The 10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time

Hygro

good posts by everyone

I wonder if Sony are even trying to take DS punters away from Nintendo with their console and vice versa?

Have they reached some sort of agreement whereby they each kow how much of the market they'll get and are happy with their lot?

Where are Microsoft in all of this? Things would be different if they threw their hat in the ring.

Retr0gamer

I think sony might be trying to take Apple on and not the 3DS. Also if Sony lose Monster Hunter to the 3DS they are screwed.

CiDeRmAn

Hmm, Monster Hunter 3ds, with the online emphasis of my new fanboy love then I think, quite unbiased, that the 3DS will do to Sonys plans what the Square did to Nintendo when the PS came out, that is give them the finger and skip off into the sunset....

If the 3DS is powerful enough then I can't see it failing, Dragon Quest is undoubtedly on the way, there must be some FF titles on the way, I look forward to Need For Speed and DiRT/Grid to arrive as well.
After playing 3D Picross on the DS I can't wait to see a true 3D version.

johnny_ultimate

I must admit I think 3D is the least appealing aspect of the 3DS :pac:

I've grown cynical of the technology's utilisation in Hollywood. HOWEVER, if developers start developing games for 3D, as opposed to simply rendering regular games in an extra dimension, than I'll be interested. At least the 3DS will discard the troublesome darkness and colouring issues wearing glasses adds to 3D in the cinema.

Retr0gamer

I can't think of any useful features that 3D could bring to gaming other than aesthetics. Even then with 3D turned off you get lovely anti aliasing as a bonus so it's a choice of 3D with jaggies or no jaggies.

Only thing I can really see doing something different are 2D games and the new art styles you could try out.

Andrew76

I also read that the 3D effect only works if the console is held in a specific position, any deviation and it goes blurry. Sounds like that might be a pain and I would guess a problem for those folk who play on the go.

o1s1n

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I can't think of any useful features that 3D could bring to gaming other than aesthetics. Even then with 3D turned off you get lovely anti aliasing as a bonus so it's a choice of 3D with jaggies or no jaggies.

Only thing I can really see doing something different are 2D games and the new art styles you could try out.

How about things like that head tracking we saw a while back on the Wii? Projectiles/objects coming out of the screen at you and so on? I guess it's not going to really work on the DS as you can't move about as much..but on a TV it would be pretty interesting. Imagine bullet time in Max Payne.

Retr0gamer

The big problem with head tracking is that the screen isn't moving so as your head moves away from the screen only a little bit you end up looking at the wall. Also people don't realise that with 3D TV's it's not like there's stuff coming flying out of the screen towards you. When you do this the effect breaks down. It's looks like a game taking place inside a box.

ChnGamer

I was pretty much sold on the 3DS the moment they mentioned Ocarina of Time and Starfox. I knoooooowwww they're remakes but they're gonna be ****ing awesome remakes .

Pretty disappointed with their launch day line-up tho, only game of note for me is Pilotwings.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

If the 3DS isn't the fastest selling console ever I'll eat my hat. I hate the price and I really hate region locking but the developer support nintendo have and the games that are coming out on it means I can't ignore the 3DS.

Whilst i hate to say it, there's no doubt in my mind that the 3DS is not going to be the fastest selling console! Hope that hat is tasty!

Pretty much everyone in the industry was surprised with the success of the Wii and DS. Aside from the genious marketing and back to basics fun, the accessibility of the consoles is what truly expanded the industry and drove sales, i fear that is something the 3DS doesn't have on it's side.

Recently changed carreer paths and no longer in the games industry, but the reception from former colleagues have been muted, but it's early days. Regardless, i for one will be purchasing one.

ambro25

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The big problem with head tracking is that the screen isn't moving so as your head moves away from the screen only a little bit you end up looking at the wall.

I can't see the point of head tracking in gaming, unless you're talking a VR environment (e.g. à la Vuzix 920, paired up with a PC and a suitably patched game, e.g. GTR2 or IL-2).

There aren't even any noises yet from M$ or Sony along the lines of that Japanese guy's hack (Vuzix 920 + Kinect + Wiimote) which someone posted on here not so long ago, so I doubt the derivation of that tech onto portable platforms is anywhere near started yet.

o1s1n

What we need is Sega back in the picture with a huge budget and their over the top innovation. I mean they were doing mental stuff with extremely limited technology back in the 90s. I can only imagine the insanity they'd be up to now!

