History AudienceAlienatingPremise / VideoGames

* The Platform/{{Ouya}}. Instead of functioning as a cheap home console that supports Android games and user-generated content, the Ouya ended up combining the home console's lack of portability and convenience with the smartphone's weak hardware and shallow pool of games. Many developers and gamers were frustrated by the base console's locked software and the [=DRMed=] video output, which they claimed made it too difficult for homebrewing custom software and creating LetsPlay videos. The hardware itself was poorly built, the game library was filled with shovelware games (with one infamous game being nothing but animated rain) and struggled to run even basic smartphone games despite its Android operating system; even the main unspoken side benefit --its easy means of retro console MediaNotes/{{Emulation}}-- could also be accomplished by numerous other, far cheaper Android-based TV boxes. The console was subsequently discontinued in 2015, less than two years after coming to market, and has become the poster boy for the failed "microconsole" concept.

* ''Demonophobia'' is a SurvivalHorror HGame in which you play as a teenage girl and expected via TrialAndErrorGameplay to die in all sorts of [[CruelAndUnusualDeath gruesome and brutal ways]] -- and it's played for {{Fanservice}}. The rampant {{Squick}} on display naturally scared off anybody not morbidly curious and/or interested in the niche of InterplayOfSexAndViolence, and they would [[ShockFatigue get tired of having to repeatedly see violent and sexual content]] while going through the [[GuideDangIt numerous hoops]] to either find all of the death animations, or actually beat the game. Predictably, its graphic subject matter has made it impossible to be released on mainstream sites like Platform/{{Steam}}, instead having to be downloaded via underground filesharing sites, and it took its developer over a decade of outright radio silence to officially unveil a CreatorDrivenSuccessor.

* The gimmick of ''The Flock'' was that every time a player died, the virtual population would decrease by one. Once it hit zero, the game would no longer be buyable to new players, and the players who had bought it could play a finale, after which the game would be gone for good. While this move got a lot of attention, it ended up being one of the reasons for the game's failure, as the idea of buying a game with a built-in expiration date scared off many potential players.

* ''VideoGame/CaptainNovolin'' is a Platform/{{SNES}} platformer based on... diabetes? And yes, the enemies are all sugary sweets trying to hunt you down. The fact that it's just not a well-made game to begin with (weird control scheme, floaty jumping, the sprites are too big, repetitive level design, etc...) certainly did not help sales, which were further hampered by the game needing a ''prescription'' to buy in some areas, and most people only knew of its existence years after the fact when it became a fixture of 2000s-era CausticCritic comedy sites and "worst games ever" clickbait videos on Website/YouTube.

* Platform/GoogleStadia was heavily pushed in late 2019 as Google's major foray into the gaming world, a MediaNotes/CloudGaming-based platform for a relatively inexpensive price and theoretically high accessibility, but was completely overshadowed by skepticism and ridicule for its conditions. Cloud gaming is already heavily contentious, inherently demanding consistent, high-quality internet and introducing some degree of input lag, but the Stadia also came with a controversial subscription fee ''in addition'' to paying full-price for games, as well as concerns of longevity as since every game copy exists solely on Google's servers, [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes you'd lose everything if the servers or service itself went down]]. The latter concern was especially worrying among critics as Google built a history of quietly cancelling projects or services once they underperform, meaning its future was on shaky ground from the get-go, where [[TheFireflyEffect a lot of users refused to invest in something that Google was likely to kill anyway]]. One of its main selling points of not requiring users to purchase expensive hardware like a console or PC similarly failed to gain it an audience, as anyone interested in non-mobile games likely already has said hardware and/or doesn't consider the tradeoffs of a purely cloud service to be worth it. It especially didn't help that Stadia severely lacked not just {{Killer App}}s, but exclusive content in general to provide any positive momentum, [[OvershadowedByControversy instead being marred by the bad publicity]] of connectivity issues and news of it shuttering its in-house development studio in early 2021, before it ever ''announced'' a single title. The lack of interest in the platform was made painfully obvious when even the coronavirus pandemic, which started mere months after Stadia's launch and granted a massive boost to the gaming industry, barely moved the needle on the truly dismal sales figures. The service sputtered out entirely by the end of 2022, with Google terminating its storefront services and taking it offline in early 2023.

** ''VideoGame/{{Otomedius}}'' is a ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' parody game which exchanges the spaceships with scantily-clad females showing off their bosom. This is just too weird for those looking for a Konami-styled shmup, and the series became a tiny niche afterward. Even those that didn't mind the gratuitous fanservice found the games themselves to be middling at best compared to the iconic shmup franchise it was spun off of.

