5 Failed Consoles That Never Made It Out Of America

[@thegroove5099]

A real big problem for the Astrocade was that both Atari and Intellvision had Sears-branded versions at a time when Sears was the Amazon of its day.

[@SyntheToonz]

If the 5200 came out in 1979/1980 to replace the 2600 as the engineers had planned a LOT of things would have turned out differently. On paper the Astrocade should have eated the 2600s lunch. But, the marketing was so ineffective that I never even knew it existed back then, and I was the target market (10 to 12 yrs old then).

[@pigs18]

The Astrocade's target market was adults. In fact, I don't think Bally used any children in their advertising.

[@mcorleonep]

I only played the Astrocade in the 90’s for the first time when a friend acquired one at a pawn shop. Sad that it could have been a great console.

[@daveidmarx8296]

I think it was only sold at select department stores. I remember seeing it only at Montgomery Wards back in the day (1980-82 or so). I desperately wanted one for Christmas 1980 (I was ten at the time), but the price was too high and so I got an APF MP-1000 instead, which was more fun than this video would have you believe. The Space Invaders clone looked far closer to the arcade game than the 2600 version.

[@themidcentrist]

@@daveidmarx8296 Montgomery Wards carried a version of the Astrocade that was exclusive to them, similar to Sears with the 2600 and intellivision.

[@IsaacKuo]

I pity the folks who bought Zeebo ... they should have stuck with a big name like Google, who would never abandon an internet only game console service.

[@TheLairdsLair]

Hahahaha, perfect comment!

[@kevinstrade2752]

As an American I approve of this video!!! Lol I didn't realize the 5200 never made it out of the US. I still have mine from Christmas of 82'

[@voteDC]

As handhelds go I think the reason Nintendo has always dominated is because they prioritised battery life over specs. If Sega could have somehow made the Mega Drive more power efficient for the Nomad imagine would the handheld market could look like today.

[@seblav9386]

And gameplay with games like Zelda

[@GCSoundArtifacts]

Great video. For the first time, I've seen a really respectable approach to Zeebo, which is a VERY maligned console nowadays, even being an ahead-of-its-time concept of its time when it comes to online gaming! It seems that having a mobile phone technology coming to your TV isn't something that's well-digested these days... I find it pretty ironic considering that there are mirroring techniques to get your cellphone in a big screen and online gaming these days... Tectoy was ahead of the curve, and they're from my country, Brazil!

[@akawhut]

You should look for „stop skeletons from fighting zeebo“. Derek made a 40 minute mini doc about it.

[@IsaacKuo]

It is puzzling that mobile hardware has not yet had any successful console or handheld. Here in the USA, people think of the Ouya when it comes to mobile hardware consoles. Others were even less successful, such as GameStick. And yet, mobile gaming on phones and general purpose tablets continues to chug along making money, even though they are hamstrung by crude touch screen controls.

[@jackmcslay]

One of the biggest issues was the same as many other consoles in these videos, that is releasing a new hardware that is far too outdated for it's time without a really dedicated developer base resulting in mostly ports of games sometimes 10 years old at that point. Added to that they tried to market it in a time and place hardly anyone cared about pirating games so it was a hard sell when for a similar price you could have bought an used PS2 for a similar price.

[@DijaVlogsGames]

@@IsaacKuoThe Switch is simply a Tegra console, so it’s basically a console based on mobile hardware.

[@liamconverse8950]

Bally used to run a nationwide chain of gyms called Bally's total fitness. Nowadays they run a bunch of regional sports broadcasting channels covering local American sports teams. And it all started with them making pinball machines back in the day.

[@themidcentrist]

I have to confess that I bought an Astrocade a few years ago mainly because I think it is the most beautiful home video game console hardware ever created. A few of the games are pretty good too LOL. Actually, the graphics and sound are much more impressive in person than they look on youtube. When the Console was released in 1978 some of the games were better looking than what was in arcades at the time.

[@HaakonAnderson]

2:06 The most realistic Joust? It's game where knights ride ostriches

[@TheLairdsLair]

I know, pretty ironic right?

[@Diskoboy1974]

Oddly enough, Bally was about the closest to the arcades as you could get at the time. A lot of Bally's arcade games at the time actually ran on Astrocade hardware like Wizard Of Wor, GORF, and Space Zap. The home versions were basically a slightly scaled down version of the arcade hardware.

[@TheLairdsLair]

Yep, I talked about it in my Astrocade Amazing Facts video.

[@Chad_Thundercock]

8:13 Part of me wonders if a little more performance could be milked from the hardware if you added cooling, and eliminated that frequency divider. Sure, the ram limitations would still apply, but a few extra instructions per second makes a world of difference in early hardware.