Hygro

Yeah, the way to go would be a 3D game with a VR tracker device!!

probably end up looking like this though ...

ambro25

Hygro wrote: »

probably end up looking like this though ...

Not these days, by the look of things

(linky to the Japanese 'hack' I was on about in my earlier post - he has since turned it into an FPS prototype, with a Wiimote taped to a Marui P90!)

I mean, if a bedroom coder can do that, how hard would it be for M$ to do an affordable 'official version'

VR920 are around the £300 mark or thereabouts. So, I'm aware the market-o-nomics would probably lean against it for now, but when you consider the success of hardware addons like HD-DVDs, move, kinect, drums, guitars and whatnot (completely against the historical model of addon failures on the scale Sega, Nintendo and others experienced in earlier generations), IMHO they would be bound to sell enough to at least break even.

EDIT (to keep the flagrant off-topicness sufficiently Retro )

o1s1n wrote: »

What we need is Sega back in the picture with a huge budget and their over the top innovation. I mean they were doing mental stuff with extremely limited technology back in the 90s.

You mean, like that? Are you sure you did not mean Atari instead?

CiDeRmAn

Like Touchscreen Ninty will have all the best implementations for the first wave of software, then, hopefully, we will see everyone else get the hang of it.

I can see movies being a massive draw on the 3DS, I think that a deal with Netflix or some other movie streaming/download company is obvious.
I would rather be free to watch my own stored 3D movies, but don't think they will open the system up like that.

Retr0gamer

I still don't see 3D adding anything to the experience other than aesthetics. Good point about Netflix though.

amacachi

Off the top of my head the 3D could be used for stealth-type stuff, peering around corners and the like. That's the impression I got from mock-up videos on youtube.

EDIT: Would it not suck for movies one the square screen though, once they're either stretched or zoomed to fill the screen or only use half the screen.

o1s1n

ambro25 wrote: »

Are you sure you did not mean Atari instead?

I don't just mean VR. Things like the Activator, Sega Action chair and consoles jammed into other consoles/devices/computers. Plenty of other companies are innovative, I just think most of them lack Sega's sheer crazyness for releasing absolutely every idea they think of into the market.

I can imagine the board room meetings -

'How about the Sega Pogo Stick? It works like a controller for platformers. You bounce on the pogo stick and then the character will jump over holes/obstacles'

'You're a genius! here, take this wad of cash!'

'How about the Sega..'

'You're a genius! here, take this wad of cash!'

'Which way is it to the toilets?'

'You're a genius! here, take this wad of cash!'

Retr0gamer

I wish Sega would release the Seaman games on the new consoles. I want to teach my pet fish to talk.

amacachi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emAZL77hkmM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfxaiZKGAC8

Dozen Wicked Words

o1s1n wrote: »

I don't just mean VR. Things like the Activator, Sega Action chair and consoles jammed into other consoles/devices/computers. Plenty of other companies are innovative, I just think most of them lack Sega's sheer crazyness for releasing absolutely every idea they think of into the market.

Case in point? :pac::pac:

CiDeRmAn

It took me ages to get a maracas set for my Samba and even then I had to settle for a 3rd party set!
But isn't this the most bonkers controller ever?


And this is the worst controller ever, it simply doesn't work, tries to injure you when you use it, really hurts the thumbs,


But this controller is awesome, perhaps even stupendous!

o1s1n

Steel Batalion has nothing on the Sega Action Chair for bonkers controllers!

pdbhp

o1s1n wrote: »

Steel Batalion has nothing on the Sega Action Chair for bonkers controllers!

looks easy to get out of!!

Dozen Wicked Words

o1s1n wrote: »

Steel Batalion has nothing on the Sega Action Chair for bonkers controllers!

I think that chair has featured in "specialist gentlemens" :eek: videos. Looks horrific!

DinoRex

dooferoaks wrote: »

Case in point? :pac::pac:

Sigh. Unfortunately dinos lose out to monkeys when it comes to maraca operation.

littlejp

I had a Tapwave Zodiac for a few years but I have since sold it. Was pretty cool. Really good video playback. Was able to put episodes of TV shows on it and watch them on the train.
There's a huge online community based around this machine bringing out lots of neat software for it. I even found a SNES emulator which worked very well.
Kinda regret selling this on now

Syferus

I got a GBA Micro off eBay about 18 months ago. The most surprising thing about it is the quality of the unit, almost unique for a handheld in that it the shell is most some sort of metal or metal composite. It's dinky and not completely comfortable but the smaller - and fantastic - screen means GBA games look spectacular on it.

