I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Dude, come on. Be real. Gamecube was a colossal failure. Why do you think Nintendo did something so experimental, risky and different with the Wii?
What are you favorite failed gaming platforms and why?
- Thread starter entremet
- Start date
As I've already answered in another similar thread:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1208652
As for my favorite niche videogame system, it is the WonderSwan handheld series by Bandai.
(Red wine Swan Crystal in the pic)
WonderSwan was a cheap handheld produced by Bandai between 1999 and 2003.
The handheld was a moderate success in Japan, just think that before Sony entered the handheld market, WonderSwan was the most successful handheld in the japanese marker not produced by Nintendo:
Bandai WonderSwan: more than 3.20 million
Sega Game Gear: 1.78 million
SNK Neo Geo Pocket: 0.55 million
Sadly it was never brought to the west (it was distributed in some to other asian country though) so it's a bit obscure outside of Japan.
What I like about WonderSwan is the small form factor, the absolutely great power consumption (one AA battery last for at least 15 hours) and the library of good games, especially puzzle games.
For anyone who desire to know more about the system and it's best games I suggest to read this site:
http://swan-of-wonders.weebly.com
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1208652
As for my favorite niche videogame system, it is the WonderSwan handheld series by Bandai.
(Red wine Swan Crystal in the pic)
WonderSwan was a cheap handheld produced by Bandai between 1999 and 2003.
The handheld was a moderate success in Japan, just think that before Sony entered the handheld market, WonderSwan was the most successful handheld in the japanese marker not produced by Nintendo:
Bandai WonderSwan: more than 3.20 million
Sega Game Gear: 1.78 million
SNK Neo Geo Pocket: 0.55 million
Sadly it was never brought to the west (it was distributed in some to other asian country though) so it's a bit obscure outside of Japan.
What I like about WonderSwan is the small form factor, the absolutely great power consumption (one AA battery last for at least 15 hours) and the library of good games, especially puzzle games.
For anyone who desire to know more about the system and it's best games I suggest to read this site:
http://swan-of-wonders.weebly.com
Dreamcast. I loved that system and some the innovations it had (online games which was the first for a console on that level, the VMU which was great for NFL 2K and a few other games) I knew it was doomed with the ps2 on the horizon though.
I did have the Saturn and while it had a few fighting games I imported from Japan I don't enjoy that system that much. Beside those I really didn't own any other failed system. I bailed on the nintendo after the n64.
I did have the Saturn and while it had a few fighting games I imported from Japan I don't enjoy that system that much. Beside those I really didn't own any other failed system. I bailed on the nintendo after the n64.
Interfectum
Member
I'm guessing Vita counts? If so, Vita. If not, Sega CD.
Vita: Tons of great JRPGs and indies to play on the go, plus remote play
Sega CD: Lunar and Eternal Champions CD
Vita: Tons of great JRPGs and indies to play on the go, plus remote play
Sega CD: Lunar and Eternal Champions CD
The Dreamcast. I had just started working at Electronics Boutique a couple weeks before 9.9.99 and had a blast with my coworkers on launch day. I bought a Dreamcast, Sonic, NFL2K on launch and tons of others over its lifetime. Samba De Amigo was one of the greatest party games ever.
The comparisons of the Wii U to the Dreamcast ring hollow to me. The Dreamcast had far, far more quality software than the Wii U.
The comparisons of the Wii U to the Dreamcast ring hollow to me. The Dreamcast had far, far more quality software than the Wii U.
CanUKlehead
Member
Third place isn't a win, but it doesn't make it a failure necessarily.
I mean, if Wii was the top seller and PS3 was third in that gen, I wouldn't say the PS3 was a failure.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Will bump this thread for switch in four years
I know it's not the point your making but Ps3 wasn't third.
ThatStupidLion
Member
I liked the Saturn software more....but the vita hardware was a thing of beauty
skies of arcadia, powerstone, seaman.
skies of arcadia, powerstone, seaman.
Gamecube, Vita and Wii U.
