What's the Worst Console You Ever Played?

[adamchevy]

Im sorry, but on my list has to be the intellivision and Sega genesis. I have been very underwhelmed with the intellivision so far. Piggy bank and Christmas Carol are great, but the controllers really ruin it for me. I played burger time and Night stalker for about an hour each and they are ok at best. The genesis was always a sad excuse for a game console in comparison to my snes when I was a kid. Ofcourse I was a huge rpg and super mario world fan so I may be a bit biased. I always found sonic really boring, but my sister loved it. I would also add the Sega Dreamcast. I have played most of the games and besides Rez and Soul Calibur I feel like most of the games are a bit meh.

Edited December 2, 2015 by adamchevy

[omegadot]

Won't make me popular but I never much cared for the original GB if I'm honest. I always had trouble focusing on the screen. I'm also a person that has a lot of trouble with 3D displays (my 3DS is never in that mode) so I'm not sure if my eyes are just not top notch or what. I find the form factor to be quite comfortable but playing was never easy for me. Toss as many good games at it as you want but I can't do it. Similar issues with GameGear but the colors helped a lot. Other than those two I've generally enjoyed any console I've played. Granted I've never played anything I'd consider obscure.

[Keatah]

Anything that requires an online connection.

[Bill Loguidice]

Won't make me popular but I never much cared for the original GB if I'm honest. I always had trouble focusing on the screen. I'm also a person that has a lot of trouble with 3D displays (my 3DS is never in that mode) so I'm not sure if my eyes are just not top notch or what. I find the form factor to be quite comfortable but playing was never easy for me. Toss as many good games at it as you want but I can't do it. Similar issues with GameGear but the colors helped a lot. Other than those two I've generally enjoyed any console I've played. Granted I've never played anything I'd consider obscure.

 

I don't think that's an unpopular opinion. Nintendo handhelds had a fairly dreadful screen right up until the GBA SP, and even the second version of that is far better than the first. Like I said earlier, I strongly believe that for modern eyes, it's VERY difficult to play any of these older handhelds without a screen mod.

[SIO2]

The original Magnavox Odyssey (not O2). Yes I have played it. Yes it sucks.

 

BTW, K.C.'s Crazy Chase on Odyssey 2 is more fun than K.C. Munchkin IMHO.

[BassGuitari]

 

I agree the APF-M/MP1000 is pretty dreadful. There's one decent game (Space Destroyers) and the hard-wired controllers are a mess.

The M/P1000 is a system I've always wanted to try out but never got a chance.

 

Every gameboy without a backlight (or frontlight) ever. Great system, great games, but I'm just not going to play something these days with an unlit screen.

 

I'm in the same boat. I loved the Game Boy growing up but can't deal with the screen today (seriously, what were they thinking not putting in at least a backlight of some kind?). These days I usually play on Super Game Boy.

 

But how many bought or received a console that was fresh from the store, opened it, played it, and pretty quickly said "This is ... not good"?

R-Zone.

 

Star Wars: Millenium Falcon Challenge and Road Rash, in eyestrain-inducing red LCD that you had to sit in a darkened room or closet to see. Woof.

 

 

Raises hand cautiously... happened to me a few times with the Jaguar.

 

jaguar04.0.jpg $_35.JPG

 

jag-club-drive-front.jpg

 

 

 

A few times? Why would you make that mistake more than once?

 

NES Action Set. Shit controllers. Pack-in combines a snooze-fest light-gun game with a platformer that could only be loved by an unemployed monomaniac.

Eh...what?

 

Oh wait, I did try out the Virtual Boy and I think that might be my "worst". I remember playing it at a Kiosk at Toys R' Us and thought WTF is this shit.....

I remember trying the VB in Toys 'R' Us and Target (or wherever) and being somewhat interested because it was new and seemed totally different than anything else we had ever seen up to that point, but at the same time also thinking it's like a Game Boy but the screen is in a headset, it has a separate controller, and the graphics are red instead of greenish yellow.

 

Still, I regret not rescuing one from the clearance bin at the local Kay Bee when they had them marked down to $19.99 (might have been even less) back in '97.

 

I have played quite a lot of obscure systems, and from all of them, the worst are in the home and portable range, the HMG 7900, and the Game Master.

 

The HMG 7900 is a somewhat color version of a RCA Studio II, but it's a different processor and graphisms are quite a bit less blocky. But the games are just a mess of blocks with no effort or taste put in.

 

 

The worst being that first appearence of this system are at late as 1983. It could have been okayish for a budget system in 1978... but a system inferior to an Odyssey2 in 1983... bleh.

This looks exactly like something I want to play.

 

The controller looks interesting, like an Arcadia 2001 disc/joystick with a paddle dial instead of a keypad.

[bretthorror]

Won't make me popular but I never much cared for the original GB if I'm honest. I always had trouble focusing on the screen. I'm also a person that has a lot of trouble with 3D displays (my 3DS is never in that mode) so I'm not sure if my eyes are just not top notch or what. I find the form factor to be quite comfortable but playing was never easy for me. Toss as many good games at it as you want but I can't do it. Similar issues with GameGear but the colors helped a lot. Other than those two I've generally enjoyed any console I've played. Granted I've never played anything I'd consider obscure.

