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The road to videogame greatness is paved with equally great failures—some merely ill advised, others so comical that you’ll wonder why the people behind them aren’t now working the grill at your local burger joint. As we inch closer to our 200th issue, here’s what we think are the top 10 blunders in game history—visit the 1UP.com message boards and bring up your own favorite mistakes.

10 Sony’s PS2 online hype (2000)

During the PlayStation 2’s infancy, Sony promised console owners a future of online Web browsing, video downloads, streaming music, the works. A few years later, it gave us...well, nothing even close to the features found on Xbox Live.

9 Microsoft’s enormous Xbox controller (2001)

The butt of jokes immediately after its unveiling, the first-generation Xbox gamepad was the console equivalent of a Hummer—huge, ostentatious, and a total waste of space. Microsoft quietly replaced it with the trimmer Controller S in 2002.

8 N-Gage (2003)

Another example of a poor first take, the original N-Gage handheld looked ugly, had a blinding screen, made you look like a ninny during cell-phone calls (as ex-EGMer Joe Fielder beautifully demonstrates here), and cost $300. Nokia rectified some of these problems with the quick release of its cheaper and smaller QD model.

7 Nintendo chooses cartridges for N64 (1994)

Even though CDs were less expensive and held more data, Nintendo thought cartridges were the way to go with its N64 console. End result: Third parties flocked to PS1, creating a hole that Nintendo is still digging its way out of.

6 Sega launches Saturn early (1995)

Sega released its 32-bit system four months early, but it didn’t tell anyone beforehand, including game makers and most retailers. Add to that a steep price, and Saturn was dead in the water by PS1’s launch.

5 Atari Jaguar (1993)

The first “64-bit” system showed just how clueless Atari was during the ’90s—Jaguar looked nondescript, had a terrible dial-pad controller, and its game library included such

“classics” as Club Drive and White Men Can’t Jump.

4 Sega 32X (1994)

Let’s say you’re a Sega fan 10 years ago. Which do you want: the powerful 32-bit Saturn or a dinky little Genesis upgrade that could play a slower-than-molasses Doom? Sega figured consumers would shoot for the latter and buy its $150 32X, but gamers took one look at the “advanced” software and turned up their noses, leading to the most public failure in Sega’s history.

3 Virtual Boy (1995)

Brainchild of Game Boy creator Gunpei Yokoi, VB let you play games in honest-to-God 3D. Unfortunately, that’s the only nice thing about the most colossal Nintendo flop ever: The system was ugly, the games were unmemorable, and the thing literally gave you headaches if you played it for more than 30 minutes.

2 Nintendo abandons Sony partnership (1992)

The first PlayStation actually began life way back in 1991 as a supercharged add-on to the 16-bit Super NES. Nintendo, leery of Sony’s intentions, backed away from the concept and signed on with European outfit Philips to make the CD-ROM attachment instead. The deal with Philips went nowhere, and Sony realized that nothing was stopping it from releasing PlayStation independently. You know the rest.

1 Atari turns down deal with Nintendo (1984)

Nintendo was this close to letting Atari distribute its first console—but talks fell through after an unrelated spat over an unauthorized home port of Donkey Kong. Nintendo launched the NES itself in ’85, revolutionizing the industry and making the name “Nintendo” synonymous with videogames and “Atari” synonymous with ancient beep-boop hardware.