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

[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…