Most UNDER-RATED Console of all time...

[Ack]

Maybe that's what you thought(hey, I thought it was a good game too), but a lot of folks ranted and raved about that move for years. All I heard at the time was "What the Hell, that isn't Link! He's too kiddy!"

My favorite is still Link to the Past, of course.

And while we're talking about Nintendo, what about the Nintendo 64, or their constant failure to garner quality 3rd party support since then? Look, I love Nintendo, everybody here should know that, but they ain't perfect. None of these companies were. But you can still have fun playing these games. So go do just that. Go play a game and don't worry about it.

[lordofduct]

From a business point of view why would they take chances?

Taking chances is what got them where they are today. Half the size they once were and now merged with Sammy. Sammy who also now plays a big role in decission making and is hardly known as a video game software producer. I'm not surprised they are playing it safe, they need to make a name for themselves. The catch 22 on this front is that the name they once had is the company who took chances...

But I mean come on, if you got paid to jump off higher and higher ledges until one day you ended up in the hospital and people stopped paying you to jump. You barely make it out the other side by cutting off your arms and one leg. And now people want you to jump off the ledge some more screaming, "if you do this and it's a cool enough jump, we MIGHT give you some money."

Would you jump off the same high ledges that landed you in the hospital in the first place?



Not to say this is a good choice by Sega to be what fans of Sega have come to love. Hence the catch 22... I wouldn't do it, I know that for a fact. Let me get some prosthetic legs first gosh darn it!

If you are trying to get thousands (to perhaps millions) to through down $40+ down on the table - especially in hard times, you had better be offering something worth having. If all the games being made are 'safe' business choices, it becomes less and less feasible to make them at all. Innovation leads to profit. The pursuit of profit leads to loss.

Hrmmm... isn't that what I said... catch 22? How about not repeating me please?

It's hard to be innovative when your struggling to stay a float. RC Cola doesn't invest in a new flavour of cola unless their main brand is doing well because they don't have the flow. Where as Coke releases new flavours all the time because they have a barrel of money to toss around the R&D department.

Sega got their legs cut off dude. They were bought out by Sammy. They loss over half of their amazing developers due to short change. So they try to make some profit on some safer projects to make it by until they can make that risk again. EA does it all the time... when do you see them get all innovative? Once in a blue moon... and see how that hits them in the face. "Mirror's Edge" is doing ok, but if Sega took that risk and it failed they'd probably sink.

Nor did I say this is the BEST choice... I just said it's financially stable. It's better to wade and live then to blow all your energy and drown.

[GagaMan]

Maybe that's what you thought (hey, I thought it was a good game too), but a lot of folks ranted and raved about that move for years. All I heard at the time was "What the Hell, that isn't Link! He's too kiddy!"

Yeah, I remember all that hubbub about it. I thought it was a great idea myself, sure looked nicer than that muddy brown stuff of the other 3D games. Those cd-i games were the only true skeleton-in-the-closet moment for the franchise in the end, though..thankfully.

[RemyC]

"Oh god! What have they done to link!?!?!"


(Not by Nintendo, but they let the franchise get treated like that..)

I guess with Wii Music not being for us you could also say the same for modern Sonic games: they're aimed at kids that like Shadow and silly things like that, I guess.

Apples, and oranges. both fruits...but totally different

Wii music isn't for everyone....but if your into that kinda thing its well done, and fun.
Shadow the Hedgehog and the 3D Sonic games were terribly developed. Even if you let the ludacris storyline and horrendous characters slide...the physics are totally whack-o and the controls are like a slinky going down a mountain side (still some people enjoy that).

As for Windwaker. I hated the animation myself...but it still had the heart of a Zelda game, and played properly (minus the lengthy and oh-too-frequent sailing sequences).

[GagaMan]

Apples, and oranges. both fruits...but totally different

Wii music isn't for everyone....but if your into that kinda thing its well done, and fun.
Shadow the Hedgehog and the 3D Sonic games were terribly developed. Even if you let the ludacris storyline and horrendous characters slide...the physics are totally whack-o and the controls are like a slinky going down a mountain side (still some people enjoy that).