 

The saving grace of that system was it was better than G&W and cheap as hell. And Throughout it all, it crawled out of a river of shit clean as a whistle. I have to hand it to the original Game Boy. I bought a Hyperboy to use one as a mini arcade, but it's hard to find one with a decent screen. I tried shopping at an actual used store and their systems were as broken as the one I got off Ebay.

[Reaperman]

I suppose I'll put in another vote for action max. Not many games, and it's really picky about working. It really stretches the definition of "game system."

 

To be honest, I kind of love the thing for being so terribly awful. Someday I dream about using the dvd menu system to make it an actually interactive game--I know I don't really care enough to, but it's a nice thought... I also wonder if it's unique external sensor system might allow it to function on HDTV's (at least "function" as well as it ever does).

Edited December 3, 2015 by Reaperman

[jfitzenr]

This topic is tough!

 

I mean, I think Virtual Boy might be the 'worst' console I've ever played. But the game library, tiny as it is, is kinda fun. The design of the system is awful, the marketing was atrocious etc., but the library redeems it I think. I honestly regret not owning one, especially (as mentioned earlier) at the crazy clearance prices it sold at near the end of its lifespan. My parents wouldn't even buy me one when it was $20!

 

Overall though, I think it ticks most of the boxes. Bad design, poor implementation, hyped-up marketing that oversold it, failing to either fit an existing market or create a new one (it's portable! kinda. but not really. It's... one color! sorta, 3d? what is this?) but while it might be the 'worst' i played in many senses, it's definitely not my least favorite. Gameboy fits a bit into this too; monochrome, no backlight, thing was a piece of crap, but there were some classic games for it, I loved it at the time and now with the benefit of emulation and GBC/etc. we're able to experience them in a much better form and realize some of the games were brilliant. It was still a... mediocre piece of design in a lot of ways though.

 

So with the caveat that my experiences aren't really fair, I think the least fun I had with a console would be my experiences at my friends' house playing the Bally Astrocade. It just never had the right 'vibe' for me, but this could be only because I didn't experience the right games, though.

[7800fan]

Microsoft Windows.

[youki]

I played most of the console. And it is hard to find a "worst" console because it really depends on taste , game and what was expected at the time of its production.

 

I love the odyssey 2 . and I hate the playstation 1. So for me the worst would the playstation. That makes no real sense if you compare the capacity.

 

But i think the most disapointing console for me was the Amstrad GX 4000.

 

The console had relatively good capacity , but most game was simply direct port of the old amstrad CPC.

 

http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=2&c=1082

 

[CatPix]

This looks exactly like something I want to play.

 

The controller looks interesting, like an Arcadia 2001 disc/joystick with a paddle dial instead of a keypad.

I like those underdog systems, and if it had decent games, I'd say it's a fun little and probably very cheap system at the time. The pad design is clever for what it is (tho on the 4 games I found, even the breakout clone doesn't use the paddle) and the built quality is decent enough. The console feel hollow but the plastic is rather thick, it's not some flimsy NES clone.

 

 

But past the fun/novelty time, it's nothing you wanna go back for so much.

Maybe if you're a programmer and wanna learn to program something for it

But I mean even on that very regard, the RCA Studio II and the European color clones have more following....

[empsolo]

NES Action Set. Shit controllers. Pack-in combines a snooze-fest light-gun game with a platformer that could only be loved by an unemployed monomaniac.

Now this is quality trolling.

 

But in a more serious note. I never found a console I out and out hated. The closest would be the N64 but one you get used to the control pad, it's actually fine

to play. Though in terms of software though, I loathed the the original xbox. All the console has going for it was KOTOR, Halo, and some mediocre WWII shooters.

Edited December 3, 2015 by empsolo

[+darryl1970]

I do not think any system was totally worthless, but in my day, the O2 was the system to crack on.

 

I am not a fan that they changed the whole FEEL of games. The trend was 3 lives to get the highest score. It seemed that the O2 game goal was to see how far you could go on one try. After that, it waited for the user to enter a name or restart.

 

I have read the specs that contradict this, but in the day, it looked like every sprite was a predefined character. ( I have since read that some sprites were able to be redefined, and then there were standard sprites. ) It still gave the system a pathetic, generic feel to me. I felt that everything about the game structure in this system, include the reuse of the same main character sprites, was just pathetic.

 

The keyboard and the voice module were kind of cool for the day. KC Munchkin and Krazy Chase were actually kind of entertaining. Pick-Ax-Pete, however, could NEVER satisfy my desire for Donkey Kong.

 

So, I still can't totally bash the system. I never OWNED one, but I had a friend that did, and he still had his. So, my experience was the O'Neil's game counter, emulation, and then my friend's. I am not nearly as critical of old systems as I once was, because I find a great amount of charm in their weaknesses. I also have a new appreciation for the hurdles the programmers had to overcome create games back in the day. Many of the older systems can be pushed beyond what we thought was once possible, because memory is cheaper, modern computers are more advanced development stations, and there have been advances in techniques and game depth.

