Normally, you'd think a blog like this would start with "Only in Japan would they dream up some wacky tech like this." But this comes from China. My guess is that there is an oversupply of speaker components, and they dumped it all into this phone.

Now wouldn't it be ironic if the phone had poor reception?

Even the sides of the phone have speakers built into it. Personally, I wished the iPhone 4 had this design, because I always felt like the speakers were one of the weaker features on the phone. Even when you use the toothpick trick, you can barely hear the speakers. To think if Steve Jobs actually built the latest iPhone this way, he wouldn't have such a headache with Antennagate.

Sounds like the perfect phone for impromptu street parties where you break out your phone, turn in the music and just have people dance around your phone like it's a DJ.

And sorry all you audiophiles, the phone is only available in China.

[Edited By Moderator]

Shooting rocks with your slingshot is so last decade passe'. But a media group in Berlin has somehow made it all cool again. They created a digital slingshot, where you input a SMS message on the device, aim it at a giant wall, and then fire away. The result? The message gets splattered on the wall.

The text messaging savy crowd already loves texting into TV shows just to see their pithy message show up on screen, so this isn't much different. Though for this to really take off, you gotta retrofit every building with digital screens, and there needs to be a trend to make slingshots cool again. I can see this being fun at concerts and something like Comic-Con. No word on whether this will ever be sold though. So till then, stick to rocks like Dennis the Menace.

Check out this vid to see it in action.

So my question is, do I need a text messaging plan for this to work?

[Ubergizmo]

[Edited By Moderator]

Life is a journey. In fact, one could say its more like an RPG, where the main character (you) sets out on a 70 to 100 year quest to find themselves. Wouldn’t it be great if there was an easy way to check your stats and level up? Turns out there’s an app for that.  Doing laundry was never so much fun.

The Epic Win iPhone app will turn anyone's real-life chores into in-game experience points. Part to-do list, part streamlined RPG, players determine a set amount of goals each day, and successfully completing each task helps one’s in-game persona grow. Extended playthroughs help to determine one's title, whether it be “Maiden of Juggled Priorities” or “Swarthy Dwarfen Toiler.”

What’s more, your victories and items can be shared to other party members via Facebook or Twitter, because it’s dangerous to go alone. Would-be adventurers should get ready for Rexbox and MrFungFung’s quest when it hits the App store in the near future.

During our visit to LucasArts at E3, we got a chance to check out some highly anticipated titles.  One of those was the long-awaited sequel to Monkey Island, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge.  Not only did The Kartel get a sneak peak at the game, we got the scoop on a potential iPhone and iPad port.

LucasArts has yet to officially announce it, we have a very strong feeling it’s going to be hitting these portable Apple platforms. And when we say strong feeling, we mean STRONG.  No one at the meeting room would “officially” confirm the port, but people hinted at it, which is to say they basically confirmed it.  One executive said, “It’s going to be released for DLC on consoles and potentially on other platforms, but we can’t say right now.  Let me just check my iPhone for any e-mails (*wink wink*) to see if I can confirm it or not.”

Secret of Monkey Island

Whatever could this mean? Oh LucasArts, you devil you.  Expect the game to be released in July, followed by the “unconfirmed” port to the iPhone and iPad in the near future. 

[Edited By Moderator]

So I debated long and hard about whether I should be writing this blog. But for such a gadget loving crew we got here, how can we not at least make a mention of the snazzy new iPhone 4? In many ways, this is the phone that iPhone lovers have dreamed about from the beginning when we first heard of the fancy phone Apple was going to bring to market. So what new fandangled features does this beaut come loaded with, and what's the one big unforgivable problem with owning this phone?

Retina Display Technology
Sounds like a fancy marketing term, and it is. Here's what it is in layman: The new screen is much sharper than before, making text easier to read. In fact, the screen has 326 pixels per inch resolution - that's better than your typical magazine print.

