Buying the losing console

Black_Stride

do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Been on a losing streak since forever.

  • Sega Master System
  • Sega GameGear
  • Sega Saturn
  • Sega DreamCast
  • OG Xbox
  • Xbox 360
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series S


Granted I had reasons.
Playstations and Ninty consoles were everywhere when I was young, but most of my neighbors/friends werent actually gamers so rarely actually used their consoles so I effectively had Playstations and Nintys in my life since launch........but no one had Sega consoles so to be a "hipster" id have Sega consoles and would play games that no one else had access to.
OG Xbox was the DreamCast 2 in my eyes.
Hell I own more Playstation games than alot of my friends who actually own the console itself.

The Xbox 360 was legit my favorite console, I moved to XB1 for more Halo, Forza and Gears and the Series S is a Gamepass machine for my nephews now that im an "adult' im supposed to provide some entertainment whenever they come over or i visit my family and the Series S fits in my pocket.

In reality im generally a PC gamer so consoles dont matter all that much.
 

reinking

Gold Member
I have owned at one time or another almost every console, so yes, I have had those consoles. My favorite of those bing the Jaguar.(F the haters). However, I had fun with all of them so I do not consider it losing.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
Actually, it wasn’t. It sold better than 360 throughout its life, year-over-year it sold more. That’s the very reason it caught up in the first place.

Yes, it was slow going those first few years (06/07), but after that, it was regularly catching up despite the year deficit (among other things) working against it.
I'm pretty sure it was after 2009 that ps3 really started catching up and that was mainly due to non mainstream markets.

Doesn't matter still was my most played console that gen. 🤷‍♂️
 

HeWhoWalks

Gold Member
I'm pretty sure it was after 2009 that ps3 really started catching up and that was mainly due to non mainstream markets.

Doesn't matter still was my most played console that gen. 🤷‍♂️
Yeah, 2008 is when it started to outsell it, with 2009 being when the bigger shifts began.
 
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AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
Once I could afford it I bought everything. So I never really felt like I had a losing console. The console I have use the least in my life is the PS5.
 

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
Generally I buy all the consoles and play the ones that make me happiest the most.
Yup.

I liked my Sega consoles more than my Nintendo ones for certain games. Madden played alot better on Sega consoles.

First handheld I really supported and used alot was the Vita. I bought a Wii U at launch.

I don't really care about having a "winning or losing" console, the only thing I would worry about is devs not supporting or launching games on a "losing" console.
 
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diffusionx

Gold Member
I got an Xbox One close to launch... and it was fucking awful. The OS didn't work, Kinect sucked, the only thing that was good was some of the games. Dead Rising 3 and Titanfall were genuinely good but also did not run well because the Kinect took like 20% of the resources to process.

I bought a PS4 a year later and couldn't believe how much better it was. It even did voice commands better than the Kinect lmao.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
Had the option of a game boy or a game gear and I went with the game gear. Early days I really thought it was the right choice.

The six battery requirement and lack of games later in its life really made me think twice.

I’d eventually get a game boy for Pokémon and Zelda but I absolutely missed out on more game boy games at the time though I occasionally got to play on my brother’s.

Sometimes though it’s not about what system sells the most but what has the games you want.

The DS outsold the PSP but I’d still go with the PSP today. No longer interested in Pokémon and the games on PSP were just much further ahead.
 

Astray

Member
Bought a Dreamcast as my 1st Sega console and Sega went 3rd party. Loved it though, Virtua Tennis was the shit and I played that system into the ground.

Bought an Xbox Series X as my 1st Xbox console and Xbox went 3rd party. Loved it much less than the Dreamcast, it's currently collecting dust.
 
I generally own everything so yeah more often then not.

Outside of the 5th and 6th gen I've always owned the losing console (Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series). I also bought multiples of these consoles as well (OG 360, 360S, XBO, XBO S, XBO X, Xbox Series X twice, and S).
 
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MiguelItUp

Member
Nah, I just went after the ones that interested me and was always happy.

I even had an Atari Jaguar and a Turbografix-16, and I loved them.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
Had the option of a game boy or a game gear and I went with the game gear. Early days I really thought it was the right choice.

