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The Ugliest Looking Game System Ever!


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OK, I will have to chime in with my vote for Sega Master system as ugliest, even though it is top of my want list right now. I think peoples view of the NES toaster as ugliest may have something to do with their mechanical frustration with it, although I definitely prefer the looks of the top loader (even though my advantage controller looks ridiculous being bigger than the system it is attached to). Most of the systems mentioned were just signs of the times they were designed. Morgan

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The SMS as well as that viewmaster lego looking thing were designed during the 'Virtual reality' era. I despise anything with 'vr' overtones.

 

Anyways, I nominate this abomination for second place behind that lego block thing.

http://www.blachford.info/computer/walker/walker.html

Nothing says 'wannabe' like that!

 

Or how about this garbage receptacle??

http://www.blachford.info/computer/walker/walker_other_versions.html

Edited by Keatah
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OK, I will have to chime in with my vote for Sega Master system as ugliest

The SMS was pretty god awful IMO. But at least it didn't look like it got rejected from the Fisher-Price factory like the even-worse-looking SG-1000.

 

The Bally Astrocade is pretty ugly too - kinda looks like what you'd get if an original 2600 and a Master System mated... :D

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Yeah, the NES was designed to look the way it did on purpose. To avoid any association with 'video games' due to the crash. Everything Nintendo did with the NES was to avoid that negative stigmatism. It was a 'entertainment system' and not a video game console, it was 'game paks' rather then video games, ROB was included just so it could be a 'home device', etc. So ugly looking, yes, but that was done on purpose.

 

How about the Saturn and Dreamcast? I never liked how either of those looked. Too boxy and plain looking.

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Not sure about the ugliest, but the Famicom is really unattractive compared to a lot of what's on here: IMO worse than the North American SNES, SMS and SMS II, toaster NES, maybe even the C64GS...

 

It's ugly gaudy and cheap looking and a cheap flip top manual dust cover:

http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/images/kotaku/2008/08/famicom_autopsy.jpg

famicom_autopsy.jpg

 

Funny that the Dendy clone popular in the USSR actually looks a bit better with its gray color scheme:

http://www.gamersgraveyard.com/repository/nes/pirate/images/consoles/dendy.jpg

dendy.jpg

 

Now the later AV Famicom looks pretty good:

http://www.vintagecomputing.com/wp-content/images/avfamicom/avfamicom_1_small.jpg

avfamicom_1_small.jpg

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I don't like the American Saturn and hate the way the controllers were redesigned. I like the NES look (despite it being way too bulky) and the Famicom. Don't like AV Famicom or NES top-loader. They have stupid faux futuristic designs that don't look sophisticated. I really like the Sega Genesis model 1 look, including the controllers, and I wish that the PS3 had been white like originally revealed (the black version it came out in wasn't as good). I like the Japanese Duo (white looks better for some reason here), but really dislike the way the Turbografx looks. PC Engine looks nice though (cute) (like Famicom). Neo Geo looks really good (strong, masculine, foreboding). American SNES I don't particularly like, but I admit it has a design philosophy behind it that works; still prefer the S. Famicom, though (overall smoother and sleeker). Dislike most of the early 8-bit systems like Intellivision, Colecovision, Vectrex, 5200, 7800, etc., but 2600 looks okay in its simplicity. Jaguar looks bad. Sega CD model 1 looked cool, but hated the side-by-side model 2 style. Another thing I think's worth comparing is logo style.

 

Also for handhelds it's hard to say because they often look bad. But I like Game & Watch (very square, which I like), Gameboy 1, Gameboy Micro (though absurd), DS Lite and DSi. Don't like the new 3DS because the top screen messes with the aesthetics of the original DS Lite which it is still molded after. Liked one of the mockup screens I saw at Kotaku which showed the top screen as a full (all the way across) widescreen LCD. Others: Game Gear looks too bulky and rounded in the wrong way and Lynx looks horrid in its hugeness and rough design and awkward shape. Turbo Express looks OK but is still too bulky and round (round in a fat way, like GG) and the screen looked too small for the rest of its size. Neo Geo Pocket on the other hand looked pretty good. Also did not like Gameboy Advance.