Improved Camera
The camera is now at a point where you can avoid having to buy a digital camera to carry around with you. The megapixel isn't stellar, as it still holds onto a 5 count, but improved lenses and sensors make low light pics much more clear, something the older versions of the iPhone struggled to take.

Longer Battery Life
Apple claims that you'll get 40% more talk time than before. That translates to over 7 hours of talk time now, or 6 hours of web browsing. This is often a feature that gets overlooked with other fancy phones, so it's always amazing to see how Apple pushes the envelope with battery life.

Video Conferencing
There's a new camera in the front so you can do video conferencing now. However, this is limited to having a real internet connection (3G video conference is supposed to be on the way), so I think this feature is more experimental than anything else.

Gyroscope Inproves Tracking
You can compare it with the recently released Wii MotionPlus. This upgrade means that the iPhone 4 can track movement with extremely high precision, much better than the built-in accelerometers from yesteryear.

Plus there are a few other upgrades, like new software for iBooks, iMovie, and a new OS.

So why the hesitancy in jumping on board the iPhone lovin?

Because I just switched from my iPhone to the HTC Incredible. I been a loyal iPhone users since generation 1, and the reality is, no matter how many great features Apple adds to their iPhone, it's still on the AT&T network. I just can't take being on a network that delivers my voicemails over 24 hours late. Or drops my calls more often than F Bombs are dropped at an MTV Music Awards Show. At the end of the day, I need my phone to be a phone first... and fancy gizmo second.

Is it fair to ding the iPhone for AT&T's network? In my mind, yes, because this it's the network that ultimate affects the enjoyment of the phone, and it was Apple's choice to make the phone exclusive for AT&T.

[Edited By Moderator]

It's not really an apology, but it does look like an admission that the system wasn't the success they thought it would be.  In an interview Sony Computer Entertainment UK Sales Director Mark Howsen made a brief statement saying that new PSP Go owners would get 10 free games for registering their system.

That wasn't a typo, the man said 10 free games.  And they aren't a whole bunch of crappy games either.  The full list of what gamers can choose from hasn't been revealed but he did mention four of the titles that would be available: Gran Turismo, LittleBigPlanet, 2010 FIFA World Cup and at least one of the Grand Theft Auto games.  Like I said, those aren't bad games, especially considering that these games can still retail for $20-$30.

The new deal is scheduled to launch in June (more than likely to coincide with their E3 announcements), but of course there is a catch.  The deal only applies if you buy the device after April 1, 2010, so if you'd already been duped into buying one you might miss out on this deal.  It's completely possible that this is a UK promotion only.  While none of the statements said this was specific to one region or another, all of this news is only coming from the UK branch of Sony, so it's still kind of up in the air.

With Sony rumored to be announcing a PSP2 at the Expo this movie could also be a push to sell more units of the abysmally selling Go before the second generation makes it obsolete.  I hope this deal comes to the US, but for the most part I can't help but think it's too little too late.  Maybe a promotion like this would have prevented the backlash if it had been done when it first released (or if they had stuck to the plan of letting gamers who owned the games transfer them digitally!), but now I guess we'll never know.

-Jordan

[Edited By Moderator]

There are numerous reports that suggest there will be a new PSP (aliased PSP2), debuting sometime this year. Though reported details are inconsistent, there seems to be plenty of speculation about what the new Sony handheld will include. I doubt it will have all the ridiculous, unfathomable, jaw-dropping features the iPhone 4G will have, but it is said that the PSP2 will have a good number of features to keep us techies intrigued. With all the crazy gadgetry being released nowadays, it's not suprising that Sony is willing to revamp their handheld console. But enough rambling, let's check out these potential features!

