Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

I don't know if this has been discussed here before, but I happened to see an article this morning talking about the worst gaming systems. In this as with everything else, I suppose, everyone has a different opinion.

Here's a link to the article:

http://tech.msn.com/products/slideshow. ... d=20823966

There are pictures and more descriptions of the various gaming systems on their worst list, but here's the top ten countdown:

1. RCA STudio II
2. Tiger Telematics Gizmondo
3. Tandy/Memorex VIS
4. Philips CD-i
5. RDI Halcyon
6. Gakken TV Boy
7. Mattel Hyperscan
8. Nokia N-Gage
9. Tiger Game.Com
10. Apple Pippin

So, what does everyone this of this list for the top ten worst gaming systems? Agree or Disagree?

I have to admit that some of them I had never ever heard very much about before.

Fun article, thanks for the link.

A little while ago I wrote a piece that included several of these systems:
http://huguesjohnson.com/features/grifs/
In it I referred to the Gizmondo as the "worst system ever" and I stand by that claim. I don't care how bad the RCA Studio II is, I'd still rather have one in my collection than a Gizmondo.

After reading that MSN article it looks like I missed a few systems though.. then again, so did they. How can you not include the Jaguar CD among the list of the worst systems ever made?

Those are some pretty bad systems. I think the CD-i wasn't quite that bad; the games were pretty horrid, but the machine itself had a lot of potential because it was able to do quite a few things other than gaming and do them rather well.

It's kind of funny, but the first time I saw commercials for the Hyperscan and Game.com back in the day, I knew right away that those didn't have a snowball's chance of being successful. The N-Gage seemed like a better idea, but just wasn't designed well enough to excel.

Surprised no one has mentioned the Nintendo Virtual Boy lol that was a huge blunder..

Yay! I own three of those systems:
Philips CD-i
Mattel Hyperscan
Tiger Game.Com

N-Gage I've played, it's horrible. Great concept, but oh so poorly implemented. Screen is entirely to small and the resolution is hideous, the control button scheme is a nightmare, and the game card insertion requires turning the phone off and removing the battery.

Halcyon - There's a video segment on an episode of The Computer Chronicles, hosted on archive.org, featuring Halcyon and it actually looked like a rather interesting system. First game system to ever have built-in voice command. See video:
http://www.archive.org/details/Lasersan1985

Game.Com - Actually a really good concept for a system, but what really killed it was a poor screen refresh rate. I think it topped out at 20fps, which was really noticeable in any action game. Otherwise it has good sound quality, good built-in features, and good ergonomics. Tiger succeeded in getting some top publishers signed on to make games for the system as well, such as; Sega, EA, and Miday, plus their own in house programming team. It was also the first handheld game system to feature:
- Touch Screen
- Stylus
- Dual Game Cartridge Ports
- Built-in game (solitaire) and other features.
- Internet Connectivity (using optional accessories)

Hyperscan - Just purchased at a yard sale this year. Have yet to even try playing it.

CDI I think deserves to be on that list. There are no truly memorable good game titles for the system, aside from the arguably horrible Nintendo titles. The system didn't do anything new from other CD-based systems of the era. Only noteworthy thing about it was the optional MPEG decoder expansion module for the original versions of the system that allowed the unit to play Video CD's, though that media format never made it to North America as a mainstream commercial format.

Virtual Boy is a revolutionary game system which was unfairly killed before it ever launched good by biased bad press coverage. I own a Virtual Boy and I can honestly say it's one of the best game systems Nintendo ever made. The problem was that if you were someone with epilepsy this system would, not might, induce seizures. What the news media failed to report when saying the system was dangerous was that all of the people who had been negatively affected by the system were confirmed epileptics.

I have honestly never even heard of those. So they must be really bad

If or when Apple decides to enter the console market, they better not look at the Pippin as a good example.

To be honest, I'm kinda surprised the Jaguar (and the CD attachment) wasn't mentioned in the top 10. On an almost consistent basis the system is ranked as one of the worst systems ever made, even though it has a number of loyal followers.

I just happen to be one of those followers.

Seriously, I own two Jaguar base systems, one CD add-on peripheral, four controllers (which are vastly underrated, IMO), and 20+ games. I made it a mission to collect for this system and have been happy with my collection up to this point. While some games for the system are indeed awful, there are some gems on this system, whether they be exclusives (AvP) or multi-platform (Canon Fodder).

Anywho, as for the systems on this list...can't really comment, but there are reasons they're listed, like the Jaguar usually is listed on other sites (I concede that, anyway).

Edit: I take that back. Just going by what I read, the Jaguar was quite the masterpiece compared to a lot of those systems.

Check your 1970's game consoles. If you think those're bad...

I just wanted to come in and say that even a Liquor company had it's own game system back then... there's a reason why the American video game industry crashed back in the 1970's...