Gamecube was a failure. You can't look at the unit sales alone - you have to look at the price. The Gamecube hit ludicrous low prices to get to 22m sold. It was $99 for Christmas 2003! Ninety nine us dollars!
Anyway, Gamecube and Wii U had stellar first party games. Vita was the perfect handheld for its time and got a couple of big AAA games but even more super high-quality indie games that really suited portable play.
Dreamcast, on the other hand, was very arcade-focused. As someone who never liked arcade games or arcade gameplay it just wasn't for me.
Because the 360 and PS3 sold 80m units compared to the leader's 100m, and did so at a high price. The Gamecube sold 22m compared to PS2's 150m, and did so at a considerably lower price with better hardware. It even got beaten by Xbox, a totally new console no one trusted to do anything but bomb at the time. And based on the support they received, Gamecube was the runt of the litter.
Gamecube was a failure. You can't look at the unit sales alone - you have to look at the price. The Gamecube hit ludicrous low prices to get to 22m sold. It was $99 for Christmas 2003! Ninety nine us dollars!
Anyway, Gamecube and Wii U had stellar first party games. Vita was the perfect handheld for its time and got a couple of big AAA games but even more super high-quality indie games that really suited portable play.
Dreamcast, on the other hand, was very arcade-focused. As someone who never liked arcade games or arcade gameplay it just wasn't for me.
Because the 360 and PS3 sold 80m units compared to the leader's 100m, and did so at a high price. The Gamecube sold 22m compared to PS2's 150m, and did so at a considerably lower price with better hardware. It even got beaten by Xbox, a totally new console no one trusted to do anything but bomb at the time. And based on the support they received, Gamecube was the runt of the litter.
Infinite_Daremo
Member
You wont need four.
Vita for me. I love the machine, it just didn't fit in the market anymore. Some useless hardware in it, bad decisions with storage keeping the entry price too high for some. And then just piss poor support from Sony and a lot of heavy hitters. It gave me FFXHD, Persona 4G and a vast array of old FF titles to play. The best thing is playing Monster Hunter without crab claw.
Disagree Guy
Member
Thankfully I haven't been stung by a platform that then failed but I do remember a friend of mine having a NeoGeo Pocket with the game Biomotor Unitron.
For some reason I was obsessed with that machine and that game.
For some reason I was obsessed with that machine and that game.
You can get all of those games on other systems
InfiniteCombo
Banned
megashock5
Member
Soul Calibur
Space Channel 5
House of the Dead 2
Crazy Taxi
Power Stone
Sonic Adventure 1 & 2
Jet Grind Radio
Virtua Tennis
Seaman
Ready 2 Rumble
2K sports games
Samba de Amigo
Sega Rally 2
Daytona USA
Marvel vs Capcom
And the best versions of:
Test Drive Le Mans
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 & 2
Hydro Thunder
San Francisco Rush 2049
ReVolt
CanUKlehead
Member
Yes it was. Somethinf like 84 million to 360's 88 million.
Ah, see Inwas concentratinf on the numbers. If the argument is Nintendo was expecting more sales and were beaten by a newbie (however giant they were), I'll buy that.
Hell, (controversial??) I'd say the N64 was a failure, and that still clobbered the Saturn. I mean, no one expected them to go from SNES to N64 like that...
I own a good collection of Vita games, but I'd have to own hundreds to have more games on it than some of my consoles.
I'm going to assume you either didn't own a Dreamcast or if you did....you had one game on it, haha.
A DC with the VGA adapter and a copy of Metropolis Street racer is still one of my greatest memories. Playing my DC games on a good quality PC monitor was top tier back in the day.
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
I don't disagree with this. Systems like PS3 and PSP certainly aren't failures. But in the case of Gamecube, the numbers taken by themselves still paints it as a failure. Maybe not quite on the level as Wii U, but it still very much failed.
They're quite collectable now if you have one that still works with a good screen, especially boxed.
