What are the best consoles that failed?

[the.golden.ax]

I'm a little weirded out by the control config with up being jump and no sound effects on a ton of games.

And now we're back to lazy programmers and "lowest common denominator" programming!!!

 

No reason the Amiga couldn't use 2 button joysticks and the second button, but almost every game used only 1!!

 

Did the programmers write their games to allow you to do either, depending? Nope.. Just UP for jump, as most people have only 1 button.

 

Now, the CD32 has LOTS of buttons.. No reason not to modify your game to allow people (make it a choice) to use the other buttons?

 

NO, I'd have to change my code!!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!! ;-(

 

Sorry for the off-topic rant. That one always bugged me..

 

desiv

 

Yeah, I've got to mod some controllers for myself to have an up "button." I've not touched my CD32 in a year (mainly because I made a mess in my game room in front of it) but it is a fantastic bit of hardware.

[high voltage]

atari 7800, on the market to late.

CD-I, marketed wrong in the first years of production.

Vectrex, They pulled out the plug to soon.

 

CDi was marketed from the beginning not as a gaming console:

 

.

[Seob]

atari 7800, on the market to late.

CD-I, marketed wrong in the first years of production.

Vectrex, They pulled out the plug to soon.

 

CDi was marketed from the beginning not as a gaming console:

 

.

is this from the retrogames magazine? Where can i find the artikel love to read it.

[+frankodragon]

The Turbografx -16 would of had a chance to thrive in the states if it weren't for the lack of 3rd party support. Do you think it failed from Nintendo of America's strict licensing policy? Plus many were confused whether it was an 8 or 16-bit machine. The Sega Master System wasn't successful either in the US probably due to NOA's grip on the video game market as well.

[high voltage]

atari 7800, on the market to late.

CD-I, marketed wrong in the first years of production.

Vectrex, They pulled out the plug to soon.

 

CDi was marketed from the beginning not as a gaming console:

 

 

.

is this from the retrogames magazine? Where can i find the artikel love to read it.

 

Sorry mate, I just packed up my Retro Gamer magazines and I can't remember which issue it was.

[DemonoidTentacle]

Dreamcast

[high voltage]

Cybiko

 

[mbd30]

Cybiko

 

 

"Intertainment"

 

There's a buzzword that should have caught on.

[Seob]

atari 7800, on the market to late.

CD-I, marketed wrong in the first years of production.

Vectrex, They pulled out the plug to soon.

 

CDi was marketed from the beginning not as a gaming console:

 

 

.

is this from the retrogames magazine? Where can i find the artikel love to read it.

 

Sorry mate, I just packed up my Retro Gamer magazines and I can't remember which issue it was.

No problem. already found the article. It's in RGM 32.

[Jess Ragan]

Geez people, where's the Sega Saturn? It was a colossal flop in the United States (thanks, Bernie...) but had a devoted following and a diverse selection of software in Japan. Considering the way the console was received here and abroad, you'd think that the US and Japanese versions of the Saturn were two entirely different systems.

 

I don't know if I'd consider the Dreamcast an outright flop. The machine was a lot more popular in the United States than its predecessor and had a crapload of great software for arcade fanatics. I think it was more a victim of Sega's past mistakes than anything else. After dropping a massive turd like the 32X and badly fumbling the Saturn, there was no way Sega could have recovered. Having said that, I wish Sega would have fallen on its own sword with the Dreamcast than give up two years after its launch and become a shell of its former self anyway.

 

Also, I agree with the guy who said that the Neo-Geo was not a failure. It was the most popular arcade jukebox ever, and while it didn't have a ghost of a chance against the Genesis or Super NES, it'd be hard to make the case that the Neo-Geo was in direct competition with either of them. It was a specialty item for a very affluent, very dedicated fan base, and it was popular with that audience.

[godslabrat]

Cybiko

 

Standard "different strokes" disclaimer in effect... huh? Cybiko? That was one unit that completely deserved to fail. As a game machine, it couldn't hold a candle to the decade-old GameBoy, and this was at a stage when the GBA was less than a year away. As an mp3 player, it was WAY too primitive to be useful, and in 2000, mp3 players were still novelty items for computer geeks. As an e-mail client, it was pathetic to a market that had been able to use email on a PC for years. It might have been useful for text messaging, but only if you knew someone else with a Cybiko. The fact that its ad campaign reeked of desperation just made it even less appealing.

