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The Top 7... Consoles that never were

Gizmondo 2? Super Nintendo CD? Find out why they vanished before their time

Words: Mikel Reparaz, GamesRadar US

Created by: Sega

Intended for release: 1995

The hope: The 32X did a decent job of turning Sega's 16-bit Genesis into a then-impressive 32-bit powerhouse, but it was expensive, clunky and - when combined with the Sega CD - turned the console into an unwieldy tower. The solution? The Neptune, a $200 console that combined the Genesis and 32X into one cartridge-based unit, potentially reducing consumer confusion and bringing new gamers into the 16/32-bit fold with awesome games like Star Wars Arcade, and, uh… Star Wars Arcade.

The reality: While we're sure it seemed like a good idea at the time, the Neptune would probably just have been another entry in Sega's confusing, increasingly ridiculous menagerie of semi-compatible systems. Between the Genesis, Genesis 2, Genesis 3, CD-X, various iterations of Sega CD and the 32X, being a would-be Sega fan could be awfully confusing. And while the Neptune might have been meant to streamline things, it likely would have just added to the confusion.

 
Above: YES THIS IS WORTH 200 DOLLARS ABSOLUTELY

Why it never saw life: Lack of interest from consumers, combined with limited resources at Sega. While the 32X sold well when it was introduced in 1994, by 1995 it had started to sag, mainly because developers and consumers were holding out for the Saturn. Because Sega's answer to the PlayStation was right around the corner, it seemed silly to invest in what many already thought was a dead-end, stopgap system.

Eventually, Sega realized that it was even sillier to compete against itself with two incompatible consoles. Sega initially pushed the Neptune back to early 1996, but - after realizing it was just one more liability - Sega wisely decided to pull the plug when it halted production and support for the 32X, Genesis and anything else that wasn't the Saturn in late 1995.


 
9 Comments
Order Comments: Newest First | Oldest First
hail56789  - 1 year 1 month ago 
- Comment removed by Community
Reported
AFilthyIbis  - 1 year 1 month ago 
Nope. We shant be having thatbehaviour here. Away with you hail56790 and your "first". "reported"
kurkosdr  - 10 months 24 days ago 
Altough it's not exactly a console...

Any post-G350 video card from Matrox capable of running games even from it's era fast.
AA95mp  - 10 months 22 days ago 
it's a pity about a lot of these consoles they might of actually done well (but probaly not.)
kurkosdr  - 10 months 17 days ago 
@AA95mp EXCUSE ME?? Specifically WHAT on these list could have done well??

-->All of the systems on this list were a prime example of 1)Overpricing 2)Incompetence 3)Useless features 4)Shitty games 5)Inability to understand the market and what customers want.

-The Gizmondo2 would never stand a chance next to the PSP, even with it's (lets call it a) camera.

- The ProjectX... not a console, a useless feature tucked in overpriced DVD players. Answer to your self: Can the dedicated hardware of a standaalone DVD player run proper games?

-The Indrema L600. An attempt to make a product (and games), out of the work that hobbist no-pay programmers did during their free time. Which, by the way, should have to compete with consoles designed by a thousand of paid engineeres. And games made by big-ass companies, which can afford to pay an army of programmers, artists and graphics designers. Does tux racer count as a game? Probably. As a competent racing game? No effing way! Sorry open source fans, this works only on OSes, browsers and media players

-Neptune: Another effort from SEGA to tranform their 16-bit fossil into a modern console. Or in other words "our accounting department said that making a new console would be too expensive, so lets try to upgrade the stuff we already have". Losers! Answer to your self: Can you turn a 16bit system into a modern powerhouse, without making the programming process for it a pain in the ass? Impossible. Good for SEGA to aknowlegde their mistake. It saved them years of life.

-M2: When you have made a console that will cost as much as a professional multimedia platform, you know you 've gone the wrong way. Look what happened to Sony and their PS3 powerhouse. Look how successfull the underpowered (but cheap and full of games), the SNES and PSOne were. Period.

-Super Nintendo CD: For those who didn't get it the first time... you can't upgrade a fossil.

-Phantom: Eh... Hem... can't an average user do the exactly same by assembling a media center PC??? In case you didn't noticed, this was exactly what the phantom would have been. A media center PC with a fancy video card. The idea of downloadable games (the ancestor of Steam) was a good idea, but I doubt if infinium could have pulled this out. Too much aggreements with too much game companies, by a small company. Impossible
Hypershadic  - 6 months 8 days ago 
You know a few of these could possibly have made it but you know what I don't really know that much so hell thats it....
wiigamer024  - 5 months 2 days ago 
Nintendo, and Sony worked TOGETHER?!? Holy shiz! were was I, under a rock? I'm glad THAT was never relesed.
scatterlaser  - 4 months 29 days ago 
The phantom had potential but if it was released eventually or a consel based on the same idea it would have serious competition with xbox live and the more established download services e.g. steam,wii shopping channel,psn.
d3athcr4ft  - 2 months 19 days ago 
The Phantom sounds pretty much like the new OnLive system that is scheduled for release later this year. It remains to be seen if OnLive will actually hit the market, although it does seem to be much further along than the Phantom ever was.
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