[@whoeverest_the_whateverest]

Now next you should do failed consoles that never left *any-other-market-other-than-Japan-USA-and-Western-Europe*

[@stevew8513]

There's a chain of game stores around my area that have loads of APF-1000 cartridges. One of the employees had dozens and dozens of carts from a group of returns sent back from one of the few stores back in the day that sold the system. He was a hardcore collector and decided to sell the cartridges (some boxed, some bare) through several locations. They want $50 each for the games, and there's only two or three titles (most likely the dullest games for the machine) and no consoles to play them on, so I still haven't bitten that hook. If I had the hardware to play them on, I'd be more than willing to pay way too much to be bored so quickly by those games. The poor Zeebo. A great idea marred by bad choices. Hardware that wasn't the best for gaming, and an operating system that wasn't designed for gaming at all. A lot of potential, but failed due to technology decisions that crippled it.

[@TheLairdsLair]

Wow, that's really random!

[@cessnaace]

I bought a Nomad when it came out. It's boxed now (kept the box when I bought it of course), but when I was using it I carried around an AC adapter for it. Not combatable with the Virua Racing cartridge though due to the VCP chip (also why it won't run in a 32X, which got its own port).

[@JeremyLeePotocki]

0:47 LOL nice shout out and video, but..... I was referring to the U.S.A. market only when I made the comment, and I did not include the Nomad due to it being a portable Sega Genesis so I consider it more of a variant rather than a stand alone (actually owned one.) There are others systems that were only available in the Americas like Canada's failed "Game Wave" system for example. I lived in a small market (a city under 100K) were the only systems that even showed up in stores was from either Atari (Sears*), Mattel (Tandy*), Coleco, or Emerson (The Arcadia 2001 was sold in one of our Walmarts very briefly). So for the others it was obtained via catalog/mail order. *=rebranded

[@TheLairdsLair]

I figured you were, I wasn't criticising you and loved your contribution, which is why I included it here. I did consider putting the Game Wave in, but I thought it was maybe a bit too obscure. It will make any follow up that I do.

[@AugustoADuarte1]

The Zeebo was also planned for India. It didn't use wifi at all, it had a 3G phone chip inside of it that could connect to the game store and pre-paid internet (you had to buy credits for the web browser, which was a version of Opera Mini, only time I can think of a paid web browser lol). It also had sort of a Mii application launched late in the console life cycle along with a couple of football games that used the characters you'd create on that app and you could actually "send them" to the internet and download them in different zeebo consoles, if per se you wanted a friend of yours to check out your character. Also these characters would keep the stats they obtained for the games they were available on. I owned a Zeebo way back when it was released and although it was a weak console it had plenty of decent titles and arcade ports, plus games were dirt cheap. Had tons of fun of it despite the flaws

[@AugustoADuarte1]

there was also a planned "sequel" to the console, the Zeebo Plus. It had the same games but better graphics and hardware overall. Think of it as if the Zeebo Plus was to Zeebo like the "New" 3DS was to the 3DS. It never got off planning stages though, although I've seen a few prototypes floating around ebay.

[@mymomsaysimcool9650]

Great vid. Why limit the list to 5? Growing up, I had the habit of owning the underdog. Colecovision, Odyssey 2, Sega 32x.

[@TheLairdsLair]

In this videos I always look at 5, it's a running theme. These are all the major ones anyway, there are a few more but they are incredibly obscure.

[@neilthomas6042]

Interesting video, nice to see Vectorman, one of my favourite games on the Megadrive.

[@hadibendakji3858]

Sega should've released a Nomad Classic in the mid 2010s with rechargeable batteries. It might still work, mostly for collectors and retro enthusiasts, but with the rise of good quality emulator handhelds, I doubt that.

[@JustMe99999]

Sega should just get back into the console market completely - they have such great IP they could do it.

[@jnharton]

Most emulator handhelds aren’t that fantastic imho. Obviously there are some popular ones that have good screens and controls, etc. The major selling point is having many systems and games right in your hands. - A well designed and good quality product (mini/classic release) with 5-10 respectable games can still sell as long as the price point is good ($50 max).

[@MMackey27]

@@JustMe99999 I'm surprised they haven't to be honest. That said as long as Microsoft is in the market with Sony, and Nintendo... I don't know that a 4th major player would work. Microsoft having the console they have and it always seeming to be behind in the sales race is enough you'd think Microsoft would forge a partnership with them and pay to get IP made just to bolster XBox sales alone.

[@baroncalamityplus]

I never even heard of the APF until they started showing up in thrift stores in the mid 1990s.

[@pigs18]

Lucky. I have seen only one in my entire life.

[@brandonwenzel2844]

I thought for sure the you'd feature the Fairchild Channel F. Given it's significance to the history of console gaming. Great list regardless 👍

[@TheLairdsLair]

The Channel F was actually released in the UK as the Grandstand Video Entertainment Computer, and parts of mainland Europe too.