* ''VideoGame/{{Otomedius}}'' is a ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' parody game which exchanges the spaceships with scantily-clad females showing off their bosom. This is just too weird for those looking for a Konami-styled shmup, and the series became a tiny niche afterward. Even those that didn't mind the gratuitous fanservice found the games themselves to be middling at best compared to the iconic shmup franchise it was spun off of.

* ''VideoGame/{{Otomedius}}'' is a ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' parody game which exchanges the spaceships with scantily-clad females showing off their bosom. This is just too weird for those looking for a Konami-styled shmup, and the series became a tiny niche afterward. Even those that didn't mind the gratuitous fanservice found the games themselves to be middling at best compared to the iconic shmup franchise it was spun off of.

* "Blockchain games" became a subgenre of games that started appearing during the crypto boom of 2021-2022, advertising themselves around their handling of [[{{UsefulNotes/Bitcoin}} cryptocurrency]], many of them often touting themselves as "play-to-earn" games that reward you with [=NFTs=] that can be used as investments to make yourself a nice profit. Crypto and [=NFTs=] are already extremely controversial as is, and despite many gaming companies attempting to cash in on the technology, almost none of these endeavors have ever taken off in providing lasting success. In addition to many instances often being low-effort scams[[note]](The immutability of crypto makes it extremely easy for enterprising "studios" to trick unsuspecting consumers into spending real money for non-refundable commodities that are effectively worthless)[[/note]], the big fundamental turnoff is that many of these games simply aren't fun or interesting, since actual ''gameplay'' is treated as an afterthought to what is first and foremost [[RevenueEnhancingDevices a monetization platform to siphon money from the audience's wallets]]. The principle behind [=NFTs=] -- the supposed consumer-side benefit of such games, hence the promises of being "play-to-earn" -- is that they serve as investments that one should buy and wait to profit off of when the project and/or respective currency is at a peak, but due to various factors from economic strife to simple disinterest, such boom periods never actually occur, making them unappealing even as a form of money-making. Even if low-depth gameplay isn't a concern, actually handling crypto tends to be very complicated and obtuse[[note]](Since crypto avoids government and banking oversight ''by design'', and neither governments nor banks tend to be fans of crypto due to their shady legality and general vulnerability, many blockchain games have to work with confusing infrastructural leaps to even enable the accessing and trade of crypto, usually involving approval periods and layering of various wallets that may still end up being denied.)[[/note]], adding a steep barrier to entry which makes it further niche to casual audiences that microtransaction-heavy games usually target. The fraction of blockchain games that ''don't'' centrally rely on [=NFTs=] instead receive criticism that they might as well use a more traditional approach to {{microtransactions}} in [[RealMoneyTrade using actual money for in-game currency]], since -- while still not without controversy -- it's usually more permissible and intuitive[[note]](Many banks, credit card companies, as well as platforms like Platform/{{Steam}} and itch.io block or ban all transactions regarding blockchain and [=NFT=] exchange. Conversely, the likes of Steam and Platform/EpicGamesStore provide the ability to implement integrated payment systems for normal money)[[/note]]. Any triple-A gaming studio attempting to get into crypto tends to be met with immense backlash, often leading to them pulling out of the field[[note]](Creator/{{Ubisoft}} tried their hands at crypto in 2019's ''VideoGame/GhostReconBreakpoint'' -- which already launched as being a financial disappointment -- by implementing [=NFTs=] in 2021, but the value of such [=NFTs=] completely died the following year and all support for the game was discontinued shortly afterwards)[[/note]], while projects from enterprising studios -- even relatively successful titles like ''Axie Infinity'' and ''Gods Unchained'' -- have dwindled drastically in player count and value, especially after the [=NFT=] bubble collectively burst around 2022-2023.

