Which classic system did you find to be the largest disappointment?

[smokehouse]

I’m not asking what system is best or worst…I’m just wondering what system proved to be the largest disappointment for you once you finally got your hands on one.

Mine has got to be a toss up between the 3DO or the LaserActive. I viewed both as an untouchable enigma when I was a child but to be honest with you, I found both to be an insane disappointment when I got them. I’m not saying that they are crap systems; it’s just that after all of the hype applied to them (some in part of the early gaming mags of the 1990’s, some due to my own personal hype), they were a vast disappointment. They didn’t prove to be like my Neo Geo or Turbo Duo…a huge hit.


Needless to say, both have been sold for a while now and have a large “DO NOT REPURCHASE” stamp attached to them in my mind.

[8-bitNesMan]

Either the Sega CD or the original Game Boy Advance. I was stoked about the GBA after reading all the mags and looking at websites. Then when I got one after the first price drop, I was devastated by the overall crappy quality of it. Dark as hell and too small for my adult sized hands. Probably played all of about 2 hours on it. Thank heavens for the SP! My one gripe with my beloved Big N (and other game companies, to be fair and balanced) is why can they not put the superior product out to market first? With all the R & D dollars, focus group testing, general knowledge of what does and doesn't work, etc, then why is it that I have to buy a crappy GBA 1st and then shell out more bucks down the road to buy the new and improved SP? Why the DS and then the DS Lite? Get it right the 1st time! All part of the business plan to fatten the coffers I guess. The Sega CD is not the worst system out there, but it's just too graphically close to the Genny for my liking. I feel sorry for all the poor schmoes out there who shelled out full retail for this thing when it launched thinking it would be the next big thing. I bought mine with about 20 games in 2004 from an indie shop and my anoos is still smarting from it. :)

[josekortez]

Nintendo knows we are frothing at the mouth whenever they put out a new system, and we will buy it regardless, which is why I am thinking about buying a new DS lite to replace my original DS, if only because the screen isn't bright enough.

That aside, I would say the Saturn. I got so excited when I finally found one, and even though I own about 20 domestic titles and 7 or 8 imports, I never hook it up because it just doesn't excite me that much.

[Trebuken]

Intellivision. I bought this long after it appeared on the shelves. I had always wanted one after seeing them at Sears, but never had one. Now I have one and a bunch of games but can't find a reason to tuen it on.

[Greg2600]

I would say the Jaguar. It was billed so highly, and turned out to be a flop and a bad system. I'm also somewhat disappointed in the latest generation of systems, especially 360 and PS3. The graphics aren't that much better than their predecessors.

[diskoboy]

I'm another Jaguar person. I bought mine about 2 weeks after it came out.

That system had so much potential, but as usual, Atari squandered it.

There were three really good games (AvP, Tempest 2k, Rayman), and that was it. I knew it was in trouble when the price dropped about 6 months after it's release. The second sign was, the placed that actually did carry Jag games, nevr got any new ones in. I think the guy at EB got sick of me asking if they had gotten in Defender 2000 yet.

[smokehouse]

I completely forgot about the Jaguar…

I too found it to be deeply disappointing. I clearly remember reading about it in Die Hard Game Fan and drooling over the in-game pics. The first time I played A-vs-P I remember thinking “This is IT?!?!, this is considered one of the best games on the system?”. Granted that was 1999 but you get the point.

Then I played Tempest 2000 and was blown away…to this day the only reason I have my Jag is to play Tempest 2000.

[Mobius]

I went into the 3DO, Jaguar, and Virtual Boy with low expectations and I think all three of them met or exceeded what I expected of them. (In each case, I bought them after they were already dead.)

The Turbo Duo, I went into with high expectations, and it blew them out of the water. I love that system more than I ever expected to, and the high price tag was well worth it.

But I think the Neo-Geo is the one system for which I had high expectations and it just didn't live up, so that would be my biggest disappointment. I'm not sure what it is about the Neo-Geo, but it inspires some rabid loyalty in its fans, and I thought for sure I would get caught up in it, too. It's a 2D gamer's dream system, right? Well, I bought myself a CDZ and after that, I realized the game library just doesn't appeal to me the way I thought it would. I'm not big on fighting games, and the rest of the games I was excited about turned out to be very short and shallow, given their arcade-centric gameplay. Overall, I'd say it was pretty much a bust, and I'm glad I didn't get the AES.

[smokehouse]

But I think the Neo-Geo is the one system for which I had high expectations and it just didn't live up, so that would be my biggest disappointment. I'm not sure what it is about the Neo-Geo, but it inspires some rabid loyalty in its fans, and I thought for sure I would get caught up in it, too. It's a 2D gamer's dream system, right? Well, I bought myself a CDZ and after that, I realized the game library just doesn't appeal to me the way I thought it would. I'm not big on fighting games, and the rest of the games I was excited about turned out to be very short and shallow, given their arcade-centric gameplay. Overall, I'd say it was pretty much a bust, and I'm glad I didn't get the AES.

I thought the same thing of the Neo Geo until I purchased a “consolized” MVS. Having financial access to amazing titles like Metal Slug 1 and 3 made it all worthwhile. The list of games may be short but considering the following titles (not all included here):

Metal Slug
Metal Slug X
Metal Slug 3
Samurai Shodown
Samurai Shodown II
Samurai Shodown III
Samurai Shodown IV
Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Bust-a-Move
Blazing Star
Aero Fighters 2
The many The King of Fighters titles
The many Fatal Fury titles


I just can’t overlook the Neo. I have to say with 1000% certainty that Metal Slug 1, X and 3 are almost worth owning a Neo just for them. If you love Contra, they will blow you away. There’s reason why a AES copy of MS1 goes for huge cash…it is rare and a blast to play. Getting a MVS copy is far cheaper.

[Mobius]

I thought the same thing of the Neo Geo until I purchased a “consolized” MVS. Having financial access to amazing titles like Metal Slug 1 and 3 made it all worthwhile.

Oh, I absolutely love Metal Slug, but I found Metal Slug Anthology to be the best bang for my buck. So when you take away the Neo's best non-fighter series, then account for the fact that I'm not much of a fighting game fan, there's just not much left.

I did think about getting a consolized MVS so that I could play the Metal Slug games without the slight blur the Anthology release has, but that's low priority right now.