Front Facing Camera

With more and more phones supposedly coming out with front facing cameras, it would be a good move for Sony to include this in the PSP2. Yes, that does mean you can now watch yourself make funny faces to send to the victim of choice. And yes, we can now record the person behind us picking his nose without aiming the device directly at him. But more importantly, this feature could allow users the ability to video conference via programs such as Skype, Yahoo, etc. So, if you haven't seen your grandma in 3 years because she lives 2000 miles away, the PSP2 might be the next gift to get her... that's if your grandma isn't like mine, who pre-orders all the newest game consoles anyway. 

3G Capability

If this really does make it to the PSP platform, it will be another feature that is included to compete directly with the 'new age' cell phone market. With all the Droids, Iphones, and other smart phones that come with built in internet, it would be harder for Sony to sell portable devices without this feature. The immediate question to ask is whether or not the 3G network will be able to host online gaming. If so, 3G could be a great selling point for this product. On the other hand, the high school drop out rate would probably increase nationwide from students playing during class. Solution: buy one for your teacher, too.

Probably the most predictable feature of any upgrade, the PSP2 is suppose to be significantly more powerful, housing a four core cell CPU. To put it in perspective, the PS3 has a eight core cell CPU. In other words, the PSP2 could end up being one of the most powerful, pocket sized devices out there... (excluding guns and taser).

Obviously there are more details to be announced, though for now, we can hesitantly look forward to these few. The PSP2 will hopefully make it's public appearance at E3, where I'm sure everyone and their Momma will know of the final set of features. I don't know about you guys, but I am seriously reconsidering getting a new smart phone after hearing this awesome news. Heck, Sony might as well attach a phone client to the PSP2... just don't get hit by a car while playing, walking, talking, surfing the internet, and/or video recording your ugly mug. 

[Edited By Moderator]

Handheld gaming has become such a huge part of the modern gaming industry.  With graphics and gameplay starting to rival their bigger console brothers, it's hard to imagine that once upon a time portable gaming was a mere novelty.  The time of old LCD games were filled with many failed experiments, and while the gaming was primitive, these original portables helped pave the way for what handheld gaming has become.  Truly, if not for these, the handheld market might look very different.

Before Nintendo changed the game and made portable gaming what it is today, one major company dominated the handheld market: Mattel.  They may not look like much now, but back then these little systems were the bees' knees.  Besides that, they were gamers' only option for playing games other than those connected to their televisions.  With all of the hype going into what Nintendo is planning on doing next with the 3DS, I thought it would be nice to take a stroll down retro lane and remember some of the handheld games that started it all.

Football I (1977)

This was Mattel's second handheld game ever, and it quickly became one of the fastest selling handhelds (in the time period) ever.  By 1978 this bad boy was selling 500,000 units a week.  Sports fans rallied to this game, in which they could control little horizontal diodes around a 9-yard football field.  Long before Madden, and even a decade before Tecmo Bowl was released, this handheld was the only way to play the game without...actually going outside and playing the game!  Despite the release of a sequel a year later, Football I remains one of Mattel's most successful titles.

Missile Attack (1977)

This game would later be re-released as Missile Alert and Battlestar Galactica, mostly in an attempt to make it seem new to pull in more buyers.  This was about as simple as gaming got.  The game had one button and, as missiles coming down the screen shot at the plane players had to blast them out of the air.  The quicker the missiles were shot down, the more points players were able to score. And really, what's life without having the high score?

Gravity (1980)

Originally called Catastrophe, the name was changed because the company felt that a game where an entire city is destroyed if you fail was a little too violent (boy if they only knew!).  Similar to the game Missile Attack, this handheld tested players' reflexes as you tried to eliminate falling meteors (big red dots) before they reach the bottom of the screen.  Sporting state of the art LED technology, this was a must have for gamers.

Ski Slalom (1980)

All the fun of skiing without ever having to actually hit the slopes.  Funny thing is, this game is actually the exact same build and technology as Mattel's very first game (Auto Race) except upside down.  You traverse your skier through a series of obstacles in an attempt to reach the bottom in one piece.  It's almost like you can feel the wind on your face!

