What 20 or more year old consoles do you think deserved better?

[thanonyx]

Not all consoles get the recognition the likes of say the PS1, the Game Boy, or the NES. Some unfortunately seem to fall by the wayside despite being pretty cool and having some neat games.

We all know how I feel about the WonderSwan handhelds but what are some consoles you feel never got their dues?

 

[MasterEn]

what's the tv with the controller? i've never seen that before. i've seen most of the others except the fairchild thing.

 

[DunkeyKong]

Neo Geo Pocket, it's a great handheld. But unfortunately, not many library of games

Post automatically merged: Feb 15, 2025

what's the tv with the controller? i've never seen that before. i've seen most of the others except the fairchild thing.

That's a Vectrex

 

[MasterEn]

Neo Geo Pocket, it's a great handheld. But unfortunately, not many library of games
View attachment 26146

Post automatically merged: Feb 15, 2025

That's a Vectrex

there's a portable one?

 

[DunkeyKong]

there's a portable one?

Kinda? It's a 16 bit handheld

 

[MasterEn]

Kinda? It's a 16 bit handheld

huh. never knew that was a thing.
the Vectrex seems like the odyssey console; but with a more interesting set up and design. it was probably neat to play on for a little while.

 

[DunkeyKong]

huh. never knew that was a thing.
the Vectrex seems like the odyssey console; but with a more interesting set up and design. it was probably neat to play on for a little while.

Oh you mean Vectrex? Yeah, it was a pretty fun console. Cool vector based graphics too

 

[thanonyx]

huh. never knew that was a thing.
the Vectrex seems like the odyssey console; but with a more interesting set up and design. it was probably neat to play on for a little while.

It used vector graphics instead of sprite graphics. It came out in 1982 but it didn't sell well due to the crash of '83.

Oh, and the Fairchild Channel F, it was the very first console to use interchangeable ROM cartridges. You can thank our good friend Jerry Lawson for inventing those.

 

[MasterEn]

Oh you mean Vectrex? Yeah, it was a pretty fun console. Cool vector based graphics too

i meant the neo geo pocket. but this also the first time i've ever seen the Vectrex as well. there's always something out there in the primordial swamp of the gaming world that i've never seen before. it's like finding dinosaur bones, but more awesome.

 

[DunkeyKong]

i meant the neo geo pocket. but this also the first time i've ever seen the Vectrex as well. there's always something out there in the primordial swamp of the gaming world that i've never seen before. it's like finding dinosaur bones, but more awesome.

These things are quite ancient so yeah, it was a cool discovery

 

[PaleFolklore]

The Dreamcast, easily.

SEGA did everything they could, they just...couldn't predict they'd be competing with the best-selling console of all time.

But it was one hell of a machine. The sheer audacity to talk about internet connectivity in a console in FUCKING 1999 is insane, to say the least.

 

[RanmyakuIchi's iconRanmyakuIchi]

The Turbographix-16 deserves more love, it always gets swept to the side in 16-bit discussion. I always found the Vectrex fascinating although I never owned one.

 

[PaleFolklore]

The Turbographix-16 deserves more love, it always gets swept to the side in 16-bit discussion.

 

[MasterEn]

It used vector graphics instead of sprite graphics. It came out in 1982 but it didn't sell well due to the crash of '83.

Oh, and the Fairchild Channel F, it was the very first console to use interchangeable ROM cartridges. You can thank our good friend Jerry Lawson for inventing those.

i had to look up vector graphics because i wasn't sure if i had ever seen those. i remembered rerez covered a system a few years ago that used this kind of stuff for its games. it was pretty neat.
i will definitely give thanks to Mr. Lawson for his contribution to the gaming industry. i can't imagine what it would be like to not have swappable cartridges. i remember when i was a little kid, i had about 80 games for my first nes. it's probably the most games that i owned for a system.
i don't have them anymore, but it was cool for the brief time that i did.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

The Saturn. It's a fantastic machine with a great library. Only failed because Sega of America where run by a bunch of idiots at the time. You look at a list of best Saturn games and you'll notice many where only released in Japan. SoA was real snobby about 2D games and only wanted to push the 3D ones. That and the US launch being the shit show that it was.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

Not all consoles get the recognition the likes of say the PS1, the Game Boy, or the NES. Some unfortunately seem to fall by the wayside despite being pretty cool and having some neat games.