[Kid Ice]

The only system I can think if that I was disappointed I bought was the Nomad. It seemed like a no brainer at the time...I already liked the Genesis, and at the time Genny games were all over the place, usually for less than $5. The battery life issue was a killer...I had the rechargeable battery pack, which yielded about two hours of play after six hours or so of charging. 2 hours probably doesn't sound THAT bad...after all, how long can one play a handheld in a sitting...but there were just so many times that I would be totally engrossed in a game, the red light would come on, and in less than a minute it would be over. Some of the incompatibility issues were really disappointing too.

[heybtbm]

Nintendo 64

I was as excited as anyone when the N64 was launched. I was amazed by Mario 64 and mildly amused by a few other titles until Christmas of '96. Then nothing interesting was released for almost two years. Zelda OOT (obviously a masterpiece) was what brought me back (and Rogue Squadron to a lesser extent) but only temporarily. Eventually I just gave my N64 away. Terrible, terrible console and a huge disappointment. Especially compared to the quality games Sony was delivering at the time.

[MegaDrive20XX]

I would have to say, the Virtual Boy, GameBoy Pocket, GameBoy Mirco, the Jaguar, Atari 7800, and the Sega 32X.

Virtual Boy was utterly brilliant as an idea at the time. Yet the final product was horrid and blinded everyone. I don't even think they had the link cable or the head band they promised for it? Yet it bothers me that the creator died shortly after it's release in a car wreck I read once...not a good way to end a good career as the father of the Gameboy.

Jaguar, claiming to be 64-bit. A few solid titles, the controls were unbearable, some of the titles felt like they were incomplete. Kasumi Ninja comes to mind..It was odd, because at the time, Jaguar was classified nest to 3DO alot whenever I read the EGM's back then. It was like Genesis and SNES was it's own class of games....while Jag, 3DO, Neo-Geo, Neo-Geo CD, and CD-i was an elite class for people who couldnt afford it. Yet, when I saw Jag was afforable at one time, the magazines tried hard to advertise it, yet no one seemed to care.

GameBoy Pocket. Smaller, no more glare on the screen. Yet the downside? It sucks the hell out of AA batteries, you need different accesories to work with it, and an entirely new power supply. Nintendo started a trend I like to call "What doesn't work with this?" which makes it so confusing to this day when one customer tries to buy a simple gameboy. They started right by letting the GB Pocket play GB Games....but when GB Color showed up, that was legally the death of GB Pocket I'd say. Didn't even have much of a good life span. 1995 to 1998 I think? Then only less than 4 years, the GameBoy Advance. Which I strongly agree with 8-bitNESMan, that when SP showed up...that killed the GBA....but what killed the SP? the SP2!

GameBoy Mirco. What the hell was Nintendo thinking when they released this the exact same time frame as the GBA SP 2? I honestly got this answer from a Nintendo representive. She said "Because if we told the public about the SP2 first, it would hurt the sales of the Mirco". Well it did that and not only that, but it made the DS look sexier by the minute. It's a sleak little system, but it blinds me just about as equal as the Virtual Boy when trying to read text.

Sega 32X. The only thing I have to say, is Sega should have focused on the Saturn more so than another piece of add-on. That required another power supply, another cable, and another cable if you wanted to use it on the Genesis model 1. Which I think, Sega could have spit out over a gallon of more games for Genesis and GameGear that year if the 32X was canned.

Atari 7800. SO close to looking and feeling like an NES. Except that controller was made out of crazy glue, a rubber band, and rock imho. First time I had a 7800. It took me 2 weeks later to track down a working controller. I never knew the size of it until I compared it to the original Xbox. That's just plain sad. As much work as they put into the Atari 2600 Jr. They could have done the 7800 a favor, especially since it was finished in 84' but never revealed until 86'. The sound chip could have been better as well.

[Iron Draggon]

I'd have to say the Virtual Boy, because it ended up with barely more than a dozen games for it... I got mine when the price dropped to $100, and I had plenty of money to burn then, so $100 seemed like a measly amount for it... but then there was such a measly amount of games for it... I kept going back to the VB section of all the game stores, desperate for something new, only to find nothing new... day after day, week after week, month after month...

the Jaguar and Jag CD turned out to be a bit of a disappointment also, but at least they had an ample supply of new games for them... well OK, the fact that there were only about half a dozen games for the Jaguar CD sucked too, but at least the Jaguar had a decent amount of games for it, and there was always the hope of yet another new peripheral for it, like the VR headset...

the 32X and 32X CD were about as disappointing as the Jaguar and Jag CD were, for all the same reasons... only about half a dozen games for the 32X CD, but at least 32X games weren't as disappointing as Jaguar games were...

the Sega CD was a bit of a disappointment too, because of all the FMV crap and rehashes of Genesis games without enough improvements added... same thing the 32X and 32X CD suffered from... but still I loved it, because there were still more than enough unique games for it that really interested me... same way I felt about the 32X and 32X CD... they were all great systems...

I really loved my 3DO too, and I still do... but I was a bit disappointed with all the educational and masturbational titles taking over the library and leaving those of us who wanted to play traditional adult video games on it with alot less than we should've been left with... but still there was more than enough to choose from that I had to make choices about purchases, and there's still a few games for it to this day that I'd really love to add to my collection... I never got around to getting all the 3DO games that I wanted, but I did get most of them, and I had alot of fun collecting for it... so I will get more soon!

but perhaps the most collossal disappointment after the Virtual Boy was the N64... that one ended up being a total letdown for one reason and one reason only... the ridiculously high price of all the games for it... I finally had to stop collecting for it, as much as I wanted to continue collecting for it, because it just became way to expensive to keep up with it... and all the games that got ported to the other systems of the time were close enough to the N64 versions that to me it just wasn't worth bothering with it anymore... the N64 versions did look alot better than the other versions, but not enough better to justify paying twice as much for them... so I sold it and all the games that I had for it... then I ended up with another one near the end of its lifespan, and started collecting for it again because the games had come down alot in price, but it was still too expensive to keep up with because there were still way too many games that I wanted for it... I will always regret not being rich enough to collect for the N64 as much as I wanted to, while simultaneously collecting for all the other systems of the time... that was the biggest factor of my disappointment in it... you just couldn't keep up with it and everything else too... if you wanted to collect for N64, you had to give up something else... and I'm sure that it drove all the little kids even more insane with rage over it, since they had to beg their cheapskate parents for every game they got, or sell off all their other worldly possessions to get more games for it!

[Tron 2.0]

SMS>Jaguar>3DO

That's all there is to it for me.

I also say the sega-cd as well it has some good games like Snatcher and Sonic-CD.

Still sega didn't suport it right realy not enough original games for the damn thing. It was, clog down by fmv and ports of games on cartridge.

If... only sega would have suported it better by giving the sega-cd more original titles for it,then i would have been satisfy more when i own it.

