Nintendo's Vitrual Boy...What does everyone think?

[JB]

I bought a virtual boy used from Blockbuster for like $20 and I feel that it was a great buy. It came with the suitcase like storage box that blockbuster used to rent their systems in.

888762[/snapback]

That was my first one. Second was from Toys R Us.

[Cobra Kai]

I like the Virtual Boy...but it wasn't near good enough to buy, if one had to choose between this and the Sony Playstation. I chalk it's demise up to the fact that Sony got it's first confirmed kill off the VB, in that system war....next would be the Saturn.

[Gregory DG]

Virtual Boy... There are many words I could use to describe it, but there's just one that comes to mind.

 

Ugh!

[rockman_x_2002]

I chalk it's demise up to the fact that Sony got it's first confirmed kill off the VB, in that system war....next would be the Saturn.

888855[/snapback]

 

Precisely. That, and the Saturn and N64 basically made short work of the VB early in that console war. People seemed more drawn to the "plays on your TV" consoles than the VB, which was anything but "portable" in most situations.

 

The VB wasn't a traditional console like the others, and as was stated before, people simply saw it as some kind of weird red thing that was novel in execution, but not worth the high price tag hanging off it. And from the companies' prospectives, likely not work developing for, which is unfortunate.

 

Plus, people knew already what they would be getting with the TV-based consoles. The Virtual Boy's success was much less predictable since the system scaled a dimension of gaming that has not been attempted in that way before or since (and by that I mean a dedicated 3D stereovision game console).

 

I think what killed it was a whole plethora of unfortunate occurances. Among these, lack of advertising, generally poorer titles on demo (with the exception of Wario Land VB, of course), rumors of health issues concerning the eyes (which the VB has never given me a problem even playing for extended periods of time. Also, the VB was perhaps too much for the public to digest at that time (too innovative. Too far "out there" to grasp), and the final nail in the coffin of course was the high cost (which is what drove me away from buying one until they came down to about $70 or so there around 1997).

 

Toward the end of the VB's lifetime you started seeing more games emerge like Mario Clash, Panic Bomber, and some other high-quality titles that never saw the light of day. It's just unfortunate that Nintendo did not have enough time (or apparently enough effort) to get some "must have" games out for the system, such as a Zelda title, perhaps.

 

Better games and better advertising shortly after the VB's release might've been the push needed to give it at least some fair chance of success. But time and support for the VB was just too short to meet those needs, and so it didn't succeed as I would've liked to have seen it. I have to give props to Nintendo for trying something new, though. "That was a heroic effort."

[shep]

I DID mention what, in my opinion, killed it.

Oh, right, you think the demo units and the advertising killed it.

 

A show of hands, everyone who believes that?

888509[/snapback]

 

Me. Plus the fact that the PS1, Saturn and N64 were all on the horizon or being released. Hardly fair for it to compete. It almost made quite a comeback before Nintendo just decided to focus its efforts on the next GB and the 64. Check out virtual-boy.net, Nintendo was prepared to put a lot into it.

Edited July 9, 2005 by shep

[Ferris]

Thumbs up for this unique classic! Gotta respect Nintendo for being willing to take the risk.

[J.Max]

Hideously bad system...one of the all-time worst ideas for a console ever. If you are defending it, you aren't taking an objective view because there was no way this thing was going to succeed for the following reasons:

 

1. Headache inducing display - You may not get headaches from it, but most people do.

 

2. No way to show games in magazines - There was no way to get decent screen shots in the video game magazines and therefore, no way to show off the system.

 

3. It's not VR - Nintendo tried to market this as a VR device and it isn't one. VR implies that the system attempts to mimic reality and it doesn't. There is no head-tracking, there were no first-person games, and again, everything is red. It's a stereoscopic 3D unit, and those have been around forever Even the Sega Master System and the Vectrex had them, and theirs were better implementations.

 

4. Everything is red - Nintendo expected people to pay $200 for a monochrome console? Huh?

 

5. No game support - It lacked a killer app. You're supposed to pay $200 for an all-red version of a (at the time) 12 year old arcade game and tennis. Who's going to buy that? There was no game that made the Virtual Boy a must-buy.

 

6. Lack of support from Nintendo - Nintendo was pretty half-hearted about the whole thing. They didn't even want to release it, but they essentially did so as a favor to Gumpei Yokoi. Yamaguchi was less than thrilled with it.

