Today's most failure-prone video: Console duds

Calling the original Xbox a failure is ridiculous. It eventually outsold the Gamecube, which means it was the closest console to touching the PS2. Given the earlier release of the PS2 and the huge install base of the original Playstation, it would be difficult to touch it in the first place. To be Microsoft's first attempt, it was far from a failure. Let's not forget that the original Xbox set the now-given standard of including an HDD in a console, which simplified saving games and allowed other content to be saved such as music files, which further allowed (with compatible games) an alternate soundtrack of your choosing. It also included the innovation of quick-disconnect controller cables which this particular gamer found awfully handy when less than sober and tripping over cords. Xbox Live was another great innovation linked to the console. There are plenty of things you can name that keep the Xbox from being a failure. Whether you like it or not, it brought a lot of innovation that we take for granted now.

who could forget the spectacular flop that was known as the...commodore amiga CD32
(bag of shite) ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga_CD32

My previous comment was directed at James, not the article, sorry.

The PS2 was only a great success because of their brand name, early launch and the PS1. MS is quickly establishing themselves as a Top Dog in the console war. The xbox brand is gaining alot of momentum.

nah its not...from what i gathered it had hit a lull in sales...

Definitely.

^ What are you talking about Jack.. early launch .. did you forget that the Dreamcast went for sale a full year before PS2? And, doesnt Nintendo have a gret following and brand recognition as well as 'Playstation'? PS2 was a great success in part because Dreamcast, xbox, and Wii 0.7 failed.

Virtua Boy has to take the cake. Phillips CD-i. Or maybe the Jaguar.

In either case, I owned all three. And thankfully dumped all three on eBay for some decent money.

TG4 eBay!

lol! "Definitely" was for Jack.

Seedaripper - The lull in sales nearly two years later is nothing compared to a lull in sales right off the shelf (PS3). Applications also move consoles and games like Halo 3 will kick it further into gear, as a lot of people are waiting for it before buying either of the big consoles (PS3 or 360).

GL (number 30) On account of my 360 having frozen so many times during crucial points in a game I can't even crack a smile at your comment. You are the epitome of smug gitiness and I hope your next bowel movement contains a hedgehog within.

Nice list and well compiled. Extra kudos due for the heavy handed treatment of Sega's shambolic attempt at prolonging the lifespan of their once mighty megadrive. Eccho the Dolphin... where are you now? I'll always look at my tuna mayo sandwich and wonder longingly.

And Tim (#38) it sounds like you either need a faster connection or a decent piece of spyware software. I've never had a problem with gametrailer's videos. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Konny,

The Dreamcast isn't even a contender in the discussion. The comparison was drawn between the only 3 consoles that survived that gen - Gamecube, PS2 and Xbox. If you don't think that the install base of the Playstation (and thus a catalog of backward-compatible games) had just a tad of something to do with PS2's initial success (which left the other two companies perpetually playing catch-up), you're way out of touch with reality.

my top 10 worst game consoles list would of had the sega saturn, PSP and the imfamous game gear. one time i was so forking scared cause it was my cousin's and i broke it. later he told me that it was made crapply so we had a laugh about blowing the thing up in the parking lot at my grandma's. good times

I like how they use the words "European War Crimes Court" instead of "European War Crimes Tribunal" in case their idiot target audience fail to grab the meaning.

But any top 10 worst consoles is amiss without the N64, sure, it had some of the greatest games of all time. But it threw away the entire market.

Konny

I love my PS3. Wouldn't trade it for two 360 and two Wii's. The Sony brand name is well known around the world. Alot of people turn to Sony for TV and other electronics. It helped them alot. They launched the PS2 at the perfect time. MS was new to the game but had a great system that hardly anyone knew about. The Gamecube was a joke among the general public. The Dreamcast should have whooped the PS2's ass. It had the games and hardware to do it. Long live Sega

I had a Jaguar for a couple of months. Why it took me that long to think of getting rid of it, I'll never know. God it sucked!

to those asking that why the saturn, PSP, PS3 and gamecube didn't made the list...

well it's simply because they were bad, but not bad enough to make it into the TOP TEN...
there were just other console that were worst than them...

actually.. i'm quiet surprised the apple pippin wasn't in the list as well..

I personally loved the 3DO, mostly for road rash and way of the warrior (even though that game is pretty choppy it was fun to play). I also loved sewer shark on sega cd and it was fun to play it with video that wasn't so pixelated.