The six battery requirement and lack of games later in its life really made me think twice.

I’d eventually get a game boy for Pokémon and Zelda but I absolutely missed out on more game boy games at the time though I occasionally got to play on my brother’s.

Sometimes though it’s not about what system sells the most but what has the games you want.

The DS outsold the PSP but I’d still go with the PSP today. No longer interested in Pokémon and the games on PSP were just much further ahead.
PSP and DS was this situation where both were legit great options and were totally different. I know DS sold more but I wouldn't call the PSP a loser.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
The X1X and the Series X have served my gaming needs well. I don’t regret skipping PlayStation for the second generation in a row.
I also have a WiiU. No complaints on the software side.

I also guess whatever handheld you bought since 1989 that wasn’t branded Nintendo was a loser. I think people had their fun with those, though. Variety was a good thing, if you could afford it.
 

Makoto-Yuki

Banned
if you think one console can win or lose then you're always gonna lose. buy whatever one you want. stop taking part in childish immature "wars" that only serve to make rich people richer.
 

Makoto-Yuki

Banned
Alternate thread title: Have you ever bought anything but a Playstation?
sure let's just ignore Nintendo which has 5 consoles in the top 10 selling consoles of all time. if it wasn't for PS2 then Nintendo would have the top 3 and one of them being their current hardware.
 
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Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
sure let's just ignore Nintendo which has 5 consoles in the top 10 selling consoles of all time. if it wasn't for PS2 then Nintendo would have the top 3 and one of them being their current hardware.
wesley-crusher-joking.gif
 

kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
PS3, sure. Do I regret it? No.

The PS3 was so much better than the Xbox 360 in its later years. I had both the Xbox 360 and PS3 and my 360 was gathering dust almost all of the time after 2009/10.
 

SimTourist

Member
Don't really care if it's losing, I've bought consoles for a single game that interested me, there's almost always something good even on a failing console.
 

nowhat

Member
I had an original Xbox and 360 (these were not bad consoles. They sold less, but the games were great)
I don't think 360 was a losing console by any measure. Yes, eventually Sony was able to sell more towards the end/past the end of that gen (not by a lot though, and when they made it past 360 the MSRP was very low), but said gen was terrible for Sony. PS3 nearly bankrupted the company.
 
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Bond007

Member
On handhelds, sure- with Sony's offerings.
Dreamcast was another- but i dumped it right at PS2 launch to fund it. It was always a stopgap for me as a kid so i never really felt like it failed to me as an owner- it was an amazing year and i sold it before i was left potentially hanging by SEGA.
N64 while not as popular, i don't consider it a "failure"

I did have a Wii U.
 

NeonDelta

Member
Dreamcast and Wii u are only consoles since the saturn that I haven’t owned. So although I’ve bought many “losing” consoles. I’ve been fortunate to also have the winning ones
 

Mortisfacio

Member
I have with various things like Xbox and Dreamcast, but I've always been a multiple console type for most my life, up until 360 and ps3. I didn't buy an XBOne, but I bought a PS4. Even though I bought the winner, I still felt like the loser as everything besides Bloodborne ended up coming to PC and looking better there. RDR2 is the last game I purchased for console. Watching the terrain actively downscale as the hardware couldn't keep up just left a lot to be desired, so I double dipped and bought the PC release.

I have a Series X I throw Game Pass on for the kids and their friends who come over, but I'm PC exclusive now with a Switch that is mostly for my son and then a Steam Deck for traveling or just when I want to lay next to my wife, but have no interest in the crime shows she watches.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
I enjoy playing video games more than I enjoy playing unit sales. If I'm having fun with a machine that's all that matters to me.
 

Pandawan

Banned
Have you ever bet on the wrong horse? I certainly have, multiple times.

I had a Neo Geo Pocket black and white, and later the colour one. I sold my PS1 to get it lol.

I had a Dreamcast, and refused to buy Sony because I believed Sony killed the DC (spoiler: Sega killed the DC)

I had an original Xbox and 360 (these were not bad consoles. They sold less, but the games were great)


What about you guys?
Actually i never. I had X360, PS3, PS4, Switch and PS5.

