Net Ten: Extreme Console Makeover: The Best Redesigns (page2) Subscribe to this RSS feed

#5 Nokia N-Gage QD

Yes, the N-Gage platform, no matter how you played it, sucked hosewater. You have to admit, however, that the QD fixed just about every single one of the original's faults. Side talking? Gone. Extremely annoying game card switching? Gone. MP3 playback? Go... Okay, maybe that last one wasn't bad, but listening to music on an N-Gage was about as lame as playing a game on it or using it to make calls.

#5 Nokia N-Gage QD

#4 NES 2 (Top-loading model)

The NES was perhaps history's greatest gaming system. That is, when you actually got it to work. Just about every child of 80's gaming has as many memories of blowing into cartridges and rhythmically tapping the reset button as they do of slaying Ganon or knocking out Mike Tyson. Who knew that the reason behind all of that grief was the horizontal orientation? With the remodeled NES, carts were entered vertically, and almost always without any problems. The system may have lost composite cable compatibility, but owners gained hours of glitch-free gaming.

#4 NES 2 (Top-loading model)

#3 Xbox 360 Elite

Folks were bemoaning the Xbox 360's small hard drive and lack of HDMI support from day one, with Microsoft standing firm on the capability of the 20-gig, component-only launch system. Thousands of digital downloads and an HD-DVD drive later, and the company has changed its tune. With much more space, a nicer connection, and a cool black finish, the 360 Elite is what the original should have been. How much is a trade-in on a premium now?

#3 Xbox 360 Elite

#2 DS Lite

The Nintendo DS is definitely one of the company's most accessible systems, but the original design had a look only a gamer could love. The DS Phat suffered from muddy screens, the bulky design, heck, the system even had an underbite! With a brighter, sleeker design, the DS Lite has turned the portable into a phenomenon.

#2 DS Lite

#1 Game Boy Advance SP

Wanna know when you've made a console wrong? When folks start cracking it open to fix it themselves. For those of us who live less than thirty feet from the sun, getting a decent look at a Game Boy Advance game on the portable's original screen was tough. After dozens of detachable lights and confusing backlight installations, Nintendo created the perfect portable design with the GBA SP. Not only were the screens suitably bright, but the need for batteries was eliminated with a convenient charger and the clamshell design made screen scratches a minor threat.

#1 Game Boy Advance SP