My nomination is Xbox 1, in Japan. No other sales story in recent memory has proven so entertaining week after week.
momshotdad
Member
Wii U absolutely. I put an absurd amount of time across the exclusives and had some awesome MK8 parties.
Pretty much just the Dreamcast.
It survived less time than the WiiU, yet birthed a bunch of weird games that I had a ton of fun with. VMUs were neat, talking to a fish with a microphone was funny, and it had a stellar list of arcade ports.
It survived less time than the WiiU, yet birthed a bunch of weird games that I had a ton of fun with. VMUs were neat, talking to a fish with a microphone was funny, and it had a stellar list of arcade ports.
- Power Stone 1-2
- Skies of Arcadia
- Grandia 2
- Shenmue
- Seaman
- Virtua-On
- Soul Calibur
- Crazy Taxi
- Jet Set Radio
- The Typing of the Dead
- Phantasy Star Online
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2
IpsoFacto
Member
Basically any fully fledged SEGA console after the Genesis.
The Sega Saturn had a ton of really good games. The Dreamcast was what is was. It had a great library of games. Very few games that were legit crap. Introducing me to online play, the game pad there was, before the Xbox 360 gamepad came along. I stayed up all night marathoning Soul Calibur and Blue Stinger. So many playthoughs of both Shenmue games. Playing those awesome (at the time) Sonic Adventure games.
Let's not kid around, though, the Playstation 2 clearly had a better library of games. And to some extent, many Dreamcast games were good / excellent in part, because they were system exclusives. But when you release a Skies of Arcadia into consoles that already have more prominent JRPGs, it will likely be taken down a few notches.
Same with Crazy Taxi, same with Ecco: DoTF and some of the very early Dreamcast to console ports.
The Sega Saturn had a ton of really good games. The Dreamcast was what is was. It had a great library of games. Very few games that were legit crap. Introducing me to online play, the game pad there was, before the Xbox 360 gamepad came along. I stayed up all night marathoning Soul Calibur and Blue Stinger. So many playthoughs of both Shenmue games. Playing those awesome (at the time) Sonic Adventure games.
Let's not kid around, though, the Playstation 2 clearly had a better library of games. And to some extent, many Dreamcast games were good / excellent in part, because they were system exclusives. But when you release a Skies of Arcadia into consoles that already have more prominent JRPGs, it will likely be taken down a few notches.
Same with Crazy Taxi, same with Ecco: DoTF and some of the very early Dreamcast to console ports.
Omega Kirby
Member
Has to be WiiU, it had a fantastic 1st party library, which is why im somewhat optimistic about the Switch
Mihos
Gold Member
These are the first systems I ever imported. I still have my Final Fantasy collectors editions in the boxes.
captmcblack
Member
It can only be the Dreamcast.
It was Sega's magnum opus, a masterpiece of a system that had everything and every reason to succeed - Sega's top-level 1st party output with many of their best IPs and great ambition in their new releases, the best arcade ports from Sega (and anyone producing arcade games at the time), the best fighting games and shmups, the best sports sims in NBA and NFL2K, and the best versions of most 3rd party games.
It had 4 controller ports, built-in online support with great software making use of it for FREE, and it was priced very well.
...and people just sat on their hands and waited for PS2. So sad.
It was Sega's magnum opus, a masterpiece of a system that had everything and every reason to succeed - Sega's top-level 1st party output with many of their best IPs and great ambition in their new releases, the best arcade ports from Sega (and anyone producing arcade games at the time), the best fighting games and shmups, the best sports sims in NBA and NFL2K, and the best versions of most 3rd party games.
It had 4 controller ports, built-in online support with great software making use of it for FREE, and it was priced very well.
...and people just sat on their hands and waited for PS2. So sad.
D
Deleted member 752119
Unconfirmed Member
I'd have to go Wii U as well. Not a huge fan, but it had a very solid first party lineup and I was a happy to finally have Nintendo games in HD and have them with traditional controls again after the waggle nonsense on Wii.
