Amstrad GX4000

Note: This page was copy pasted from the Crappy Games Wiki on Miraheze instead of imported due to the Qualitipedia wikis being deleted.

Amstrad GX4000 If you thought just having bad specs/gimmicks were bad enough, check out the explosions. Developer: Amstrad Release Date: September 1990 Generation: Third generation Discontinued: 1991

The Amstrad GX4000 is a video game console that was manufactured by Amstrad. It was released in Europe in 1990 and was Amstrad's first and only attempt to enter the console market. Despite offering enhanced graphics capabilities, it failed to gain popularity in the market. The GX4000 shares similar hardware with Amstrad's CPC Plus computer line.

Why Amstrad Bombed It

IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to controversy of the reason #6 mentioning that the Amstrad GX4000 can explode to the point it can burn down the entire house, no positive pointers/redeeming qualities are permitted in this page.

1. The main controller is painful to use.
2. Only 27 games were produced for the system, most of them being cartridge ports of the original CPC cassette games without any changes and more expensive than the original CPC ones.
3. The system was also outdated at the time it was released, with inferior technology and specs compared to the ones of the Sega Mega Drive.
4. There were also problems with software manufacturing, with many companies complaining that the duplication process was taking months instead of weeks, leading to little software available at launch, and some games being released late or cancelled entirely.
5. Like the Sega Master System, the pause button is located on the console instead of the controller.
6. The power supply adaptors provided by Amstrad were extremely cheap and very nasty devices prone to allowing ridiculous power surges if they were improperly handled. If there was not a connection to the console at all times while the power was on, the power brick could fry itself, fry the console, or even EXPLODE!. This is only made worse by all authentic power bricks being at least 30 years old, and it is highly recommended to use a third party power supply instead.
7. The CPC Plus line of computers had similar hardware to the GX4000 and is even compatible with games from the system, thanks to also having a cartridge slot, making the system rather pointless.

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