[@brandonwenzel2844]

@@TheLairdsLair Damn! The more you know. I had no idea. Cool to learn.

[@jonathanbetenbender307]

I love how you chose the most stereotypical tunes for these XD

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

I find it funny that the only things Bally is known for these days is Bally Fitness and the Bally Sports Network...such a big downgrade from the pinball machines and arcade games they used to be known for in their early days...

[@TheLairdsLair]

Just recently they launched Bally Casino in the UK and until then I didn't even realise the name was still being used.

[@MrNightshade2010]

is it me or did the 5200 setup in the ad just look like a ColecoVision ripoff? also, the nomad had the same problem the atari lynx did .... the batteries ........the zeebo was about 5 years too early

[@marklechman2225]

4:34 for less than £80 you could get an 800XL that has almost the same game library as the 5200 but much larger, along with a tape data machine, five games and an actual working digital joystick. Oh, and it’s also one of the most powerful 8-bit computers of its time with peripheral support and a full size keyboard. Why on God’s green Earth would anyone have bought a 5200 unless they were completely clueless?

[@TheLairdsLair]

Exactly, Atari were right not to release the 5200 in Europe.

[@grinbrothers]

As a Brit, I theoretically should not know any of this and will of course be thrilled if there are indeed consoles I've never heard of in this video. I tend to learn something new from your knowledgeable videos. 2:32 - Woah; now the first one I certainly knew of, but I had assumed in knowing so much about it that the console had released overseas. Atari 5200 was really US only? It's infamy has helped spread the word of it at least. 3:39 - Funny enough, the whole "build a console around an older computer" thing was surprisingly common back in the day. It does make a decent degree of sense; repurposed an existing technology for a streamline (and hopefully cheaper) purpose of playing just games. 5:47 - I'm unsurprised to hear of it's good specs. The games of the Bally Astrocade being shown off here certainly feel a step up from it's competitors. 13:21 - The Zeebo is a strangely fascinating console so it is always fun to hear it talked about. So yeah, I certainly had never heard of the APF Imagination Machine before; that was the only system entirely new to me.

[@joejacobsonwales]

Great video, thx

[@theantithesis1]

Title for this video should be "5 Failed Consoles That Never Made It Out Of the Americas." It's like when Americans say "math" and Brits say "Just the one?" Personally, I think the Nomad is cheating as it's a version of the Genesis/Mega Drive, but it is a unique version, I guess. Some consoles that could have gone on the list are the Tandy/Memorex VIS and the ZAPiT Game Wave. At least my source lists them as only North America.

[@TheLairdsLair]

I disagree, the continent is called America, which is then split into North and South - much like we have Eastern and Western Europe. I did just Google this, as I am a bit of a pendent, and apparently both are correct, which was my suspicion.

[@colinmcdonald2499]

2:35-- hahaha! F'ck Yeah!

[@PeBoVision]

Well, although (short of vacations) I've spent my whole life in North America, the only console in your review that I ever saw in person was the 5200. I've seen ads for the APF Imagination Station (that impressed far more than the hardware deserved), but never saw one out in the wild. In fact I never saw the ads until recentlyé To be fair, I had deserted consoles for home "computers" (video game consoles with BASIC installed, and lip-service paid to productivity software - they all had a word processor at least) so I was not paying much attention to the console market (the NES & SNES had come and gone long before I ever sat in front of one, and I ignored Coleco's and Sega's consoles completely) That Zeebo sure looked promising though. Destined for failure for being so far ahead of the curve. In our current zeitgeist of Steam & no physical media, and unlimited high speed internet, a digital only console sounds like it would have been a category killer, but as most folks were either not connected online, or connected through 1200-9600 baud expensive metered connections, the honeymoon would have faded quickly. Glad I never saw one, it would have quickly joined my Ouya in the defunct electronics cabinet. (and at least the Ouya provided me with a (sub-par but servicable) wireless bluetooth controller.) Great content as always brother.

[@ridiculous_gaming]

I own a no working astrocytes that I hope to fix in the future.

[@Goldnfoxx]

7:38. What... the... hell... is THAT?! 😂 Sorry, sometimes I forget what we had to deal with in those days. But I mean, even compared to the original Rogue, that's a LOT of crap on the screen.

[@johneygd]

I wonder why the M1000 console wasn’t shown since it was shown on the foto, Becides the zeebo shouldn’t had be mentioned since it was only released in the us,despite it was supposed to be released there as well,well too bad atari never released the 5200 outside america and they never came out with the atari 5200 jr,that would,ve been great,eventrough they did came out with another consolized version of their atari 800 wich was nationally released,it was called the atari xe wich was the same hardware as the 5200 but it was fully compatible with atari 800 games and it’s peripherals.

[@TheLairdsLair]

You must have not watched the whole video, because the APF console is at 7:00

[@Mrshoujo]

So the Emerson Arcadia is chopped liver...