Dreamcast would be runner up. I loved Soul Calibur, the sports games etc. But it came out right at the time that my interests were shifting from gameplay focused stuff to wanting more of a narrative so it's focus on arcades games like Crazy Taxi and fighters caused me to lose interest and move on to PS2 and GCN for things like GTA, Eternal Darkness, RE4 etc.
Dreamcast would be runner up. I loved Soul Calibur, the sports games etc. But it came out right at the time that my interests were shifting from gameplay focused stuff to wanting more of a narrative so it's focus on arcades games like Crazy Taxi and fighters caused me to lose interest and move on to PS2 and GCN for things like GTA, Eternal Darkness, RE4 etc.
Strangelove77
Member
Vita.
While I'm as nostalgic as most my age about the Dreamcast and the Saturn, the Vita has a better library than both those systems combined.
While I'm as nostalgic as most my age about the Dreamcast and the Saturn, the Vita has a better library than both those systems combined.
The PSP .
I know is not "failed" as others in thread but it had pretty lackluster software sales in west due CFW/Piracy i suppose.
It had so many games, like games after games. Even people dissed Sony at first and thought DS was gonna kill this in a month it was no joke.
I played some of best games in gen with this little machine. Itself was so good too, build quality,battery life, Web BROWSER,MEDIA CONTENT (NINTENDOOO), Wifi gaming.
Tekken , GTA, God of War,Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Luxar,MGS, Mortal Kombat Unchained(goro baby),It even had remote play , i played alan wake on it.
I know is not "failed" as others in thread but it had pretty lackluster software sales in west due CFW/Piracy i suppose.
It had so many games, like games after games. Even people dissed Sony at first and thought DS was gonna kill this in a month it was no joke.
I played some of best games in gen with this little machine. Itself was so good too, build quality,battery life, Web BROWSER,MEDIA CONTENT (NINTENDOOO), Wifi gaming.
Tekken , GTA, God of War,Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Luxar,MGS, Mortal Kombat Unchained(goro baby),It even had remote play , i played alan wake on it.
Even though it'd be WiiU, I'm going with N-Gage to add some variety to the thread. To this day I don't understand a lot of the complains people had about it, especially after the QD was released.
Look at this! Such a cool looking handheld, and it honestly had plenty of good games. Not to mention Symbian was a pretty interesting OS back in the day, you could play a lot of games that were not necessarily N-Gage games. My favourites:
- Tomb Raider (it was awesome having this on a handheld back in the day)
- Super Monkey Ball Jr.
- The King of Fighters: Extreme (probably my most played game on the system)
- Rayman 3
- Pocket Kingdom
- X-Men Legends
- Splinter Cell: Team Stealth Action
- Xanadu Next
And especially Snakes, it was legit superb and I wish it'd get ported to mobile or whatever.
Look at this! Such a cool looking handheld, and it honestly had plenty of good games. Not to mention Symbian was a pretty interesting OS back in the day, you could play a lot of games that were not necessarily N-Gage games. My favourites:
- Tomb Raider (it was awesome having this on a handheld back in the day)
- Super Monkey Ball Jr.
- The King of Fighters: Extreme (probably my most played game on the system)
- Rayman 3
- Pocket Kingdom
- X-Men Legends
- Splinter Cell: Team Stealth Action
- Xanadu Next
And especially Snakes, it was legit superb and I wish it'd get ported to mobile or whatever.
Codiox
Member
Kresnik258
Member
Vita. I'm not sure I'll ever like a console as much as I like Vita. PS1 is the only thing that comes close.
The only other 'failed' console I've ever owned is Gamecube. And PS3 if you consider that a failure.
I suspect I'd have liked Dreamcast back in the day.
The only other 'failed' console I've ever owned is Gamecube. And PS3 if you consider that a failure.
I suspect I'd have liked Dreamcast back in the day.
GamerMax73
Member
I have a real soft spot for the Amstrad GX4000:
But that's only because I was along time CPC owner in the 80s/90s and I think it's the best looking console ever.