The sega CD was worth the money when it came out just for sewer shark and sonic cd (which i also agree was the best sonic game)

One thing I must say about handhelds, is why did the lynx and gamegear not do better? gamegear came out in 1991 and looked so good compared to the monochrome gameboy... and yet the gamegear failed and the gameboy lasted until gameboy color came out 7 YEARS later... maybe it was due to size? whatever it was it never made sense to me all those years... i remember playing the gamegear (sonic) in 92... then when the game boy color came out i was thinking "what's the big deal with this thing?"

shaoron,

Another reason they shouldn't be on the list is that they're not total failures. Sega left the console market altogether, as did Atari. The Gamecube, PSP, PS3, etc, are all currently alive and supported. While they may not be popular systems (and the jury is judging pretty early on the PS3, only time can really tell), they haven't literally failed.

well there were definitely some factual errors in there, ones that i would have assumed any game site would pick up on (the 32x was not cd based, you can at the very least see that from the video, it is cartridge based). but the list makes sense, i wouldnt consider the rzone a video game system though, it was just a glorified tiger handheld. the gamecom on the other hand should have had that spot to itself. and im also glad there is no dreamcast or saturn on there, i know its been said by others, but video games didnt start with the playstation. if you werent alive to see the saturn even launch, then you have no idea about it (respectable in japan, okay its first year or two here).

Anyone who thinks the Saturn should be on that list is a moron. The Saturn is one of the most underrated systems of all time, living in the shadow of the more powerful and more popular Playstation. It had plenty of excellent, original games such as Panzer Dragoon Saga, Guardian Heroes, Nights, Die Hard Arcade, and Dragon Force, as well as awesome arcade games like VF2, Virtua Cop 1 & 2, Virtual On, Sega Rally, Daytona CCE, and House of the Dead. While this system is certainly no Playstation, it deserves to be nowhere near the top 10 worst consoles of all time.

Dreamcast might have done better had it included a DVD player and some more support from 3rd parties. It's first party titles were truly top-tier. Awesome system.

changing the subject haha, the DC had a few issues;
no EA
no DVD
and a copy protection that was cracked in a year after release.

"The E3 presentation ("Giant enemy crabs")"

Yeah that and MGS4 and the new photorealism of NBA games. Oh that and Gran Turismo HD. And what about the at-the-time amazingly realistic physics of the ducks?

"the price tag"

Which is incredibly low since they lose the most on each system, and are investing their money in the people that buy it right now. Whereas Nintendo resides to building a cheap system with cheap parts, and selling it at 50-100 profit a system, ripping you all off.

"the inclusion of blu-ray"

Yeah the fact that it is the cheapest blu-ray player out there, AND is a game console is a bad thing. RIIIGHHHT... The fact that over 30% of Americans have an HDTV. The fact that number used to be less than 5% 2 years ago. Yeah blu-ray totally isn't the future or anything, and we should insult companies for trying to break new grounds and pioneering technologies that could expand how we play games. No more disc swapping, thanks.

"the lack of must-have titles thus far"

www.myspace.com/aberu

Go there and have fun looking at my list against the PS3 DUHHHHN'T HAVE ANY GAMES LOL argument. Because the last time I copy pasted the list it got deleted by the staff. Conspiracy? Most likely.

"the backwards compatibility issues"

Less than 1% of all games spanning a library of more than 5,000, and majority of them are from a system 2 generations ago. Yeah that's such a big issue. At least people will USE this system's backwards compatability for more than one game (Halo 2 and SSBM come to mind for the competition).

"the underusage of the PSnetwork"

More than 50% of the PS3 buyers have gone online according to Sony. That's not really a failure.

"the inclusion of the motion sensitivity that will never be used"

Warhawk and Blazing Angels already, who else in the future? Shaking during burning in Resistance is quite exciting despite how it sounds.

"the lack of rumble"

Rumble has been proven to be the most causing link between console gaming and carpal tunnal. They said it's more causing than pushing buttons super fast all day. That says something. Besides that, rumble is most likely coming back anyways due to the team of Sony and the company that made their rumble before coming back together.