Armor Attack (1982)

This beast was based off of the arcade game of the same name.  In this adventure players drive a jeep through a maze, all the while trying to dodge and destroy tanks and helicopters before they can destroy the vehicle.  The real challenge comes from trying to distinguish the jeep from the tanks and everything else on the screen.

But if we're going to talk about old handhelds I feel it would be a crime to not mention Tiger Electronics.  While Mattel started the trend and reigned supreme for a while, Tiger came to the field packing some heat.  Offering a far broader spectrum of games, Tiger took the portable market by storm, and are still making several successful titles you can pick up at any store to this day.

Baseball (1987)

This is as simple as baseball gets.  No fancy endorsements or sponsors here, just love for the game.  Believe it or not, I actually still have this game.  It's been sitting in an attic for several years and the batteries have essentially melted (very dangerous even to grab it), but I nonetheless have this game. I remember playing it a ridiculous amount as a kid, despite its 2-button action.

These days kids have it easy.  Most games these days have some sort of handheld verison ported over, so you can still play your game on the go.  Sometimes it's as easy as downloading.  The idea isn't new, however, as gamers have always clamored for a way to take their favorite games with them.  Tiger Electronics was the only answer at the time.

Hang-On (1988)

Those of you who are caught up on your Sega history will instantly recognize this title, as it was a port from an early Sega racer of the same name. The great thing about this port: it doesn't suck.  Tiger got its act together on this one and made a decent translation of this game (despite the graphics of course).  It featured an easier to control D-Pad and two easy to understand "accelerate" and "brake" buttons.  The gameplay felt much smoother, but more impressive was the sound.  Despite limitations, the sound is great and is nearly indistinguishable from the console version.

Ninja Gaiden II (1989)

This port took all of the fun and excitment from Ninja Gaiden II on the home consoles, and ninja sliced it down in order to fit it on the tiny LCD screen.  For this type of game, it actually manages to do fairly well.  It implements many sidescrolling features without really being a side-scroller. It uses a sort of D-Pad so you can "move" around as you fight waves of enemies.  This game obviously did something right, as the best price for a used copy on ebay is $170.00!

Double Dragon II: The Revenge (1990)

If you've seen my activity in the forums, you already know that this is arguably my favorite retro game.  It was very popular when it hit arcades, and exploded on the home console market, so of course it made sense to try and port it into a handheld.  The translation isn't terrible, but instead of a side-scrolling action game like the original, this version turned more into a traditional fighting game.  Merely tackle one enemy after the next who vaguely resemble their console counterparts. But it's still Double Dragon II!

Metal Gear: Snake's Revenge (1990)

I'm actually really upset about this one.  Until I started researching for this article, I had absolutely no idea this handheld even existed. I pride myself on having a complete collection of Metal Gear games (even the hard-to-find GBA one), but this has just gone and ruined all of that.  Now I have to track this down!  Regardless, Snake's Revenge has always been considered the black sheep of the series, but its style of gameplay suited the Tiger Handheld, since it involved a lot of shooting.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Tiger didn't just corner the ports market, they also were your only source for portable licensed games.  Now, we all know the stereotype on licensed games, but Tiger's simplified handhelds negated that problem (it's hard to mess up a game like that).  Jurassic Park is a great example of this.  The SNES/Genesis game wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't great either. For this portable it could actually be fun.  Just kill what comes close to you.  Nothing too hard to handle there.  Just get the job done.

Some of you may be looking back at these games and thinking, thank God that's not all we have anymore.  To an extent that's true, but if it weren't for these types of games (and the foresight of Mattel and Tiger realizing portable gaming was a viable industry), it might have been several years before the breakthrough of the Game Boy and its successors.  Besides, those LCD games can still be a great way to waste time.

You can ask my wife, I got this...

...in a box of cereal the other day and I spent a ridiculous amount of time playing with it.  But now the batteries are dead, and I guess I'm just going to have to go back to my DS...

