The 10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time

ChnGamer · 13-02-2011 1:27am

Despite how retarded the concept behind Barcode Battler i remember being captivated for hours on end. Pretty sure i got it packed away somewhere, not the best tenner i've ever spent but can't complain.

Neo Geo Pocket was awesome for it's time, obliterated the GB colour in so many aspects. What could have been

Got a nice collection of Game Gear games as well, maybe i'm old school but there are still some awesomely playable games on this system.

Gotta give it up for Nintendo, they've kept me glued to their miniature screens since the age of 6. With the upcoming launch of 3DS i'm just as excited as i was all them years ago. Please don't let me down *fingers crossed*

CiDeRmAn · 14-02-2011 1:30pm

Paparazzo wrote: »

The nintendo gameboy was way more popular because it was so cheap. I never bought into it at the time because it was basically a step up from a "game and watch" (remember them?) where the lynx was another league. Nintendo marketing a shíte product well, they learnt early for the WII.

This couldn't be any more wrong if it had a big sign saying WRONG hanging around it's neck with a set of loudspeakers on it's head shouting "Wrong!" every 3 seconds.

The Gameboy was not a "step up" from the Game&Watch series, what it did do was take advantage of the innovations of that series, the D-Pad and the portability and built a mono chrome 8-bit system around it, the D-pad was the motion control of the day, getting rid of joysicks and replacing them with an elegant, easy to use solution.

The console was not so cheap either, and the games were all about the same price as the GG and Lynx.
The difference was there were more of them, far more, tons of great 1st and 3rd party games, Marioland, Pokemon, Zelda and the mighty Tetris, the Gamegear had a great series of games but were nearly all Sega titles and the poor Lynx had to settle for third with a capable machine but not much made for it, certainly not compared to the GG and GB.

The screens were a big difference, while the GG and Lynx were colour they did eat batteries while the big monochrome display on the GB was much less power hungry.

In no way shape or form could the Gameboy be considered a "****e" product, it was an inspired product.
The Gameboy Pocket was near perfection as well, compact, better screen and fantastic battery life, the Gameboy Color less tremendous but they all set the scene for the best handheld of all, the Gameboy Advance SP, a genius piece of design, plays all the Gameboy games on a big screen and when closed is a solid, comforting little block. I love my Gameboy Micro but I can't play my GB/C collection on it, I always come back to the GBA SP.

So, please, no more of this Gameboy is rubbish nonsense, thank you very much :rolleyes:

o1s1n · 14-02-2011 2:18pm

Nintendo really have handhelds down to an artform. They are the only company that seems to realize that battery longevity is quite possibly the most important factor. There's no point having a super powerful multi coloured display if it doesn't last five minutes without being tethered to a wall.

I loved my Gameboy. The only thing that ever annoyed me about it was the ghosting..but that is something that happened with all LCD screens at that time.

Retr0gamer · 14-02-2011 2:42pm

Even I had no faith in the DS beating the PSP. Now it's almost a shoe in to beat the PS2 as the biggest selling console ever.

Hygro · 14-02-2011 3:17pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Even I had no faith in the DS beating the PSP. Now it's almost a shoe in to beat the PS2 as the biggest selling console ever.

I'd say nearly half of the people who own DS are female, petting their Nintendogs. Not that I've anything against that, but I would still consider the PS2 to be the best selling games console of all time, purely based on the fact that it was aimed at gamers.

I own a DS by the way :pac:

o1s1n · 14-02-2011 3:19pm

I'm sure just as many people own a pink ps2 to play Barbie's Dream Love Affair with Ken*

The DS is most definitely made for gamers. It's made for everyone.

*might not be an actual game.

Hygro · 14-02-2011 3:27pm

That's where Nintendo have cornered the market, consoles/games for everyone ... Cute hoors

3DS will fall flat though, they bit off more than they could chew with that one.

CiDeRmAn · 14-02-2011 3:28pm

Hygro wrote: »

I'd say nearly half of the people who own DS are female, petting their Nintendogs.

That's ok, nearly half the planet happen to be female, the pretty sweet smelling half, unless of course you are in prison, then you could be the pretty sweet smelling thing, and in some demand....

Retr0gamer · 14-02-2011 3:53pm

I don't know how any real gamer can say the DS isn't aimed at gamers. There's tonnes of amazing games on it aimed at the core market, a lot of which are by nintendo as well. Nintendo's genius is that it is aimed at everyone, not just the small core market. I also think the DS has been hugely positive to videogaming as a whole. Hardly any girls played games before in the west. It's not that girls can't enjoy games, any girl gamer I know is as hardcore as any of us, it's just that they completely dismissed without trying it. DS has introduced gaming to a whole heap of people thatwould have traditionally not played games and this will mean in 5 years time videogaming will be more like in japan and be far more accepted and enjoyed by most people.