"the outrage claims by the people behind the system outragous claims of $1200 for each PS3 on a store's shelf and that it will cure diseases"

Which only the hardcore bloggers and blogger readers really gave a shit about. I really never cared about what they said, I know that if Nintendo or Microsoft represents themselves at an exclusive tradeshow better than Sony, it doesn't mean anything to me. Just look at the game lineup, the value, the features, the technology, the EVERYTHING and it's not a bad buy at all. The thought it's a bad buy is stemming solely from people who are A) Nintendo fanboys B)Microsoft Fanboys C)People that aren't in the market to buy any of them yet, doesn't have an HDTV, and will probably buy a childish Wii anyways.

Game Gear: This system failed because (as anyone can tell you) THE BATTERIES DIED IN LESS THAN 1 HOUR. It was backlit, which rocked except you COULD NOT TURN THE BACKLIGHT OFF, so it was always sucking power. The GG also had an adapter to watch TV on it. Awesome, right? Except the adapter cost as much as the Game Gear.

Saturn: If you think it should be on this list, go buy a Saturn, plug it in, get in a bathtub, and bring it in with you. Go on eBay, search Saturn games, and sort by price. gg (good game, not game gear)

Dreamcast/Xbox/GCube: By far not failures compared to shit like the Jaguar. DC alone has some of the highest rated games ever made

Sega CD: I loved this when I owned it, but admittedly it was expensive and the titles were 99% lame FMV shootfests. The rarer stuff like Sonic/Lunar/Jurassic Park were good, but did not overcome the crap

Sega 32X: Garbage. My neighbor bought one and we tried to find a use for it for a year until we just hit it with a baseball bat. BTW some (maybe 5 or 6) 32X games were really CDX, meaning you needed a 32x AND a Sega CD to run it, and it had a cartridge AND a CD for MORE BLAST PROCESSING

I have a CD32!

It'd be good if all of it's good games hadn't already been available on the A1200. Er, and if it wasn't just a cut down A1200 with a CD drive...

Also, Saturn could have been on that list had it not been for the truly excellent first-party support (SEGA during some of it's most creative years, IIRC), the PS3 is far too new to know which direction it's going (and even if it flops, I suspect Sony's first party support may raise it to the level of the Sega Saturn).

The game.com was far worse a system than the Gizmondo, I mean, seriously, the system's best game was 'lights out'!

What about the Turbo Express?? That wasn't mentioned. You guys remember the TV tuner option?

Jack said: "The Dreamcast should have whooped the PS2's ass. It had the games and hardware to do it. Long live Sega"

I loved the Dreamcast...but it did NOT have the games to do it. It launched with what is arguably the greatest console fighting game ever...and went downhill from there. It had great fighting games, great sports games....and if you didn't like those genres, things got MUCH bleaker. When most of the highest ranked games on a console are multi-console ports...that's not good.

Dreamcast had some AWESOME games like Shenmue, Jet Grind Radio, Crazy Taxi and Skies of Arcadia...but it didn't have enough good exclusives...not unlike Nintendo. Playstation won the market with some of the best exclusives around...and excellent backwards-compatability and a DVD to boot.

Aberu,

You should get a job with Sony, preferably in the spin department. Corpal Tunnel Syndrome??!?! Are you SERIOUSLY using that as an argument? Wow, that whole diatribe reminded me of the film "Thank You For Smoking."

Dreamcast had the best fighting games ever. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, Powerstone, Project Justice, Techromancer. Dreamcast games were getting ported to the PS2, Gamecube and Xbox for years after they had been Dreamcast exclusives.

I don't pretend to know why the Dreamcast had the problems it did, but I loved it. I guess maybe it was marketing, for one thing. I remember a select few "It's thinking" commercials and that's about it. Whatever the reason, it was sad to see Sega pull out of the console market after making such a good one.

I loved the NGAGE. Not as a gaming device but as a phone!! A pitty I broke mine. I'd propably be still using it.

Hmm...I guess from their perspective, they can't get past the original N-Gage. Agreed. It really wasn't that good. But the QD is the exact opposite. It came out when Nokia was getting good games. While it was good that they included Pathway to Glory, as it kicked ass, Pocket Kingdom wasn't all that good. N-Gage, in truth, began to get a lot of good games. Only problem was people are stupid and only remembered the crappy games from 2003. In 2004 and 2005, N-Gage had a nice bunch of great titles. If it wasn't for the top dogs over at Nokia pushing away from it, it could've sold more.

