The 10 worst video game systems of all time

You won't find many fanboys for these consoles, which unite terrible graphics with lousy games and underpowered hardware. Oh yeah--and some were obscenely overpriced, too!

7. Mattel Hyperscan



Year released: 2006

The Hyperscan was a marketer's dream--a product that incorporated video games and the game card collecting craze. For every Hyperscan game available on CD, Mattel also sold booster packs of paper trading cards, each card embedded with an RFID chip. During a playing session, the user could scan the trading cards to load new characters or abilities into the game. Theoretically, Mattel could have continued to make and sell new cards forever, putting an essentially infinite tail on sales of any game.

Signature problems: Flimsy construction. Terrible games. Flaky RFID reader. Extremely long loading times.

Redeeming features: First game console to use RFID technology. Admittedly, Mattel set its sights low for this system, so its fall to earth was far less spectacular than it could have been.

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