* "Blockchain games" became a subgenre of games that started appearing during the crypto boom of 2021-2022, advertising themselves around their handling of [[{{UsefulNotes/Bitcoin}} cryptocurrency]], many of them often touting themselves as "play-to-earn" games that reward you with [=NFTs=] that can be used as investments to make yourself a nice profit. Crypto and [=NFTs=] are already extremely controversial as is, and despite many gaming companies attempting to cash in on the technology, almost none of these endeavors have ever taken off in providing lasting success. In addition to many instances often being low-effort scams[[note]](The immutability of crypto makes it extremely easy for enterprising "studios" to trick unsuspecting consumers into spending real money for non-refundable commodities that are effectively worthless)[[/note]], the big fundamental turnoff is that many of these games simply aren't fun or interesting, since actual ''gameplay'' is treated as an afterthought to what is first and foremost [[RevenueEnhancingDevices a monetization platform to siphon money from the audience's wallets]]. The principle behind [=NFTs=] -- the supposed consumer-side benefit of such games, hence the promises of being "play-to-earn" -- is that they serve as investments that one should buy and wait to profit off of when the project and/or respective currency is at a peak, but due to various factors from economic strife to simple disinterest, such boom periods never actually occur, making them unappealing even as a form of money-making. Even if low-depth gameplay isn't a concern, actually handling crypto tends to be very complicated and obtuse[[note]](Since crypto avoids government and banking oversight ''by design'', and neither governments nor banks tend to be fans of crypto due to their shady legality and general vulnerability, many blockchain games have to work with confusing infrastructural leaps to even enable the accessing and trade of crypto, usually involving approval periods and layering of various wallets that may still end up being denied.)[[/note]], adding a steep barrier to entry which makes it further niche to casual audiences that microtransaction-heavy games usually target. The fraction of blockchain games that ''don't'' centrally rely on [=NFTs=] instead receive criticism that they might as well use a more traditional approach to {{microtransactions}} in [[RealMoneyTrade using actual money for in-game currency]], since -- while still not without controversy -- it's usually more permissible and intuitive[[note]](Many banks, credit card companies, as well as platforms like Platform/{{Steam}} and itch.io block or ban all transactions regarding blockchain and [=NFT=] exchange. Conversely, the likes of Steam and Platform/EpicGamesStore provide the ability to implement integrated payment systems for normal money)[[/note]]. Any triple-A gaming studio attempting to get into crypto tends to be met with immense backlash, often leading to them pulling out of the field[[note]](Creator/{{Ubisoft}} tried their hands at crypto in with 2019's ''VideoGame/GhostReconBreakpoint'' -- which already launched as being a financial disappointment -- by implementing [=NFTs=] in 2021, but the value of such [=NFTs=] completely died the following year and all support for the game was discontinued shortly afterwards)[[/note]], while projects from enterprising studios -- even relatively successful titles like ''Axie Infinity'' and ''Gods Unchained'' -- have dwindled drastically in player count and value, especially after the [=NFT=] bubble collectively burst around 2022-2023.

* Platform/GoogleStadia was heavily pushed in late 2019 as Google's major foray into the gaming world, a UsefulNotes/CloudGaming-based platform for a relatively inexpensive price and theoretically high accessibility, but was completely overshadowed by skepticism and ridicule for its conditions. Cloud gaming is already heavily contentious, inherently demanding consistent, high-quality internet and introducing some degree of input lag, but the Stadia also came with a controversial subscription fee ''in addition'' to paying full-price for games, as well as concerns of longevity as since every game copy exists solely on Google's servers, [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes you'd lose everything if the servers or service itself went down]]. The latter concern was especially worrying among critics as Google built a history of quietly cancelling projects or services once they underperform, meaning its future was on shaky ground from the get-go, where [[TheFireflyEffect a lot of users refused to invest in something that Google was likely to kill anyway]]. One of its main selling points of not requiring users to purchase expensive hardware like a console or PC similarly failed to gain it an audience, as anyone interested in non-mobile games likely already has said hardware and/or doesn't consider the tradeoffs of a purely cloud service to be worth it. It especially didn't help that Stadia severely lacked not just {{Killer App}}s, but exclusive content in general to provide any positive momentum, [[OvershadowedByControversy instead being marred by the bad publicity]] of connectivity issues and news of it shuttering its in-house development studio in early 2021, before it ever ''announced'' a single title. The lack of interest in the platform was made painfully obvious when even the coronavirus pandemic, which started mere months after Stadia's launch and granted a massive boost to the gaming industry, barely moved the needle on the truly dismal sales figures. The service sputtered out entirely by the end of 2022, with Google terminating its storefront services and taking it offline in early 2023.

** The Platform/VirtualBoy. While virtual reality was being seen as the next big leap in gaming at the time, the system failed to make good on that promise. The red-and-black graphics every game was stuck with were eye-straining and disappointingly low-tech, even at the time. Despite being a portable system, you couldn't really use it without a table since it was too big and bulky to wear, and few games actually gave the feeling of [[UsefulNotes/ThreeDMovie 3D visual effects]], much less virtual reality. Few were surprised when it was discovered years later that it was a [[ChristmasRushed proof-of-concept prototype thrown onto market to bide time for the]] Platform/Nintendo64. The Virtual Boy remains Nintendo's [[MedalOfDishonor least successful piece of standalone hardware]]; the 3D gimmick of the Platform/Nintendo3DS almost didn't exist because execs were worried about another VB-style failure, and the most acknowledgement the system gets from Creator/{{Nintendo}} is through the occasional [[SelfDeprecation self-deprecating gag]], though it took a decade before they [[CreatorBacklash even felt comfortable acknowledging it]].

