JaiGuru
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2017
- Messages
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I might actually go full retro with this and say the Atari 5200.
The thing about that console is that it was riding the pedigree of the biggest name in video games of the time. It would be like if today Nintendo or Sony put out a console and it flopped. Some might argue that the Wii U actually did flop, but I'd point out that console did turn a profit even if it wasn't what was projected. And it does have high quality titles that are worth playing today if you've never investigated them. The Atari 5200, however, came at a time when there were fewer regulatory laws about who was allowed to develop and market software, and what intellectual property protections they had to observe. This meant the market was flooded with unfit-for-purpose games that cost full price and devastated consumer confidence, not just in Atari, but the entire video game industry!
Also consider that the thing was huge by the standards of the time. Remember, this was a time when video gaming was largely seen as kids' stuff, a rainy day hobby with an item that is to be put away when the sun comes out and not a centerpiece of your entertainment center as our media devices tend to be today. It's size was a massive turn off for consumers.
The poor quality of thing is legendary, too. The controllers often didn't work right out of the box. The rotating sliders were arguably a pretty novel feature for the time but functioned so poorly that it never got the chance to be taken seriously as an input device. The thing lasted just over a year and half, cost over $300 USD in some markets (and that's in early '80s money, remember), and Atari even tried to essentially deny it ever existed after the fact because it was such a black eye on their record.
That's a pretty gargantuan flop no matter what your standards and definitions are.
The thing about that console is that it was riding the pedigree of the biggest name in video games of the time. It would be like if today Nintendo or Sony put out a console and it flopped. Some might argue that the Wii U actually did flop, but I'd point out that console did turn a profit even if it wasn't what was projected. And it does have high quality titles that are worth playing today if you've never investigated them. The Atari 5200, however, came at a time when there were fewer regulatory laws about who was allowed to develop and market software, and what intellectual property protections they had to observe. This meant the market was flooded with unfit-for-purpose games that cost full price and devastated consumer confidence, not just in Atari, but the entire video game industry!
Also consider that the thing was huge by the standards of the time. Remember, this was a time when video gaming was largely seen as kids' stuff, a rainy day hobby with an item that is to be put away when the sun comes out and not a centerpiece of your entertainment center as our media devices tend to be today. It's size was a massive turn off for consumers.
The poor quality of thing is legendary, too. The controllers often didn't work right out of the box. The rotating sliders were arguably a pretty novel feature for the time but functioned so poorly that it never got the chance to be taken seriously as an input device. The thing lasted just over a year and half, cost over $300 USD in some markets (and that's in early '80s money, remember), and Atari even tried to essentially deny it ever existed after the fact because it was such a black eye on their record.
That's a pretty gargantuan flop no matter what your standards and definitions are.