It was one last push to get some GBA sales - announced over six months after the DS had been released - and I think the write up there is a big disingenuous as painting it as not succeeding as I'm sure the sales weren't far off Nintendo's expectations. It was Nintendo hedging their bets in case the DS flopped, but when it took off there was no need to continue pushing a revision of the GBA.

EDIT: Wooh nelly. I didn't check how many pages were in this thread before posting - the above is in reference to the OP, if it's not clear.

CiDeRmAn

I have to say the GBA micro is a remarkable machine, I believe the idea was to produce a gameboy that would compare with the mobile phone games that seemed to be about to take over.
I know they made it at exactly the wrong time, as games for the system were cancelled all over the place.
Beautiful screen though.

pdbhp

I'm glad this has turned into the GBA micro love-in thread:D
The micro was a victim of it's release date, IMO it wouldn't have sold so bad if it was realesed 6 months earlier sure the internet was buzzing when they announced it and I for one was really excited about it.
I have and will always have a soft spot for that machine it is totally awesome, the screen just blew me away when I first got mine it is so bright and crispy clear and if it got scratched up all you had to do was buy a new faceplate:)
As for the control layout it is by far the best D-pad ever and the buttons will take a serious mashing and never complain.
There is no better console to enjoy the Mario series of games on either it's like Nintendo made it especially for them games, I found that when I started playing Mario 4/SMB3 I could just blast through the levels.

On reflection of this post I believe I've caught the ghey for the GBA micro
see what I did there:p

o1s1n

It's so bloody small too. And the battery seems to last forever. Great machine alright. And when you combine it with a flash card it's mental to think so many games are ready to go on such a small device.

pdbhp

o1s1n wrote: »

It's so bloody small too. And the battery seems to last forever. Great machine alright. And when you combine it with a flash card it's mental to think so many games are ready to go on such a small device.

True the battery refuses to die which is great for on the go gaming.
I have a flash card for the GBA but it wont work on the micro for some reason:(
Still though the micro is a totally amazing piece of kit and shall remain my favourite handheld ever!

Retr0gamer

I'm still kicking myself that I never picked one up when smyths were selling them for 20 euro.

pdbhp

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I'm still kicking myself that I never picked one up when smyths were selling them for 20 euro.

I have 2 of them and if I ever see them at the correct price I'll snap one up again as they're fantastic

ghostchant

I compulsively buy them on sight, have 5 of them now, including the lovely famicom one, bought it sealed in a gamestop in the states a year and a half ago, where it had been sitting unloved for 4 years

o1s1n

Boxed Famicom ones sell for a nice tidy sum on ebay these days. The faceplate on mine has some knocks on it. It's a good thing in a way though, as it means I don't feel as bad using the thing :pac:

CiDeRmAn

I have a pink one here somewhere, picked it up...
May part with with it someday....

My flashcard works fine, but holds few GBA games.
Holds tons of Gameboy games though, and they don't natively run on a GBmicro, so thats cool!

o1s1n

The flash card I got for mine doesn't have an internal memory..it just had a slot for micro SD carts. 2gb can fit a hell of a lot of GBA games

Dealextreme sold them for a while but I think they may be gone by now.

pdbhp

My flash card holds about 5 GBA games even though it says its 256mb:D holds literally hundereds of gameboy games though which is nice, the main issue is I have to write all the roms to it and that takes a few minutes, oh and it needs a new battery but I'm too lazy to change it

Myrddin

I want a Gameboy Micro

o1s1n

pdbhp wrote: »

My flash card holds about 5 GBA games even though it says its 256mb:D holds literally hundereds of gameboy games though which is nice, the main issue is I have to write all the roms to it and that takes a few minutes, oh and it needs a new battery but I'm too lazy to change it

Ah, you see flash memory is measured in bits, not bytes.

So that's 256Mb(bits) not 256MB(bytes)...the difference being one has a small b and the other a large B.

8 bits in a byte. So to find out how much space is really on it (!) devide by 8.

So it's a 32MB flash cart. 5gba games sounds about right.

EnterNow wrote: »

I want a Gameboy Micro

They really are lovely. A standard one shouldn't cost too much. The flash cards are a bit harder to hunt down though.

Myrddin

o1s1n wrote: »

They really are lovely. A standard one shouldn't cost too much. The flash cards are a bit harder to hunt down though.

How much am I talking for one? Boxed if possible?