* The Pioneer Laseractive was a console designed to use UsefulNotes/{{LaserDisc}}s and came with add-ons that doubled as a Platform/SegaGenesis, Platform/TurboGrafx16, and other functions. The problem that it quickly ran into was that anybody who was interested in the systems represented by the add-ons likely already had them or would just buy those instead. Furthermore, the system's exclusive library required at least one of the two to play its games, with some only functioning with one of the two, which at $970 for the Laseractive plus another $600 for each add-on in 1993 was far too steep for anyone but the ultra-wealthy. It thus quickly fell into extreme obscurity.

* Platform/GoogleStadia was heavily pushed in late 2019 as Google's major foray into the gaming world, a UsefulNotes/CloudGaming-based platform for a relatively inexpensive price and theoretically high accessibility, but was completely overshadowed by skepticism and ridicule for its conditions. Cloud gaming is already heavily contentious, inherently demanding consistent, high-quality internet and introducing some degree of input lag, but the Stadia also came with a controversial subscription fee ''in addition'' to paying full-price for games, as well as concerns of longevity as since every game copy exists solely on Google's servers, [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes you'd lose everything if the servers or service itself went down]]. The latter concern was especially worrying among critics as Google built a history of quietly cancelling projects or services once they underperform, meaning its future was on shaky ground from the get-go, where [[TheFireflyEffect a lot of users refused to invest in something that Google was likely to kill anyway]]. One of its main selling points of not requiring users to purchase expensive hardware like a console or PC similary failed to gain it an audience, as anyone interested in non-mobile games likely already has said hardware and/or doesn't consider the tradeoffs of a purely cloud service to be worth it. It especially didn't help that Stadia severely lacked not just {{Killer App}}s, but exclusive content in general to provide any positive momentum, [[OvershadowedByControversy instead being marred by the bad publicity]] of connectivity issues and news of it shuttering its in-house development studio in early 2021, before it ever ''announced'' a single title. The service sputtered out entirely by the end of 2022, with Google terminating its storefront services and taking it offline in early 2023.

** The Platform/VirtualBoy. While virtual reality was being seen as the next big leap in gaming at the time, the system failed to make good on that promise. The red-and-black graphics every game was stuck with was eye-straining, for being a portable system, you couldn't really use it without a table since it was too big and bulky to wear, and few games actually gave the feeling of [[UsefulNotes/ThreeDMovie 3D visual effects]], much less virtual reality. Few were surprised when it was discovered years later that it was a [[ChristmasRushed proof-of-concept prototype thrown onto market to bide time for the]] Platform/Nintendo64. The Virtual Boy remains Nintendo's [[MedalOfDishonor least successful piece of standalone hardware]]; the 3D gimmick of the Platform/Nintendo3DS almost didn't exist because execs were worried about another VB-style failure, and the most acknowledgement the system gets from Creator/{{Nintendo}} is through the occasional [[SelfDeprecation self-deprecating gag]], though it took a decade before they [[CreatorBacklash even felt comfortable acknowledging it]].
** The Platform/WiiU. Casual gamers, particularly those in the "blue ocean" that made the Platform/{{Wii}} a success, were barely aware that it was even a standalone console, with the name and marketing making many believe it was just an expensive add-on tablet controller for the Wii. Which by 2012, was nothing more than a ''VideoGame/WiiSports'' and ''VideoGame/JustDance'' machine for that audience. And those that did know had no interest in buying a new console when the type of gaming experiences they wanted were more readily available on smartphones. Meanwhile, hardcore gamers rejected it due to its relatively weak technical specifications compared to the Platform/PlayStation4 and Platform/XboxOne. The lack of a KillerApp, as Nintendo's first-party releases were few and far between for its early years, didn't help with this market either. The Wii U would become Nintendo's worst selling home console at under 14 million units shipped, and there is little reason for even Nintendo fans to hunt down the system except out of curiosity or to use it for homebrewing, as almost ''all'' of its exclusives were either given {{Updated Rerelease}}s or {{Even Better Sequel}}s on the company's far more successful follow-up, the Platform/NintendoSwitch.[[note]]A big issue with the [=WiiU=] is the [=GamePad=], which cost almost as much to produce as the console itself and therefore was made in pretty limited numbers. [[NoExportForYou It was never sold separately outside of Japan]] and pretty difficult to find secondhand, and expensive if you can find it. Plus, most Wii U games require the [=GamePad=], so if it breaks you're SOL (though this ''is'' a Nintendo product we're talking about here, so it's pretty durable) until you bust out at least $150 for another one.[[/note]]
* The Platform/{{Ouya}}. Instead of functioning as a cheap home console that supports Android games and user-generated content, the Ouya ended up combining the home console's lack of portability and convenience with the smartphone's weak hardware and shallow pool of games. Many developers and gamers were frustrated by the base console's locked software and the [=DRMed=] video output, which they claimed made it too difficult for homebrewing custom software and creating LetsPlay videos. The hardware itself was poorly built, the game library was filled with shovelware games (with one game even being nothing but animated rain) and struggled to run even basic smartphone games despite its Android operating system; even the main unspoken side benefit --its easy means of retro console MediaNotes/{{Emulation}}-- could also be accomplished by numerous other, far cheaper Android-based TV boxes. The console was subsequently discontinued in 2015, less than two years after coming to market.