However, my personal favourite:
Seriously underated. Released a good year too late. Great console, great library. Commodore US just never understood how to market the Amiga properly...a bit like Nintendo today with the Switch, IMHO. Here's a good video on the subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcXcy2b1dRM
But that's only because I was along time CPC owner in the 80s/90s and I think it's the best looking console ever.
However, my personal favourite:
Seriously underated. Released a good year too late. Great console, great library. Commodore US just never understood how to market the Amiga properly...a bit like Nintendo today with the Switch, IMHO. Here's a good video on the subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcXcy2b1dRM
NinjamicWZ
Banned
Sega Saturn
I had already bought a PS1 a year ahead of Final Fantasy VII, for that game, but I played Guardian Heroes for 15 minutes at my local used game store (RIP Game Force) and it absolutely blew my mind. I absolutely had to get a Saturn and bought one the next day. 1996 was great for games in general, but Saturn is why it's my favorite year. That spring and summer I played the absolute crap out of Guardian Heroes, Legend of Oasis, Dragon Force, Dark Savior, Three Dirty Dwarves, NiGHTS, Panzer Zwei and Nightwarriors. What a line up.
It's the single biggest reason why I still loved 2D games for so long (on top of Metal Slug at the arcades and Yoshi's Island the year prior), resisted their decline, and was primed for stuff like Symphony of the Night the next year. Some of those games are still in my top 10 favorite games ever and still form much of the foundation for my tastes in games today.
Also have a lot of love for Dreamcast, Vita, Sega CD and I'm sure I'd have loved Wii U but I'm not much of a multiple system gamer anymore.
I had already bought a PS1 a year ahead of Final Fantasy VII, for that game, but I played Guardian Heroes for 15 minutes at my local used game store (RIP Game Force) and it absolutely blew my mind. I absolutely had to get a Saturn and bought one the next day. 1996 was great for games in general, but Saturn is why it's my favorite year. That spring and summer I played the absolute crap out of Guardian Heroes, Legend of Oasis, Dragon Force, Dark Savior, Three Dirty Dwarves, NiGHTS, Panzer Zwei and Nightwarriors. What a line up.
It's the single biggest reason why I still loved 2D games for so long (on top of Metal Slug at the arcades and Yoshi's Island the year prior), resisted their decline, and was primed for stuff like Symphony of the Night the next year. Some of those games are still in my top 10 favorite games ever and still form much of the foundation for my tastes in games today.
Also have a lot of love for Dreamcast, Vita, Sega CD and I'm sure I'd have loved Wii U but I'm not much of a multiple system gamer anymore.
Herp Derpington
Member
Poetic but incorrect. Sega failed the DC, not the general public. Sega shot themselves in the foot with the SegaCD/32X and Saturn and they paid dearly for it. What happened afterwards wasn't surprising. For a failed platform though it's held in very high regard and that's something Sega can at least hang their hat on. They could have gone the way of the Jaguar or 3DO, two systems 99% of everyone out there couldn't give two shits about. As painful as it was to see what happened to the DC it was a hell of a way for Sega to go out and I could almost forgive them for the mid 90's because it was so awesome.
I personally really enjoyed the NEOGEO pocket. For all its faults it was a fun little portable. If it had a back light it would have been even better.
He1nekenP1ss
Member
Dreamcast all the way.
Soul Calibur
Phantasy Star Online
Sky of Arcadia
Grandia II
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Shenmue
Ikaruga
DOA 5
NBA 2K
Power Stone 2
Toy Commander
Virtua Tennis 1, 2
Space Channel 5
Sonic Adventure
THPS2
I love my Vita, which have more games (RPG in particular), but the ratio of great games/available games on Dreamcast is unmatched
Soul Calibur
Phantasy Star Online
Sky of Arcadia
Grandia II
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Shenmue
Ikaruga
DOA 5
NBA 2K
Power Stone 2
Toy Commander
Virtua Tennis 1, 2
Space Channel 5
Sonic Adventure
THPS2
I love my Vita, which have more games (RPG in particular), but the ratio of great games/available games on Dreamcast is unmatched
Similar threads
- Poll