Wait, this isn't the DS!  When we're talking about portable games that shaped the industry I can't fail to mention the Game & Watch.  Looks awfully familiar though doesn't it?  This was Nintendo's first crack at the portable gaming market, and were a series of games produced between 1980 all the way to 1991, under the Game & Watch logo.  It almost goes without saying it was successful.  If it hadn't been, the Game Boy most likely wouldn't have been created.  Like other LCD machines of the time, the games were simple and easy to pick up and play.  As Nintendo has continued to show, it's not about the graphics, it's all about the quality of games...and they had some good ones.  So good in fact, a couple Christmas' ago Nintendo released the Game & Watch Collection for the DS.

Handheld gaming has had a history nearly as long as consoles have.  It's interesting to me that no matter the graphics or the technology, gamers have always had a strong craving for being able to take their passion on the go.

-Jordan

[Edited By Moderator]

Alright, I’m going to be completely frank: I haven’t actually touched my PSP since November 2009, when Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble was released. There are so few titles on the platform that have actually been interesting to me, but I have to admit I would really regret not owning one considering those rare, special titles that get put out every once in a while. Patchwork Heroes is one of those games, and you should start it downloading right now while you read this. 

One Million Tons of Awesome

Patchwork Heroes (in Japan One Million Ton Bara Bara) is the latest title from that most talented of developers, Acquire, whose most recent set of endeavors/projects/works includes the delightfully quirky Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This?, and if you’ve enjoyed any of Acquire’s previous work, you have absolutely no reason to fear Patchwork Heroes as being anything less than a quality title.

In 1981, Taito released an arcade game called Qix. The gameplay was relatively straightforward: Slice/claim/cut/cordon-off a majority of the field of play by drawing out rectangles of different sizes while avoiding a roaming “enemy” that limited the size and speed of the player’s slices. Patchwork Heroes takes this gameplay mechanic and essentially inverts it by giving the player the goal of slicing apart enormous flying warships before they reach the player’s town and bomb the hell out of it. Interested yet? If not, you should turn in your Man Card immediately. Chicks are exempt due to extreme awesomeness, obviously. 

Ridiculously Quirky Yet Artistically Unique

In Patchwork Heroes, players take on the role of Titori, a sky captain of a small town which comes under almost constant, daily assault from immense flying warships. Armed with a saw as tall as a man and accompanied by three other members of the village, Titori sets out on each mission to saw apart the warships as quickly as possible, before they lay waste to his home. While the premise sounds dark, it’s delivered through wonderfully cute cutscenes done in a style reminiscent of South Park – that is, construction-paper cutouts. Character dialogue is delivered as a Simlish (that being the language of the Sims) analogue and the game is rife with quirky, typically Japanese humor. Accompanying music is a strange mix of brass band and Middle-Eastern influences that’s easily memorable and quite catchy, but tends to get a little obnoxious as the game goes on.

The game is controlled from a top-down perspective, with the player character at the center of the screen. Players use the D-pad or analogue stick to move around, and saw through chunks of the ship by holding down the O button. Each stage is timed, with the timer representing how far the warship is from the town, but this can be increased by sawing apart the warship, which will slow down the timer and give the player more leeway to muck about. Logically it follows that when the player saws off massive chunks of the ships, they’re slowed significantly more, and a larger score is attained.

Airships Don't Have Sea Men or Poop Decks...But They've Got Robots

Without defenses, of course, the ships would be foolishly vulnerable. Robots and missile turrets tend to populate the hull, and the player has no direct attack function to deal with the little buggers other than to saw the ships apart and catch the enemies on the bits which fall away. Additionally while the player’s saw is mighty, or perhaps the ships are just made of balsa wood for the most part, there are certain sections that are reinforced with steel which require special attention to deal with. Remember how Titori is accompanied by three of his village buddies? Those guys have a dual purpose; They act as a shield, dying in the event Titori comes in contact with a robot or explosion or missile, and they place bombs, subsequently sacrificing themselves to blow a big chunk off the ship. Indeed, at some times the only possible way to progress is by blowing a reinforced support away with one of your faithful buddies. Fortunately, your friends can be replaced by freeing captured villagers from various prison cells stashed around each ship. Reinforced ship hulls can also be sawed through with a Mojo Attack, a special function the player can activate after building up sufficient Mojo by defeating enemies or collecting Mojo items across each stage. Activating the Mojo Attack makes Titori invincible for a short time and significantly increases the speed of sawing, but causes the player to sacrifice  maneuverability. 