** The Platform/Sega32X was an add-on for the Platform/SegaGenesis that allowed for, as the name suggests, 32-bit gaming. However, not only did it came out shortly after the Platform/SegaCD, another add-on for the Genesis that was met with lukewarm reception, but consumers would soon learn that Sega was developing a standalone 32-bit system as well: the Platform/SegaSaturn. Which would release in Japan before the 32X's launch and would be released in North America just six months after the 32X's launch. Gamers had little interest in purchasing a very temporary stopgap that wouldn't be supported with games for long, and Sega themselves forced their American division to make it out of fear of the Platform/AtariJaguar. As a result, the 32X was a flop that only sold 600K units worldwide[[note]]Which is still 4 times the amount of Atari Jaguars that were sold, so as it turns out Sega needn't have worried[[/note]]. It also greatly damaged the company's reputation in the West, being one of the reasons for the failure of the Saturn in North America, as a distrustful consumer base was now wary of a third piece of hardware that might under-deliver. The irrevocably-tarnished reputation Sega had gotten due to the failures of the 32X and Saturn would ultimately doom their last console, the Platform/{{Dreamcast}}, to an early grave and make them [[CreatorKiller exit the console market]] to focus exclusively on 3rd-party games.

* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing: Amiibo Festival'' suffered from this. The GenreShift from the {{life simulation game}}s the franchise was known for to a board game didn't please fans who wanted a new Wii U ''Animal Crossing''. The game was intended as a party game, but the main mode, unlike other party games like ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' didn't have any minigames. Instead, the game was nearly entirely based on luck. There were minigames to play, but some required extra amiibo cards. One of the minigames was a quiz on ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' trivia, which didn't help the game appeal to newcomers. Other minigames required the players to play the dull main game for some time. This resulted in a critical and commercial failure.

* The Platform/{{Ouya}}. Instead of functioning as a cheap home console that supports Android games and user-generated content, the Ouya ended up combining the home console's lack of portability and convenience with the smartphone's weak hardware and shallow pool of games. Many developers and gamers were frustrated by the base console's locked software and the [=DRMed=] video output, which they claimed made it too difficult for homebrewing custom software and creating LetsPlay videos. The hardware itself was poorly built, the game library was filled with shovelware games (with one game even being nothing but animated rain) and struggled to run even basic smartphone games despite its Android operating system; even the main unspoken side benefit --its easy means of retro console Usefulnotes/{{Emulation}}-- could also be accomplished by numerous other, far cheaper Android-based TV boxes. The console was subsequently discontinued in 2015, less than two years after coming to market.

*** The game was far more complex and strategic than ''Street Fighter II'' or any of the ''Alpha'' games, [[ItsHardSoItSucks turning off new players]]. It later found [[VindicatedByHistory success among tournament players]] and the UsefulNotes/FightingGameCommunity, but to this day, it still has a reputation for being very unfriendly to newbies or casual gamers.

* ''JOSH'' was an UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash video game... about the dangers of video game addiction, that could be completed in less than 5 minutes and with hardly any gameplay aside from "move your character to the right" outside of a couple of top-down maze segments. Unsurprisingly, its confused messaging and barebones gameplay was swiftly forgotten about.

