Are the so called "worst consoles of all time" really that bad?

[mbd30]

But the PS One has a bunch of good games. "Crash Bandicoot", "Spyro the Dragon", "Einhander", etc. ugly? Really? I also wouldn't judge an older console entirely on its graphics capabilities.

[mbd30]

Funny, for me, the 7800 Proline are the best joysticks ever!!. I still have and use the very one i bought in 1983! .. I used daily it on all the machine i had Colecovision, Commodore 64, Atari St, Amiga and nowadays i use it on PC via the Atari adaptor! to play emulators!.

 

But later, i bought few others brand new , but i have to admit the quality was different compared to the first one i bought.

The button placement is conducive to hand cramps. I remember "Pole Position II" making my thumb very sore. It must be horrible playing something like "Commando" with it.

Edited November 28, 2013 by mbd30

[roland p]

I did like Resident Evil and fear effect.

[SoulBlazer]

I was going to say (but someone half beat me to it) that I would consider the RCA Studio 2 and the Game.com as being the worst of the 'major' releases. Nothing I've played on them I've enjoyed. At least the other consoles or hand helds have a few good games.

[AtariLeaf]

 

Funny, for me, the 7800 Proline are the best joysticks ever!!. I still have and use the very one i bought in 1983! .. I used daily it on all the machine i had Colecovision, Commodore 64, Atari St, Amiga and nowadays i use it on PC via the Atari adaptor! to play emulators!.

 

But later, i bought few others brand new , but i have to admit the quality was different compared to the first one i bought.

Oh I know there are those who like and use the controllers I mentioned above and I never want anyone to believe I'm slagging the system or those who love them. I just know that for me, personally, I can't use those style of controllers without causing pain and cramps in my hand. Otherwise they're great systems.

 

I'll go on record saying that the Intellivision and 5200 both have excellent libraries.

Edited November 28, 2013 by AtariLeaf

[high voltage]

"NES what an awful console, as far as consoles go, it is the worst, plus the worst controllers"

 

Worst controllers, really? What's wrong with them besides maybe being too small?

Wrong way around, no stick for control, and yes too small. Ugly Japanese cheap rubbish.

[Manoau2002]

The worst consoles of all time may be the new generation of machines. Systems like the game stick, ouya, and nvidia shield ( and the xbox live store, wiiware, ect) signal to me that games will all soon be played on harddrives and on the cloud instead of a physcal medium. That means that 20 years from now there will be nothing to collect for these systems.

[mbd30]

Wrong way around, no stick for control, and yes too small. Ugly Japanese cheap rubbish.

The same basic design with the direction pad on the left and other buttons on the right has been copied by almost every console controller since (with the later addition of analog sticks). So most people seem to like it. It's a more comfortable design than what prior consoles such as the 7800 and Intellivision were using.

[mbd30]

As for "Japanese cheap rubbish", I've had multiple Atari 2600 controllers break on me as a kid. I don't recall being particularly rough with them either. I've never had a NES controller break. Granted, an Atari 2600 console is more reliable than a NES front loader.

[high voltage]

And the NES is sooo ugly, grey, blocky, at least the famicom isn't bad looking, but the NES, designed by an eastern bloc communist state.

[high voltage]

The same basic design with the direction pad on the left and other buttons on the right has been copied by almost every console controller since (with the later addition of analog sticks). So most people seem to like it.

Most people just have no choice, that's what it is....You can't beat a good joystick, D-pad sucks, it's sad how quick the Americans let the Japanese rule all over the American invented video game industry.

Edited November 28, 2013 by high voltage

[fdurso224]

Hi guys,

 

The way I look at it, as long as your having a good time and like the systems....That's all that counts!

 

Anthony...

[Rhomaios]

And the NES is sooo ugly, grey, blocky, at least the famicom isn't bad looking, but the NES, designed by an eastern bloc communist state.

 

The first console to look good, imo, was the model 2 Genesis. Everything before that looked clunky. It's all opinions, though. No need to start calling things "Japanese trash" or the like.

