It's no secret that the Sega 32X failed in the market. However, many consider the 32X to be one of the biggest failures in gaming history. With such gems as The Virtual Boy, the Philips CDi, and the Atari Jaguar already occupying that list, I began to wonder if calling the 32X one of the biggest failures was a fair depiction of the hardware. It's time to sort out the evidence and see if we truly were sold epic fail in a box when we were kids.

The first thing to keep in mind is that the 32X was designed to be an add-on rather than a stand-alone system. The idea for the 32X surfaced when Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama ordered the company to come up with a 32-bit console by Christmas of 1994. Sega of Japan met up with Sega of America, and their first idea of an upgraded Sega Genesis with a 32-bit processor was scrapped mainly because they felt that nobody was going to buy a second Genesis. It was Sega of America's Joe Miller who proposed that the new system actually be an add-on to the Genesis. It was released with what many considered to be a suicidal price of $159 – compared to the release price of $190 for the Genesis in '89.

The first aggravation is that both the Genesis and the 32X have to have power in order to operate. Not only does this create a cluttered mess at the wall socket, but it also means that the Genesis must be in working condition for the 32X to operate. Take that in for a moment – I know I had to. If for some reason your Genesis breaks and will no longer turn on, you are now the proud owner of a $159 paperweight. High five.

Another bad reality for the 32X is that the first batch of games for the system was severely rushed to meet the Christmas of '94 deadline. There were reported glitches galore – some glitches even forced the system to crash – poor quality in the games, and the games failed to use the Q-sound audio system that the 32X possessed. They played like garbage, they looked like garbage, and they sounded like garbage. That can't be a good launch.

However, even with these issues, there was still a heavy amount of demand for the system – at first. Sega of America was prepared with 500,000 units to sell, but the orders were supposedly in the millions. But, after all of the complaints had been made, the returns were complete, and people completely forgot the system, the 32X finished out its lifespan with a disappointing 200,000 units officially sold.

So what happened to this system? Many people point out the fact that consumers knew the Sega Saturn would be on its way in just six months. Game developers were also abandoning the 32X to prepare for the Saturn because they felt it would be the "true 32-bit experience" from Sega. Industry veteran Steve Snake pins the blame for disappointing fans onto the media. According to Snake, titles that performed without issue on the SNES and Genesis were pushing the 32X to its limit with the very little amount of material that was added to, what Snake calls, these "Genesis ports." But he also says that the over-hype from the media didn't help the situation in the least as magazine readers were expecting an arcade experience from home.

I assumed that the 32X didn't belong on the worst consoles of all time list simply because it worked and didn't harm players – unlike the Virtual Boy. But, after researching, I have to admit that it has to be one of the largest failures in the history of the video game industry. It was rushed, it was developed far too late, its Q-Sound system was difficult to work with, and it acted like a parasite. I'd like to say that Sega didn't make any major mistakes after this car wreck, but I'd be lying.

This could easily go on the list of the worst add-ons/consoles(because they dared to call it that) in the history of the industry. I admit that I wasn't originally sold on that claim, but, upon research, the evidence has become overwhelming. If you were one of the kids who received a 32X as a Christmas gift in '94, then my condolences to you. That fail in a box was real. Why couldn't they have worked on something that was actually a system that also outperformed the 32X? They could call it the Neptune or something. Oh, wait...