** Due to these issues, the game's playerbase dropped rapidly and the servers were shut down shortly after, replaced by a paid [[UpdatedRerelease Legacy Edition]] that at least fixed the input issue. [=AtlasOne=] goes into more details about the game's failure in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXsqxZjuc1w this video]], contrasting it with the much more successful ''VideoGame/RivalsOfAether''. Akshon Esports [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqWm9sMgkj8 also has a video]] claiming that the game suffered from UncertainAudience. Fortunately, the developpers found more success with ''VideoGame/RushdownRevolt'', a reboot that features ''Icons''' characters, but with more original mechanics, to a more positive reception.

* ''VideoGame/NamuAmidaButsuUtena'' is a ''VideoGame/KanColle''-esque CardBattleGame featuring a CastFullOfPrettyBoys with wacky personalities, except said pretty boys are ''Buddhas''. It's safe to assume this game doesn't look too good to people outside Japan due to blasphemous implications, and the servers were terminated at the end of August 2020, less than two years after it launched..

* ''VideoGame/BombermanActZero'' being a DarkerAndEdgier take on a cutesy mascot was already a red flag, and the developer also ruining the gameplay (no local multiplayer, and a single player mode consisting of 99 levels with no lives, no continues, and no saving) ensured no one would be interested in playing.

* ''VideoGame/NamuAmidaButsuUtena'' is a ''VideoGame/KanColle''-esque CardBattleGame featuring a CastFullOfPrettyBoys with wacky personalities, except said pretty boys are ''Buddhas''. It's safe to assume this game doesn't look too good to people outside Japan due to blasphemous implications.

* ''VideoGame/StarGagnant'' is a 2023 VerticalScrollingShooter that, like past games developed by Terarin such as ''VideoGame/RagingBlasters'' and ''VideoGame/TerraFlame'', are designed to [[{{Retraux}} look]] and [[GenreThrowback feel]] more like late 80s and early 90s shmups than modern BulletHell shooters. The game also has the involvement of Takahashi Meijin, a former executive of Creator/HudsonSoft (themselves a developer of many of the aforementioned shmups, most famously the ''VideoGame/StarSoldier'' series) who is famous for once being able to {{Button Mash|ing}} 16 times per second. Terarin's and Takahashi's ideas of making a ''Star Soldier'' throwback include a "rapid fire" mechanic in which the faster the player taps the fire button, the more powerful their shot will get, while holding down the fire button results in a low-damage "normal" attack. While many players consider this game to be otherwise well-built, the rapid-fire mechanic alone makes a lot of shmup fans do a hard pass, as while this might have been acceptable in the 80s, many gamers today aren't terribly keen on having to rapidly tap a button and risk repetitive-stress injury and/or carpal tunnel syndrome to inflict a reliable amount of damage, let alone over the course of a 30-minute game; a lot of modern shmups have done away with button-mash mechanics. Most players will advise just using a controller with an autofire function, which breaks apart the balance of the game, plus [[NoFairCheating the game will empty out your special meter if it detects a tap rate of more than 16 Hz]] meaning that if one wants to buy such a controller for this game, they will need to find one that can fire at 15 Hz or less. As a result, this is one of Terarin's most poorly-regarded games, and was quickly forgotten within the year it was released.

* ''VideoGame/StarGagnant'' is a 2023 VerticalScrollingShooter that, like past games developed by Terarin such as ''VideoGame/RagingBlasters'' and ''VideoGame/TerraFlame'', are designed to [[{{Retraux}} look]] and [[GenreThrowback feel]] more like late 80s and early 90s shmups than modern BulletHell shooters. The game also has the involvement of Takahashi Meijin, a former executive of Creator/HudsonSoft (themselves a developer of many of the aforementioned shmups, most famously the ''VideoGame/StarSoldier'' series) who is famous for once being able to {{Button Mash|ing}} 16 times per second. Terarin's and Takahashi's ideas of making a ''Star Soldier'' throwback include a "rapid fire" mechanic in which the faster the player taps the fire button, the more powerful their shot will get, while holding down the fire button results in a low-damage "normal" attack. While many players consider this game to be otherwise well-built, the rapid-fire mechanic alone makes a lot of shmup fans do a hard pass, as while this might have been acceptable in the 80s, many gamers today aren't terribly keen on having to rapidly tap a button and risk repetitive-stress injury and/or carpal tunnel syndrome to inflict a reliable amount of damage, let alone over the course of a 30-minute game; a lot of modern shmups have done away with button-mash mechanics. Most players will advise just using a controller with an autofire function, which breaks apart the balance of the game, plus [[NoFairCheating the game will empty out your special meter if it detects a tap rate of more than 16 Hz]] meaning that if one wants to buy such a controller for this game, they will need to find one that can fire at 15 Hz or less. Coupled with its price tag of ''38 USD'', when most shmups go for 15-30 (with Terarin's past games going for 10-20), and you won't find many people buying this game or justifying the cost, with nearly every outlet that's reviewed this game, even shmup-tailored ones, marking down the rapid-fire mechanic as a negative.