 

With that says, the Odyssey2 was my number one bash system as a Jr. High Atari snob. Intellivision was number 2, because I didn't think the system lived up to the hype. As memory got cheaper, I thought the 2600 actually created better looking games. Don't get me started on the controllers.

[Tempest]

The keyboard and the voice module were kind of cool for the day.

 

 

The O2 has one of the best voice modules of the time. It never sounded stilted and robotic like so many of the voice modules of the time did. It was second only to the TI-99 which could produce almost believable human like speech.

[+darryl1970]

 

The O2 has one of the best voice modules of the time. It never sounded stilted and robotic like so many of the voice modules of the time did. It was second only to the TI-99 which could produce almost believable human like speech.

Ha-ha-ha-ha... EXCELLENT!!!!

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

Fairchild Channel F.. worst I've played.

[Bill Loguidice]

Fairchild Channel F.. worst I've played.

 

It's one true stand-out game is probably Wall Ball, although it does have an excellent modern day Pac-Man and multi-cart. Considering it was the first of its kind, the overall functionality and controller is actually quite good.

[BassGuitari]

 

The O2 has one of the best voice modules of the time. It never sounded stilted and robotic like so many of the voice modules of the time did. It was second only to the TI-99 which could produce almost believable human like speech.

Agreed that the Odyssey Voice was great. Gotta disagree that it never sounded stilted or robotic, though. In fact, as a latter-day Odyssey enthusiast, to me that's part of its charm.

 

The Odyssey 2 really needed a port of Wizard of Wor with the Voice.

 

 

It's one true stand-out game is probably Wall Ball, although it does have an excellent modern day Pac-Man and multi-cart. Considering it was the first of its kind, the overall functionality and controller is actually quite good.

Wall Ball? Do you mean [Video] Whizball? That game is pretty awesome.

[Bill Loguidice]

Wall Ball? Do you mean [Video] Whizball? That game is pretty awesome.

 

Brain fart. Yes, Whizball.

[Tempest]

Agreed that the Odyssey Voice was great. Gotta disagree that it never sounded stilted or robotic, though. In fact, as a latter-day Odyssey enthusiast, to me that's part of its charm.

Ok it sounded Robotic, but it generally didn't sound like it was made up of phonemes, they sounded like real words. You got a HELLO rather than a H-EL-O. Maybe it was the chip they used or maybe it was that they stitched the words together better. The Intellivision did a good job too.

[mbd30]

The Pong games on the Fairchild look fun because of the sophisticated controller.

[BassGuitari]

The Pong games on the Fairchild look fun because of the sophisticated controller.

Being joystick-driven paddle games (albeit with additional dimensions), they leave a bit to be desired for me. They're still fun enough if you've got someone A) willing to play who B) doesn't suck at it, but you're probably better off with an Atari Pong or Odyssey or other dedicated console for that kind of game. Or Video Olympics on the 2600.

 

The Channel F's Breakout clone is the same way; it's an admirable effort (LOTS of game variations) and for a Channel F game it's really good, but it doesn't quite get there with joystick controls. Again, still fun, just not as good as Breakout. Or Bally's clone on the Astrocade.

[CatPix]

Ok it sounded Robotic, but it generally didn't sound like it was made up of phonemes, they sounded like real words. You got a HELLO rather than a H-EL-O. Maybe it was the chip they used or maybe it was that they stitched the words together better. The Intellivision did a good job too.

Fun fact : the O2 and Intelli use the SAME EXACT chip.

The difference being that Philips/Magnavox crammed less words in the build-in ROM, but was then able to put samples of better quality inside, resulting in much clearer words than the Intellivision did.

 

The best one I ever heard is the TI chip build into the French-made Exelvision EXL100 computer, which sounded in the Tennis game at least, more like human recorded speech than robotic voice.

 

 

(no better video than this reeking mess of pixelated shit)

 

Sadly it apparently was a PITA to program for. Interestingly, many game developers used the chip to make game sounds that make this computer sounds VERY unique.

[+fdr4prez]

Being joystick-driven paddle games (albeit with additional dimensions), they leave a bit to be desired for me. They're still fun enough if you've got someone A) willing to play who B) doesn't suck at it, but you're probably better off with an Atari Pong or Odyssey or other dedicated console for that kind of game. Or Video Olympics on the 2600.

 

The Channel F's Breakout clone is the same way; it's an admirable effort (LOTS of game variations) and for a Channel F game it's really good, but it doesn't quite get there with joystick controls. Again, still fun, just not as good as Breakout. Or Bally's clone on the Astrocade.

 

The Channel F Pong game, called Hockey - I think, was neat in that each player had two paddles to move around at the same time during the game. The main playing paddle turns when you twist the controller and the paddle guarding the goal moves up and down across the goal when you lift or press the controller handle. It's neat that the game uses all the functionality of the controller to good effect. As a player you are moving the controller handle in X and Y, twisting it, pushing/pulling, very interactive.

 

I haven't played the Channel F Breakout clone, but I find that Breakout and Kaboom type games are more fun with a set of paddle controllers and not joysticks. Even with the Intellivision Stonix and Breakout, I don't like the disk to play these games.