Monthly Archives: July 2009
Worst videogame consoles of all time
PC World has a new article on the worst videogame consoles of all time. The systems span 30+ years, but most are from the 70s and 80s. And the winners (losers?) are:
10) The Apple Pippin
"Designed for a market that didn't exist."
9) Game.com
"Silly name that attempted to capitalize on Internet mania"
8 ) Nokia N-Gage
"Critics ridiculed device for looking like an electronic taco"
7) Mattel Hyperscan
"Flimsy construction. Terrible games."
6) Gakken TV Boy
"Awkward, T-shaped joystick built into main unit "
5) RDI Halcyon
"Only two games released--both bad."
4) Philips CD-i
"Hosted the travesty that is Zelda on CD-i"
3) Tandy/Memorex VIS
"Ran on a 286 CPU loaded with a special version of Windows 3.1 that was antiquated even for that era"
2) Tiger Telematics Gizmondo
"Abysmal games. Monumental marketing hubris."
1) RCA Studio II
"As far as game historians know, RCA never released a Studio I."
I am kind of surprised that the Virtual Boy (possibility of permanent eye injury), Sega CD / 32X (really testing the limits of consumers’ tolerance for add-ons), and GameGear (4 hours of life on *6* non-rechargeable batteries) did not make the list.
No more electroshock for internet addicts in China
After administering thousands of electroshock “treatments” to videogame and internet addicts, China has decided to ban the procedure because ” it has no foundation in clinical research or evidence.”
"Now hold still while I cure you of your videogame addiction"
“Patients are given psychotropic drugs as well as electro-shocks, at a cost of 5,500 yuan (805 USD) a month. Most of them were sent to the hospital by force, the China Youth Daily added.”
Forced hospitalization, ECT, and psychotropic medications (which have not been shown to be effective treatments) administered by people who are not qualified therapists at the cost of $800 per month?
Yes, I think we can agree that banning this practice is the right decision.
The TechAddiction Blog 