If the HyperScan is anything, it’s one of the largest mass market rip-offs the video game industry has ever seen. This is a piece of hardware that should have been recalled based on the quality of the product alone, not due to any manufacturing issues. The HyperScan now sits in rare company with Game.com and the obscure Channel F as one of the most miserable game consoles ever released to the market.

Surely this was a concept created by a marketing team and not one the section of the company with the logic portion of their brain firing neurons. The idea, at best, is a solid one. With hot properties such as Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh making millions off their card games and the 5- to 12-year-old crowd, the HyperScan would surely work on the same principle, only the cards could be used in conjunction with a video game console.

Kids would land the system with a free X-Men game (on CD-ROM) and six cards. The basics of the game are on the disc. To gain access to the complete game (including a full roster of characters, stages, powers, etc.), they need to buy packs of cards. The rest of the game’s items are held on a small chip cramped inside each individual card. The cards are scanned over a portion of the system, grabbing the data out of thin air via RFID technology.

At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work.

The games retail for about $30, which is fair based on what you’re getting, not on the quality of the games. The extra cards come in packs of six, and retail for around $15. If there were 20 cards for each game, this might be acceptable. When you need up to 170 to complete the set for each individual game and unlock everything there is to see, Mattel priced themselves right out of the kids market (or the “anyone with common sense” market too).

Beyond the need to have cards for each character, they do have a secondary purpose. As you play the games, you’ll save your progress to the actual card, allowing you take to it to someone else who was suckered into buying this thing and fight them using your leveled up character. Again, this is purely a marketing gimmick, as the kid who played the most has an obvious advantage that can hardly be considered fair or fun.

The console itself features a bizarre, clunky flip open design. The top loading CD tray is on one end, the overly large red and brightly lit “scan” area sits on the other. Due to the off set weight and uneven outer shell, it doesn’t even sit flat. That can’t be good for the disc drive. There’s no purpose in keeping it closed other than taking it somewhere to protect it, yet this isn’t meant for portability.