[bangtango]

I was really excited to try out the Sega CD up until I purchased one for $20 from Ebay last year and gradually played through a dozen games. I knew magazines and message board posters said it was a complete disaster, yet I ignored the criticism. I used to chalk that up to some people who were pissed off about having paid full price for it when it was still new and other people who had never played it before blindly jumping on the bandwagon. I am a big enough man to say I was wrong and all those people criticizing Sega CD were right. After getting the unit for a paltry $20 and playing a pile of games, I will come right out and say that "system" sucks and it was a waste of $20. I hope the person I sold it to on here enjoys it, though :sob:

[Push Upstairs]

Where to begin.

Sega CD &32X are mediocre...even on a good day.

Master System and Dreamcast are both systems that have failed to elicit the joy I feel for the Saturn and Genesis.

The N64 is not welcome in my home. I'll be generous and leave it at that.

[OldSchoolGamer]

Definitely 3D0! I only got one the forst time a couple years ago, while I admit from a tech stand - point it is impressive for the time I just don't find the games any fun (and I've tried most of them) I must say I have had more fun with many, many old 8bit titles on various systems and hell even older systems like Atari 2600, defintely proved to me that fun games are fun by design and not based on graphics!

That said I have come to appreciate it more since my initial disappointment as I do plan on keeping it now (I wasn't sure at first) I think I have come to see it for what it was.

[XYXZYZ]

I'd have to say the Playstation 2. I went into it knowing most of the games don't interest me much, but I figured there was enough to keep me more or less busy. But I was wrong, I only turn it on once every two months or so. And not for long. :|

[smokehouse]

I feel your pain with the PS2. I bought it on launch day only to get bored with it and return it less than 3 weeks later. There just weren’t any games available and you could only play Ridge Racer V or Madden so much before you got tired of it…

[Anthony1]

It seems that the posters to this thread are either going one of two ways with this question. They are either talking about a classic system, that they never owned, but finally acquired much later, and then were completely dissapointed with, or they are talking about a console that they bought back in the day, when it was current, that left them completely underwhelmed.

So I have to approach this from both standpoints.

For me, the system that dissapointed me most was the 32X. Man, I still can't believe I shelled out $169.99 for that damn thing. The funny thing is, the writing was on the wall. I had read all the gaming mags, I had seen everything there was to see on it, before it came out. But from some unknown reason, even though my spidey sense was tingling, I totally ignored it. All the games looked like crap in the mags. But I basically shrugged it off, and thought that it was just the initial batch of games and that things would get much better soon. To this day I think the 32X is a cruel joke. It's very, very, very difficult to see anything with 32X games that would make you say that it couldn't have been done on a regular Genesis with a Super FX type chip in the cart. It's hard for me to imagine that a $169 device that doesn't include controllers, and is pretty damn bare bones, couldn't have offered more bells and whistles. Sega talked about 32,000 colors or whatever, but none of the 32X games really looked that colorful to me. And don't get me started on the damn sound. The sound was the same old crappy scratchy sound that the Genesis had. Like a FM station's signal that keeps fading in and out.


Now for the other side of the coin, in terms of buying a system many years later, a system I never originally owned, and found to be dissapointing, I would have to say the only thing that really qualifies for me is the Sega Master System. I was very excited about getting a Sega Master System, primarily because it's the first video game system with native RGB output. You can use a Genesis 1 RGB cable with the Sega CD and actually see Master System games in RGB. I just thought that would be so cool. Also, I had always heard about how the Master System was really a much better system from a technology standpoint than the NES. During the years of the NES, I didn't even really know that such a thing as the Master System even existed. I never saw commercials for it, never really heard about it. It wasn't until I went Retro in 2003 that I heard about the Master System. After finally getting one and playing a few games, I just didn't see what the fuss was all about. I'm pretty sure a very large part of that has to do with the fact that I don't have any sentimental feelings or nostalgic feelings about that system. I played games like Zillion and some others, but they just didn't do much for me. The system did run in RGB, but with so few colors, the RGB didn't really do much of anything for it. This is one reason why I haven't really gone thru the process of paying huge bucks to do the NES rgb mod. After seeing the Master system like that, and knowing it can throw more colors onscreen than the NES, I'm guessing the NES rgb mod would be a bit of a waste, at least considering how much it costs to do, and all the issues required. Anywho, I digress... I'm getting off subject, but I'm not trying to disrespect the Master System faithful. There are many that try a TurboGrafx-16 and think it sucks total balls, and it's one of my favorite systems. If somebody never owned it originally, and then tried Keith Courage, I can see them thinking that, so I don't hold it against them, so Master System lovers, please don't hold it against me.

[Moo Cow]

The original gameboy. I got it, picked up a Castlevania game for it, and got pissed off because it require eight fucking batteries! It was the only thing in the house that wasn't a remote that required batteries, and so, needless to say we never had any.

[Cambot]

Genesis.

It never did what Ninten-didn't.

[retroman]

i didnt mind the Jag...i got one also when it came out...for me, it was its add on the Jag CD that gets the most dissapointing system. No games and the one's that did make it sucked...

[FlufflePuff]

Sega CD for me. I was stoked about it, got one for Xmas, played it for like 4 days and got bored. Little did I know about monkey island or some of the rpg goodness to come. I had sewer shark and Texas: Ground Zero. Ugh... In retrospect the system isn't terrible, but I hated myself so much that Christmas.

[Snapple]

I don't understand how you can not find something to like on the PS2. It has such an enormous library with great titles in every genre imaginable. I mean, I can understand why people didn't like what it had at launch. The launch titles were mostly crap, but it's grown to be the best library of the last three generations.

Anyway, back to the title. We're talking "disappointment" and not "worst," right? It's the GBA for me. What a complete waste of money. The only GBA games I wanted to play more than once were Pokemon and the Castlevania titles. I hate all the rereleases and ports, because I'm not going to pay twice for a game I already own. I hate all the licensed games, because licensed games are, well, bad.

I thought it was supposed to be such a great portable for people who loved 2D games, but that's a lie, because I love 2D games, and I hate my GBA. Most of the platformers for the system are either weak titles or ports from earlier systems.

It was a big, big disappointment for me, because I had high hopes for it.

[j_factor]

I have to say Game Boy Color. When I heard they were coming out with a completely new Game Boy and that it would be in color, I thought it would actually be new technology, not the same system with color graphics. Game Boy was really ancient by then, and I thought it was a cop-out to just come out with a color version after all that time, and still unlit to boot! Tech-wise, it was worse than Lynx and Game Gear... and was several years newer. Lame. Worse, I found the library to be god-awful, full of almost nothing but shovelware. I did find a few gems, but by and large it was a horrible system.