We all know how I feel about the WonderSwan handhelds but what are some consoles you feel never got their dues?

View attachment 26136 View attachment 26137 View attachment 26138 View attachment 26139 View attachment 26143

Saturn: If Sega didn't fuck up the launch, it would've survived the storm that was the NA market. Still have no idea how they thought it would be a good idea to shadow-drop an entire CONSOLE and not let manufacturers know. And on top of that, with only 5 games to launch with. "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!"

PC-FX: It had real potential if it was taken seriously as an actual console, but unfortunately in an act of desperation, NEC doubled down on the PC 98's... market

Lynx: Honestly if Atari made actually interesting games that weren't glorified score attacks to play for a minute and put down, THEN this console would've been goated

32X: They should've put more games on it or turned it into a more portable Saturn

Vita: Everything went wrong with this console, back to the drawing board, yeah its nearly 14 years old and not 20 but still

Nomad: If they gave this console original games and treated it like a successor to the Game Gear and Master System... Honestly if they replaced the 32X with it and had it alongside the Saturn, it would've had a chance

 

[Ezri_Muldoon]

The Sega Saturn outsold the N64 in Japan & had over ONE THOUSAND games released between 1994 & 2000.
The N64 only had 388, the Gamecube only managed 651.

If only Sega of America actually imported games or if we lived in a timeline where they didn't mismanage literally everything to the point Sonic R only exits because Sega Europe stepped in.
Sega Europe rarely if ever did ANYTHING more than localise games for the None-English regions and they actively commissioned Travelers Tales to make something for the 97 Christmas season with the approval of Sega of Japan.

TT, a third party studio made a fully 3D Sonic game in just 9 months.

The Saturn deserved better.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

The Turbographix-16 deserves more love, it always gets swept to the side in 16-bit discussion. I always found the Vectrex fascinating although I never owned one.

PC Engine was big in Japan but it just never caught on elsewhere. If I remember right it outsold the Mega Drive on many occasions.

 

[RageBurner]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the Sega Saturn by a very large margin.

 

[Capricorn_is_Goat]

The Virtual Boy. Nintendo's attempt at the first virtual reality (as far as I know). It was a failure, only a handful of games were made for it.

 

[trickybus]

The Dreamcast, easily.

SEGA did everything they could, they just...couldn't predict they'd be competing with the best-selling console of all time.

But it was one hell of a machine. The sheer audacity to talk about internet connectivity in a console in FUCKING 1999 is insane, to say the least.

I wish I still owned my old one

I booted up SA1 on an emulator for the memories and I'm happy to report that Big the Cat's stages are just as garbage as I remember

 

[MasterEn]

The Virtual Boy. Nintendo's attempt at the first virtual reality (as far as I know). It was a failure, only a handful of games were made for it.View attachment 26181View attachment 26183View attachment 26184

if you only knew.
-plot twist-
you've been in a nintendo virtual reality this whole time.

 

[starseeker300]

2 come to mind

Sega Saturn: It is just chocked full of hidden gems and is a shame that it got outcompeted to the point of failure by the ps1

Neo Geo Pocket Color: Ive only recently learned about this one but looking at its library specifically its first party games, SNK was cooking something there, shame it didn't really get any third party support

 

[RageBurner]

2 come to mind

Sega Saturn: It is just chocked full of hidden gems and is a shame that it got outcompeted to the point of failure by the ps1

Neo Geo Pocket Color: Ive only recently learned about this one but looking at its library specifically its first party games, SNK was cooking something there, shame it didn't really get any third party support

I agree with both your statements. The NGPC was something really special and a clear step up from its predecessors.

 

[Egg (McMuffin) Man]

The Virtual Boy. I own one, along with most of the library in my region (I'm 3 games shy of a complete regional set) and I love it so much. It's like a Game Boy on steroids - A Super Game Boy, if you will.

And quite frankly I don't know why it failed. I know the common reasons that are cited, like headaches, but as someone who actually owns one I find that hard to believe. My best guess is maybe lack of portability and the stand making it awkward to play.