by While I was growing up, I had the weirdest toys imaginable. While it was common for little girls to have dolls, playhouses and miniature tea parties, by the time when I was already 10 years old, my preferences regarding toys have drastically changed. Now what I want are video games. The very first video game I played was an Atari arcade game named Pac-Man; it was relatively a new game back then and no one ever imagined that it would become so popular all over the world. Nevertheless, I have had so many video game consoles that came in, played for a few months or years, and then changed the system for a new one.
Each gaming system has their own quirks and goodies, but there were some who are really bad that I really felt bad about making my parents buy them. I have long since placed them away and a proud owner of an Xbox 360 gaming console. In any case, I look at these old consoles of mine, which I placed properly on a glass window and realized that some people may have experienced the same thing I did too. Since I had nothing better to do, I checked the Internet and presto, some people have bought those really bad game consoles.
So to make things interesting, I’ve listed down the top five gaming consoles that failed during the early years of video gaming.
1. The Nintendo Virtual Boy
Back in 1995, a lot of boys and girls were excited to get their hands on the Nintendo Virtual Boy. It’s every dream come true for a hard-core gamer; it promised the ultimate 3d graphics and the design itself looks like you’re putting on some sort of headgear that will take you to the “virtual reality” of video games. Unfortunately, when I managed to get my hands on one, the first complaint that I told my parents was that everything was colored red. Also, the game system was a waste of batteries as it required six AA batteries in order to run and the batteries get drained within two hours. There were only a few game cartridges sold and after a year, the Virtual Boy was considered a commercial failure.
2. The Atari Jaguar
Now the Atari is the company that became popular because it popularized video games and was considered the very first gaming company. Unfortunately, they have had so many problems in the past, which included the Atari Jaguar. In 1993, Atari released the Jaguar and boasted that it was “their best video game console yet” as it was noted to have superior graphics compared to other gaming consoles. My Atatri Jaguar boxset is still in my room and I swore that the box art boasted that the system has “64-bit” graphics when in fact, the main processor was only 16-bit and a 32-bit graphics chipset! Way to go, Atari!
3. The Apple Bandai Pippin
If there’s one game console that I really hate the most, it’s the Apple Bandai Pippin. The game was made during Apple’s turbulent time. Some even said that this particular game was the cause of Apple’s near bankruptcy. This was in 1996, so you can bet that Steve Jobs had nothing to do with the development of this game. He walked out from Apple when he was demoted from CEO to Apple adviser during this time. Anyway, the game was pretty expensive but the game console’s quality sucked big time, so it went to my shelf within a year’s time.
4. The Sega 32X
This should have been the first in my list, but according to reliable sources, the 32x only lived for a few months before the Sega Saturn was released in the United States. And also, I didn’t dare to beg my parents to buy one, since my friends all tell me that it’s horrible but I did have my Sega Genesis, which was a beautiful machine. Anyway, the Sega 32X was built as an add-on machine for your Sega Genesis. You can play 16-bit and 32-bit games with this machine. However, it has it’s own power, which means you have to make sure that your power strip has an extra port for the 32X. Also, it’s expensive and was rumored to break down your Genesis, which is why it was easily scrapped by most gamers.
5. The Pioneer LaserActive
This has got to be the most expensive game in history. When my parents saw the price list for the Pioneer LaserActive, they made sure never to pass by the video game store again. It costs around $1000 to get this video game console, which is actually as big as a stereo surround system that uses laser discs. Don’t confuse the laser discs as the predecessor of the CD’s and DVD’s of today; these laser discs were total junk and held less data than the VHS. In other words, the games that came with the Pioneer LaserActive were crap.