 

Wii looks pretty good -- but boring. Very boring (I rather prefer the design of the remotes, I guess). Xbox & 360 I don't like. 360 has some kind of "sleek design" going on that I think looks pathetic. I'd rather look at the original stupid-bulky Xbox since it wasn't even trying then. 360 controllers, although comfortable and very playable, look gooey and unpleasant to me. Definitely prefer the styling of PS2, except the original PS2 was one I thought looked SO MUCH better in the promotional photos than when I actually saw one in person. (The Sega CD model 1 was kind of that way, too). In person it looked bulky and just like a bid dead hunk of plastic. Definitely preferred the slimline redesign although placing the controllers next to it made it look ridiculous. (Interestingly, the Slimline in my opinion looks best when you have two memory cards sticking out of it).

 

Ps1 design I like a lot and it's noteworthy as being the first system that looked the same in Japan as it did in America, I believe, starting a trend. I also like the Master System and SG1000 - did I not say so before? I guess it just has an 80s toy-futurism you either respond to or you don't. Helps to have been into Transformers or Gobots or something, I think.

 

Actually the PS1 has one of the best designs of all time. Not too big, not too small, instantly recognizeable at a very tiny size (such as the size of a favicon or desktop icon, which is an important element of design in my opinion) and overall pleasant to look at it with its three circle look going on (one big circle for CD place, two smaller ones for power and open). That one just looks right and I bet the design of it helped sell it as I remember that system taking off in popularity almost mysteriously because there had been some doubts whether Sony could make it in the industry of it they'd just be another Marty or CD-i.

 

So after all that I forgot to say which were my least favorite-looking systems. Well, I'd say: DS Phat, American Saturn, Sega CD model 2, 32X (forgot to mention this one; horrid), Gameboy Advance (original, not foldup), Jaguar, Turbografx-16, Colecovision, 5200, Xbox 360, PS1 tiny edition that they came out with later, Pandora, N-Gage, Lynx, Genesis model 3 (ughh), and I guess that's it.

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My comments on how the Nintendo systems look to me:

 

1. NES -- The original "N-Box" (I refuse to call it a "toaster NES" nowadays) never looked ugly to me. I do personally find the NES Model 2 somewhat offensive to look at.

 

2. SNES -- The American model casing is the worst in my opinion. It isn't the color scheme it got stuck with, it's just the boxiness of the casing. It's too bad Nintendo couldn't give Americans the Japanese and European casings.

 

3. N64 -- Far from ugly, it's one of the best systems for me to look at.

 

4. Gamecube -- I think purple was the worst color to have for the casing, but otherwise it's hardly offensive. I'm glad I got it in black, though.

 

5. Wii -- Hardly offensive, it just looks like a computer disk drive add-on.

 

6. Gameboy -- Hardly any version of the Gameboy was offensive to look at, but I do like how the original Gameboy Advance looks, even if I don't like playing on it.

 

7. Virtual Boy -- It just looks like those big bulky virtual reality glasses, but the red and black plastic makes it look rather cheesy.

 

8. Nintendo DS -- I'm glad the original model was discontinued, as the later models looked far better.

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I still say the TG-16 is the ugliest system ever. It's even uglier up close than it is in pictures. The worst part about it is that literally half the system's volume is a cheap plastic cover on the back that hides the connector to the CD attachment.

 

I heard that NEC deliberately made the TurboGrafx-16 case bigger, to make American buyers think they were getting more for their money. I believe it -- compare it to the PC-Engine case, and you'll agree.

 

(I have a TurboBooster-Plus on the back of mine, and it adds close to 100% more volume to the console...)

 

Yeah, they did redesign it to be what they thought was more in line with American tastes. Looking at some of the other systems of the time, though, there are some similarities. The front loader NES is bigger than it needed to be, as well (although mainly because of the use of that ridiculous loading mechanism.) The Sega Master System is low and wide like the TG-16. They also looked at things such as stereo components and VCR's and thought that Americans wanted big boxes so that it would seem more substantial. But then, thinking about it, the original design of most systems is larger than it needs to be. Most every redesign is smaller than the original and cuts out some stuff. NES top loader is A LOT smaller than front loader and loses the loading mech, and composite outs. The SMS redesign is smaller and loses the card slot.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love my TG-16 and always will. But yes, there is a lot of wasted room and it is the only system that has it's own shelf on my game rack.

