The hardware that history passed by
Marketed as the first 64-bit console, the Jaguar suffered from poor developer tools, a baffling 17-button controller, and a library of fewer than 70 games.
An open-licence hardware platform launched at $699.99 — twice the price of its competitors — that never attracted the software library needed to justify the cost.
Nintendo's tabletop stereoscopic console displayed red monochrome 3D graphics and caused headaches and eye strain, selling fewer than 800,000 units before being quietly discontinued.
A multimedia player that gained gaming capabilities almost accidentally — and became notorious for its three officially licensed Zelda and Mario games, widely considered among the worst ever made.
A Genesis add-on rushed to market to compete with PlayStation and Saturn announcements, cannibalising Sega's own install base and confusing consumers with a proliferating hardware ecosystem.
A technically capable console undermined by a shock early launch, a $399 price point, and a dual-CPU architecture that developers outside Japan found nearly impossible to program efficiently.
The first handheld with a colour LCD screen, hardware sprite scaling, and backlit display — launched the same year as the Game Boy but overwhelmed by Nintendo's software library and battery life advantages.
A technically capable NEC/Hudson joint venture that dominated Japan as the PC Engine but found only modest success in North America against entrenched NES and arriving Genesis competition.
A handheld promoted as a gaming PDA with internet connectivity and a touchscreen — none of which worked well — competing against the Game Boy Color with a poor game library and worse screen.
A GPS-equipped handheld backed by a Swedish company with undisclosed criminal connections that sold 25,000 units at $400 before collapsing spectacularly amid a Ferrari crash scandal.
An Apple-designed multimedia platform licensed to Bandai that sold 42,000 units at $599 — one of the lowest-selling named consoles in history.
A children's educational platform combining a book-like cartridge format with a drawing surface — genuinely successful in Japan but a footnote in Western markets.