 

7. PSX and Saturn - So which one would you buy? The PSX which had about 50-60 great games out at the time, played on the TV, you could play with other people and it didn't give you headaches or a console with 10 games , that was all red and you looked silly playing?

 

8. The technology wasn't mature - This speaks for itself. The console wasn't powerful enought to do what it needed to do to be successful. It needed to be in color and have more power to create "virtual worlds".

 

 

This was a system so badly designed that it actually set VR technology back. A console so awful that it (indirectly) led to the death of its creator. Those of you who are defending it are either Nintendo fanboys or have been collecting games for it for so long that you can't see it for what it is - one of the biggest mistakes ever made in the video game business.

[JB]

Hideously bad system...one of the all-time worst ideas for a console ever.  If you are defending it, you aren't taking an objective view because there was no way this thing was going to succeed

It's possible to like a system while recognizing it was pretty much doomed as a commercial success.

There is a diffrence between arguing that the Virtual Boy didn't suck super monkey balls and arguing that the VB should've stomped the PlayStation.

 

 

1. Headache inducing display -  You may not get headaches from it, but most people do. 

So turn the brightness down. More likely, reduce the depth of the display.

Mine caused me problems before I quit ignoring the settings available.

 

2. No way to show games in magazines - There was no way to get decent screen shots in the video game magazines and therefore, no way to show off the system.

I mentioned that.

 

3.  It's not VR - Nintendo tried to market this as a VR device and it isn't one.  VR implies that the system attempts to mimic reality and it doesn't.  There is no head-tracking, there were no first-person games, and again, everything is red.  It's a stereoscopic 3D unit, and those have been around forever  Even the Sega Master System and the Vectrex had them, and theirs were better implementations.

Neither provided as immersive an experience.

And the Vectrex 3D Imager had very serious flaws.

 

5. No game support - It lacked a killer app.  You're supposed to pay $200 for an all-red version of a (at the time) 12 year old arcade game and tennis.  Who's going to buy that?  There was no game that made the Virtual Boy a must-buy.

Wario Land was darn close.

But you're right. The software library was pathetic(not that that's slowed the launch sales of other systems...)

 

7. PSX and Saturn - So which one would you buy?  The PSX which had about 50-60 great games out at the time, played on the TV, you could play with other people and it didn't give you headaches or a console with 10 games , that was all red and you looked silly playing?

Both?

Note that the PS1 and Saturn had just started their price wars at the time. PS1 was 300, Saturn was 400.

 

8. The technology wasn't mature - This speaks for itself.  The console wasn't powerful enought to do what it needed to do to be successful.  It needed to be in color and have more power to create "virtual worlds".

I think it functioned well in the task assigned to it.

 

This was a system so badly designed that it actually set VR technology back.

*rolls eyes*

 

A console so awful that it (indirectly) led to the death of its creator. 

Yes, it's a little known fact that the guy who ran over Yokoi was suffering from a VB-induced headache at the time...

Edited July 12, 2005 by JB

[sega saturn x]

Didn't the virtual boy die before the psx was even released? So how can you go "which would you get" if one of the systems was already dead?

Edited July 11, 2005 by sega saturn x

[rockman_x_2002]

Check it out.

2. No way to show games in magazines - There was no way to get decent screen shots in the video game magazines and therefore, no way to show off the system.

889674[/snapback]

 

Actually... that was handled.

 

You see, there was a device Nintendo developed for use at trade shows confirmed to exist (apparently developed mainly for the Famicom Space World show in Japan), which would allow the Virtual Boy's image to be displayed in 2D on a television set.

 

Although the device was made for Nintendo's own personal use, it still could have opened a way that could have been used to produce images in magazines, or for that matter, video of the games in action. Obviously a 3D image is not possible using this method, but 2D images could still somewhat show off the games. Perhaps if they had included images that could be used with a pair of red-blue 3D glasses. Better than nothing.

 

On the subject of getting fairly decent screenshots from a VB, I seem to recall when "Dragon Stomper" and "Bound High" were previewed in an issue of Nintendo Power before both games got axed, they had some decent screenshots from the VB showing those games.

 

Just to drive the point home, here's an article that includes a few screenshots and a review for what I consider the Virtual Boy's "killer app": Wario Land VB. Go check it out.

[JB]

Didn't the virtual boy die before the psx was even released?  So how can you go "which would you get" if one of the systems was already dead?

