#8. WII
By the mid-2000s, Nintendo’s stock in the console market was at an all-time low. Their sales and influence had been steadily falling with the N64 and then the GameCube, and for the masses, PlayStation was king. With their fifth console, then, Nintendo decided to tear up the rulebook and try something new. With the Wii, they stopped chasing the hardcore console crowd, stopped worrying about cutting edge technology, and instead opted for mass appeal and accessibility, and in the process ended up releasing their most successful home console to date. And the Wii’s success is well-earned. Whether you’re looking for casual fun with games like Mario Kart Wii, Wii Sports, or Super Smash Bros. Brawl, or traditional experiences like the Super Mario Galaxy games, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, or Xenoblade Chronicles, the Wii’s library had best-in-class games to offer for everyone. Issues like a deluge of shovelware, lack of third party support, and outdated technology were knocks against the console for sure, but even with all of that, the Wii was an absolute win for Nintendo.
