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Classic Game Console Design Mistakes

Harry writes "Some bad decisions in game console design get made over and over. (How many early systems had nightmarish controllers?) Others are uniquely inexplicable. (Like the Game Boy Advance's lack of a headphone jack.) Some stem from companies being too clever for their own good. (Like the way the RCA Studio II and Atari 5200 drew their power through their RF switches.) Benj Edwards has rounded up a few classic examples, and has attempted to figure out what was going on in the designers' heads — and what we can learn from their mistakes."

4 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Looks liek this guy learned... by Kratisto · · Score: 3, Funny

    The guy also seems to be remembering history through rose colored glasses.

    Do those glasses produce eye-strain-inducing three dimensional images as well?

    --
    Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking.
  2. Re:World's first pause button? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Yes. 2 buttons are never 1 button.

  3. Re:Classic consoles? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    His mom's coffee table is the problem?

  4. Re:Looks liek this guy learned... by mgblst · · Score: 2, Funny

    Remember, the reason that Asian societies never had much use for the idea of the straight-blade sword, and never developed the single-handed "lunge" maneuver, is that those don't work very well for people whose arms and legs are proportionally shorter than most of the Western people. If they wanted something to poke at someone at distance, their best bet was a spear.

    Yeah, I remember that from training at the Jedi Academy.