32x, I was disappointed that it even existed. What a stupid system. I wasn't disappointed in the library, simply because I wasn't expecting anything good. But I always thought it was a lame, unnecessary system that should never have been released. It has absolutely no point to it. What the hell were they thinking?

As for Sega CD, I don't think it's a bad system at all; it has like 50 worthwhile games IMO. I do think it was overpriced. Sega just kind of threw it out there without ever focusing on it, and it was underutilised. Also, there was way too much of a focus, from Sega and from the media, on FMV games, most of which were among the worst games on the system.

[Iron Draggon]

Genesis.

It never did what Ninten-didn't.

I am really surprised that anyone could say that, unless they're just really spoiled by the superior color capabilities of the SNES... as a hardcore Sega fanboy from the golden years (note my forum rank here) even I learned to love the SNES by the time DKC and Play it LOUD came along, so I would think that even the most diehardcore Nintendo fanboy could learn to love the Genesis for some reason, even if it never did completely win over their heart!

[CosmicMonkey]

I can see where people are coming from with the NeoGeo. Back in the day, it was this legendary system that no-one owned (other than my mate's uncle) and you never really had access to the games, unless you had a local arcade. When the system and games finally became financially available, I realised that the library isn't all that wonderful. I really don't get on with many fighting games unless they 'click' with me. Unfortunately, this cancels out much of the Neo's library. I'm just happy with Metal Slugs 1 - 5 (inc. X), Last Blade 1 & 2, Garou, Shock Troopers and Blazing Star.

Looking back, I suppose the N64 was a little disappointing at the time; now you can just buy the games without waiting forever for release dates. But then again, back at the time I was more than happy with Mario, Starfox and 007 whilst waiting for Zelda.

Although the PAL N64 was terrible: absolutely crap PAL conversions.

Oh, and the MegaCD. I wanted it to be good, as it's such a cool piece of kit. But it's not. All I ended up playing was Final Fight.

[p_b]

The original gameboy. I got it, picked up a Castlevania game for it, and got pissed off because it require eight fucking batteries! It was the only thing in the house that wasn't a remote that required batteries, and so, needless to say we never had any.

Is there a difference between the US and european Gameboys concerning batteries? Because my brick only requires 4 of them.

[smokehouse]

It’s funny; I played the Sega CD at launch and was amazed by it. It was only down the road that it became a disappointment. The same goes with the GBA, I was amazed. Super Mario Advance and Castlevania were great titles and they look amazing for a hand held system. Sure, the light issue sucked but what Game Boy at that point didn’t require you to use a bright light source to be operational.

As much as I despise the system now, at launch I was even amazed by the N64. Super Mario 64 was unlike anything I had ever played and although I quickly grew bored playing and like the PS2, returned it a few weeks after launch, it was great for the time I had it.

[Hwj_Chim]

The N64. I got one and was quickly board of the games on the system.

[MachineGex]

Sega CD: got it at launch, was excited for about two weeks, followed by several months of disappointment.
3DO: I almost bought this system several times(at full retail), man I am glad I didn't
Game.com: (see sega cd)

[RoyalShin]

I never remember a Jaguar section in Toys "R" Us. I think they might even still be selling Virtuaboy games here and there.

[Greg2600]

I never remember a Jaguar section in Toys "R" Us. I think they might even still be selling Virtuaboy games here and there.

Around me, I only remember seeing systems like Jaguar, 3DO, Neo Geo in either Sears or Electronics Boutique. You're right, if the system wasn't in Toys 'R' Us back then, it was a failure.

I will defend the N64 though it may not have been the greatest system ever, it was the best one at the time by leaps and bounds. I probably played Goldeneye, MarioKart, and San Francisco Rush more than any games since Sonic. Personally I was also disappointed in Nintendo's lack of technology in portables at the time. The Gameboy and Gameboy Color sported 1989 (or older) technology for over a decade until the GBA. Shame on Nintendo. Jaguar is still my number 1 choice, because I was expecting a 64 bit marvel and saw something barely worthy of 32 bit.

[BydoEmpire]

I hate to say it, but Colecovision (which I didn't get until, oh, maybe 2002 or so). While Mr. Do and Venture are both awesome, the stock CV's controllers are probably my least favorite ever (I enjoyed the system MUCH more after getting a sports stick). The majority of the games I had just didn't seem that fun, and felt slow and jerky. My collection was small (around 20 games), but I just didn't enjoy it as much as my other classic systems. And after wanting one since I was a kid, I was pretty disappointed it didn't turn out to be as fun as I was hoping.

[leicamaster]

The Jaguar and the Virtual Boy! Well when I heard that the Jaguar had 64-bit graphics I was going to march down to the store and buy it but when I saw the price ran back home! And for the Virtual Boy well it gave me alot headaches!

[Anthony1]

I had sewer shark and Texas: Ground Zero. Ugh...



Dude, Ground Zero Texas is the bomb!

No...Really!

[Slate]

Mine would be the Sega 32x. It was a bitch to set up and even then you were lucky if it worked!

Oddly, I like the sega CD. The games are so bad that they're good.

[Gentlegamer]

Nintendo 64

In the summer of 1997, I was looking to get back into video gaming after being pretty hardcore during the 16-bit generation (I had a SNES).

I'm a Star Wars fan, so initinally I was attracted to the N64 to play Shadows of the Empire. I bought the system ($199) and the game ($70!!!). I was also attracted to the system because I thought carts would be a superior format - no load times, more durable, and so on.

Well, I played through Shadows of the Empire, and quite enjoyed it. Then . . . I went looking for other games (not to buy, just rent since they were so expensive). There was literally nothing else I wanted to play (I had Mario fatigue from owning the past Nintendo consoles, so Super Mario 64 was out, which I later learned is a brilliant game).

It had been less than 30 days since I bought the system and game, so I decided to return it and exchange for another console. The question was, which to get: Sega Saturn or Sony PlayStation?

I polled my friend Mike who was a technophile/videogamephile about the situation. I asked about Sega Saturn. I still remember his exact response: "mucho sucko." I exchanged the N64 (couldn't return the game, I still have it to this day) for a PlayStation.

I was quite pleased! Twisted Metal, Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy VII, Castlevania - Symphony of the Night, Metal Gear Solid, NFL GameDay, etc., etc.!