It's Rare To Have This Much Fun for $10

Aside from the 30-stage story campaign, Patchwork Heroes provides a ton of additional content through challenge missions, around 50 in all. Challenge missions work pretty much the same as the traditional story mode stages, however they impose specific rules on the player that require them to complete each level using specific items or with only a certain number of bombs, and other various on the idea. The game's difficulty can ramp up very fast, but it's forgiving enough to make that a non-issue. The inherent replay value of the title is directly linked to its subject matter, as I can't imagine putting up with the frustration some of the later levels impose if I was tasked with knitting a doily or cutting away the fat from raw chicken or something equally monotonous. 

At $10, Patchwork Heroes is a game nobody that owns a PSP should miss. Its colorful graphics run absolutely flawlessly on the handheld with minimal loading times and no loss of framerate, its addictive gameplay is only enhanced by the simplistic yet interesting story of the single player campaign, and the additional 50 challenge maps add several hours of replay value. You aren't likely to get so much game for so little money on this platform in a while. 

The video game handheld world has become one of hardcore gaming, dual screens, and amazing graphics. Unfortunately, it wasn't always like this. The handheld world was once full of uncertainties, failing systems, and even crappier games. And still today, we harken back to those days of sadness and woe. Here are - you guessed it - the worst handheld systems of all time.

10. GBA Micro: The Game Boy Micro, "fun size" of the Game Boy Advance, was released in late 2005 . The mini handheld was designed to make the original Game Boy look b-e-a-utiful. Fans wanted a new, sleek design, and Nintendo delivered with a really small rectangle. Makes sense. However, the Micro didn't play original Game Boy or Game Boy Color games, and suffered for this reason. As small as it was, some complained the system was way too small for the eyes. As of 2007, the Game Boy Micro had sold only 2.5 million units worldwide.

9. Atari Lynx: Atari's first handheld system was shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1989. It was graphically superior even without Sega's "blast processing" to other handhelds with its 16-bit gaming. Sadly, too many problems plagued the Lynx resulting in eventual failure to the Game Boy. Problems included a launch price of $180 to the Game Boy's $90 and low third party game support.

8. Sega Nomad: In 1995, Sega came out with yet another handheld called the Nomad. The Sega handheld wasn't a person who wanders through the world aimlessly, but instead was a system that let you play your Sega Genesis games on the go. It was cool, but it was a little too late to the game. By 1995, 3D graphics were starting to become the "thing" and Genesis graphics weren't what fans wanted. Add that to poor battery life and the Nomad sadly becomes number 8 on the worst handhelds list. Maybe it really did wander aimlessly.

7. NEC Turbo Express: This handheld was a portable Turbographix 16, and at the time, had the best graphics for a handheld that gamers had never seen before. The cool thing about the Turbo Express was that it could play all of the Turbographix 16 games without a problem and the games looked liked credit cards, go figure. Good graphics and the added ability to be a portable television seemed to be more than enough to win over gamers. Unfortunately, an outrageous launch price of $299.99, hardly any advertising, and hardware problems plagued this Turbrographix handheld.