Hygro wrote: »

3DS will fall flat though, they bit off more than they could chew with that one.

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.

pdbhp · 14-02-2011 4:06pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I don't know how any real gamer can say the DS isn't aimed at gamers. There's tonnes of amazing games on it aimed at the core market, a lot of which are by nintendo as well. Nintendo's genius is that it is aimed at everyone, not just the small core market. I also think the DS has been hugely positive to videogaming as a whole. Hardly any girls played games before in the west. It's not that girls can't enjoy games, any girl gamer I know is as hardcore as any of us, it's just that they completely dismissed without trying it. DS has introduced gaming to a whole heap of people thatwould have traditionally not played games and this will mean in 5 years time videogaming will be more like in japan and be far more accepted and enjoyed by most people.

As much as it pains me I will have to agree with you on this one, Nintendo set the bar really high with the DS and the sheer number of quality hardcore titles is mesmerising, each and every day I come across another stellar game on the DS. No matter what genre you are into there is literally hundereds of games available, yes there is a lot of games aimed at a younger more casual audience but for the whole the game library is crammed full of sweet titles.
Everywhere you go in Ireland or anywhere in the world even you see someone playing a DS which shows exactly why Nintendo have thier stranglehold over the handheld market

Edit: passed the 1000 post mark with little fanfare

o1s1n · 14-02-2011 4:17pm

pdbhp wrote: »

Edit: passed the 1000 post mark with little fanfare

CiDeRmAn · 14-02-2011 4:25pm

I think the 3DS is going to rock, and rock hard, and not just because I preordered one with Amazon this morning!
Nintendo are the only people in some 30 years of handheld gaming to get it right, and have success everytime.
From G&W to GB, from GBpocket to GBC, GBA to GBAsp to GBmicro, from DS to DSlite to DSi to DSLL, all good, all the time...
No reason to believe that they might screw up the 3DS, the launch lineup is weak for gamers like ourselves but there is just enough variation to make it attractive and by Christmas, well, once that user base expands I think the big guns of EA, Ubisoft, Sega, Capcom, they'll all roll out and it will be the must have console.
I mean, do you want to play more Uncharted and Killzone? Or do you want to play Bayonetta in 3D?
Do you want another Gran Turismo or Resistance game? Or do you want to download Super Mario Kart or F-Zero in enhanced 3D?
I think I know the one I'll be having.

CiDeRmAn · 14-02-2011 4:27pm

Oh, and referring to the long forgotten OP, no one mentioned my darling little Pokemon Mini console, a gorgeous little device with the smallest carts ever that plays nifty little games, and was bought by about 8 people in europe, including me! I still have the one I bought at launch.

LoGiE · 14-02-2011 4:32pm

Ah the bar code battler.... Were you raided your mothers freezer to scan a packet of frozen peas. I clearly remember Eason's having a ton of them!

It was a pity the Atari Lynx didn't do better. It had some pretty good arcade conversions like Klax and pac-land. If Atari had only managed to have one
final stab at the handheld market instead of ditching the Lynx and the ST in favor of...the jaguar.

Hygro · 14-02-2011 4:42pm

Forgive me for my old fashined ignorance, thinking of a gamer sat in front of a tv/pc screen, arcade monitor

Most people you see on a bus/train playing a DS wouldn't call themselves gamers, it's just an alternative to listening to the radio/reading the paper for the majority of them.

Only gonna be a matter of time till a (good) phone/handheld console is created and it'll be interesting to see what happens to dedicated handheld consoles then.

Wither regards to the 3Ds, I should have phrased it better. It'll sell well, but not as well as nintendo will hope, or have been used to in the past, it'll be a flop in their eyes. Someone will be committing seppuku!

Articles about it below..

Capcom compares the 3DS to the Dreamcast launch

This would be a scary thing - a kiss of death even - if this were in reference to the Australian Dreamcast launch (a legendary blunder), but no. The Dreamcast enjoyed a healthy birth everywhere else in the world!

Capcom's Yoshinori Ono is extremely excited about the 3DS, what with Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition and all. Featured in an interview with Edge magazine, Oni was questioned why he chose the 3DS as the next Street Fighter destination.

"First, we are in Nintendo country," he confusingly replied. "Second, the feeling I have with 3DS is the same as when the Dreamcast came out - as a developer, I mean, these machines are so exciting. We're fascinated by it at Capcom, and diving into the innards at the moment, but you know there's just so much more there to unlock; it's got more to give."