For a while, I was pretty down on the N64. After getting back into video gaming again, I picked up a console on ebay and got to play Shadows of the Empire again, as well as pick up other games I never played, such as Super Mario 64, GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Zelda - Ocarina of Time, Zelda - Majora's Mask, etc. I've concluded that N64 is a great system from my modern vantage point since all the games are already out. But back in the summer of 1997, it simply couldn't compare to the PlayStation.

[PentiumMMX]

I've got one:

- Gamecube
Back when it was coming out, I was still a Nintendo Fanboy at the time (Though I liked Dreamcast), and I kept begging my parents to buy me one. Eventually, I just saved up my money and bought one in December 2005. Played many different games, but the only one that made it worth the $60 I spent to get it on eBay was Super Smash Bros. Melee (Everything else was mediocre when compared to better games on N64, PS2, Xbox, and Dreamcast)

[Imstarryeyed]

Wow I am surprised noone had mentioned the CD-I.. the overall game quality of CD-I titles is just horrible.

Take the worst acting, terrible programming, terrible game engines and you have the CD-I.

In the end as much of a disappointment that system was to me, I still do like to see that trainwreck for its odd little titles every so often.

[Snapple]

Wow I am surprised noone had mentioned the CD-I.. the overall game quality of CD-I titles is just horrible.

Take the worst acting, terrible programming, terrible game engines and you have the CD-I.

In the end as much of a disappointment that system was to me, I still do like to see that trainwreck for its odd little titles every so often.

I think nobody mentioned CD-i because most people didn't have high expectations for it to begin with, and thus it wasn't a "disappointment." It looked like a bad, overpriced system, with awkward controls, and that's what it was for the most part.

[chuckwalla]

For me it was the Super Nintendo (I hear the boos already). Back in Christmas '92 I had just started working and had to decide between the Genesis or SNES - I chose the Genesis (i'm a huge Sonic and sports fan) and loved most of the games I had accumulated over the coming months and years. About a half year later I bought the SNES out of curiosity to see what the competition was like along with the top titles at the time (Mega Max X, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario World/All Stars, Contra III, Starfox, Cybernator, Super Turrican, Super Metroid). Bottom line is I played the Genesis much more often because of the superior gameplay despite the superior graphics & sound of the SNES (superior gameplay>superior graphics/sound - why else is the Atari 2600 community still booming after decades - it's got a huge number of fun playing games despite grossly inferior graphics/sound by today's "standards"). Anyway, I sold all that original SNES stuff, all mint/complete in the box, in 1995 for $50. Over the last few years i've regained that SNES collection but only play the games occassionally, while I play the Genesis almost daily. I would say that the SNES was the biggest disappointment for me despite all the hype.

[smokehouse]

For me it was the Super Nintendo (I hear the boos already). Back in Christmas '92 I had just started working and had to decide between the Genesis or SNES - I chose the Genesis (i'm a huge Sonic and sports fan) and loved most of the games I had accumulated over the coming months and years. About a half year later I bought the SNES out of curiosity to see what the competition was like along with the top titles at the time (Mega Max X, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario World/All Stars, Contra III, Starfox, Cybernator, Super Turrican, Super Metroid). Bottom line is I played the Genesis much more often because of the superior gameplay despite the superior graphics & sound of the SNES (superior gameplay>superior graphics/sound - why else is the Atari 2600 community still booming after decades - it's got a huge number of fun playing games despite grossly inferior graphics/sound by today's "standards"). Anyway, I sold all that original SNES stuff, all mint/complete in the box, in 1995 for $50. Over the last few years i've regained that SNES collection but only play the games occassionally, while I play the Genesis almost daily. I would say that the SNES was the biggest disappointment for me despite all the hype.


Wow...just wow. How anyone could be disappointed with masterpiece titles like Zelda LttP, Super Metroid, Super Mario All Stars, Contra III, Mega Man X, Cybernator and others is beyond me... (Mega Man X and Cybernator are pushing it but the rest are truly masterpieces)

[idrougge]

For me it must be the Dragon 32. I never realised just how behind the times it was until I played its games and read up on the specifications. It's like the G7000 of computers.

[YoshiM]

I'd have to give the Sega CD the nod to most disappointing. I proudly purchased the model 1 version not long after launch and enjoyed rounds of Sewer Shark, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, Silpheed and Lunar: Silver Star Story. However the games that were coming out were way too similar to what you could buy on cartridge on the Genesis. Summer of 1994 I sold my original Genesis and Sega CD for about $300 so I had vacation money to go to Chicago. Of course I'd repurchase an SCD maybe three or so more times over the years (CDX and two model 2's) but would sell them as I'd get disappointed again. I now have a model 2 with just the games I REALLY like and even then it rarely sees a spark of electricity.

Following Anthony1's post concept, the 3DO was my "post release" disappointment. I bought one off of eBay four or so years ago (man has it been that long?) along with a bunch of titles off of a lot sale. At first it was a thrill as I really desired this system when it first came out. After a few months the thrill died down as most of the titles I owned really didn't age well. Need for Speed was aptly titled (man that game felt SLOW), AD&D Slayer, which made my eyes pop out when it came out, just felt so shallow when I finally got to play it). Sewer Shark, my favorite game on the Sega CD, was a joke on the 3DO. About the only game that got any use was, strangely enough, Twisted. Alas it was not enough to keep the system so off it went back to eBay.

[Push Upstairs]

Wow...just wow. How anyone could be disappointed with masterpiece titles like Zelda LttP, Super Metroid, Super Mario All Stars, Contra III, Mega Man X, Cybernator and others is beyond me... (Mega Man X and Cybernator are pushing it but the rest are truly masterpieces)


I'm slightly disappointed with LttP simply because I like the improvements made in "Link's Awakening" much more. Namely the fact I can hold up my shield whenever I damn please!

[James8BitStar]

My picks for most disappointing:

Game Gear--okay, admittedly I loved this thing back when I first got it. For awhile it replaced the Gameboy as my preferred portable. But as the years wore on I ended up finding less and less reason to really play it.

GBA--Thought it would be all cool, then I get it and the only thing it has of interest is rereleases of games I already have.

Gameboy Color--I got this only to immediately learn the GBA was being made and felt like my money had been wasted.

Sega CD--now, I got this from a pawn shop, aftermarket. At first I was all excited, but after finally playing the game I bought it for (Lunar 1) I was kinda let down.

