- \n
- Released: 1990<\/li>\n
- Units Sold: 15,000<\/li>\n
- Discontinued: 1991<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"The](\"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Amstrad-GX4000-Console-Set-The-Amstrad-GX4000-and-game-controller.-A-video-game-console-released-in-Europe-in-1990.jpg\")
<\/a>The Amstrad GX4000 and game controller. A video game console released in Europe in 1990.<\/p><\/div>\n
The year is 1990, and video games are booming, so everyone is trying to enter the console market.<\/p>\n
The AMstrad GX4000, launched in September 1990, was an 8-bit cartridge based console – for its time is was a great console, producing good graphics and sound, and following the success of the Amstrad CPC, the company hoped for history to repeat itself.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) was set to release in PAL territories a few months later, in November 1990. The 16-bit console was superior in every way, and the Amstrad GX4000 couldn’t keep up with the Mega Drive.<\/p>\n
With just over thirty games released for the GX4000, the failure of Amstrad’s console and its discontinuation in 1991 also ended their involvement in the gaming industry<\/p>\n
Nintendo 64DD<\/h3>\n
- \n
- Released: 1999<\/li>\n
- Units Sold: 15,000<\/li>\n
- Discontinued: 2000<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"The](\"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/The-Nintendo-64DD-an-N64-add-on-released-only-in-Japan-in-1999..jpg\")
<\/a>The Nintendo 64DD, connected beneath the N64.<\/p><\/div>\n
The Nintendo 64DD (Disk Drive, or Dynamic Drive) was a peripheral for the Nintendo 64 console. It plugged into the underside of the Nintendo 64 and allowed it to play 64MB Magneto-Optical disks. This meant larger data storage for more advanced games.<\/p>\n
The 64DD was announced before the launch of the N64 in 1996, but its development dragged on for years, and it was only launched in Japan in December 1999 when the technology was practically obsolete.<\/p>\n
The 64DD was never released in the west, and it lasted less than a year before Nintendo discontinued it in August 2000. It only sold 15,000 units and Nintendo had to scrap 85,000 unsold units.<\/p>\n
Nokia N-Gage<\/h3>\n
- \n
- Released: 2003<\/li>\n
- Units Sold: 3 Million<\/li>\n
- Discontinued: 2005<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"Nokia](\"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Nokia_N-Gage.jpg\")
<\/a>Nokia N-Gage<\/p><\/div>\n
Nokia decided in October 2003 to (somewhat prophetically) merge the mobile world with the gaming world, and released the Nokia N-Gage.<\/p>\n
The system would use cartridge-based storage for games, making them swappable, similar to what is used on the PSVita and Nintendo 3DS.<\/p>\n
The system was mocked for its strange looking design, and sales were so poor that they dropped the price by $100 after a week of release.<\/p>\n
The device received complaints from users about many issues. Some of these complaints were about how users would use the phone to call, saying that it was extremely uncomfortable.<\/p>\n