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Nintendo's red-and-black 3D machine that sat on a table and asked you to press your face into it. It was on sale in Japan for about five months and in America for about a year, and it is the lowest-selling standalone console Nintendo ever put its name on. Everyone remembers the demo unit at the toy store, and everyone remembers the headache.
The 3DO was an audacious gamble: a roughly $700 CD console that The 3DO Company didn't even build itself — partners like Panasonic manufactured it under license, with royalties flowing back to Trip Hawkins' company. Time magazine called it 1993's "Product of the Year." No amount of prestige could overcome the price.
The Atari Jaguar launched in November 1993 at $249.95 with a bold claim: the world's first 64-bit home console. Critics immediately cried foul — its two 32-bit chips didn't quite add up. The PowerPad controller, bristling with 17 buttons including a phone-style keypad, didn't help. It became Atari's last console.
The handheld with everything: GPS, a camera, cellular, celebrity launch parties — and, it turned out, an executive with a past in Swedish organized crime. The company collapsed under $300 million of debt in 2006, and weeks later that executive crashed a rare Ferrari Enzo at 162 mph. Fewer than 25,000 were ever sold, by GamePro's count.
You pressed the edge of your N-Gage to your ear to make calls — the infamous "sidetalking" — while everyone nearby asked why you were talking into a taco. Swapping games meant removing the back cover and battery. The Game Boy Advance outsold it 100 to 1 within weeks. The joke aged beautifully, though: phones really did become game machines.
The Tiger R-Zone strapped to your head and projected blocky red games onto a little mirror in front of your eye. Released in 1995 at $29.99, it looked like Tiger's bid to catch the Virtual Boy wave — though Tiger never admitted it. Big licenses, tiny LCD games, and a permanent spot on worst-consoles-ever lists.