[Steve W]

For me, the console that disappointed me the most after I got it would be the Magnavox Odyssey2. I had always wanted one back in the day, since it was such a cool looking machine in comparison to the '70s looking Atari VCS console. I didn't know anyone who owned one back then (I knew a lot of other Atari owners, along with Colecovision and Intellivision folks), so I had never played one before. Then, at the Oklahoma Game Expo 2005, I broke down and bought one from the Vintage Stock table there, with a dozen games. Got it home and excitedly plugged it in, only to find the games dull and derivative. I've picked up a few other games for it since then, but only one or two really keep my interest for more than five minutes.

Runners-up would have to be the N64 (crap machine, crap games, crap controller), the GBA SP (lousy dim screen), and the Atari 5200 (games are okay, but the controllers render the machine nearly unplayable).

[Ponyone]

Around me, I only remember seeing systems like Jaguar, 3DO, Neo Geo in either Sears or Electronics Boutique. You're right, if the system wasn't in Toys 'R' Us back then, it was a failure.

I will defend the N64 though it may not have been the greatest system ever, it was the best one at the time by leaps and bounds. I probably played Goldeneye, MarioKart, and San Francisco Rush more than any games since Sonic. Personally I was also disappointed in Nintendo's lack of technology in portables at the time. The Gameboy and Gameboy Color sported 1989 (or older) technology for over a decade until the GBA. Shame on Nintendo. Jaguar is still my number 1 choice, because I was expecting a 64 bit marvel and saw something barely worthy of 32 bit.

I am 98% sure they sold Jags in Toys R Us.

They had the games, this I know. I remember my brother taking me there on my birthday and pulling the Trevor McFur and Raiden tickets out of their little pouches of joy. If they sold the games, they had to have a system or two.

[ssjlance]

Mine would have to be either Odyssey2 or TurboGrafx. Odyssey2 is a mediocre system with bad games. Turbografx is actually pretty good, but I don't have the money for all of the good titles. As far as the ones I have, Neutopia and Bonk are amazing games.

[Daltone]

With all the R & D dollars, focus group testing, general knowledge of what does and doesn't work, etc, then why is it that I have to buy a crappy GBA 1st and then shell out more bucks down the road to buy the new and improved SP? Why the DS and then the DS Lite? Get it right the 1st time! All part of the business plan to fatten the coffers I guess.


That pretty much sums up how I feel about the whole thing (and the Wii with it's crazy expensive controller add-ons.) It's a tie between GBA and DS in terms of a general feeling of "oh god, why did I spend so much on this?" I got a Mega CD for full price when they came out and didn't find myself thinking that. I bought a GBC for the sole purpose of playing Pokemon after seeing a friend playing his imported copy of blue (little did I know it was an original GB game). Despite the fact that I never really played a genuinely memorable GBC game I don't regret it, simply because at the time Pokemon was so outrageously addictive.

[j_factor]

I agree about the GBA, but I use an original DS to this day, and I'm not harping on the fact that I don't have a Lite. I really hated the original, unlit GBA.

[Daltone]

I agree about the GBA, but I use an original DS to this day, and I'm not harping on the fact that I don't have a Lite.

Ah, perhaps I should have clarified. My major problem with the DS isn't that it was almost immediately superseded by a new hardware revision (the original DSs aren't seriously hindered in the same way the GBA was) but rather that I'm yet to find a single game to get excited about on it! There are a couple of 'yeah, I might pick that up if it gets cheap' titles, but nothing new and revolutionary *shrugs*. Poking the screen is an interesting gimmick for 10 mins, but it doesn't really do anything for me as a major game play element (if that makes any sense at all.) Basically, it's just the wrong system for me!

[Clong]

I like all the "retro" or "old school" consoles I've owned for one reason or another. But for the older consoles I've owned I would have to say the Atari Jaguar is the most disapointing.

[sabre2922]

The 3DO and Jaguar are the first to come to mind but those are more niche systems that the hardcore remember more than "regular" type gamers.

The one MAJOR MAINSTREAM system that was the biggest disappointment for me was the N64.

I know im :deadhorse: here and have stated how much I "dislike" this highly overrated nintendo system on many previous threads here at DP before.

Sure it has what is arguably the greatest console videogame ever made in Zelda:OOT and maybe 7 more AAA games that are still fully playable today but thats ALL it has IMO.

MY N64 rant once again:vamp:

The controller: was and still is a god awful monstrosity sure it was the first mainstream home console to introduce analog and all that but I hate that fucking N64 controller. really try to go back and play those games with a decent working ORIGINAL N64 controller and tell me it doesnt feel all "fisherpricey" type toy crap.

90% of the games on N64: FOG FILLED CRAPOLLA! I was one of the first to pick up a N64 system out of 3 other friends at the time that were into videogames and I hated the underdetailed overinflated polygons and fog filled environments even then and cant stand to look at 95% of N64 games NOW.

There was soooo much promise after the system launching with a game like Mario64 then........NOTHING for the longest time and even more dry spells for games releases followed it was a CONSTANT thing for any N64 devotee while all the Playstation gamers were getting a constant FLOW of games even if many werent exactly AAA quality at least one had something new to rent everyweek and at least a couple good to GREAT games released every month the same cant be said about the N64.

Cartridge format; Ive stated over and over again about how the outdated cartridge format CRIPPLED THE N64S TRUE POWER and I stand by those statements.

My point/response to all the N64 cartridge fanboys out there that point out RE2 as an example of what the cartridge format was truly capable of is simple: Resident Evil 2 on N64 was the exception not the RULE and thats why the decision by Nintendo to stick with the EVEN THEN OUTDATED cartridge format truly hindered the N64s true capabilities.

[Rob2600]

Runners-up would have to be the N64 (crap machine, crap games, crap controller)...

The Nintendo 64, Nintendo Gamecube, and Sega Dreamcast had four controller ports built in. Even the Atari 2600 had four-player capabilities with the paddles. However, with the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, Sony sold MultiTap four-player adapters separately. What a rip-off. To me, those are examples of inferior machines.

The Nintendo 64 was doing hardware antialiasing before any computer or home console. The Nintendo 64 also had more RAM and more powerful processors than any other console at the time and the it made analog control and haptic feedback (Rumble Pak) the standard in gaming. How is that "crap?"

The Nintendo 64 had a bunch of exclusive classics, like Super Mario 64, Wave Race 64, Mario Kart 64, StarFox 64, Goldeneye 007, Diddy Kong Racing, 1080 Snowboarding, Banjo-Kazooie, Beetle Adventure Racing, Mario Golf, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber, Mario Party, Super Smash Bros., Mario Tennis, Excitebike 64, Pokemon Puzzle League, Paper Mario, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, etc.