Anywho, the Phantom probably should not of been on the list. Unlike the other systems, it had no balls to come out and play. Even Gizmondo made it out, and I do have one.

49. Calling the original Xbox a failure is ridiculous. It eventually outsold the Gamecube, which means it was the closest console to touching the PS2.

I think your wrong about the orginal xbox coming close to touching the ps2 in sales because of the orginal xbox being in 2nd place is a very silly comment taht needs more looking into. The orginal xbox barely outsold the gamecube and it was no where near the sales of the ps2 which is in the 100millions range. the orginal xbox is more closer to the gamecube interms of graphics which was better then then ps2 but closer to the gamecube in sales. Even though the orginal xbox is not a failure by creating standards like harddrive, headset, unified internet support for the gaming industry the orginal xbox failed to catch up to the sales and popularity of the ps2 and let xbox quickly ditch the xbox and launch the xbox360 my favorite current gen console. A good thing the playstation image in america is now being tarnished by the expensive ps3, i have notice alot of casual gamers who use to only play playstation are now buying an xbox360 or wii becuase they are cheaper. if the 600 dollare price tag still stands wii and xbox360 will become more popular then the ps3 if sony dont drop the price.

ipod fanboy,

If read the very statement you copied from my comments, I never said it came close to the PS2 in sales, and in fact went further to say that the PS2 was too well installed already with a headstart for either company to catch up. All I implied is that Microsoft (being brand-spanking-newborn-new at consoles with the release of the Xbox) managed to outsell Nintendo's (long-in-the-industry-and-already-proven) console, however slim the margin, which means it was the closest console (between Nintendo's Gamecube and Microsoft's Xbox) to touching the PS2. I never said it came close to the PS2, only that it was the closEST to touching it. I don't live in a big enough fantasy world to claim Xbox sold anywhere near the PS2.

And for further clarification, I'm not saying the Gamecube is "long in the industry and already proven" buy that Nintendo was.

And I definitely agree that Sony needs to find a way to lower that pricepoint because that's the sort of thing that has killed many a console in the past.

I just signed up because the sticky balls part was funny.


oh and I loved my Neo Geo Pocket!

"God Awful" Night Trap? Well, fuck you sir! I enjoyed that.

@71. Well, I am trying to start a pissing contest, but I will defend my opinions.

"Yeah that and MGS4 and the new photorealism of NBA games. Oh that and Gran Turismo HD. And what about the at-the-time amazingly realistic physics of the ducks?"

Yeah, I watched the presentation. Besides the MGS4 trailer, it was pretty much a bore. Well, that is in the past now (pretty much a year to the day). I'm not dwelling on it, but it was likely the point where the momentum shifted, as lots of people looked away from the PS3 and saw the great 360 titles coming out and the uniqueness of the Wii.

"Which is incredibly low since they lose the most on each system, and are investing their money in the people that buy it right now. Whereas Nintendo resides to building a cheap system with cheap parts, and selling it at 50-100 profit a system, ripping you all off."

I really couldn't give a crap about how much they are spending to make each system. I believe that all of the systems of this generation are over priced. The PS3 should be dropped a few hundred, the 360 should drop by at least a hundred, and the Wii, two gamecubes duct taped together, should never have been more than $200CND (the price of the DS when it was released), even with Wii Sports.

"Yeah the fact that it is the cheapest blu-ray player out there, AND is a game console is a bad thing. RIIIGHHHT... The fact that over 30% of Americans have an HDTV. The fact that number used to be less than 5% 2 years ago. Yeah blu-ray totally isn't the future or anything, and we should insult companies for trying to break new grounds and pioneering technologies that could expand how we play games. No more disc swapping, thanks."

Sure, I can watch movies in HD on my HDTV (something I have, by the way), but I don't watch a lot of movies anyway. I play video games, and the Blu-ray disc really has not proven to enhance games one bit. The 360 still uses DVD and has just as nice of graphics as the PS3 (Though, that could change). Game storage may become a factor as developers start using Blu-ray to it's full potential, but I never had any problem with getting off of my couch to switch a disc anyway.

I am not saying that Blu-ray holds no interest to some people, as you have pointed out that 30% of Americans (don't know what it would be here) have HDTVs. I'm just saying that to me, it is great technology that I have no use for. It is one of those "all-in-one" deals where I only want half of what I'm being charged for.

