10 Unreleased Video Game Consoles You Never Knew Existed
3. Taito Wowow
It should come as no surprise to hear that arcade giants Taito once had plans to release a home console. After all these are the people who brought such hit titles as Space Invaders, Arkanoid and Chase H.Q. to world.
Perhaps it is surprising however, to hear that they waited until 1992 to do so, with the sadly now-abandoned Taito Wowow, a console that was well ahead of the curve by offering a built in CD-ROM drive, video streaming hardware and the ability to download games via satellite. All of these features would be offered as standard out of the box, and Taito also promised a 'true arcade-quality experience'.
The advanced technology included in this machine was ultimately its downfall. Not only was it extremely costly to produce, but the download speeds just weren’t fast enough to make it truly viable.
A games line-up including Bubble Bobble, Rastan, Rainbow Islands and Darius was announced for the console but only the latter was ever completed. Unfortunately, no prototypes have been found to this day, and all we have to go on are grainy photos from Japanese gaming magazines of the time.