This is a toughie. First was the Telstar Pong, I believe. Then came the Atari 2600, which was the NES of its day, and its bazillion games. Then another Christmas brought its replacement, the Atari 5200, which actually had amazing capabilities but probably the worst controller ever made by man (those side buttons..I still have nightmares). Nearly a decade later I plunked down money earned from my first job for an NES - I was late to the party, but I didn't regret it. FF 3, Master Blaster, the ubiquitous Super Mario Brothers and I forget what else..all amazing. Then my best friend got a Sega Genesis with its face-melting, arcade-perfect graphics and sound. What a beast..I borrowed it for a while but never owned one. The last console I ever paid for was a Sega Nomad that I bought used off my buddy, along with a couple games. There was a good RPG for it..think it was called Secret of the Oasis or something like that. Along the way I also had Atari home computers and PCs, and I used those far more than any console...except maybe the 2600. So, for the nostalgia, sheer number of titles and overwhelming place in my childhood, and since we are talking favorite <i>console</i> - well, the 2600 just has to be the winner. I suspect only those who've been pre-teens when a whole new level of game technology debuts can understand the experience: "transcendent" is about the only word that does it justice. If you were the kind of kid who hated sports and took comic books seriously it only amplified the impact. Sadly, I have been unable to really enjoy many console games since the debut of the PS1 with its thumb-hating billion button controller (which set the template for all that came later). By the time it arrived I'd been into PC gaming for a couple years and just couldn't learn to use those weird boomerangs.