Woo! Early fist round!
The first generation of consoles! A lot of chances to make horrible mistakes. But who made the biggest one? You decide!
I have a feeling most GBATempers were not around when these consoles were released (your humble OP definitely wasn’t). All the more reason to find out some more about these systems.
Rules:
There can only be one!
Each week I pit each console generation against itself to determine what the worst console of that generation was. Updates will hopefully be up every Thursday from now till the end.
We’re going to work our way up through consoles and handhelds until we reach the current generation. Once that’s all done, we’ll determine the worst console and the worst handheld. From there we choose the definitive GBATemp-approved WORST CONSOLE EVER.
Your only job, Mr. or Miss GBATemper, is to cast your vote for what you think the worst of the generation is. Please try to do some research, watch some videos, maybe play a few of these games on a (completely legitimate) emulator, and you just might learn a little about the weird amorphous blob that is video game history. But I can't (and won't) keep you from just shooting from the uninformed hip. You're also encouraged to explain your choice in the form of a response to this topic.
In the event of a tie, I (Sir thaddius prigg) will cast the deciding vote. It is my Roast after all...
Aggressive discussion is allowed, but please try to keep within the rules of the forums. Just try to have fun and don’t be a jerk, k?
Enough of that crap, time to get started!
This week’s challengers:
The Magnavox Odyssey
This first console did a few things right, but in it’s naiveté did a number of things not-so-right.
The manufacturers didn’t really know how to treat this sort of technology. They ended up throwing in some Monopoly-style fake money, poker chips, and other odd little board and card game odds and ends to round out the package. To make up for the almost absolute lack of graphics it even included plastic overlays that could be taped onto the TV screen so the white on-screen cube would have some context. Sketchy to say the least.
Problem was that little cube could go flying off the screen and you wouldn’t always be able to make it line back up where it was supposed to go…
The Atari/Sears Pong
The arcade classic on your very own TV! Imagine tens of minutes of fun in your own home. Magical…
It didn’t take cartridges so you were only buying the one game. But they threw in sone variations on the theme to flesh it out in a way no one really cared about.
One of my favourite features was that the dial controls were attached to the machine. So if you wanted to play with someone, you’d have to get very cozy. I guess that would make it easier to deck your sibling if they beat you.
The Coleco Telstar Series
When the Connecticut Leather Company decided to enter the video game market they shortened their name to Coleco to avoid confusion. What didn’t help alleviate the confusion was the array of consoles they put on the market that touted the name ‘Coleco Telstar’.
Above you’ll see the final version where they rolled all the different types and peripherals into one monstrosity. While it seemed to have a bit of value over, say, the one trick pony that is the Atari Pong, it definitely was one strange looking console. Oh, and that triangular thing in the middle of the machine? That's the game cartridge...
The Nintendo Color TV Game
Yes, Nintendo was just as good at naming systems way back when as they are now. How could you go wrong with a name like that? They get points for accuracy though. It was definitely a colour game for televisions made by Nintendo.
And what kinds of wonderfully varied games chock full of whimsy and imagination could you play on this wonderful device? Pong. Nintendo’s first console was just another dumb Pong clone. In fact, if it weren’t for the rabid success of the NES and it’s successors, this console would have been relegated to a footnote in video game history, and would probably have been rolled into our next challenger…
Random Pong Clones
Nintendo wasn’t exactly original with their first foray into the industry, but then again it doesn’t seem like too many other people were either. You might even notice a Telstar model in the above picture too. And Tele-Games, what the hell! You completely ripped off the Atari Pong's housing design!? For shame!
Everyone and their Grandma made a Pong clone around this time and attempted to cash in on this wacky fad. They put dumb ‘versions’ of Pong on their systems trying make them seem more marketable than the others, but in the end these companies faded back into the obscurity of general electronics manufacturing and were probably bought up by Texas Instruments (and yes, even they had a clone too).
Outro:
So there you have it folks! The first generation of video game consoles (more like worst generation, am I right?) prepared for your consideration.
Feel free to post your reasons for your choice, and maybe some musings about your (or your parents’?) experiences with the consoles in question.
In the meantime this poll will run for the week and next Thursday I’ll tally the votes and declare the winner (loser?) and post the next poll. Until then, happy voting!
EDIT: Poll is closed, although somehow I can't actually close the poll. I'm just taking a snapshot of the results and those will be the 'final' results for this competition. Hopefully some handsome mod will come around and close it for me...
Anyway, results and new thread incoming!
