cartridges. That never happened with the snes.

Atari 2600

for me it was our n64. that thing was a durable beast. our snes broke, 3 of our ps2s broke, my xbox never broke but my brother's did and my brother had like 5 360s break on him and I had one. My almost launch PS3 still works but probably because I never use it.

My Atari 2600 still powers up and plays games.

It's got to be the gamecube I was deployed and got sand and water and beer plus dropped it and it still works.

Hmm. Good question. My Atari 2600 died around 2001 and was hit or miss on functioning for the few years following.

My Genesis v2 has worked perfectly since the day I got it back in 1991. So that's 23 solid years and counting.

My Game Gear from the same time period works as well but not perfectly. The audio died.

I know people that still have original unrefurbished NES's.

Of course those electrolytic capacitors can only last so long and are probably damn close to their max age after ~30 years.

I may be wrong, but i have the impression that consoles before digital format (Nes, Master System, Megadrive, Snes, etc) were more compact and reliable.

At least my Megadrive still works :)

My Sega Saturn still works fine and it's been used so much it's crazy.

But I'd say most consoles I've owned are reliable, except for the original Playstation and the 360. Those two just gave me headache after headache.

Funny you say that..I still have my day one 1st in line xbox and it still works like new..i still play it..one of the best most ahead of its time consoles ever made..

SNES hands down, I brought that thing everywhere in my backpack and it never messsed up once.

PS1 I had one break, PS2 I had one break, Xbox 360 I had one break, NES had issues,etc..

But dat SNES was unbreakable lol

I don't treat my stuff like shit, so I couldn't say from that angle. My Intellivision is over 30 years old though, and works fine, so I'll go with it.

SNES

the cube.

I remember my sister tripping over its wires and seeing it land on the ground so hard. Works perfectly but the fans are slightly louder. If that happened with any console, it would have been toasted.

2600 is factual the correct answer. The thing can be burned, froze in a fridge, you can literally break off most of it except the controler port, than throw dust in the controller port, and it will still work.

You can drop it from a 5 story window and it will still work.

You can do similar with the game carts themselves,s and they will still work. Reproductions excluded.

You can spill a gallon of water "accidentally" on it and it will still work.

Edit: i can't say the GB is impressive because it only got burned on the outer shell area. That means nothing. A gameboy can't be dropped 5 stories or survive liquid.

Yeah probably a Nintendo console.

The Nintendo 64. Never seen a broken one in my life. Gamecube would be next but when I was a child I had one and it broke due to the optical lens. The Wii is also pretty damn resilient, and Dreamcast as well.

But nothing beats the N64 IMO, thing was built to be bomb proof. I think it has something to do with being cart-based console vs disc based.

statistically its probably a nintendo console.

personally i have had bad luck with nintendo hardware though :S. my first gamecube was faulty (games would just randomly lock up and sometimes the main menu would also). i got that replaced at the store and the new one was fine.

my wii didnt really like being on its side. if it was it would make a large ratteling sound. returned to nintendo (due to nintendos policies i couldnt return it to the store) and the new one was better...but i think that may have been a bit of a slight design flaw. when the console was flat all was well though.

my first 3DS also had a habit of not waking up from standby. unfortunately it was an intermittent fault (probably dodgy switch at the hinge) and nintendo could never reproduce it. however they released the system that allowed you to transfer your stuff from one 3DS to another so i demonstrated the fault at the store and it was replaced.

my nes also broke but in fairness i played marble madness on it and kept hitting the console out of frustration...so that one is on me :P. i beeping hate that game.

my first xbox (as in the first xbox...god dammit MS!) never gave me any trouble but my 360 RRODd and the replacement was on the way out when i stopped using it.

the disc drive in my PS1 also decided it didnt like spinning discs anymore. with all the experience sony have at making disc drives you would think they would be able to make a reliable one. but both the PS1 and 2 had awful drives. the PS3s drive was better reliability wise...but the original PS3 liked to blow its circuits. mine still works in fiarness but, like the 360, i know its going to break. its just a question of when.

thankfully the current gen consoles all seem to be very reliable. no case of RRODs or disc drives breaking in any large quantities. last gen was horrific in this regard.