[@TheLairdsLair]

That came out worldwide, the Italian Tchibo branded model is especially cool.

[@grongy6122]

Great videos dude.

[@RuubRoyce]

Mattel hyperscan?

[@mattalan6618]

thats more of an interactive toy then a console

[@mcorleonep]

What about the Fairchild Channel F? To my knowledge it wasn’t released outside the US. It came out in 1976 and was the first cartridge based game console. It was buried by the Atari 2600 (and to some degree the Odyssey 2) which came out year later. If anything it was more of a failure than the Atari 5200.

[@TheLairdsLair]

As I said in reply to another person who said the same, the Channel F was actually released in the UK as the Grandstand Video Entertainment Computer, and parts of mainland Europe too.

[@STR82DVD]

Budget Manager. LMAO lad.

[@BornDistracted]

i could be wrong but i think the Apple Pippin console qualifies...

[@TheLairdsLair]

It doesn't, the Pippin was launched in Europe and Japan too.

[@BornDistracted]

@@TheLairdsLair thank you for the correction...

[@Generation_X_Computers]

😢😢

[@dennisplester1542]

Thanks for the great video. The Sega Nomad caught me by surprise. I really thought they had popped up elsewhere including here in Australia. I picked up one for my collection a while ago, but am not 100% sure if mine was once sold new in Australia or imported by someone. All the same they are an awesome little handheld for their time, and mine has become my go to for playing Megadrive games on original hardware, despite having a couple of the consoles in my collection as well. Highly recommend them for any collector.

[@colinmcdonald2499]

I didn't know the 5200 was an American exclusive.

[@felman87]

Man, that Zeebo commercial is catchy. I actually speak a little portuguese. Zeebo. Where everything happens!

[@wallacelang1374]

I have the Atari 5200 Super System and I still play it to this day. I have had to replace the internal flexible circuit boards inside of the multi purpose joystick controllers due to their tendency to oxidize. However now I own some RetroGameBoyz Atari 5200 DP15 To DP9 Keypad Adapters that allows me to use the original Atari CX-40 standard joystick controllers on the Atari 5200. I find that these aftermarket parts actually extend the life of my Atari 5200 Super System.

[@fortnag]

I love the sound of the Bally Astrocaid

[@johnathanstevens8436]

I really did like the 5200.

[@jeffreygorey5540]

Everyone talks shit about the Atari 5200 but I loved it and played the heck out of it. The pause button was the best thing ever lol. The joy stick did suck but you got used to it. It was miles ahead of the 2600 in my opinion. Of course the ColecoVision was the best of that era but I didn't know that until I already had a 5200 and no way my parents were buying me another console and games. I was lucky they got me a 5200 only a few years after buying me a 2600. After a few years with the 5200 I went straight to computer gaming with a Commodore 64

[@TheLairdsLair]

Actually the 5200 was more powerful than the ColecoVision in almost every regard.

[@jeffreygorey5540]

@@TheLairdsLair Maybe in my head I was comparing the Coleco to the 2600. It's been a long time since I was playing these consoles. 40 years to be exact!

[@jackofallgamesTV]

Was the Nokia N Gage release outside the US? That had 1G internet which was worse than dial up, but the Dreamcast did well with online with just dial up.

[@TheLairdsLair]

Yes, it was also released in Europe, Nokia are a European company.

[@ExtremeWreck]

@@TheLairdsLair Finland specifically!

[@caeserromero3013]

2:09 Is that young Yasmin Bleeth? Bay watch actress?

[@pigs18]

Good catch.

[@rodrigogirao8344]

1:35 As a commercial product, yes. But the first computer game was British: Christopher Strachey's Draughts, 1952.

[@zupergodo1]

La zeebo solo México y Brasil La México viene con teclado y joystick modelo 2 El modelo de Brasil viene con el joystick modelo 1es el mas deseable porque se le puede piratear para instalar todos los juegos El único accesorio importante es el "Boomerang " un control estilo wii Su mejor juego es resident evil 4

[@intel386DX]

What about Apple pip pin 😂?

[@mattalan6618]

what about it? it was released in Germany as well

[@cellphonesmartphone7496]

Zeebo eas launched in Indian

[@TheLairdsLair]

Everything I read online said the Indian launch was cancelled, so do you have any information on that?

[@ultramaximusreviews]

The Sega Nomad was super ahead of it's time. It's basically the Nintendo Switch.

[@DoubleMonoLR]

It was cool for the time, but it wasn't ahead of it's time. It's basically a portable genesis/mega drive, much like the game gear was a portable master system. Not to mention the Atari Lynx & TurboExpress that were released before the Game Gear, and everything that came between the Nomad & the Switch.

[@PDXurbia]

Americaaaaa. F yeahh