** DC fans had gotten weary of stories involving an evil ComicBook/JusticeLeague, and a game where the explicit objective is to murder them left their fans irritated--particularly when, barring Batman, none of them had gotten any real focus in video games outside of ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs''. Furthermore, the game focused on the ComicBook/SuicideSquad, a team that was conversely seen as [[AdoredByTheNetwork overexposed]], and a take on the Squad that fans of the team tend to not like (that is to say, a team of popular villains headlined by Harley Quinn fighting superheroes and cosmic threats, rather than a bunch of expendable CListFodder doing political espionage).

** And then, to cap it all off, there was the game's genre as a multiplayer-focused live-service looter-shooter--not only was this a genre that had come under fire due to a number of high-budget flops and perceived over-monetization, and not only was it divorced from the games that developer Rocksteady had made their name on, but many found it a bad fit for a game where you play as supervillains, leading to the baffling experience of a guy named "Captain Boomerang" using mainly guns in combat. The game's reviews were mediocre at best, and sales were outright dire for a game of its budget and scope.

** DC fans had gotten weary of stories involving an evil ComicBook/JusticeLeague, and a game where the explicit objective is to murder them left their fans irritated--particularly when, barring Batman, none of them had gotten any real focus in video games outside of ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs''. Furthermore, the game focused on the ComicBook/SuicideSquad, a team that was conversely seen as [[AdoredByTheNetwork overexposed]], and a take on the Squad that fans of the team tend to not like (that is to say, a team of popular villains headlined by Harley Quinn fighting superheroes, rather than a bunch of expendable CListFodder doing political espionage).
** Then it came out that the game took place in the same universe as the ''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries'', meaning that not only would the first appearance of the League in its continuity be as a bunch of expendable bosses, but this would also be the final fate of the widely beloved Arkhamverse Batman. Whether or not Batman was meant to be KilledOffForReal in this game before Creator/KevinConroy's unexpected death in November 2022 remains a matter of intense debate.

*** Most infamously, Creator/{{Capcom}} opted to replace almost the entire cast from the previous games with a new roster of fighters, with Ryu and Ken being the lone holdovers. They were likely trying to replicate the near-complete cast changeover from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterI'' to ''II'' and hoping for similar success, without realizing how different the circumstances were. The first ''Street Fighter'' was a cult hit at best, meaning nobody really cared when everybody except for Ryu, Ken, and Sagat was left out of the sequel. Furthermore, none of the characters in the original ''Street Fighter'' [[BossGame beside Ryu and Ken]] were playable, meaning there were no players upset that the time and effort they spent learning their character's moveset wouldn't carry over to alienate. ''Street Fighter II'', on the other hand, had proven to be a global sensation, with the new fighters becoming household names overnight and subsequently appearing in the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' prequel series, as well as the [[Film/StreetFighter live-action]] and [[Anime/StreetFighterIITheAnimatedMovie animated]] movies and both the [[WesternAnimation/StreetFighter Western]] and [[Anime/StreetFighterIIV Japanese]] TV adaptations. This meant audiences were far more attached to these characters than the ones from the original game, and their absence in ''Street Fighter III'' incited far more backlash than expected.

* ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague'' got a pretty dubious response right out of the gate, starting from the title: DC fans had gotten weary of stories involving an evil ComicBook/JusticeLeague, and a game where the explicit objective is to murder them left their fans irritated--particularly when, barring Batman, none of them had gotten any real focus in video games outside of ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs''. Furthermore, the game focused on the ComicBook/SuicideSquad, a team that was conversely seen as [[AdoredByTheNetwork overexposed]], and a take on the Squad that fans of the team tend to not like (that is to say, a team of popular villains headlined by Harley Quinn fighting superheroes, rather than a bunch of expendable CListFodder doing political espionage). Then it came out that the game took place in the same universe as the ''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries'', meaning that not only would the first appearance of the League in its continuity be as a bunch of expendable bosses, but this would also be the final fate of that version of Batman. And then, to cap it all off, there was the game's genre as a multiplayer-focused live-service looter-shooter--not only was this a genre that had come under fire due to a number of high-budget flops and perceived over-monetization, and not only was it divorced from the games that developer Rocksteady had made their name on, but many found it a bad fit for a game where you play as supervillains, leading to the baffling experience of a guy named "Captain Boomerang" using mainly guns in combat. The game's reviews were mediocre at best, and sales were outright dire for a game of its budget and scope.

