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!

4. Philips CD-i



Year released: 1991

The Philips CD-i was in interesting idea: a CD-ROM-based consumer multimedia gaming/edutainment machine that would occupy a spot next to the VCR in the living room. Positioning the CD-i almost as a commodity device, Philips created new CD standards for its content and licensed the platform to other manufacturers. As a result, in the early 1990s, many consumer electronics companies created their own CD-i players. To avoid conflicts with Nintendo and other firms, Philips prevented traditional console fare (aka "good games") from showing up on its platform. Oops.

Signature problems: Large, miserably bad software library. Poor video quality. Poor controller designs. Hosted the travesty that is Zelda on CD-i.

Redeeming features: Notwithstanding my deep shame at owning such a terrible system, I’ve found that those horrible Zelda games sell well to die-hard collectors on eBay.

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