 

What was so great about the Cybiko that makes you even consider it? Hell, I'd rather have a Game.com.

[Jess Ragan]

It was supposed to have a radio communication system that was unique for the time and predated the mainstream adoption of wi-fi. So there's that, I guess.

 

I have a Cybiko somewhere. I don't think I've ever actually used it!

[the.golden.ax]

Geez people, where's the Sega Saturn? It was a colossal flop in the United States (thanks, Bernie...) but had a devoted following and a diverse selection of software in Japan. Considering the way the console was received here and abroad, you'd think that the US and Japanese versions of the Saturn were two entirely different systems.

 

I don't know if I'd consider the Dreamcast an outright flop. The machine was a lot more popular in the United States than its predecessor and had a crapload of great software for arcade fanatics. I think it was more a victim of Sega's past mistakes than anything else. After dropping a massive turd like the 32X and badly fumbling the Saturn, there was no way Sega could have recovered. Having said that, I wish Sega would have fallen on its own sword with the Dreamcast than give up two years after its launch and become a shell of its former self anyway.

 

Also, I agree with the guy who said that the Neo-Geo was not a failure. It was the most popular arcade jukebox ever, and while it didn't have a ghost of a chance against the Genesis or Super NES, it'd be hard to make the case that the Neo-Geo was in direct competition with either of them. It was a specialty item for a very affluent, very dedicated fan base, and it was popular with that audience.

 

Sega considered the Dreamcast a flop far before the fans did. I'll never forget reading the press release where they say they were not abandoning it, the day before they did.

 

I still have a flyer for Sega CD that says it will NEVER become obsolete (as a selling point!)

[BassGuitari]

Atari 5200: great system, but unsupported, mistimed, and, in retrospect, perhaps a misstep. Its hardware (read: controller) issues were on the verge of being ironed out when the crash hit, and in its two or three short years, the 5200 accumulated a library of high-quality game titles. The 5200 to me always seemed like a victim of circumstances.

 

Vectrex: released at the worst possible time. Not much else to be said there. Like the 5200, a victim of circumstances.

 

Honorable mention- 3DO: an interesting, innovative system with a lot of potential and a few really cool games. Most of its games are pretty garbage though (but to be fair, I guess you could say that about most systems, like the PS2 or Atari 2600). Certain marketing/pricing decisions didn't do it any favors.

 

***

 

I wouldn't call the Odyssey 2 or Dreamcast failures exactly. They weren't top-dog systems, but they were on the map, at least. Which is more than can be said for things like Arcadia 2001 or Nuon.

 

Astrocade is another one I don't really feel is fair to call a failure. It wasn't a smashing success, to be sure, but the thing wouldn't go away; it was even kept on life support into the mid-'80s by a company formed by hardcore fans (iirc). That says something, I think.

Edited May 7, 2012 by BassGuitari

[Austin]

I don't consider the Dreamcast a failure at all. It sold millions of units (I have heard something along the lines of up to 10 million total if you count the greater amount of years it was available in Japan). Its life was simply cut short in the US.

 

Now, for actual failures (skipping through all three pages by the way, so all of these have probably been named already).. Hm..

 

- Sega 32X

- 3DO

- Jaguar

- Neo-Geo AES and the Neo-Geo CD

- N-Gage/QD (it was actually good for the time if you played it)

- Master System (in the US)

- Tapwave Zodiac (great hardware, extremely poor support)

- Turbo Grafx-16 (though I'd say the CD add-on and the DUO system were both far greater failures)

[16-bit]

My first instinct was to say Dreamcast, but I'd probably go with Saturn. As others have stated, I don't think the DC was a total flop, but it was a hard loss for Sega fans. Ending the company's console run makes it stings worse than normal.

 

I think I'd vote 3DO as #2. Awesome system but those retail prices where ridiculous.

Edited May 8, 2012 by 16-bit

[godslabrat]

Is TG-16 an agreed-upon failure, or is it up for debate? I remember it being around for about as long as the dreamcast...

[Arkhan]

1. Dreamcast

2. Sega Master System

3. Turbografx-16

 

Damn straight.

 

All due to marketing failure. The systems themselves are all totally awesome.

 

Especially the TG-16.