The first generation of consoles! A lot of chances to make horrible mistakes. But who made the biggest one? You decide!
I have a feeling most GBATempers were not around when these consoles were released (your humble OP definitely wasn’t). All the more reason to find out some more about these systems.
Rules:
There can only be one!
Each week I pit each console generation against itself to determine what the worst console of that generation was. Updates will hopefully be up every Thursday from now till the end.
We’re going to work our way up through consoles and handhelds until we reach the current generation. Once that’s all done, we’ll determine the worst console and the worst handheld. From there we choose the definitive GBATemp-approved WORST CONSOLE EVER.
Your only job, Mr. or Miss GBATemper, is to cast your vote for what you think the worst of the generation is. Please try to do some research, watch some videos, maybe play a few of these games on a (completely legitimate) emulator, and you just might learn a little about the weird amorphous blob that is video game history. But I can't (and won't) keep you from just shooting from the uninformed hip. You're also encouraged to explain your choice in the form of a response to this topic.
In the event of a tie, I (Sir thaddius prigg) will cast the deciding vote. It is my Roast after all...
Aggressive discussion is allowed, but please try to keep within the rules of the forums. Just try to have fun and don’t be a jerk, k?
Enough of that crap, time to get started!
This week’s challengers:
The Magnavox Odyssey
This first console did a few things right, but in it’s naiveté did a number of things not-so-right.
The manufacturers didn’t really know how to treat this sort of technology. They ended up throwing in some Monopoly-style fake money, poker chips, and other odd little board and card game odds and ends to round out the package. To make up for the almost absolute lack of graphics it even included plastic overlays that could be taped onto the TV screen so the white on-screen cube would have some context. Sketchy to say the least.
Problem was that little cube could go flying off the screen and you wouldn’t always be able to make it line back up where it was supposed to go…
The Atari/Sears Pong
The arcade classic on your very own TV! Imagine tens of minutes of fun in your own home. Magical…
It didn’t take cartridges so you were only buying the one game. But they threw in sone variations on the theme to flesh it out in a way no one really cared about.
One of my favourite features was that the dial controls were attached to the machine. So if you wanted to play with someone, you’d have to get very cozy. I guess that would make it easier to deck your sibling if they beat you.
The Coleco Telstar Series
When the Connecticut Leather Company decided to enter the video game market they shortened their name to Coleco to avoid confusion. What didn’t help alleviate the confusion was the array of consoles they put on the market that touted the name ‘Coleco Telstar’.
Above you’ll see the final version where they rolled all the different types and peripherals into one monstrosity. While it seemed to have a bit of value over, say, the one trick pony that is the Atari Pong, it definitely was one strange looking console. Oh, and that triangular thing in the middle of the machine? That's the game cartridge...
The Nintendo Color TV Game
Yes, Nintendo was just as good at naming systems way back when as they are now. How could you go wrong with a name like that? They get points for accuracy though. It was definitely a colour game for televisions made by Nintendo.
And what kinds of wonderfully varied games chock full of whimsy and imagination could you play on this wonderful device? Pong. Nintendo’s first console was just another dumb Pong clone. In fact, if it weren’t for the rabid success of the NES and it’s successors, this console would have been relegated to a footnote in video game history, and would probably have been rolled into our next challenger…
Random Pong Clones
Nintendo wasn’t exactly original with their first foray into the industry, but then again it doesn’t seem like too many other people were either. You might even notice a Telstar model in the above picture too. And Tele-Games, what the hell! You completely ripped off the Atari Pong's housing design!? For shame!
Everyone and their Grandma made a Pong clone around this time and attempted to cash in on this wacky fad. They put dumb ‘versions’ of Pong on their systems trying make them seem more marketable than the others, but in the end these companies faded back into the obscurity of general electronics manufacturing and were probably bought up by Texas Instruments (and yes, even they had a clone too).
Outro:
So there you have it folks! The first generation of video game consoles (more like worst generation, am I right?) prepared for your consideration.
Feel free to post your reasons for your choice, and maybe some musings about your (or your parents’?) experiences with the consoles in question.
In the meantime this poll will run for the week and next Thursday I’ll tally the votes and declare the winner (loser?) and post the next poll. Until then, happy voting!
EDIT: Poll is closed, although somehow I can't actually close the poll. I'm just taking a snapshot of the results and those will be the 'final' results for this competition. Hopefully some handsome mod will come around and close it for me...
Anyway, results and new thread incoming!