PS5 is the closest to a failed console (PS5 is alive and sells well so technically it is not a loosing console but the only game i ended up needing PS5 for was Demons Souls, the rest i played on PC. maybe GTA6 will prove buying PS5 was not a mistake).
 
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Turbo Graphix 16 -- Was awesome and all my friends loved it too, as it was so unique, plus no one had one but me (in my town).

The games came on credit cards "Hu cards", Yeah sega master system did this first but these were nicer and thinner, plus they came in CD jewel cases, just like ps1 games. This was in 1990.
The colors popped, the backgrounds were great. So many games with large pixel enemies. Going from NES to this was incredible.
The sound was superb.

To this day, I think it had better colors than the Genesis and could put more colors on screen at the same time than the snes. Snes had more colors to choose from though:

TG-16: Simultaneous Colors:482 (out of 512 choices)
Genesis: 64 (out of 512 choices)
Snes: 256 (out of 32k choices)

TG16's failing hardware wise was the cpu, which I didn't see any performance issues in games, they all played smooth. It was more on the school yard talk,
as TG16 didn't have a 16bit CPU, it had a 7.16mhz 8bit cpu and 8bit data bus but had two 16-bit graphics processors, a HuC6270 video display controller and a HuC6260 video color encoder
Genesis was faster, Snes was slow but had mode 7 and more ram, TG16 was a happy medium.
All 3 consoles had unique features that made them have a feel that isn't the same today, as everything seem identical now.

So many exclusive and better smups: Blazing lasers, rtype, gate of thunder, Salamander (lifeforce), AirZonk, Soldier Blade, Dragon Spirit (personal fav).
Action adventure -Splatterhouse, Legendary Axe 1 and 2, Bonks Adventure , Bonks Revenge, Ninja Spirit, Bloody Wolf, Vigilante, new adventure island,
Strategy and Pinball - Klax, Military Madness, Bomberman 94', Devils Crush, Alien Crush (amazing games , still unbeat to this day. The genesis version paled in comparison to the refined tg16 version of Devils crush).
RPG - Ys 1 and 2, Cadash, Dungeon Explorer 1 and 2 (gauntlet with more rpg elements and classes to choose from ), Double Dungeons, Ad&d Order of the Griffin (westwood studios Gold box style AD&D game), Neutopia 1 and 2 (basically Legend of Zelda in 16bit graphics )

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It sucked when it didn't get 3rd party games as much, all thanks to Nintendo exclusivity contracts, which if memory serves, Sega sued them over and won.
So a lot of games never made it stateside which dampened the sales. All that being said, it still had amazing games and I loved the system.

Sadly it and all my games got stolen. I then went on to get a genesis 1992 and snes 1994 (helped that i had a job as a kid), finally to get the ultimate console ps1 in 1998.


Other consoles that were loosing was the PS3 at first. Man the ps3 was and is so awesome. It won in the end though. It was to this day, imo, the best first party Sony ever had. They fought tooth and nail to regain their lost spot as king and they did. Sadly the 2nd half of the ps4 they got hubris and dipped into the woke kool-aid. They no longer make many games that people like me would be interested in. Xbox isn't any better in this regard.

The other one was Game Gear and Vita, both a head of their time but were badly supported and abandoned by the companies.
 
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DenimDevil

Neo Member
I was extremely happy with my "losing" Master System, Megadrive, Saturn, Dreamcast and all Xbox consoles. Also really happy with my Series X.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I have a long history with buying "losing" consoles. Since I became an adult though, I usually just buy all the consoles so they can't all be winners.

Some stuff from my collection I haven't seen mentioned yet: I still own my Nokia NGAGE and Tiger Game.Com handhelds!
 
My first job I worked up and saved around $600. Went and got a dreamcast and basically quit soon after. It was worth it for the online though since I've never seen a console with online gameplay. Plus I didn't play games as much back then so I didn't even know what was going on.
 

Beechos

Member
I usually get all the consoles so buying the losing one doesn't really affect me nor would it factor into my purchasing decision. The only consoles i really skipped were the ones i knew would be ...

Historical bad - jaguar
Super expensive - neo geo
Both historical bad and expensive - 3DO
 
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