Amstrad GX4000

The GX4000 was Amstrad's attempt to crash the console party in 1990. Built from the bones of its CPC Plus computer hardware, it added cartridge slots, hardware sprites and a richer palette of colours, and on paper it had enough about it to be interesting.

In practice it walked straight into a buzzsaw. By 1990 the 16-bit machines were busy redefining what players expected, and the GX4000's 8-bit roots looked instantly old-fashioned next to them. Starved of software and outgunned on every front, it never stood a chance.

It sold only a few thousand units and was discontinued within months, taking its place in history as one of the era's most striking flops. The GX4000 is a cautionary tale about turning up late to a fight: a decent enough machine, launched at exactly the wrong moment, into a market that had already left it behind.