889933[/snapback]

Nope. It launched around the same time as the PS1 and Saturn.

 

 

Rockman: Being able to display it in 2D on a TV screen doesn't really solve the problen. A VB game without the 3D is, in most cases, kinda lame.

The VB's greatest strength WAS that it was 3D. That was it's primary selling feature, and it was IMPOSSIBLE to show in ads.

 

There was exactly one exception. Subscribers to Nintendo Power got a set of VB "trading cards" and cardboard 3D glasses with one issue.

[rockman_x_2002]

There was exactly one exception. Subscribers to Nintendo Power got a set of VB "trading cards" and cardboard 3D glasses with one issue.

890078[/snapback]

 

Hey, worked for "Rad Racer" on the NES. Why not?

 

On a less serious note, they could've released screenshots on Viewmaster reels.

 

Speaking of those 3D glasses, though, does anyone know where one might obtain those glasses for a fair price (like those packed in with the NES "3D" titles)? I sorta lost mine.

Edited July 12, 2005 by rockman_x_2002

[J.Max]

I want to clarify what I meant about indirectly leading to the death of it's creator. If Yokoi hadn't been fired by Nintendo for this debacle of a system, he more than likely wouldn't have been out on the freeway that day...I know there were a thousand other things that could have saved him as well, but still. (I'm not the first one to say this, BTW. )

 

Oh, and I own a VB, in case anyone was wondering. I have ten or so games too. The system still sucks. Wario Land could have been done on any other system (and was); the VB special technology didn't add anything to it. A true killer app should provide something that shows off the hardware and makes people want to buy the system in question. There was nothing like that on the Virtual Boy.

[JB]

There was exactly one exception. Subscribers to Nintendo Power got a set of VB "trading cards" and cardboard 3D glasses with one issue.

890078[/snapback]

 

Hey, worked for "Rad Racer" on the NES. Why not?

 

On a less serious note, they could've released screenshots on Viewmaster reels.

 

Speaking of those 3D glasses, though, does anyone know where one might obtain those glasses for a fair price (like those packed in with the NES "3D" titles)? I sorta lost mine.

890080[/snapback]

I have no idea where you'd get a pair.

 

I MAY still have mine kicking around the house, but if I do, I'm keeping them.

 

 

I know functionally similar devices show up from time to time in oddball promotions and movies.

 

 

 

The task of finding a substitute is made more complex by the fact that there's TWO types of cardboard 3D glasses. The common kind uses red and blue cellophane(this is what the NES 3D games used, as opposed to the technically superior LCD shutters of the FamiCom versions).

 

The kind Nintendo used for the VB promotion had 2 clear lenses, each polarized in a diffrent direction. It lets you have true color images(in the VB's case, it just let you see the awesome screenshots in their natural red instead of awesome screenshots in equally cool, but less accurate, green), but it's a more expensive process and thus less common.

 

 

 

 

I want to clarify what I meant about indirectly leading to the death of it's creator.  If Yokoi hadn't been fired by Nintendo for this debacle of a system, he more than likely wouldn't have been out on the freeway that day...I know there were a thousand other things that could have saved him as well, but still.  (I'm not the first one to say this, BTW. )

I think it's a really crazy argument. Sure, he was in a tragic accident.

Blaming it on a revolutionary, if commercially unsuccessful, system is just ... well, crazy.

 

It's equally possible that his resignation/retirement from Nitendno PROLONGED his life by keeping him out of the way of an earlier crazy driver.

 

 

Oh, and I own a VB, in case anyone was wondering.  I have ten or so games too.  The system still sucks.  Wario Land could have been done on any other system (and was); the VB special technology didn't add anything to it.  A true killer app should provide something that shows off the hardware and makes people want to buy the system in question.  There was nothing like that on the Virtual Boy.

The VB Wario Land, with it's dual-layer gameplay, was NOT done on any other system.

And it struck me as showcasing the VB's special technolgy remarkably well.

 

While I would have preferred something more akin to Vertical Force's free playfield change, Wario Land WAS the better game.

 

 

Ultimately, the market chose the illusion of depth on a conventional game device over ACTUAL depth on a strange new gaming device.

 

While I can't really say they were wrong(A lot the library DID suck, and much of what was left made no real use of the 3D(see: Panic Bomber, Jack Bros.)), it was disappointing. The VB is a system full of unrealized potential.

