Top 10 Consoles of all time

See? I told you The Atari Times was unbiased! And here's our proof! These Magnavox systems are where it truly started for home gaming. We game fans owe a great debt to Ralph Baer and his "Brown Box."

This system is always forgotten about by the modern magazines. I guess they have this odd notion that the Sega Genesis was the first 16-bit console. Not a lot of classic games, but the control pad makes it memorable.

This one gave Atari a kick in the keister. Accurate conversions of arcade classics made this a must have, but the controller leaves a lot to be desired.

Atari tried to stretch it's 8-bit line of computers a little farther, but the fact that it has a light gun, keyboard, and hundreds of games available make this line an important piece of hardware.

Trying to innovate, Atari revamped it's 8-bit computer into a sleek sexy console with superior graphics to compete with Coleco and Mattel. Few would argue for the non-centering sticks, but it's hard to argue against how nice the games looked.

Combining the best of both worlds with even better graphics than the 5200 and including the much desired backward compatibility of the 2600, the Atari 7800 battled its way into the mid-80's against the likes of the NES and Sega Master System.

One of the hottest toys after the release of arcade Pong. Before the days of the 2600, practically everybody who is anybody had one of these.

What more can be said about this console? It was the first 64-bit system and it was Atari's last. It has many stinkers, but many gems too. As the most powerful Atari system ever, this one has more than earned it's place in history.

Before Nintendo released the black and white GameBoy, Atari was about to release the COLOR Atari Lynx. Featuring superb graphics and gameplay the likes you'd only see on much higher end consoles of the day, the Atari Lynx remained the most powerful exclusively handheld unit for 12 years.

As any true video game fan knows, the Atari 2600 sparked the imaginations of hundreds of millions and kicked off what is now a MULTI-BILLION dollar industry. How this system is not even included on other Top 10 lists is a complete mystery. (Well, maybe not if you consider the "suck up" factor. There is no Atari left for the mags to suck up to.)

Classic games such as Adventure, Asteroids, Missile Command, Space Invaders, Pitfall, Pitfall II, Centipede, Kaboom!, River Raid, Warlords, Breakout, Ms. Pac-Man, Empire Strikes Back, Space Shuttle, and dozens of others put this system at the top of video game history.

Innovation in game design and technology came from the Atari 2600. Were it not for this step in video gaming, we wouldn't have the Marios, the Halos, or the Grand Theft Autos we are so enamored by today. And we think the legacy of the 2600 deserves to be remembered just as fondly as those systems released after 1984. Shame on anyone who would choose to forget this most important console.