Top 10 WORST Video Game Consoles of All Time (Redux)

The LaserActive was released to the world in 1993, and only for the small, small price of $970! To put that into perspective, that would be about $1,600 today, and the reason it was so expensive was because it ran LaserDisc’s. Remember those bulky things? Yeah neither do we. The multimedia device not only played its own games, but also came with $600 add-ons which could support Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 titles. It sounds well and good, but the absolutely insane price and lackluster titles resulted in the LaserActive selling only 10,000 units and being discontinued only three years after release.

The R-Zone was Tiger Electronics’ first major entry in the portable gaming market, and it shows. It was meant to compete with Nintendo’s Virtual Boy, and as such, the games and systems are kind of similar, complete with that ghastly dark red color scheme and headache-inducing blurriness. The system really had nothing going for it, as not only did you look like a cheesy 80s sci-fi villain while wearing it, but you had to play with one eye closed, and all of its games played exactly the same. The console was an instant failure, and one we should all forget existed.

The Ouya had relative promise in its early days. Touted as an Android-based microconsole which targeted casual gamers, similar to the mobile market, the Ouya raised $8.5 million on Kickstarter, which at the time was the website’s fifth-highest earning product. Unfortunately, the Ouya was lackluster, as the controller was beyond stupid, the system suffered from connectivity issues, and the games ran even worse than they would have on smartphones, leading many to wonder why they wouldn’t just play the games on their phone instead. It was a commercial failure and was discontinued after two years.

The HyperScan was…well let’s face it, it was a terrible idea all around. It was meant to target the extremely niche demographic of 5 to 9-year-old boys, and retailed at only $69.99, a tempting incentive for families who perhaps couldn’t get their hands on a more powerful console. The games looked like something you’d find on the Super Nintendo, but in 2006, when the console was released, these five titles (yes, five whole titles!) were archaic. One of its gimmicks was that players could upgrade their characters using separately purchased cards, but this only added fuel to the fire. The console lasted one measly year.

Well, at least it had a good name. Back in 1993, hearing the name “Atari Jaguar” brought images of crisp and fast games, unlike anything we’d seen before. It was all a lie. Atari advertised the Jaguar as being the first 64-bit console, a statement which was quickly criticized by some who deemed it untrue. While the system had a few impressive titles, few third-parties partnered with Atari, deeming it too difficult to develop games for the system. Due to the disappointing software and limited number of games, the Jaguar was a massive failure for Atari, and it was the last console they would ever develop.

Ah, the classic taco phone. In 2003, when gamers were carrying both a Phone and Handheld console, Nokia released this hybrid system, and it seemingly failed as being both. First off the battery blocked access to the cartridge slot which made changing games a needless hassle. Most of the games were terrible watered down ports of better titles. Plus the phone’s speaker and microphone were placed on the rim on the phone rather than the face, meaning you had to hold the phone in an awkward way that made you look very ridiculous in public. It was outsold by the Game Boy Advance 100 to 1, proving that gamers didn’t mind carrying around the extra weight.

Nintendo’s Virtual Boy: pioneer ahead of its time, or just terrible? The latter - it’s definitely the latter. It was touted as being the first console to feature stereoscopic 3D graphics, but that turned out to be nothing but a novelty and borderline lie, as the display was an ugly red and black and the 3D was unimpressive to say the least. To make matters worse, only 22 games were released, the console lacked portability, it gave players headaches, and it actually caused health concerns, with notable scientists declaring that long-term use could result in brain damage! So, yeah, terrible console.

The Gizmondo was a huge mess in every facet. Despite spending millions on promotion, it was difficult to get your hands on a Gizmondo, as it was mostly sold at select shopping mall kiosks. Even if you did manage to get your hands on one, only eight games were ever released in the US, and in Europe, it launched with one (count it, one) game, which were all terrible anyway. Amidst the low sales, it was revealed that several executives had criminal backgrounds, with ties to a Swedish mafia, and the company soon went into bankruptcy.

The Atari 2600 is a thing of beauty, and arguably the most important console of all time. The 5200 is a terrible mess. Advertised as a more powerful console, the 5200 was released to massive disappointment, as its games were little more than fancy 2600 titles. The hardware itself was also ungodly. The new switchbox was confusing, and the system was enormous, complete with an actual storage unit for its controller, which not only looked ugly and uncomfortable, but it was prone to breaking down. Following such an iconic system, the 5200 was a fail of epic proportions.

Before we look at our top pick, here are a few dishonorable mentions.

Action Max

Game.com

Apple Bandai Pippin

Where do we even start with the CD-i? This device was meant to be a mixture of video game console and CD player, and it was launched in 1991 at $700, about $1,200 today. While the price was outrageous, the controllers were even worse, and even today they are considered to be some of the worst controllers in gaming history. The games are also dreadful, including “Hotel Mario” and the three Zelda games, all of which live in infamy today. All of this led the device to being a gigantic commercial failure, selling only one million units in seven years and costing Philips $1 billion.