 

I look at it and I see what might have been had it been better supported.

...

That and the only version of 3D Tetris that I've ever considered playable(not that it's a great game, but it's better with depth than without it).

Edited July 12, 2005 by JB

[sega saturn x]

I was looking at screens for the games and man those red graphics are extrememly ugly. I mean the sprites are nice but they need color. I don't think i would have a lot of fun playing red games they just seem ugly. The virtual boy could have been cool if it were in color but that wasn't possible at the time. I know it sounds petty but i think had it been in color like had it come out a fears later it might have done better.

[JB]

I was looking at screens for the games and man those red graphics are extrememly ugly.  I mean the sprites are nice but they need color.  I don't think i would have a lot of fun playing red games they just seem ugly.  The virtual boy could have been cool if it were in color but that wasn't possible at the time.  I know it sounds petty but i think had it been in color like had it come out a fears later it might have done better.

890139[/snapback]

I've never considered it inherently ugly, except when playing Golf(don't ask why I was playing Golf, because I can't answer).

The cabbage-green GameBoy screen, with it's mile-long streaks, THAT was ugly. The VB was just... diffrent.

 

You're right, though. If it'd been color, it would've been far better recieved. Probably even if it'd been in grayscale.

Edited July 12, 2005 by JB

[shep]

 

3.  It's not VR - Nintendo tried to market this as a VR device and it isn't one.  VR implies that the system attempts to mimic reality and it doesn't.  There is no head-tracking, there were no first-person games, and again, everything is red.  It's a stereoscopic 3D unit, and those have been around forever  Even the Sega Master System and the Vectrex had them, and theirs were better implementations.

 

889674[/snapback]

 

Its not supposed to be "virtual reality" like you see in the arcades. Its a console with a headset to keep you immersed in the game.

[sega saturn x]

The cabbage-green GameBoy screen, with it's mile-long streaks, THAT was ugly. The VB was just... diffrent

Right on with the green game boy screen. Now that you mention it that was truly ugly.

[chadtower]

I'll bet that the complete collection is worth a lot  does anyone have all of them ?

887745[/snapback]

 

Yep, I have the full domestic collection... the Japanese collection is nearly impossible and would cost you a few thousand.

[kevincal]

Ya I've seen some of those Japanese games go for around $500!

Edited July 13, 2005 by kevincal

[Stingray]

 

3.  It's not VR - Nintendo tried to market this as a VR device and it isn't one.  VR implies that the system attempts to mimic reality and it doesn't.  There is no head-tracking, there were no first-person games, and again, everything is red.  It's a stereoscopic 3D unit, and those have been around forever  Even the Sega Master System and the Vectrex had them, and theirs were better implementations.

 

889674[/snapback]

 

Its not supposed to be "virtual reality" like you see in the arcades. Its a console with a headset to keep you immersed in the game.

890178[/snapback]

 

True, but the name would suggest to most people that virtual reality was in fact what it was supposed to be. I know I was hugely dissapointed the first (and only) time I played one - display model in a store when they were new. Maybe one of these days I'll pick one up and give it another shot with a more open mind.

 

-S

[chadtower]

One of my very favorite system. I think people leaped to the virtual reality thing on their own, honestly, as that's not quite how it was marketed. I love unique gaming experiences and the VB is as unique as it gets. Wario Land really is a killer app.

[ZylonBane]

I think people leaped to the virtual reality thing on their own

Right. This is where you explain what the "VIRTUAL" in "VIRTUAL BOY" was referring to, if not virtual reality.

[chadtower]

 

You WANT it to mean Virtual Reality, but nowhere in the dictionary is the word Virtual tied to the term Virtual Reality.

 

Besides, even if it were, that DOES represent as much VR as that time period had to deliver.

[else]

 

You WANT it to mean Virtual Reality, but nowhere in the dictionary is the word Virtual tied to the term Virtual Reality.

 

Besides, even if it were, that DOES represent as much VR as that time period had to deliver.

891563[/snapback]

 

Well, it was definately a slime on Nintendo's part by calling it "Virtual Boy". I mean, most people aren't going to consult a dictionary for every purchase they might make.

 

Now if they had been honest and called it something like "3D Boy", that's one thing. But like I said, Nintendo tried to slime one by the consumer -- and paid for it in the end with a failed system....

Edited July 14, 2005 by else