Biggest Waste of Space

[SPAZ-12]

I opened up my TurboBooster the other day to clean it, and was pretty surprised at what was inside (or what wasn't). First of all I think that the Booster just looks ugly on the back of the Turbografx, but I don't think that I have ever seen such a waste of space in any console or console add on. I mean, what the hell were they thinking?

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y206/SPAZ_12/DSC01823.jpg

Does anyone know of any consoles that utilize the space inside of their case worse than this? I think the Chintendo Vii might win, but like anyone's surprised. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wed_bW8iiEw

[ooXxXoo]

Of course, look at the PC Engine Core Grafx I or II for instance, they even have AV output buil-in ...
....
....

[Gapporin]

The original Atari 2600's had a pretty big container for a pretty small console (relatively, that is).

[deltoidsteep]

have you guys ever seen the inside of a telstar?

[jb143]

Sometimes empty space is to disipate heat. It this case I'm sure asthetics had more to do with it. Someone at NEC must have liked the design.

I already posted this in another thread but here it is anyways. The second pic is an X-ray of a 2600...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravanderende/sets/72157594368940565/detail/

[otaku]

wow that is crazy! So much extra space. Hopefully a good reason behind it

[SPAZ-12]

I know that the space is there for aesthetic reasons, but it still is ridiculous. It's bad enough that to get composite video you had to buy this giant thing, but couldn't they have designed the port on the back differently when designing the system itself or something? It's unfortunate the changes they made to the PC Engine when bringing it to North America.

jb143, the link you provided is broken. I'd love to see the X-ray pic though.

[jb143]

I know that the space is there for aesthetic reasons, but it still is ridiculous. .
You guys must not take things apart much. ;) Ever open an NES cart?




jb143, the link you provided is broken. I'd love to see the X-ray pic though.

Fixed

[Arcade Antics]

http://www.system16.com/cabinets/holocab.jpg

[Sonicwolf]

The NES cartridges were a big waste of space. Most of them well over half empty.

[MASTERWEEDO]

the nes carts had to be big so you could get em out of the nes

[Sonicwolf]

the nes carts had to be big so you could get em out of the nes

The carts were big because the system was a waste of space also. Look how small the Famicom is.

Not forgetting that the ZIF slot system was a disaster.

[The Old School Gamer]

The Atari 5200 is huge and it doesn't need to be. There is actually a small bin in the back of it to store the controllers, they make the thing monsterous.

[SPAZ-12]

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about the NES carts being such wastes of space. I guess it's because I've never had to open one up yet. And it's true that the NES is a waste of space. There isn't to much empty space inside of the case though, it's just big because of that unnecessary zif thingy.

On the same note as the 5200, it's possible to basically saw a colecovision in half and still have it work. The left side is just storage for the controllers, same as the 5200. This seems to be a bit more common in older systems, such as the intellivision. A hold over from the pong days maybe?

Those X-ray pictures are really cool! I've slowly been working on making an X-ray machine for awhile now, hopefully I'll be able to make some pictures like that someday.

[Push Upstairs]

I always thought the XBOX was a giant beast, until I saw 5200 in person.

You can land jumbo jets on that thing.

[MrRoboto19XX]

If memory serves me right, the reason the TG-16 was so much bigger than the PC-E was the large amounts of RF Shielding needed for the US market.

But then again, I could be wrong.

[ProgrammingAce]

I'm pretty sure the biggest waste of space is the Jaguar... oh, that's not what you meant... nevermind.

[jcalder8]

I thought you meant:
http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/jack_thompson1.jpg

[Sonicwolf]

I thought you meant:
http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/jack_thompson1.jpg

You have soiled my eyes.

[Steve W]

If memory serves me right, the reason the TG-16 was so much bigger than the PC-E was the large amounts of RF Shielding needed for the US market.

But then again, I could be wrong.

Not only RF shielding, but also to appeal to Americans. The PC Engine was a tiny little thing, and I think they assumed that people in the US wouldn't want to spend so much money on something so tiny. People want to get their money's worth, which is why US game consoles tend to be so large. The Atari 5200 is a prime example. The Atari 2600 was so large because the original design was for large stereo speakers to be integrated into the case, which is why there's those round grill holes in it. They decided late in the game to make the audio go through the RF to the TV instead, but they left the speaker holes in the unit (probably for air flow).

[Sonicwolf]

Many times systems were released in the USA/Canada with a bulkier and sometimes hideous design in comparison to their counterparts in other areas of the world

... Super Nintendo ,TG16, Nintendo Entertainment System.