[mbd30]

I like the look of the NES. It looks like a high tech appliance, like a VCR or something. It's a stupid design in terms of functionality, but it looks good. It was made that way in order to not resemble a video game console.

 

Now the Famicom looks like a cheap Fisher Price toy that you'd see in a thrift store.

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Famicom-Console-Set.jpg

[+Ransom]

 

The first console to look good, imo, was the model 2 Genesis. Everything before that looked clunky.

 

I mostly agree about the model 2 Genesis. Most of the stuff before that either looked clunky at the time, or now looks severely dated. Still, I do like the looks of the 5200. The design still looks futuristic to me. Other than the size, of course. There's nothing futuristic about enormous electronic devices.

 

As for the 'worst console' lists that come up in the gaming media every so often, I doubt anyone involved with making those lists has ever played a fraction of the consoles ever made or even has any real knowledge about most of them. It's just click bait for the most part, IMO.

[The Usotsuki]

There WAS the NES Advantage, don't forget.

[high voltage]

Close but they should have introduced this in USA

[Austin]

Close but they should have introduced this in USA

 

 

Close enough:

 

[+Ransom]

There WAS the NES Advantage, don't forget.

That's what saved the system for me.

[Lentzquest]

The usual suspects listed in the OP are just the worst of what most of the population could possibly have heard of. Most of them are more guilty of being bad business decisions versus inherently bad game systems. If you go to any retro gaming enthusiast and have them think of what they consider truly the worst, the list tends to look more like:

 

RCA Studio II

Hyperscan

Game.com

R Zone

CDi

Gizmondo

Game Wizard

 

...and so on.

 

At some level of suckitude it really does get tough defend these things.

[Seob]

I don't know. The RCA Studio II looks pretty lame. That racing game in particular looks hilariously awful.

 

That's your personal opinion. That's oke, but it still doesn't make it a bad console. Just one You don't like.

There has never been a manufacturer that was like: "Lets invest a serious amount of money to create the worst possible console ever. So we never get our cash back."

 

It's all about personal flavors.

[Seob]

The usual suspects listed in the OP are just the worst of what most of the population could possibly have heard of. Most of them are more guilty of being bad business decisions versus inherently bad game systems. If you go to any retro gaming enthusiast and have them think of what they consider truly the worst, the list tends to look more like:

 

RCA Studio II

Hyperscan

Game.com

R Zone

CDi

Gizmondo

Game Wizard

 

...and so on.

 

At some level of suckitude it really does get tough defend these things.

Well my personal opinion is that a lot of people have never even tried playing CD-i games and base there opinion on those stupid Zelda cd-i reviews. And even these games aren't that bad, if they would not have been released as a Nintendo based games.

I have a collection of 60+ cd-i games and there are at least 20 or more titles i really like. But that's my personal opinion.

It's ok for everybody to have a personal opinion, but at least try to base you're opinion on a hands on experience, not on a reviewers experience.

You won't hear me saying bad thing about consoles i never had the opportunity to play hands on.

[high voltage]

That's very true, despite not being a gaming console, the CDi had quite a few excellent games on the system, I used to collect for it (~80 titles I used to own).

[+GoldenWheels]

Not enough hands on experience with most of the systems in the OP but I had the VB and all but one or two of the games and all we used to do was laugh at it...or use it after smoking pot. It was an awful, awful, headache inducing piece of crap IMO. I was upset what I paid for it and I got it on super clearance with an employee discount.

 

I also think amongst a community like this (hardcore) there is bound to be some polishing of turds going on. It's very hip to claim a reclamation project of the reputation of a universally panned system.

 

"you think YOU know obscure systems? Well I got the XXX"

"But it sucks!"

"nuh uh! Look at all these games I think are good!"

 

Sooner or later the guy who loves the R zone will show up.

[high voltage]

I like my game.com, got the complete collection (w/modem), some of the good games are:

Solitaire

Wheel of Fortune 1 and 2

Quiz Wiz

Jeopardy

Henry

Tiger Casino

Light's Out

Monopoly

Scrabble

Resident Evil 2

Hey half the gaming library is actually good, who'd have thought.

 

I even surfed the internet with my game.com