I'm drifting slightly away from flash cards as of late. They'll always have their uses for obscure & epensive games & consoles, but it's so much fun buying a real game, I'd forgotten that over the years. A burst of buying NES titles over xmas restored my faith in the trusty cart

pdbhp

EnterNow wrote: »

I want a Gameboy Micro

Everyone should own a micro they rule......... not as much as dinosaurs though:D

o1s1n wrote: »

Ah, you see flash memory is measured in bits, not bytes.

So that's 256Mb(bits) not 256MB(bytes)...the difference being one has a small b and the other a large B.

8 bits in a byte. So to find out how much space is really on it (!) devide by 8.

So it's a 32MB flash cart. 5gba games sounds about right.

Well I just checked my flash card and it says 265M on in so they're being underhand about it right from the start:rolleyes: doesn't matter though cos it works and is a great little addition to my collection

pdbhp

EnterNow wrote: »

How much am I talking for one? Boxed if possible?

I'm drifting slightly away from flash cards as of late. They'll always have their uses for obscure & epensive games & consoles, but it's so much fun buying a real game, I'd forgotten that over the years. A burst of buying NES titles over xmas restored my faith in the trusty cart

Well my one was supposedly over €100 new, don't know where to gwet them now because my mate gave me this one:D try gbatemp.net for real info

o1s1n

EnterNow wrote: »

How much am I talking for one? Boxed if possible?

I'm drifting slightly away from flash cards as of late. They'll always have their uses for obscure & epensive games & consoles, but it's so much fun buying a real game, I'd forgotten that over the years. A burst of buying NES titles over xmas restored my faith in the trusty cart

If you want one boxed I think you're probably going to have to pay a good bit more. It seems like one of those things people really wouldn't keep a box for! The console on it's own should be possible for under 30 I'd say.

That's mad about games by the way, I thought you'd been converted to the darkside for good. Sure you'll be back buying CPS2 boards before you know it

Myrddin

o1s1n wrote: »

If you want one boxed I think you're probably going to have to pay a good bit more. It seems like one of those things people really wouldn't keep a box for! The console on it's own should be possible for under 30 I'd say.

That's mad about games by the way, I thought you'd been converted to the darkside for good. Sure you'll be back buying CPS2 boards before you know it

Lol, nah the wonders of Mame @15Khz were beyond what I could have imagined, so I've left the arcade collecting world for good. I'd love more cabs though!

But stuff like Snes & MD, the games are so cheap so why not buy em? Granted for fan translations and things, & games that are stupidly expensive, flashcards are always gonna have their place. Like before buying Darxide, I'd load it up via flash first to save myself the hassle see what it's like.

And it's not innaccuracy with them, they're identical to the real cart game, & I mean identical. It's the low cost of the real carts, that come with printed labels, maybe a box & a manual that tells you the story of the game etc etc. You can't get that with a flash card

o1s1n

Spot on man, when you can have them cheap (and the full gaming experience that comes with them), why not? Get them while the going is good!

Having spent about 10 year watching the prices of games rise on ebay, I'm pretty confident this whole hobby is really going to kick off in the future collectability/price wise. Relatively speaking, gaming hasn't been super mainstream for that long. Might as well get stuff while it's going cheap.

The only real problem at the moment is space...I'm sure when that gamesroom in the sky is finished it's not something you're going to have an issue with

pdbhp

o1s1n wrote: »

The only real problem at the moment is space...I'm sure when that gamesroom in the sky is finished it's not something you're going to have an issue with

2 seater Daytona cab would eat up that space in seconds;)

Myrddin

pdbhp wrote: »

2 seater Daytona cab would eat up that space in seconds;)

Lol, ffs it nearly killed me getting a tv into it, imagine trying to squeeze a cab into it No no, the outdoor shed houses the arcade magic. Still leaves the problem of getting sit-down cabs through the house. I'd have to dismantle it at the front door, bring it through the house, & rebuild it in the shed

pdbhp

EnterNow wrote: »

Lol, ffs it nearly killed me getting a tv into it, imagine trying to squeeze a cab into it No no, the outdoor shed houses the arcade magic. Still leaves the problem of getting sit-down cabs through the house. I'd have to dismantle it at the front door, bring it through the house, & rebuild it in the shed

Mechano = build a crane and lift it over your house:pac:

Myrddin

pdbhp wrote: »

Mechano = build a crane and lift it over your house:pac:

Mechano? Nah, LEGO man, always use LEGO.