"Go there and have fun looking at my list against the PS3 DUHHHHN'T HAVE ANY GAMES LOL argument. Because the last time I copy pasted the list it got deleted by the staff. Conspiracy? Most likely."

I stand by my statement, saying that MGS4, FFXIII, and White Knight Story are the only exclusives that I'm interested in. The rest of the titles are not what I would consider must-haves. Then again, everyone has different opinions, different genres/titles that interest them, and different disposable incomes that they can spend on games.

"Less than 1% of all games spanning a library of more than 5,000, and majority of them are from a system 2 generations ago. Yeah that's such a big issue. At least people will USE this system's backwards compatability for more than one game (Halo 2 and SSBM come to mind for the competition)."

I checked it out through Sony's site a few months back and found out that about 30% of my titles didn't work fully on the system. I don't know about you, but I would consider that to be an "issue". Now, I have not gone back and checked that since, but it appears that the number will eventually drop, considering Sony has transferred from hardware to software emulation to run PS1 and PS2 titles in Europe. Although the same thing has not happened in NA, why would Sony only due this for Europe? Why would they spend some of their manpower to update just European PS3's to support more titles?

Still, it's not as bad as the 360, where they still don't have all the games that I would like to play on it. The Wii, on the otherhand, has played all the titles I own for the gamecube.

"More than 50% of the PS3 buyers have gone online according to Sony. That's not really a failure."

I meant Sony not using it as well as they should, not the users.

"Warhawk and Blazing Angels already, who else in the future? Shaking during burning in Resistance is quite exciting despite how it sounds."

There may be a few games that use it well, but they are overshadowed by the many titles that will just use it as a gimmick.

"Rumble has been proven to be the most causing link between console gaming and carpal tunnal. They said it's more causing than pushing buttons super fast all day. That says something. Besides that, rumble is most likely coming back anyways due to the team of Sony and the company that made their rumble before coming back together."

Well, if Sony does include rumble into their controllers once again, then they have fixed one of their mistakes.

"Which only the hardcore bloggers and blogger readers really gave a shit about. I really never cared about what they said, I know that if Nintendo or Microsoft represents themselves at an exclusive tradeshow better than Sony, it doesn't mean anything to me."

I'm not a blogger and I'm not that hardcore of a blog reader. I just have a habit of being extremely annoyed by ignorance, something that Sony is brimming with. It's not that I won't get it because of them, but it doesn't make me more inclined to buy one either.

"Just look at the game lineup, the value, the features, the technology, the EVERYTHING and it's not a bad buy at all."
I have, as I have with every console I've ever bought. $700CND is way too much for me.

"The thought it's a bad buy is stemming solely from people who are A) Nintendo fanboys B)Microsoft Fanboys C)People that aren't in the market to buy any of them yet, doesn't have an HDTV, and will probably buy a childish Wii anyways."

So... anyone who disagrees with you're opinion is branded as blindly following one of the other two competitors or don't give a crap about video games at all. That makes a lot of sense.

For the record, I am neither a Microsoft nor a Nintendo fanboy. A fanboy requires someone to ignore all the disadvantages something has, whether it be you're favourite console, television show, car manufacturer, anything. They also, just as aimlessly, must disregard all competition as unworthy and, basically, pieces of shit.

I am not a fanboy of any system. I pledge no allegiance to one system, as that just limits the enjoyment of it. PC, Wii, 360, PS3, DS, PSP, and all of the systems of years past. I will play any of the systems, as long as the game is worth it.

I will buy a PS3 eventually, same with a 360 and a PSP. But like I've said before, they will need to lower the price of the PS3 and get quite a few more games before I'd be willing to save up the money for it anytime soon.

And aren't you just as bad as those you are hating (Microsoft and Nintendo Fanboys) if you call the Wii childish?

Correction, I am *not* trying to start a pissing contest here.

I think that whoever said it meant that if you consider the GameCube a failure, you have to consider the Xbox a failure (the two million extra units being negated by the billions of dollars lost), and vice versa

the only consoles i would consider to be "failures" were the ones that did not endure an entire generation: Dreamcast (despite its numerous great games, it had to have done something wrong), 3D0, Jaguar, Atari 7800, 5200, Lynx, and the TurboExpress

Atari 2600 to Atari 5200....crap.. PS2 to PS3? crap? maybe?

@22 Which PSP are you talking about?