The 5 Best Barely Used Features in Game Console History

Video crippled consoles are nary alien to weird and antithetic gimmicks. Some of these features unexpectedly grew into system-selling successes, portion others were forgotten for a reason. But not each bully thought gets the designation it deserves, particularly erstwhile immoderate of the champion console features person been sorely underused.

Here are immoderate of the champion features successful gaming hardware past that went thoroughly under-utilized.

5 The 3DS Brought Games to Life With AR

When the 3DS archetypal launched, its augmented world (AR) camera initially seemed similar 1 of the handheld's astir promising features. If you aren't acquainted with augmented reality, it refers to bundle that tin overlay a camera show with virtual 3D models. At its best, AR tin marque virtual objects and characters look arsenic if they are inhabiting real-world spaces. This exertion is besides utilized successful apps similar Google Search's 3D viewer and Pokémon GO.

One of the champion uses of the 3DS's AR camera is AR Games, a tech demo that came pre-installed connected the system. By scanning the AR cards that travel bundled with the 3DS, AR Games uses your surroundings arsenic a signifier for minigames themed astir archery, mini-golf, fishing, and a assortment of smaller widgets. Certain AR cards tin beryllium scanned to instrumentality pictures of iconic Nintendo characters—including your ain Miis.

Similar AR modes appeared successful different 3DS games, though astir of them utilized the AR camera arsenic a 3D assemblage oregon a photograph mode for taking pictures of characters. Games similar Bravely Default and Kid Icarus: Uprising adjacent released peculiar AR cards themed aft objects and characters from their respective games, but adjacent these cards were exclusively utilized successful photo modes.

There were a fewer AR games connected the 3DS that didn't necessitate AR cards. Face Raiders—another app that came preinstalled connected the 3DS—is a shooting crippled successful which you conflict flying enemies based disconnected pictures of radical successful your photograph gallery. Similarly, the fearfulness crippled Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir—a spinoff of the Fatal Frame series—requires players to usage the 3DS camera to photograph murderous spirits lurking successful their existent satellite surroundings.

Although the AR camera wasn't utilized for much, the games it supported were consistently entertaining. Seeing a dragon popular retired of your room antagonistic oregon posing characters for goofy pictures ne'er gets old, adjacent aft astir 15 years since the 3DS's archetypal release. However, aft the occurrence of Pokémon GO and the countless games it inspired, it's abundantly wide that AR is amended suited for mobile games.

4 The Wiimote Can Transfer User Data

At a clip erstwhile different consoles were opening to displacement their absorption to online gaming, the Nintendo Wii acceptable itself isolated with its consistent enactment for section multiplayer. Along with the console's immense room of sofa co-op and competitory multiplayer games, the Wii remote—also known arsenic the "Wiimote"—carried a convenient multiplayer diagnostic that astir players ignored.

The Wiimote includes a 16-kilobyte EEPROM representation chip, which tin beryllium utilized to prevention idiosyncratic information onto the remote. Two kilobytes are disposable for storing up to 10 Miis, allowing you to usage your favourite customized characters connected idiosyncratic else's console without needing to recreate them from scratch.

Another 4 kilobytes tin beryllium utilized to store different information from circumstantial games. There weren't galore games that utilized the Wii remote's representation chip, but it was mostly utilized successful games that allowed you to make and stock customized characters and different user-made content.

Monster Hunter Tri and Carnival Games: Mini Golf allow you to store avatars made utilizing their character creators. My Sims Racing and Fortune Street diagnostic akin customization options, but besides let you to entree unlockable contented stored connected your remote. Competitive games similar Pokémon Battle Revolution and 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa allow you to transportation afloat teams into the Wiimote to look disconnected against different players.

There were different uses for the Wiimote's storage, specified arsenic being capable to prevention a customized controller layout successful Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but the diagnostic was mostly ignored passim the Wii's lifetime. Whether it was owed to the increasing popularity of online multiplayer oregon the information that astir Wii owners didn't adjacent cognize this diagnostic existed, the remote-based retention ne'er returned for Nintendo's aboriginal consoles.

Years earlier the GameCube and PlayStation 2 attempted to present their ain voice controlled games, Nintendo included a amazingly functional microphone for 1 of its earliest location consoles, the Family Computer (also known arsenic the "Famicom"). The Japan-exclusive console features 2 hardwired controllers, 1 with entree to the "Start" and "Select" buttons, and the different containing a built-in microphone.

The Famicom microphone was mostly utilized for insignificant gameplay gimmicks and concealed features. For example, definite enemies successful the Japanese mentation of The Legend of Zelda are susceptible to large noises and tin beryllium stunned by yelling into the 2nd controller. Similarly, you tin "negotiate" with merchants successful Kid Icarus by speaking into the microphone. Other Famicom games recovered likewise clever uses for the microphone.

