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Classic Game Console Design Mistakes

Posted by Soulskill on from the you-could-land-a-helicopter-on-that-controller dept.

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."

2 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. Or the old one where... by Fluffeh · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Or the oldest mistake in the world, where developers/publishers DO NOT listen to beta testers and preview testers and PUSH their "better" ideas to the final gold cut even if they get told by everyone playing it that it's wrong/stupid/not enjoyable etc.

    Hello, Star Wars: Galaxies combat system for probably the BEST example of being pig headed and pushing through a joke of a combat system even when EVERYONE playing the game says it sucks ass.

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  2. 20/20 hindsight by iamacat · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    More contemporary (and popular) products have horrible design flaws. Kindle, where pressing back button loses track of dozens of pages you read since opening the book. iPhone, which has to be charged every day just so that it's thin. MacOSX, which makes access to trivial UNIX configuration files an exercise in frustration. Windows, oh well let's not even go there.