** The [[Platform/OtherSegaSystems Genesis Nomad]]. While on paper it seemed like a great idea to have a portable version of the Platform/SegaGenesis, several aspects of it were alienating: The short battery life (six AA batteries would last about an hour or so -- if that), the bulky size, and being out around when Genesis games stopped being made (released around the time of fifth-generation consoles like the Sega Saturn and Sony [=PlayStation=]). The handheld was a flop, selling around one million units, most at heavy discounts (peanuts compared to the UsefulNotes/GameGear's 11 million) and disappeared shortly after release.[[note]]You could arguably add the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TurboExpress TurboExpress]], which was a portable Platform/TurboGrafx16 released all the way back in 1990, to this list as well. Particularly in the U.S., where there TG-16 flopped to begin with. Considering the rather eye-watering $250 sticker price (about $575 in 2023 dollars) NEC knew that it was a niche product for wealthy gamers (or gamers with wealthy parents), and it still managed to outsell the Nomad by a half million units. Tellingly no one else would try a portable version of a home console until Nintendo decided to combine their home and portable consoles into one device and released the Platform/NintendoSwitch in 2017, which outsold the combined sales of the Nomad and [=TurboExpress=] within a month of it being released.[[/note]]

** The third and final title, 2012's ''Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor'', ditched the unique controller to instead be reliant on the UsefulNotes/{{Kinect}}, but it crashed ''even harder'' due to the peripheral's general issues of being far more finicky than advertised, with the inability to be dexterous clashing hard with the game's design that requires many different actions to operate a massively complicated machine. This once again completely lost audiences, and while many critics were willing to praise the game for its other features (otherwise highly-polished presentation and compelling plot), the game was ultimately slammed and flopped in sales for the simple fact that the Kinect-based control scheme rendered the game near-impossible to actually play.

* ''VideoGame/BayonettaOriginsCerezaAndTheLostDemon'' is so divorced in tone, themes, and gameplay from than any other installment in the already niche ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' series that it isn't surprising that it is also the worst-selling game in the franchise. The game is a child-friendly fairytale affair (featuring [[ArtShiftedSequel storybook visuals to match]]) loosely based on Celtic mythology, starring a teenage Bayonetta searching for her mother; this is in stark contrast to the mature-rated, blood-soaked apocalyptic save-the-world affairs that play with Christian motifs and star an adult Bayonetta who serves as a ThirdPersonSeductress. In addition to this, ''Cereza and the Lost Demon'' is a slow-paced ActionAdventure[=/=]{{Puzzle|Game}} title utilizing a quirky "one controller, two characters" control scheme, while the rest of the series is what helped codify the fast-paced StylishAction genre. As a result, while the game garnered positive reviews, existing fans were left disinterested because -- spin-off or not -- it didn't feel like ''Bayonetta''.

** The Platform/WiiU. Casual gamers, particularly those in the "blue ocean" that made the Platform/{{Wii}} a success, were barely aware that it was even a standalone console, with the name and marketing making many believe it was just an expensive add-on tablet controller for the Wii. Which by 2012, was nothing more than a ''VideoGame/WiiSports'' and ''VideoGame/JustDance'' machine for that audience. And those that did know had no interest in buying a new console when the type of gaming experiences they wanted were more readily available on smartphones. Meanwhile, hardcore gamers rejected it due to its relatively weak technical specifications compared to the Platform/PlayStation4 and Platform/XboxOne. The lack of a KillerApp, as Nintendo's first-party releases were few and far between for its early years, didn't help with this market either. The Wii U would become Nintendo's worst selling home console at under 14 million units shipped, and there is little reason for even Nintendo fans to hunt down the system except out of curiosity or to use it for homebrewing, as almost ''all'' of its exclusives were either given {{Updated Rerelease}}s or {{Even Better Sequel}}s on the company's far more successful follow-up, the Platform/NintendoSwitch.[[note]]A big issue with the [=WiiU=] is the controller, which cost almost as much to produce as the console itself and therefore was made in pretty limited numbers. [[NoExportForYou It was never sold separately outside of Japan]] and pretty difficult to find secondhand, and expensive if you can find it. Most game require it, so if it breaks you're SOL (though this ''is'' a Nintendo product we're talking about here, so it's pretty durable) until you bust out at least $150 for another one.[[/note]]