Yeah, I'll give you that on Shadow although Wii music's reviews and sales seem to have said otherwise. Unlike Wii fit and all the other Wii brand games, it hasn't exactly been flying off the shelfs. I see stores with tons of copies left, whereas Fit is still sold out most places, though maybe Wii Music isn't selling because it has no accessory with it... Either way it's not been the huge hit Nntendo wanted, and that could be down to word of mouth..

[Flak Beard]

I've always considered the Saturn and Dreamcast to be quite the opposite, extremely overrated by the hardcore gaming community. Both consoles have their merits, but are far from the gaming gold mines people make them out to be. I went through two Saturns trying to finding something that clicked with me, but was always extremely disappointed considering it's contemporary was the PSX. The Dreamcast on the other hand is pretty solid, but still just gave me only a handful titles I really enjoyed. I agree the console was ahead of it's time in some respects, but the controller was a step backwards for it's generation with no dual analog sticks. That's just my perspective though. They are by no means bad consoles, just not close to my heart as I was certain they would be.

As far as underrated consoles go, I'm going to have to say the original Xbox. I can't recall how many times I've seen someone post on the internet the cliche argument that all it had going for it was Halo. There's a lot of great titles on the system and you'd have to be blind to miss them.

[superlarz]

I've always considered the Saturn and Dreamcast to be quite the opposite, extremely overrated by the hardcore gaming community. Both consoles have their merits, but are far from the gaming gold mines people make them out to be. I went through two Saturns trying to finding something that clicked with me, but was always extremely disappointed considering it's contemporary was the PSX. The Dreamcast on the other hand is pretty solid, but still just gave me only a handful titles I really enjoyed. I agree the console was ahead of it's time in some respects, but the controller was a step backwards for it's generation with no dual analog sticks. That's just my perspective though. They are by no means bad consoles, just not close to my heart as I was certain they would be.

As far as underrated consoles go, I'm going to have to say the original Xbox. I can't recall how many times I've seen someone post on the internet the cliche argument that all it had going for it was Halo. There's a lot of great titles on the system and you'd have to be blind to miss them.

I am sick of hearing about Halo. playing through it now, I really cant see what is so great about it. Back in the day I used to play multiplayer on it often, and thought it was ok, but now as I play through the campaign I really dont see what is so great. Obviously it is a little dated at this point, and I would say it is good. I would never call it great though.

As far as underrated consoles go, I would agree that Saturn belongs on the list... The console is not great, but it does have a few great games, and plenty of good games. Most people remember it (those who remember it at all) as having no games.

Personally, I think Dreamcast is overrated. That isnt to say that it is bad, but to hear people talk about it, you think it was the end all console of all time. It has good games, an VGA support it nice, but I wouldnt ever call it underrated. Maybe one day I will really get into DC, but for now it hardly gets any playtime from me. And most of my game playing is on Sega Consoles (Genesis, Saturn)

[RemyC]

Personally, I think Dreamcast is overrated. That isnt to say that it is bad, but to hear people talk about it, you think it was the end all console of all time.

I could never say, 'Dreamcast is over-rated'. Casual gamers totally dismiss it. Which then has some people over COMPENSATING for it. They will list of all the 5 Star import games, and the great selection of fighters and SHMUPS...aswell as other arcade favourites. However, there is one thing that keeps the dreamcast from being the supreme machine. Its lack of platforming games. 2D to be more specific...the few 3D titles arent that great at that (Oh Sonic...I miss you).

[superlarz]

I could never say, 'Dreamcast is over-rated'. Casual gamers totally dismiss it. Which then has some people over COMPENSATING for it.

Fair enough, i would say that while I said DC was overrated, is it more that people in the community over compensate for DC.

[corn619]

The Master System had great potential just Sega didn't market it properly. It was way more powerful than the NES, looked way cooler, and had 3D glasses! Most kids never even heard of Sega's 8 bit machine. Golden Axe Warrior was a great game for that system.