[Chuplayer]

The original GBA. I got F-Zero Maximum Velocity with it just shortly after launch, and despite enjoying it, I still had some puberty growth spurts left. It wasn't going to feel right in my hands a year down the line. And it didn't. By the time I got Sonic Advance, I couldn't stand to hold the system in my hands anymore. I wanted to play Sonic Advance so badly, but I hated the system! The screen sucked, too. I think I got two more GBA games before I got my DS.

I got the rereleased Neo Geo Pocket Color in August 2003, and I played it more in two weeks than I played the GBA in two years.

[RPG_Fanatic]

mine would be the Sega Saturn i bought it in May 95 and was so dissapointed in it i sold it to a friend so i could get a Playstation on 9/9/95 and never regreted it either.

[Nostalgicblight]

I'd have to say the Playstation 2. I went into it knowing most of the games don't interest me much, but I figured there was enough to keep me more or less busy. But I was wrong, I only turn it on once every two months or so. And not for long. :|

I must agree. The PS2 and its bad habits with the DVD-ROM. This has to be the only system that I have had to replace. I trade one for an $80 stereo, it stopped reading disks, and it eventually only ran disks upside down. After which, it completely stopped reading disks, and I took it apart to give it a thorough cleaning. I put it back together, and nothing happened. I took it apart a few more times, got frustrated, and without thinking, shocked myself. I disowned it and traded it, and got a whole $30 bucks off of it.

I bought my second one for $60 bucks. Immediatedly, I found that it would not run any disks, aside form the ones that the ass gave me with the system. Without looking back, I traded the f***er in to the same guy as the first to help pay for my FZ-1. I still have yet to play it... But these stories are giving me chills, and I'm afraid to play it.

As for the Sega 32x, I got one for $10 dollars, and I got another one with a phase 2 Gen, accompanying a CD phase 2 and 26 games (complete) for $40. Given that, I cannot say that any of it was dissapointing.

[bangtango]

You know, the fact that Playstation 3 has been a disappointment for Sony doesn't mean people here can go back in time to do a little revisionist history and say that the Playstation 2 was a disappointment, too. Funny a lot of these same complaints about the library weren't being made before the PS3 came out. The only real complaints about the PS2 were some unreliable systems and the fact XBox versions of any given game were "better." Now all of a sudden the game library sucks ass? Nice try. Back to the drawing board because I say those claims are :bullshit:

[Rob2600]

You know, the fact that Playstation 3 has been a disappointment for Sony doesn't mean people here can go back in time to do a little revisionist history and say that the Playstation 2 was a disappointment, too. The only real complaints about the PS2 were some unreliable systems and the fact XBox versions of any given game were "better."

I worked at a major video game chain for several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s. At least 10 people a day would come into the store with damaged PlayStation 2 discs. Evidently, many PlayStation 2 consoles were scratching rings into people's games.

We would ask the Sony rep about it during her monthly visits to the store and she would skirt the issue. Now, some people are having the same problem with the Xbox 360.

Regarding the PlayStation 2's selection of games: more does not automatically equal better. Remember Eve of Extinction, City Crisis, Fantavision, NRA Gun Club, The Simpsons Skateboarding, Final Fight: Streetwise, NARC, Endgame, Fur Fighters: Viggo's Revenge, etc.? The list goes on...

[Raedon]

Atari 7800

[Lemmi_Is_God]

well ive only bought an Atari 7800, Genesis, TG-16 when they hit the market, every other system i own was bought way after it died or when it was in the closeout bins
so that said

the most disapointing system ive ever played was the Atari 5200, the controllers suck, the games are better on other systems especially the Atari 800xl - the best thing about this system was i got double what i paid for it when i sold it off

and then the Sega 32X if you want to count it as a system, the games arent that great and there isnt many of them

- as for the 3DO i own every game made for it in the US :P so suck it

[smokehouse]

The 3DO and Jaguar are the first to come to mind but those are more niche systems that the hardcore remember more than "regular" type gamers.

The one MAJOR MAINSTREAM system that was the biggest disappointment for me was the N64.

I know im :deadhorse: here and have stated how much I "dislike" this highly overrated nintendo system on many previous threads here at DP before.

Sure it has what is arguably the greatest console videogame ever made in Zelda:OOT and maybe 7 more AAA games that are still fully playable today but thats ALL it has IMO.

MY N64 rant once again:vamp:

The controller: was and still is a god awful monstrosity sure it was the first mainstream home console to introduce analog and all that but I hate that fucking N64 controller. really try to go back and play those games with a decent working ORIGINAL N64 controller and tell me it doesnt feel all "fisherpricey" type toy crap.

90% of the games on N64: FOG FILLED CRAPOLLA! I was one of the first to pick up a N64 system out of 3 other friends at the time that were into videogames and I hated the underdetailed overinflated polygons and fog filled environments even then and cant stand to look at 95% of N64 games NOW.

There was soooo much promise after the system launching with a game like Mario64 then........NOTHING for the longest time and even more dry spells for games releases followed it was a CONSTANT thing for any N64 devotee while all the Playstation gamers were getting a constant FLOW of games even if many werent exactly AAA quality at least one had something new to rent everyweek and at least a couple good to GREAT games released every month the same cant be said about the N64.

Cartridge format; Ive stated over and over again about how the outdated cartridge format CRIPPLED THE N64S TRUE POWER and I stand by those statements.

My point/response to all the N64 cartridge fanboys out there that point out RE2 as an example of what the cartridge format was truly capable of is simple: Resident Evil 2 on N64 was the exception not the RULE and thats why the decision by Nintendo to stick with the EVEN THEN OUTDATED cartridge format truly hindered the N64s true capabilities.




I agree completely. To this day I DESPISE the N64. Like most Nintendo fans, I bought one at launch only to destroy Mario 64 within a week and after that said “Now What?”. I returned it and purchased a Playstation…to this day I do not regret it in the slightest, the Playstation was an amazing machine and with some of the most amazing titles I have ever played. I don’t need to go into the list but I’ll just name two:

Metal Gear Solid
Final Fantasy VII

Yup, these two games alone own the entire N64 library…and that’s not taking in account the rest of the great PS1 titles.


I purchased a N64 again when Paper Mario was released and save the original purchase of Mario 64, Paper Mario remains the one and only N64 title I’ve ever purchased and kept.

The N64 mostly had a library of garbage titles save a scant few worth mentioning, the graphics were blurry on most titles and the music was crap as well (thanks cart format). I also hate the controller with a passion.





I guess I need to amend my statement; the N64 was truly the largest disappointment of any system I’ve ever played. I had high hopes for the successor of my beloved SNES only to be let down in every way.

