Virtual Boy,Console or Handheld?

[xDragonWarrior]

What exactly is the VIrtual Boy,a console,a handheld or a blend of both concepts?I mean it uses batteries to power it,but then again,the controller is removable which makes me believe it's a console.

[jaybird3rd]

I say it's a console, albeit a very odd one. It's a "handheld" only in the sense that luggable computers are "laptops"; you'd really have to stretch the category to make it fit. The battery option seems to have been an attempt to make it more portable, and to cut down on cable clutter, but you still really need a table and chair of the right height to play it properly. When most people think of a "handheld", they usually mean a system that one can easily carry around and play (almost) anywhere, and the Virtual Boy isn't in that category. I think you'd get some funny looks if you tried strapping a Virtual Boy to your face in public.

[godslabrat]

It's a console. Handhelds are generally good for use in the car. DO NOT EVER PLAY VIRTUAL BOY IN THE CAR.

 

Freaking trust me on this...

[CatPix]

I guess Nintendo tried to make a cross between the home and handheld system. If I remember, you can connect to another Virtual Boy, more than two? So I guess their idea was you'll get your VB to friends and play together with the VB cable. Something made easier with a handled like system : light, no tons of wiring, working on batteries.

They ultimately failed, but I guess by so few times... Waiting two years more and they would had blue LEDSs to make a RGB display... or better, have two color LCD screens. But heh, the past is past.

[CGQuarterly]

I say it's a console, albeit a very odd one. It's a "handheld" only in the sense that luggable computers are "laptops"; you'd really have to stretch the category to make it fit. The battery option seems to have been an attempt to make it more portable, and to cut down on cable clutter, but you still really need a table and chair of the right height to play it properly. When most people think of a "handheld", they usually mean a system that one can easily carry around and play (almost) anywhere, and the Virtual Boy isn't in that category. I think you'd get some funny looks if you tried strapping a Virtual Boy to your face in public.

 

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!

[Wickeycolumbus]

Somewhere in between. I'd say it's part of the reason it didn't do well.

[fiddlepaddle]

Headheld!

 

I think it was originally conceived and developed to be worn over the eyes, but technical and cost limitations forced them to compromise by the time it was introduced.

 

If it had caught on, the Virtual Boy Advance would have probably been a true Headheld unit.

[Pixelboy]

It is neither: It's actually a tabletop gaming device.

[+LS650]

Does it really matter? I don't understand why people feel the need to distinguish between tabletop consoles and handhelds. A gaming system is a gaming system.

[Lentzquest]

I suppose I'd go with console. It's just a self-contained one in the same sense as a Vectrex.

[Richard H.]

 

 

I think you'd get some funny looks if you tried strapping a Virtual Boy to your face in public.

 

 

[Video]

I'd say console. The controller isn't actually built into the system like a true handheld. Yes, the screen is built in, but so is the screen on the vectrex and that's considered a console.

 

The only iffy bit is that it can technically be played with batteries, but then, so could many of the pong consoles back in the day. (and like me, I'm sure most of you decided to get the power supply adapter thing right off the bat)

[AtariLeaf]

I couldn't vote in the poll as there was no option for "piece of shit"

[godslabrat]

I couldn't vote in the poll as there was no option for "piece of shit"

Check the Jaguar poll.

[Reaperman]

I think nintendo putting its games in small carts and game-boy-size boxes says quite a lot about what they thought it was. Batteries also weren't intended as the 'optional' means of power. They were the default power source. It was designed to travel--as stupid as that is.

 

I seem to recall it being marketed as a portable too. Which I suppose it is. It was only once I got one (a year or two after they left stores) that I realized how poor the system really was 'on the go.'

Edited June 1, 2014 by Reaperman

[BigO]

If the controller were somehow integrated into the headset so that you could both hold the system and play it at the same time, you might be able to make the handheld argument.