How often do we see dire games hit the shelves? Poor quality releases are pretty commonplace nowadays and are rightly slated by the gaming press. With development time precious and budgets growing exponentially, poor sales can be catastrophic for publishers... but not getting a game right is not nearly as damaging as screwing up a console launch...

There have been some real cock ups over the years regarding hardware and they're rarely forgotten.... PlayStation fanboys still gleefully point to the 360's Red Ring Of Death several years after it hit the headlines. Here's a selection of some promising sounding platforms that didn't quite match expectations:

Nintendo Virtual Boy - 1995
Nintendo recently unveiled its 3DS to the world - taking its hugely popular handheld system into three dimensions and all without the need for ridiculous-looking glasses. But it's certainly not the company's first attempt at bringing 3D gaming to the masses; the intriguingly-titled Virtual Boy was heralded as the first console to offer graphics in three dimensions. Sadly, it was a bit of an eyesore - in many ways. It certainly wasn't the best looking system but trawl the internet and you'll soon come across tales of users suffering headaches after periods of gaming. Nintendo apparently introduced an update, which ensured games paused automatically every 15 minutes to give the eyes a rest... but despite its best efforts, the revolutionary console couldn't even muster a million sales.

Atari Jaguar - 1993
 Ah, Atari's console was a beast for sure - but it was savaged by the gaming public as it tried to compete against Sony's Playstation. It may have sported classic titles like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, Tempest and the great looking Alien vs Predator but there were few other games of note, and the system largely failed to live up to all the marketing hype. Besides boasting one of the most cumbersome joypads ever, the only other thing its remembered for its bizarre advertisements.



Amiga CD32 - 1993
This boxy plastic console may have looked like a child's toy but under the hood, Commodore had packed in 32-bit graphics that helped it become the leading CD-based platform soon after launch. Unfortunately, its lifespan was fairly shortlived as Commodore failed to stave off bankruptcy. Despite the fact the CD32 was discontinued in 1994, it quickly accrued a decent-sized games catalogue... although not all were classics. Gaming magazine Amiga Power rated side-scrolling beat 'em up Dangerous Streets a paltry 3%!



Gizmondo - 2005
 Heralded as the handheld console that could do pretty much anything, it turned out to be a massive flop and had disappointing sales. In many ways, it was way ahead of its time; not only a games machine, it included instant messaging, a GPS, camera and could play music and movies. There were two versions available; one at full price and another at a reduced cost that was subsidized by adverts that regularly appeared on the screen.



Sega Saturn - 1995
The Saturn failed to enjoy the success of the company's previous platforms, and was soon battling it out in a rather congested market against the likes of Sony's PlayStation. Expensive to buy and tough to programme for, even Virtua Fighter, Nights and Daytona USA couldn't prevent its untimely demise.



Atari Lynx - 1989
Big, ugly and expensive, the Atari Lynx was a 16-bit handheld designed to rival the Nintendo Gameboy. On paper, at least, it absolutely battered Nintendo's effort... it had a colour screen, backlit display and you could play loads of other lucky Lynx owners over a network. Some of the games were pretty decent too. Perhaps its two biggest talking points, however, were its tendency to guzzle batteries and its unusual ability to flip the controls to accommodate left handed users. Even a redesign to make it slightly more ungainly didn't help matters.



Sega 32X - 1994
Add-ons are a great way of extending the life of a console, right? You not only eek out the life of a popular platform, but you also manage to keep your core fanbase and make a tidy sum in the process... at least that was the thinking behind Sega's 32X. Attaching the odd-looking unit to the cartridge slot of the Sega Megadrive/Genesis transformed it into an all powerful beast of a machine capable of revolutionary graphics and awesome sound. Or not. In fact, there was little difference to what had been seen before on the Megadrive or its Mega CD extension. Prices apparently plunged not so long after its launch to try and shift some units but even that didn't help.

Have we missed some howlers off the list? Leave a comment below:

(Photo credit: jpmatth)