Considering the strong library of Capcom fighting games the Dreamcast gained, this enthusiasm can only be a good thing. Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition is shaping up to be one of the better launch titles for Nintendo's 3DS. Not only is it incredibly close to its arcade counterpart, it also highlights the system's StreetPass function, includes online multiplayer and makes genuinely excellent use of the actual 3D effect.

Then again, perhaps the real news here is that Capcom is now in Nintendo country.

Nintendo 3DS vs Playstation (NGP) PSP2: Who's going to be holding your hand? (Pre-Launch analysis)

The word is out that Nintendo and Sony are releasing their next iterations of handheld gaming platforms. Nintendo is keeping its DS brand going by naming it 3DS after the 3D visual screen used in the platform. Sony doesn’t know what it wants to call its Next Generation Portable, so they decided to code name it that (NGP) until further notice. We have just enough information on the 3DS and NGP to begin comparing them against each other in the eternal struggle to take the biggest share of consumers’ money.

I’ve gone over most of the details of the systems that are available at this time (3DS info here and NGP info here), and my early impression is that the Playstation NGP is the superior system all around. This superiority is going to come at a premium price. I don’t consider the 3DS a failure, though. It is only a disappointment by comparison, especially since Nintendo is usually the big innovator in this industry.

Both machines are aiming to be more than gaming machines. Both companies are becoming desperate to compete with the growing mobile games market that smart phones are giving rise to. Apple’s iPhone and iPad in particular have caused much worry to the gaming two-some. Apple fans have been begging and rumoring that the fruit will bear a dedicated gaming platform. No such luck, but that hasn’t stopped the accessory feature of games from claiming a lot of dollars from current customers.

Both systems are going to offer a bevy of non-gaming uses like picture taking, internet browsing, music playback, video of some sort, and other social networking features. My impression of the NGP comes from the fact that Sony has already provided most of these multimedia functions in the past on the PSP. The NGP will expand on those functions while providing current console level control, connection, and graphic capabilities.

Nintendo has been slow to adapt to the multimedia nature of our society, offering gaming focused hardware with small expansions of multimedia applications. They demonstrated their recognition of the current state with the DSi, which featured built-in cameras, a downloadable games shop, and free downloadable web browser. Still, Nintendo uses archaic systems to handle these applications. Nintendo simply doesn’t match the offerings of its competitors. The 3DS is big step forward, but nowhere near the leap they need to be making.

With the 3DS, Nintendo needed to renounce the Friend Code system or restructure it to make it user friendly. They need to stop locking down digital purchases to hardware and get their own cross-platform network up and running. Club Nintendo is the perfect start for this. All they need to do is build their downloadable game shops into it. Lastly, the 3DS needed to have two analog pads. In my honest opinion, the 3DS is Nintendo’s take on the PSP; Almost-but-not-quite, in every capacity, now with 3D.

This time, Nintendo really only has brand recognition to boast about. The 3D effect isn’t easily marketed. The titles of the games and the system are all they have. The DS brand was so successful that developers reflexively agreed to develop for this new machine. Sure, 3DS is going to have great games available, maybe even a lot of them as time goes on. What new features they added have been around before on the competitors and done better. The NGP is fully capable of replicating anything the 3DS has to offer. Unless developers find the key aspect of 3D that makes it integral to gameplay, the effect will be relegated to a gimmick. I don’t see the 3DS’s two screens as much of an advantage anymore with the NGP having the touch-screen and rear touch-panel.

I think Nintendo stands a chance of capitalizing on Hollywood’s 3D Movie push if they can get 3D movies to be released on the system. They were already showing off trailers on the system, but they’ll need more than that.

For those who will have to choose between the two, it’s going to be all about the software (games and more) but the NGP is giving me the best feeling. The NGP looks most promising for those looking for a long-term investment. Right now, the 3DS seems like another example of 2-steps-forward-one-step-back. Nintendo hasn’t proven that its offerings are a step above. Nintendo needs to prove that the 3D really is the next big thing, or they’re going look extremely dated in a short period of time.

Retr0gamer · 14-02-2011 4:51pm

PSP2 looks like the superio system to the 3DS. Definitely.

However the Game Gear and Lynx looked like the superior system.

So did the Neo Geo Pocket and Wonderswan.

The PSP also looked far superior to the Ds.

Nintendo left all those consoles in the dust with inferior cheap technology. How did it do this? Because it created a portable system that was indeed portable instead of a portable console and back this up with a stellar line up of games that catered to the portable nature of the console.