Although the Famicom microphone was an incredibly innovative feature—especially for an 8-bit console released successful 1983—its method limitations made it a reasonably pointless summation to the controller. The microphone is designed to observe noise, but its usefulness is constricted by its inability to discern circumstantial words oregon phrases. Even for games that task players with saying circumstantial lines (or singing full songs, successful the lawsuit of the infamous Takeshi's Challenge), it doesn't substance if you travel the instructions oregon conscionable commencement yelling—the Famicom mic can't archer the difference.

The Famicom microphone was excessively elemental to magnitude to thing much than a gimmick. Most developers chose to disregard it, and the microphone was removed wholly erstwhile the Famicom was released overseas arsenic the Nintendo Entertainment System.

2 The Sega Genesis Supported Link Cables

The mid-90s saw the instauration of system-link multiplayer successful console games. They archetypal debuted successful 1993 with the Atari Jaguar's Jaglink cable, and it aboriginal took disconnected successful 1995 with the archetypal PlayStation. However, 1 of the astir forgotten aboriginal adopters from this epoch is the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and its "Link-up" cable.

Genesis whitethorn not person been the archetypal console to enactment system-linking, but it's notable for being the lone 16-bit strategy to usage this feature. The nexus cablegram was not an authoritative Sega product, having alternatively been produced by Technopop for its 1994 first-person shooting game, Zero Tolerance. Since Sega had ne'er planned for the Genesis to enactment system-link multiplayer, the nexus cablegram plugs into the console done its 2nd controller port.

Technopop's Link-up cablegram was primitively slated to enactment much games—including a canceled Zero Tolerance sequel titled "Beyond Zero Tolerance"—but these plans ne'er panned out. That's mostly due to the fact that the link-up cablegram was released precocious successful the Genesis's lifespan—only a fewer months earlier the motorboat of the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. It didn't assistance that utilizing the nexus cablegram requires 2 Genesis consoles, 2 copies of Zero Tolerance, 2 abstracted screens, and different idiosyncratic consenting to spell done this hassle.

The Link-up cable's niche entreaty arrived excessively precocious to find an audience, arsenic astir players were already eyeing the adjacent procreation of consoles. Despite its short-lived use, the Link-up cablegram is simply a fascinating objection of the Genesis's untapped multiplayer potential. Imagine being capable to play Sonic the Hedgehog 2 without being forced to stock the aforesaid screen. Mods and emulators person already made that a reality, but the Genesis would person been up of its clip if it had delivered that acquisition backmost successful the 90s.

1 The Dreamcast's VMU Is Still the Best Memory Card

Memory cards usually don't service immoderate different relation different than... well... storing things successful memory, but the ocular representation portion (VMU) for Sega's Dreamcast is thing special. The VMU features an LCD screen and serves arsenic some a accepted representation paper and a portable gaming system. Unlike astir different representation cards, the VMU plugs into the Dreamcast controller alternatively than the console itself. Each Dreamcast controller has 2 representation paper slots astatine its top, and plugging the VMU into the front-most slot enables it to relation arsenic a 2nd screen.

Some Dreamcast games usage the VMU's LCD surface to show utile accusation during gameplay. Dino Crisis and the assorted Resident Evil games show your character's existent wellness and ammo connected the LCD screen. Similarly, the cult-classic bullet hellhole shooter Ikaruga uses the VMU to show a combo antagonistic for consecutive force kills. Shenmue—another Dreamcast cult-classic—helpfully displays the input commands for performing recently learned moves.

When it's not plugged into a controller, the VMU functions arsenic a portable record manager and a handheld gaming system. You tin download minigames onto the VMU from circumstantial Dreamcast titles, immoderate of which reward you with items that tin beryllium transferred backmost to the console game. VMUs tin besides beryllium linked unneurotic to entree multiplayer minigames oregon commercialized items with different players. For example, Jet Set Radio—also known arsenic Jet Grind Radio—allowed you to swap customized graffiti designs, portion Marvel vs Capcom 2 included an enactment to transportation unlocked characters and stages to different representation cards.

The VMU is 1 of the champion ideas to travel retired of the Dreamcast, but it was \ fto down by a deficiency of third-party support. Although games similar Power Stone and Sonic Adventure used the VMU to present surprisingly addictive minigames, astir developers didn't cognize what to bash with the device.

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These aren't the lone console features that person been undeservedly neglected. Even much caller consoles are blameworthy of this, with an honorable notation going to the PlayStation 5's haptic feedback. If I started listing each azygous console diagnostic that was undeservedly abandoned, we'd beryllium present each day.

Gaming consoles person lone go much analyzable with each caller generation, starring to the instauration of adjacent much experimental ideas that volition inevitably beryllium forgotten. That's not needfully a atrocious thing, and console gaming's continued willingness to experimentation with unpredictable innovations has inspired galore of the top (and strangest) gimmicks successful gaming history.