The console war broke out long before PlayStation and Xbox. In this article, we’ll introduce you to consoles that almost no one knows about because they completely flopped.
Before Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo established themselves as the undisputed giants in the console market, several manufacturers tried to gain a foothold in the game industry every year. Names like Sega, Atari or Commodore will be familiar to most people here.
Their consoles have come and gone, but have left their mark on gaming history and paved the way for innovation. But there were some whose lifespans were so short and the flop so hard that hardly anyone remembers them today. Here are 5 such consoles.
Amstrad GX4000
During the 80s and 90s, many toy and technology companies tried to enter the growing console market to get their money’s worth. One of those companies was Amstrad, founded by British Allan Sugar.
The manufacturer was one of the dominant forces in the British PC market in the 80s and they also wanted to use this situation to get into the console wars. That was the birth of the Amstrad GC4000. The console’s hardware architecture was based on the internal “CPC Plus” home computer and was related to third-generation consoles.
Console failure was inevitable. When it was released in 1990, the competition was already strong. The 8-bit consoles Sega Master Systems and the heavyweight Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) raged in the European market, against which Amstrad had to defend itself.
In addition, the first 16-bit consoles such as the Sega Genesis appeared at the end of the 1980s, against which the 8-bit Amstrad with its small software range of about 30 games did not stand a chance. It is estimated that only 14,000 units of the console were sold.
sea bo
Compared to the other consoles on this list, the Zeebo is a real youth. The device first appeared in May 2009, so 3 years after the Wii and PlayStation 3, and was actually not intended for us at all.
Zeebo was intended to target the middle class in countries such as Brazil and Mexico, with later releases also planned in China and Russia. Priced at 499 Brazilian Real (then about €150, today €94.90), it should appeal to customers for whom consoles from market leaders Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo were too expensive.
But while the price seemed too low to us, it was still too high for customers in Brazil and Mexico. Accordingly, the price dropped to 299 real after 6 months of release.
Another problem was also the software. Zeebo received 46 titles, many of which were “ports” and adapted versions of existing titles, such as Resident Evil 4 (2005) and Need for Speed: Carbon (2006).
Zeebo fell well short of its sales target of 600,000 units, eventually selling an estimated 30,000 consoles (via Independent.co.uk).
pledia
One of the many companies that tried unsuccessfully in the console business was Japanese toy giant Bandai. One of their efforts was the Playdia, a fifth-generation 32-bit console controlled by a wireless infrared controller.
To stand out from the competition, which was incredibly diverse and numerous in the 1990s, Bandai went against the trends in the industry at the time. So Playdia is designed as a console for children, which can be viewed in color as well as in accompanying software.
The games that appeared for Playdia during its short lifespan were fewer games in the classic sense and more interactive anime and educational software. There was no trace of proper gameplay, which was already known from Nintendo, Sega and Atari games at the time.
The roster mainly consisted of internal Bandai IPs such as Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon and Gundam, with Bandai being the sole producer to endorse the platform. As a result, Playdia only got 39 different titles in total.
It is unknown how many units Playdia ultimately sold, but it failed to reach its target of 200,000 consoles and was discontinued two years after its release in 1996 (via playdia.fandom.com).
Did you know that Apple once released consoles?
before
Nuon’s developer, VM Labs Inc. was founded by a former vice president and several former Atari employees, and had actual experience in the console wars.
However, his approach to it was a bit backward. Released in 2000, while considered a console, the Nuone was marketed at best as a multimedia device and at worst as a DVD player. Also in appearance the Nuon looked more like a video gamer than a console. So the games for Nun were extremely limited and at times completely absurd.
Only 8 games have been released for the console, half of which were already on PlayStation (via Giant Bomb). One game was also region specific and was only playable on the Korean version of the console. The same was true. On the contrary, the Korean Nuon could only play one game that was exclusive to that region: Crayon Shin-chan 3.
The absurdity went further, however, as the Noon had a total of 4 different controllers with different button layouts that looked like copies of PlayStation or N64 controllers. But the games are not designed to support all 4 controllers and with some bad luck you couldn’t control the newly purchased games for your Nuon properly.
It’s no surprise, then, that despite being one of the first 128-bit consoles along with the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, the console was a complete flop, selling only 25,000 units.
FM Town Marty
Just because a company is highly successful in the tech industry doesn’t mean it won’t have a problem entering the console business. Many companies, including Fujitsu, had to learn this lesson in the 1990s.
As a successful manufacturer of PCs, TVs and monitors, Fujitsu decided to expand its influence into consoles and gaming. To that end, on February 20, 1993, the company created the FM Town Marty console, which is claimed to be the first 32-bit console with a CD drive.
The console was released in Japan only for a whopping 98,000 yen, which is roughly $1,408 today. This was a hefty amount that was out of the question for many, especially because of the many cheaper options.
Sales were so bad that just a year later, Fujitsu released Marty 2 to attract renewed industry attention. While the name of the 2 made it seem like it was a new console with better or at least different specs, it wasn’t. The only difference was the case, which was slightly darker brown than the color of the second edition.
Unlike the other consoles on this list, Marty had a huge range of games. However, this was because the device was backwards compatible and could play games from Fujitsu’s own FM Town PC.
Marty and Marty 2 are estimated to have sold around 45,000 units together and were a complete flop, leaving Fujitsu out of the console wars.
Do you know the consoles on our list? Can you think of someone who has been a complete flop and never became famous? Write us in a comment.
The 5 Best MMORPGs on PS4, PS5, and Xbox to Play in 2022
0 Comments