You may think you want to be playing Uncharted on the bus. I don't. I'll want to be playing Ouendan, Picross, golden sun or a variety of other games that are truly portable and not slimmed down versions of console games.

I'm sorry but only a fool would back against the 3DS.

I haven't seen many games on the PSP2 that I want and what I did see I'd rather be playing on a console. 3DS has an amazing amount of games coming up that look superb.

If you call yourself a gamer I don't know how you can dismiss the DS since for me it's probably the best console since the snes if not better.

o1s1n · 14-02-2011 4:55pm

Hygro wrote: »

Most people you see on a bus/train playing a DS wouldn't call themselves gamers, it's just an alternative to listening to the radio/reading the paper for the majority of them..

You have this a bit backwards. People who play handhelds on public transport are the true gamers. They love gaming SO MUCH that they cant even be without it when leaving the house.

ghostchant · 14-02-2011 5:12pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

If you call yourself a gamer I don't know how you can dismiss the DS since for me it's probably the best console since the snes if not better.

+1000000

The DS lives in my bag, I don't go anywhere without it whereas I haven't switched on my PSP in a couple of months. That being said, I do love the PSP, and if the DS never existed it would have pride of place in my bag instead. But the DS is my favourite console full-stop.

CiDeRmAn · 14-02-2011 5:17pm

Everyone is a gamer now, cast off such narrow constraits as "Hardcore" and "Casual", doesn't matter that someone likes Picross, WiiSports and Layton, thats good enough for many and acts as a gateway to other games.
This is the time when people who never considered playing a game on a console to be worthy of their time and now they see it as a valid and enjoyable way to spend 15 minutes.

And how many have Sony contributed to this awakening amongst former non-gamers?
None, not a one, not since the 90's anyway when their "club" scene cool marketing made the system attractive to a clique of club goers for whom videogames = mario/sonic and so was for kids, then Sony brought them Wipeout and merged music and media into games.
But since then they have done little but maintain that base, bringing in the same core of people.
Now they say little or nothing to people, especially in handheld form.
When was the last time someone you know mentioned a must have PSP game?
When was the last time someone you know mentioned a must have DS game?
In the former it was Outrun 2006, back in, well 2006!
In the latter it was the other week, talking about Pokemon:White coming to our shores this year.

I can't see the next-gen PSP being any different, people are not banging on the door of HMV looking for Uncharted, why would they do the same for a handheld version?
In fact can anyone mention a "killer app" for the NGP that you really want to play and can only have on that format?
Isn't the Sony device going to play little more than portable versions of PS3 titles?
Do we really want this, or want a new experience, tailor made for on the go?
And only the 3DS has this killer IP built in, 3D.
Anyone who has seen the effect says it's amazing, I can see all the games I like to play becoming better with it, Ridge Racer, Pilot Wings, Monkey Ball.

If the NGP had 3D I would be the first to buy one, no question. The expense of buying a 3D tv prevents me from diving into 3D gaming now, but an NGP with 3D would mean I can play Assassins Creed, Wipeout and all the other big IPs in 3D on a big screen, but Sony have missed the boat, no 3D here, and that's that for another format before it's even released.
Maybe we should give them 5 years to replace this one with the "real" NGP, and just politely forget this next attempt at portable gaming, that once again seems to have missed the point completely.

We want portable gaming, not home gaming turned portable.

Retr0gamer · 14-02-2011 5:28pm

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

When was the last time someone you know mentioned a must have PSP game?
When was the last time someone you know mentioned a must have DS game?
In the former it was Outrun 2006, back in, well 2006!

Ah it's not that bad. We have had Valkyria Chronicles, Peace Walker, the two Ys games and a few others with Tactics Ogre coming in the next week. The big problem with the PSP is that if I get Tactics Ogre I'll first have to update my PSP. That will take about 30 minutes. However since the battery persistence on the PSP is terrible my PSP will be dead so I'll have to plug it in to update it. What's that? My battery is too low to perform the update? I'll have to wait 2 hours while the PSP charges, perform the update and then wait another 3 hours or so until the system is fully charged. In the mean time I'll have not bothered with all that and just picked up the DS to play a new game since it actually caters to people looking for a portable system.

Hygro · 14-02-2011 5:50pm

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 · 14-02-2011 5:55pm

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 · 14-02-2011 6:20pm

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 · 14-02-2011 8:06pm

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 · 14-02-2011 8:25pm

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 · 14-02-2011 8:57pm

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 · 15-02-2011 12:43am

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 · 15-02-2011 1:03am

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 · 15-02-2011 2:32am

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 · 15-02-2011 10:10am

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.

The 10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time

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