6. Bandai Wonderswan: A new handheld that was on its way to glory when it was released in 1999 in Japan and no, it didn't look like a magical swan. Everything was there though. The big boys Namco, Squaresoft and Bandai were all supporting it. It had an amazing battery life and a cool, new control scheme with which you could play vertical or horizontal. So, what happened??? Well, at the time when Squaresoft agreed to back the Wonderswan, they were on bad terms with Nintendo. (Cat Fight???) Nintendo and Squaresoft eventually made nice and Squaresoft went back to releasing games on Nintendo's systems. This hurt the Wonderswan as some of the most popular games were Squaresoft ports. The system was also harder to find than the other handhelds on the market and eventually got trumped a year later when Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance. The Wonderswan suffered from all of that and was never released in the United States.

5. Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color: The Neo Geo Pocket was SNK's 16-bit handheld system and their last console effort. It was released in 1998/1999. The system was somewhat successful and had many SNK favorites available such as King of Fighters, but eventually fell off the map due to Aruze buying out SNK. The Neo Geo Pocket Color stayed in the handheld world until around 2001 and sold 2 million units.

4. Tapwave Zodiac: The Zodiac was released by Tapwave in 2003 and was met with immediate praise. It was released in two models with one having 32MB and the other having 128MB. The 32MB was released at $299 and the other was released at $399.  It even had big name games such as the Tony Hawk series, Madden, and even Duke Nukem. Sadly, the PSP was the main competition to the Zodiac and helped to destroy it. The high price point was only one of the reasons that caused the Zodiac to be discontinued. It also didn't seem to have enough money backing it to bring on more game titles and eventually lost to the PSP and other handhelds.

3. Nokia N-Gage: The Nokia N-Gage had the advertising and marketing, but was lacking in about every other category except for looking like a popular Taco Bell dish. At the time when Nokia was thinking of the N-Gage, cell phones and handheld video game systems were starting to get quite popular. Thus, Nokia had the great idea of combing the two systems, an idea that was genius on the face of things. But we had no idea what was to come. The N-Gage was released as a taco-shaped handheld with its games being controlled with the phone buttons on the right side of the device. It turns out the buttons made it really hard to play games on the system. It also wasn't that great of a phone; N-Gage phone users found it embarrassing to call anyone on a phone shaped so strangely. The N-Gage is still alive, but it only offers 58 total titles and is considered a total failure by many in the gaming community.

2. Game.Com: The Game.Com was released in late 1997 by Tiger Electronics and sold less than 300,000 units. All game production was done by Tiger, and the Game.Com had absolutely no third party support resulting in just 20 games released. This thing looks ridiculous, is ridiculous, and that is only the beginning of the nonsense. The advertising was almost nonexistent and the advertising gamers did see was insulting. All this greatness lands the Game.Com as the second worst handheld of all time and that could be the best thing it has accomplished over the years.

1. Gizmondo:  The system released in 2005 with an ad version and an ad-free version. The ad-free version was sold at $400 and the pesky ad version was released at $229. (Ohhhh! I want the Spam System for $229 please!) There are only a few facts you need to know when judging this one. Only 8 games were released. There were ads on the system that the it would receive every day, and it had criminal ties. The president of the company that released the handheld was a fraudster and it is often thought the handheld was just a ploy to get investors' money. All this drama for one handheld equals the worst handheld system of all time.

Honorable Mention: Virtual Boy: The Virtual Boy is known as the system that gave gamers all kinds of eye diseases or just made them go simply blind. Tons of problems plagued the system such as the 3D red colored graphics hurting the player's eyes, only 14 games released in the US and the fact that it was nowhere near a portable handheld. The biggest turn off was the fact that it was a complete nuisance to bring on road trips and take with you, things that should be golden rules for handhelds. Playing it for extended periods of time seemed to cause eye cancer of some sort. 

Oh and don't forget, the virtual boy helmet makes you look like a complete idiot. Other than that, it was discontinued only a year after releasing and is often referred to in many, many gamer jokes.

Want to check out what other gamers thought? Check out our Top 10 worst handhelds thread and don't forget to check out the other great stories on The Kartel.

[Edited By Moderator]