 

As far as ugliest, I think the Pokemon N-64 is hideous. I guess if you like Pokemon...

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I am personal friends with the man who designed the looks of the fairchild channel f. he's still proud of his design to this day. that always makes me laugh. hahaha. what an ugly piece of crap like an old mans hifi.

 

Well yeh, it was designed back in the days of CB-radio and Hi-Fi !! And designers from back then are *now* old men!

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I am personal friends with the man who designed the looks of the fairchild channel f. he's still proud of his design to this day. that always makes me laugh. hahaha. what an ugly piece of crap like an old mans hifi.

 

Apparently the makers of Bally Astrocade were fond of the Channel F's design. Neither system will win a beauty contest, but they're kind of cool in a 1970's retro sort of way.

 

 

Fairchild

 

fairchild-channel-f.jpg

 

Astrocade

 

astrosystem.jpg

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I am personal friends with the man who designed the looks of the fairchild channel f. he's still proud of his design to this day. that always makes me laugh. hahaha. what an ugly piece of crap like an old mans hifi.

 

Well yeh, it was designed back in the days of CB-radio and Hi-Fi !! And designers from back then are *now* old men!

 

Yes that's true he's in his 60s now and he flies a small citation airplane up from sunnyvale. he still does industrial design and he was also responsible for designing the activision cartridges for 2600. And Nintendo hired him to testify back in the 1980s when there were all those law suits against Nintendo. I forget the whole story but I know he was a part of that.

 

- Joe

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I don't like the American Saturn and hate the way the controllers were redesigned. I like the NES look (despite it being way too bulky)

one big advantage to that is it's stackable like a VCR or such. We always used to have our cartridge storage rack sitting on top of ours. (right now I've got a GameCube on top of the NES in my room ;))

 

As for the faux futuristic look, I sort of agree, though I still like the SNES 2's look more than the Super Famicom/EU SNES or North American SNES. (a bit too plain though, I like a bit of a faceted look, Genesis model 1 is great, model 2 is still pretty good -don't care for the JP or EU model 2 though)

 

I don't too mcuh care for the 5200 either... not due to the bult, but the lines in general, I love Curt Vendel's photoshop console morph Atari 400 though. :D

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/121484-why-did-atari-ditch-the-5200/page__view__findpost__p__1871880

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=143826

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I am personal friends with the man who designed the looks of the fairchild channel f. he's still proud of his design to this day. that always makes me laugh. hahaha. what an ugly piece of crap like an old mans hifi.

 

Apparently the makers of Bally Astrocade were fond of the Channel F's design. Neither system will win a beauty contest, but they're kind of cool in a 1970's retro sort of way.

 

 

Fairchild

 

fairchild-channel-f.jpg

 

Astrocade

 

astrosystem.jpg

 

 

Hi guys,

 

The Bally Astrocade is like a oversized Casio looking adding machine. I saw it once when I was growing up, but I got quickly turn down by it. The price of it made it ugly even worse!!

 

On the other hand, it did have some nice game to play.

 

 

Anthony....

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I am personal friends with the man who designed the looks of the fairchild channel f. he's still proud of his design to this day. that always makes me laugh. hahaha. what an ugly piece of crap like an old mans hifi.

 

 

Hey Joe,

 

Do you think if I can find my Fairchild Channel F console, you think he can do an autograph signing of it with a silver marker? Thanks.

 

 

Anthony....

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The original NES has an awful design that often results in games not working due to dust, etc. I don't know why they didn't go with a simple top loader design. Unless they didn't think that it was the right time to market something that looked like a traditional video game.

 

They designed the NES to look like a VCR so it would look like it belonged in an entertainment system. All the other game consoles before that looked like goofy clown toys. After the market crash they wanted something that looked like serious electronics equiptment.

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