Once Sold Considered Broken Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bass pedal

Using four drum pads and a foot pedal for your bass drum, the "Rock Band" drum set was the largest peripheral in the game and perhaps the most complex. In the order Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, the four drum pads sold as a solid piece while a drum pedal connected (via a cord) to the base unit.

While players hitting hard enough could potentially snap the red and green drums clean off the unit, the biggest issue was the flimsy drum pedal which had a tendency to snap in half, either in the pedal itself or its plastic bottom.

The issue became so prevalent that Harmonix began to package their game with a paper suggesting that all hardware issues be sent straight back to them rather than returned to the place of purchase. Later games remedied the matter with a sturdier pedal, but the safest bet would be a more professional drum set.

The Ion Drum Rocker, for more fanatic players, would be the perfect addition. Similar issues would arise with the release of "Guitar Hero: World Tour" the following year.

Answer: Wii Remote wrist straps would frequently snap

This issue was partly on Nintendo's faults and partly on the consumer's. As Wiis began to ship out for the 2006 holiday season, excited players found themselves neglecting to follow instructions. Youtube was soon flooded with videos of people 'accidentally' losing grip of the Wii Remote, flinging it across the room, occasionally shattering television screens. On the other hand, some players who correctly used their wrist straps were shocked to find that under extreme use, the band could have a tendency to snap clean apart. Nintendo recalled millions of the straps within the first year of sales, replacing them with a new model of strap designed for easier use and featuring a thicker string. Nintendo would later create a silicone jacket for the Wii for better grip. Both these and straps were replaced free for early Wii users and all later products were packaged with them included.

Answer: The Red Ring of Death

Releasing a year before Nintendo's Wii and Sony's Playstation 3, Microsoft had it all when it launched the Xbox 360 console in 2005. Unfortunately, the system was plagued with problems from chipset issues to scratching discs. When the system failed, it had the wonderful ability to display a red ring on its front (aptly named 'The Red Ring of Death') which denoted the issue. Gaming outlets reported that one in every three Xbox 360 consoles were returned to the store for a return or exchange. Microsoft went out of their way to set aside a billion-dollar buffer to combat their losses in their first few years.

The entire thing was used. This still didn't fix the heating issues, fan issues, power issues, and internal problems with the units.

In June 2010, Microsoft unveiled a sleeker, newer design for the system to tie in with their motion-control camera, the Kinect. The beautiful thing? Microsoft utilized hardware concepts from their original Xbox console to keep it from overheating.

Answer: CD-I

Released in the same generation as the Nintendo console SNES and the Sega Genesis, the Philips CD-I was one of the first systems to use discs. The games weren't good though. Somehow, this console lasted seven years on the market before Philips ceased production of games. Over its run, three "Zelda" titles and a game known as "Hotel Mario" were created for the console. For some reason, controllers (some which looked like lengthy remotes and some of which had nonsensical analog sticks or unresponsive buttons) really didn't fit with the games and the games already had their flaws. To straighten tout the reasoning here, Philips initially offered to help Nintendo create a CD-ROM enhancement for the SNES.

The deal had fallen through eventually, but Nintendo licensed a few characters which inevitably showed up on Philips-made games.

While Mario appears in "Hotel Mario", he seems to do a horrible job of walking through doors, jumping over enemies, and responding to player movements...

Answer: Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing

"Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing" is a work of art in a way. Nothing seems to work. The game is reputed to have five levels, but one map of the game crashes. While the game is a racing game, opponents never leave the start line. Your 'big rig' also has a tendency to never crash instead opting to drive on ninety degree angles and drive endlessly until you cross the finish line. That's another thing.

The finish line and start line are programmed as the same location, so starting your race may inadvertently cause you to win the track within a very short amount of time. Online review site "Metacritic" actually lists the game at 8%; the only scores it received over 0 were from sites that had a 1-10 rating system.

Answer: Arm Spirit

Did that machine just become self-aware? The "Arm Spirit" arcade game, while a creepy idea to begin with, is a game in which the player grips a fake arm (built into the machine) and arm wrestles with it for a token/coin. Think about that- players paid to have their arms broken. According to 2007 press releases, Atlus (who created several amazing RPGs over the years) recalled all of the games from their arcades after three reports were filed. Makers of the game noted that in order to break their arms, they had to have placed unreasonable strain on them.

Answer: Sega Dreamcast

A successor to the Sega Saturn system, the Sega Dreamcast was Sega's final foray into the world of consoles. After a strong launch, players reported that their systems wouldn't start, games wouldn't play, and that consoles were overheating. While the problem was quickly remedied, the system didn't pick up sales. Games were easy to burn and copy and both the Playstation 2 and Xbox (and to an extent, the Gamecube) had taken the reins in the generation. Sega stopped making consoles to focus on powerful software titles.

Answer: Halo 3

While "Halo 3" was a blockbuster as far as games go, its original release hit a few snags. While not a 'broken' issue, the game was leaked very close to the actual release date causing a number of banned online accounts (in many cases, they were banned for almost eight thousand years).

In shipping problems, the limited Edition of the game (coming with an extra disc and book) ended up getting recalled for being packaged in faulty casing. As a result, many games were scratched beyond play causing it to be (essentially) useless when placed in the console. Should paid an extra $70 for the 'Legendary Edition'- it came with a helmet. Seriously.

Answer: Resident Evil 4

While "Resident Evil" games have had the tendency to be banned in some countries due to its graphic nature (you kill zombies), the other games must've been MUCH worse. "Mario Party 8" took a hit in 2007 when it was released in Europe. As the game included the word 'spastic', it was sent back to Nintendo and censored through a change in the dialogue. "LittleBigPlanet", for the Playstation 3, was another seemingly innocent title.

Not innocent enough for recall it seems. The game was sent back for retooling when it was discovered that a song in its soundtrack contained words from the Qur'an (from a Muslim singer, no less). "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" was censored and recalled after the discovery of its 'Hot Coffee' mod in which a sexual encounter is unlockable through the gameplay. Rockstar Games has since made light of the scenario in more recent titles.

Answer: Dance Dance Revolution

While many arcade games have their breakable pieces, "Dance Dance Revolution" is a title that has its fair share of hard-hitting controls. To play, four directional pads are based on a platform in front of the game screen. You hit the pads with your feet when the arrows on the screen prompt you to and every time you miss you have a detrimental effect on your score. With overuse and stronger hits, the pads wear down- it's as simple as that.

When the game came to consoles in the 2000s, pads were it and miss.

Some pads wouldn't register at all while some would have a delay on certain screens. While many of these issues have been ironed out over years of improvements and iterations, they still have a tendency to wear out if you play a fair amount.