Tell GR is a weekly Game Revolution community feature in which we ask you a question, and you answer it in the comments section below. Read the GR editorial team’s opinions before sharing your own responses!
As a collective, the Game Revolution team has arguably owned too many consoles. Among our editors alone, we’ve owned just under 200 consoles, many of which we still have in our homes, held captive as memories of a better time when we were allowed outdoors but actively chose to stay inside.
We counted up the consoles we’ve owned (both home and portable), and now we want to hear how many you have owned throughout your lifetime. Have you hoarded a bunch of systems, or have you only picked up a few? Let us know in the comments section below!
“I currently own 124 consoles”
Jason Faulkner, senior editor: I currently own 124 consoles and handhelds. My collection includes 59 different types of console and 19 types of handhelds. I initially got into collecting consoles because I was tired of the limitations of emulation. NES, SNES, and some of the other popular platforms have cycle-accurate emulation, but I kept running into issues when I wanted to check out more obscure games on less popular consoles. So, I picked up a Saturn and fell in love with the eclectic and unique library of titles it offers and began slowly picking up other platforms that weren’t well emulated. Eventually, that turned into a general desire to collect retro platforms.
Most of my consoles are in “very good” condition. I was able to amass my collection relatively cheaply because I don’t really care if they’re in mint condition. They’re first and foremost for playing games. I also got into repairing consoles, which further pushed down the price of entry for a lot of the less common platforms I own. That led to me getting into console modding, which is a fun hobby in and of itself.
I don’t own anything mind-blowingly rare. I only buy consoles I intend to play, so I don’t really go for limited run variations or anything like that. The three rarest things I own are probably:
- Pioneer LaserActive with original box, packaging, and paperwork.
- PlayStation 1 Debugging Station
- MagicBox AlphaGen (Amiga 1200)
I’ve pretty much collected almost everything I set out to. I still need to grab some of the second-gen systems, but I’m not super interested in the games from that era. There are some systems like the FM Towns Marty, PC-FX, Apple Pippin, and Casio Loopy I intend to get, but only if the price is right. Otherwise, I’m thrilled with my collection, and I have a blast playing retro games on original hardware.
“My fellow GR editors will probably shame me, but I’ve only owned 11 systems”
Michael Leri, lead writer: My fellow GR editors will probably shame me on this front, given my lackluster (but growing!) Microsoft, Sega, and Nintendo experience. I’ve only owned 11 systems over my life and when you include every main PlayStation console and handheld, that doesn’t leave much room for other hardware.
My parents were sort of strict in the sense that they let me play video games but not open enough to the point of letting me own multiple systems. Given those restrictions, I had to pick one home console and one handheld and make it work. That mentality just sort of carried on to my adult life.
Having an Xbox One and Switch is letting me fill in some of the blanks, but I have a lot of work to do. Remasters, backwards compatibility, and my PC have made this a little easier so I’m not too sure having such limited as a child.
“I have owned 32 consoles”
Paul Tamburro, executive editor: I have owned 32 consoles, and currently own eight. I’ve owned every home console released by Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo save for the NES, though other than Sega, I’ve never purchased a system from console manufacturers outside of the “Big Three.”
Out of all the consoles I’ve owned, I’d wager that I spent the most time with the Xbox 360 and the GameCube. I’ve bought a few of both consoles over the years, and I still have a GameCube set up on my downstairs TV. Its game library holds up the best of all the older 3D consoles.
I’ve never felt a massive urge to go back and revisit the consoles I missed along the way. Nothing pre-SNES has interested me, and I feel that both Sony and Nintendo did early 3D games better than all of their competitors, so I’m not inclined to go pick up a Sega Saturn.
“I’ve owned 17 consoles”
Mack Ashworth, lead editor: I’ve owned 17 consoles, though now I just own a PS4, PS4 Pro, and my Switch.
It started with the original PlayStation, which was bundled with Crash Bandicoot 3 (but no memory card). I remember playing the demo disks over and over again, before I eventually got Spyro The Dragon. I replayed those two games for a long time.
The Game Boy Color was my first portable, which I got in the purple (though it was more like dark blue, I thought). I picked up Pokemon Blue with it, which I then poured hundreds of hours into.
Highlights in my “collection” include the PS2, which was incredible for single-player experiences; the Xbox 360, which first introduced me to the wonders of online multiplayer (no PC at that time); and the Nintendo Switch, which went in a completely different direction to the competition and remains a fantastic system.
