darthdevidem01 on 07 March 2009
N-Gage
Courtesy Getty Images
Nokia released this cell phone-cum-gaming platform in 2003, and blessed it with a handset design that made unfortunate users look like they were attempting to eat a taco with their ear. Unsurprisingly, it was not a success. The N-Gage brand lives on as a games service for other smartphones, but saddled with such an impractical hardware layout, the N-Gage itself has long been consigned to history's scrap pile.
Gizmondo
Courtesy Getty Images
Explaining the whole story of the Gizmondo would fill a good-sized book, and you'd never believe it anyway. It's straight out of a Robert Ludlum thriller, featuring wrecked million-dollar sports cars, illegal weapons, and even the Swedish Mafia. Sadly, this sordid tale is also far more entertaining than any of the Gizmondo's grand total of eight games. Not even ahead-of-its-time data connectivity and GPS hardware could prevent it from sinking like a stone, although amazingly, a follow-up system is rumored to be launching later this year.
Vectrex
The Vectrex gave 1982's discerning video game consumer the chance to put a mini-arcade machine in their living room. Unfortunately for its makers, it came out just in time to catch the full force of the infamous collapse of the video games industry in 1983-84. Despite a series of price cuts that remain the quickest and deepest in console history, it vanished from stores a mere 18 months after its debut.
Virtual Boy
Although various consoles have been linked to health problems, Nintendo's Virtual Boy is one of the most notorious. Its iconic design allowed true 3D graphics, but came with the undesirable side-effect of inducing nauseating headaches in a number of users. Spurned by consumers in its day, it's now a sought-after collectors' item.
Saturn
You might find it hard to believe that Sony was once an outsider in the console hardware market, but back in 1994 it most certainly was. If the Saturn had had its way, it would have stayed that way. Released by Sega almost four full months ahead of the original Playstation, the Saturn was a bold effort to undermine Sony's success before it had a chance to begin. Overpriced, overcomplicated, and outsold almost immediately by the Playstation, Sega was already hyping the Saturn's replacement just two years after its launch.
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I agree
all those consoles are called failures....not Ps3, Gamecube, xbox n so on!
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