BTW you mentioned Resident Evil 2 on the N64…I know N64 fanboys often bring that one up. I just reply with:

“You’re right, it was a perfect and complete transfer…it also cost a fortune and was released almost 2 full years AFTER the PS1 release.”

[PDorr3]

honestly growing up as a kid (I grew up with genesis, jaguar, snes, 32x, n64, ps1, ect) I really appreciated each system I owned, yes I actualy DID play jaguar and yes I DID like it alot (it was also the only home system I had that I had theme park on, so that was a biggie).

The 32x also had quite a few awsome games that I liked to play, many of them I can no longer say I liked much (can you believe I actualy loved to play cosmic carnage?) but I definitly did play i and like it.

[Rob2600]

To this day I DESPISE the N64. Like most Nintendo fans, I bought one at launch only to destroy Mario 64 within a week and after that said “Now What?”. ... The N64 mostly had a library of garbage titles save a scant few worth mentioning, the graphics were blurry on most titles and the music was crap as well (thanks cart format).

You're right, these games are garbage and had horrible music and blurry graphics:

Super Mario 64
Wave Race 64
Mario Kart 64
StarFox 64
Goldeneye 007
Diddy Kong Racing
1080 Snowboarding
Banjo-Kazooie
Beetle Adventure Racing
Mario Golf
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
Rayman 2: The Great Escape
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
Super Smash Bros.
Quake II
Mario Tennis
Excitebike 64
Pokemon Puzzle League
Paper Mario
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Perfect Dark
Conker's Bad Fur Day
etc.

[blue lander]

I've gotta vote for the N64, too. Besides Zelda, Mario 64, Paper Mario, Snobow Kids, Sin & Punishment, Mischief Makers, and Ogre Battle I didn't like a single game for the system. Mostly because of the lack of 2D, sprite based games. I'd rather take a tight left-to-right 2D platformer than a game like Banjo Kazooie where you just wander around aimlessly and collect stuff. Most Mario 64 seem like nothing but an extended fetch quest.

5 or 10 good games might be acceptable for a system released by some minor bit player like the Atari Jaguar or 3DO, but this was Nintendo! After the awesomeness of the NES and SNES, even 25 or so good/great games (99% by Nintendo or Rare) has to be considered a disappointment.

[Kid Ice]

I've gotta vote for the N64, too. Besides Zelda, Mario 64, Paper Mario, Snobow Kids, Sin & Punishment, Mischief Makers, and Ogre Battle I didn't like a single game for the system.

I think Playstation sucks. Aside from Tekken 3, Castlevania SOTN, Colony Wars, Wipeout XL, Metal Gear Solid, Ace Combat 2, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Syphon Filter, Ridge Racer Type 4, Bushido Blade, Parrappa the Rapper, Silent Bomber, N2O, Einhander, Tony Hawks Pro Skater, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, G Darius, Medal of Honor, Driver, and Xenogears, that system just had no games.

[rcgamer]

I can honestly say that I have never been disappointed by any system. I guess I already knew most of the stuff about them when I got them so I was expecting it.
Yeah, the Sega CD is pretty crappy but who didn't already know that? So how can it be disappointing?

[y-bot]

I bought the Sega CD new for like $300 and I was very disappointed. I never bothered to buy any new games for it, maybe I would have liked it if I did. I think I sold it for about $85 6 months later. The Adventurevision was a huge disappointment as well. If you consider it more of a toy like the Coleco tabletops then I guess it's cool but if you compare to the Vectrex it's junk. Probably not too many have played it or more people would mention it.

y-bot

[blue lander]

Outside the world of message board trolling, the phrases "this console sucks" and "this console is disappointing" mean two different things. The Fairchild Channel F sucks, but I expected it to so it wasn't disappointing. Coming off from the NES and SNES to the N64 sure as hell was, but I wouldn't say it sucked.

[smokehouse]

You're right, these games are garbage and had horrible music and blurry graphics:

Super Mario 64
Wave Race 64
Mario Kart 64
StarFox 64
Goldeneye 007
Diddy Kong Racing
1080 Snowboarding
Banjo-Kazooie
Beetle Adventure Racing
Mario Golf
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
Rayman 2: The Great Escape
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
Super Smash Bros.
Quake II
Mario Tennis
Excitebike 64
Pokemon Puzzle League
Paper Mario
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Perfect Dark
Conker's Bad Fur Day
etc.


First off...re-read my post...or I'll just quote it for you:

"The N64 mostly had a library of garbage titles save a scant few worth mentioning, the graphics were blurry on most titles and the music was crap as well (thanks cart format)."

I went ahead a took the guesswork out for you via the highlighted areas.

I said MOST...not ALL...there is a distinct difference between the two.

As for the games you listed amd them not having blurry graphics...
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/smokehouse/temp/banjo_kazooie.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/smokehouse/temp/beetle_adventure_racing.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/smokehouse/temp/excitebike_64.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/smokehouse/temp/GoldenEYE.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/smokehouse/temp/legend_of_zelda_ocarina_of_time_the.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/smokehouse/temp/star_fox_64.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/smokehouse/temp/super_mario_64.jpg

You need to take off your rose colored fanboy glasses my friend. I am a lover of Nintendo and even I can admit that the N64 was a failure graphically. I don’t care about the potential, I care about the results. The N64 library is made up of MOSTLY (there’s that word again kid-o) blurry titles with overused anti aliasing. I don’t’ care what you think, if a picture speaks a thousand words then I just spoke 7000 of them.

BLURRY-ASS-GRAPHICS…


As for the sound…how you can even compare a cart based system to a CD based system is beyond me. Most PS1 games had soundtracks simply too large for the N64’s cart. Once again,

PS1 CD- 600 Megabytes
N64 cart- 512 Megabits

Big difference…Games like Symphony of the Night and it’s amazing soundtrack were simply too large for the N64 without being altered or compressed all to hell.


Nuff said, circle gets the square.

[Rob2600]

PS1 CD- 600 Megabytes
N64 cart- 512 Megabits

Big difference…Games like Symphony of the Night and it’s amazing soundtrack were simply too large for the N64 without being altered or compressed all to hell.

Super Castlevania IV for the SNES has one of the greatest video game soundtracks ever and that game was on a 1 MB cartridge. Ninja Gaiden for the NES also has one of the greatest video game soundtracks ever and that game was on a <512 KB cartridge. Good music is good music, no mater what format it's on.

Regarding your screen shots, they are all low resolution, riddled with compression artifacts, and were captured using outdated equipment. We all know those games look much better in reality. Nice try though.