4) The PlayStation 3's launch: It's hard to believe how much things have changed for Sony in the last year. Twelve months ago, the electronics giant was the 800 pound-gorilla of the gaming industry, sporting the most successful console ever and a seeming lock on the entire "next-gen" market. Twelve months later, their actual sales aer nowhere near their predictions, they've cut console prices to the bone and Nintendo has soundly thrashed them in next-gen console sales.

The PS3's launch failed epically due to a combination of weak launch titles, a way-too-high-price, a lack of dynamic exlcusive games, bad judgment about the market's desire for a top-of-the-line gaming machine, an inexplicable advertising campaign, and general arrogance on the part of Sony's executives. On the positive side, a recent sales up-tick spawned by lowered prices points a future in which a bruised Sony is still a contender.

3) E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. Yeah, the ultimate failure of E.T. for the Atari 2600 happened in 1982, but you can't compile a list of videogame failures without including this one. The failure of this game nearly killed the entire industry; it's so epic, the failure traveled through time to the present.

2) Red Ring Of Death: The finicky, loud and ugly 360 has never been lauded for its great design, but the system's problems are more than aesthetic. With a failure rate reportedly hovered around 30%, it's a wonder Bill Gates' upstart machine was even able to stay in business, and, we imagine, without Micrososft's deep pockets it wouldn't' have. After all, no matter how good Halo 3 is, you can't play it on a bricked machine, and gamers who are left with broken consoles are unlikely to become lifelong, loyal customers.

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