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how do you classify a "bad" console?


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You won't get any argument from me on the NES being a lovely machine but seriously, LOL? That pin connector is well known to be of dubious reliability at best. Sure, collectors who know how to repair or replace the danged thing can get pretty reliable performance out of it but even as kids when the thing was new off the shelf we were having to blow on the carts and do all kinds of tricks to make the games work.

 

Don't get me wrong, I have fond memories of that because it seemed like every kid had his own strategy for getting the games to work but come on now. It isn't as if these things all started failing only fifteen years later.

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on the same token as the nes slot, how many people played their playstation 1's upside down cause the stupid door warped

 

I never had to play with my PS1 upside down. I did end up playing my NES games through the Game Genie, though. The Game Genie got rid of any pin connector worries.

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that was a fairly large problem with mostly sony in my experiance CD player back in the early to mid 90's

 

"push here" it says on the corner with the clickly latch, 6 months later of regular use you bent the door a quarter inch out of whack and the disc would clack against that spinny thing on the lid

 

I had a shelf unit stereo, two discmans and a freaking PS1 all do it ... a walkman did it as well, maybe sony just did not have decent ME's at the time

Edited by Osgeld
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How do I classify a bad console?

 

xbox_one.0_cinema_640.0.jpg

 

'Nuff said. :rolling:

If a console doesn't want to play second-hand games, I would classify it as bad :D

x infinity...

 

It's kind of funny how my Atari still works 30 years after it was made, but the Xbox One is the first console with a built in expiration date. That expiration date is TBA, but sans a massive firmware update, when Microsoft pulls the plug on it's servers, your console essentially becomes a useless brick. Even if a firmware update is issued, with the ban on used games, or inability to register new ones, you are essentially stuck playing whatever the previous owner played. Oh the horror, if one bought a second hand NES only to find that the only games he/she could play on it were Wallstreet Kid, Spelunker, and Home Alone 2. :???:

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Yes, a bad console is like it was said above, where things are not right with the hardware.

For example the worst console is the NES it forced Japanese style controllers onto the western public. Right to left alphabet might work for the Eastern part of the world, but in the West it just doesn't cut it. Same goes for the movement, left hand movement sucks...Bad very bad

Blasphemy! |:)
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I have a hard time finding a bad console...

Because it's quite rare to have a badly conceived system with bad games.

One prime example would be the Hartung Game Master. The system is ridiculously shitty for the time it came on the market, and there is not a single good game on the system.

 

I consider the VCS being a bad console. I mean, the sound is crap, the basic video capabilities are ridiculous (look at the Astrocade... ), the joysticks are the worst ever made... Still, when bringing on the games, it's just awesome.

 

The same would go with the Megadrive. The system is perfectly technically able to display 128 colors at the same time on-screen, without wasting that much blast-processing power.

Still, it's not implemented. Why?

The sound chip isn't that bad in itself, but programers are left in the dark on how to program it nicely and as a result, most game have a basic, 8 bits like soundtrack and sounds.

The controller feels clunky and far away from a promised arcade experience. Still, awesome games on it. So, overall, great system.

 

On the other hand, you have systems like the 3DO that are brutally powerful and able do deliver a great gaming experience, ruined by poor games that doesn't even try to use the console's strenghts. Overall, a waste of good technology... but not a bad console.

Edited by CatPix
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I do think that hardware is what makes a console truly bad. The xbox 360 has some great games. But had they not fixed the ring of death it wouldnt have mattered. There are several systems that have heat sync issues that have caused the console to burn up. There are plenty of knockoff consoles that are built with low quality parts and easily break.

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From the hardware side, there's arguably plenty a company can do to make their console "bad," from everything to user-unfriendly controls to poor workmanship of the console itself. But I'd say that this is a relatively open-minded bunch -- not that there aren't disagreements amongst us, but we'll give something a chance before tossing down the controller shouting obscenities. What I mean is that if there's fun to be had, we'll find it. So what if it takes a bit of imagination or the technology isn't "cutting edge"? Of course, a lot of it has to do with the friends you play these games WITH... someone's who equally open-minded and are willing to give old consoles a chance. Unfortunately, I don't know very many of those people locally...

 

:_(

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Nokia N-gage. Bad portable console, worse phone.

 

I think the 32x would classify as a bad console, mostly because of the need for a separate ac adapter and the terrible support that sega gave it. Dead and buried in under a year.

 

The design of the hardware is definitely a big factor in determining a "bad" console, but how well the hardware was supported is a big factor too.

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A console that has more bad games than good games like the Atari Jaguar is a bad console.

 

That's silly as every console has more bad than good games, NES, Wii, PSX...

 

Few exceptions are Atari Lynx, N Gage, Nintendo Virtual Boy, here you have more good games, and hardly any bad games.

Edited by high voltage
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Nokia N-gage. Bad portable console, worse phone.

 

I think the 32x would classify as a bad console, mostly because of the need for a separate ac adapter and the terrible support that sega gave it. Dead and buried in under a year.

 

The design of the hardware is definitely a big factor in determining a "bad" console, but how well the hardware was supported is a big factor too.

 

N Gage has a very good games bad games ratio, hardly any duffs on N Gage, my collection:

allNGagegames_zpse97219f0.jpg

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That's silly as every console has more bad than good games, NES, Wii, PSX...

 

No it isn't. Over 50% of the games for the Jaguar are crap and while there's certainly a lot of shovelware for the NES, PS1 and Wii i doubt that over half of the games for those consoles are crap. Though i haven't played them all so i can't be sure.

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