Today, we’re introducing a new segment to our little site titled “Geek-Fail”, and ever Friday, we’ll highlight one of the most memorable tech and pop-culture failures of all-time. Our salute to these fallen products will consist of a brief bio, pictures and of course the commericals that tried to sell us this junk.

Our first failure is that loveable accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System R.O.B (Robotic Operating Buddy). The R.O.B accessory was “first released in July 1985 in Japan as the Famicom Robot and later that year as R.O.B. in North America”. Although he was the face of the NES during its early years, support fell short for the litte guy, and he was only usable for two games Gyromite and Stack-Up. With a lack of support and user complaints, Nintendo eventually dropped the R.O.B accessory and he later became an official licensed Nintedo character. Since his 1985 debut, R.O.B has appeared in many classic Nintedo games including Pikmin 2, the Star Fox series, F-Zero, Wario Ware, Kirby’s Dream Land 3, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Now don’t get us wrong, as a mascot R.O.B is one of our favorite Nintendo characters, but as a video game peripheral R.O.B simply sucked. Speaking from experience, half the time the little grey bot didn’t work or respond to any commands. And when he did, he acted in such a slow manner, his timing resulted in manyGyromite deaths. However, despite his failure, R.O.B is still one of our favorite peripheals, and he’ll will always have a special place in our hearts.


Nintendo Commercial: