Does anyone else think that the Virtual Boy is a weird console?

[nintendofan85]

The reasons I say that are:
First of all, it's not really clear if it's a home console or a true portable handheld, although maybe you could say it was the precursor to how with the GameCube, and especially the Switch, Nintendo tried to blur the lines between the two.
The way it is propped up looks strange to me. It seems like a telescope. (You could say that this also applies with how you have to look into it, although it's more similar to a pair of binoculars)
Its screen (although I'm not sure if you'd even call it that) seems incredibly odd. The fact that it had to be red and black seems even more unusual to me.
There also seemed to not really be much space for it in Nintendo's lineup. Nintendo already had two consoles out at the same time as the Virtual Boy's launch in 1995: the Game Boy and Super NES. What in the world was the need for the Virtual Boy in the first place? I can't imagine that the fact that the Nintendo 64 was about to be released helped any, either.

What are your thoughts on the Virtual Boy? Whenever people talk about it, they largely seem to focus on the fact that it was a huge commercial failure for Nintendo and how its screen would hurt people's eyes. I get that, but I'm not quite sure if people have really analyzed it quite like I have. For the record, I've never played one before, nor any console older than a N64, but still, what was the purpose or even really the need for the Virtual Boy in the first place? Considering how Nintendo had great success with the Game Boy, the SNES did fairly well, and the N64 was on its way, what did it even have to gain from the Virtual Boy?

 

[Snowesque]

Viewing this from the surface level, I cannot really imagine a reason either... It is almost as if it was set up for failure. I know Nintendo is known for different console designs that can be innovative, but almost if not all of the Virtual Boys seem to be the opposite?

 

[nintendofan85]

Viewing this from the surface level, I cannot really imagine a reason either... It is almost as if it was set up for failure. I know Nintendo is known for different console designs that can be innovative, but almost if not all of the Virtual Boys seem to be the opposite?

I personally consider the Virtual Boy to be the most unnecessary video game console Nintendo released. Nintendo had all of their bases covered, first of all, in terms of its consoles, there was no need for a third, especially considering the N64 was coming out. Second of all, I'm not quite sure if the ergonomics could be considered there, either-having a telescope-style setup and having to view it like a pair of binoculars makes the portability argument seem very nebulous at best. For example, whenever I think of a handheld game console, I think of one that I can take with me in the car, on a plane, to the mall, etc. The Virtual Boy lacked that practicality, something that the Game Boy very much had at the time. At the same time, however, since it couldn't be hooked up to a TV, it wasn't really a home console, either.

I will say that just the unusualness of the Virtual Boy makes it completely understandable, notwithstanding its various other problems such as the eye strain caused by the screen and 3D effects and lack of much selection games-wise (many wound up cancelled due to its failure), why it failed so badly for Nintendo. I'd be willing to say that it could've been the company's biggest blunder video game-wise in its history (saying that so I can exclude the love hotel chains, TV channel, and food company that all failed for it in the '60s, before they made video games), although I'm not sure if I'd say the Virtual Boy or the fact that Nintendo let Mario and Zelda games be made on the Philips CD-i that were of low quality be released in 1993 and 1994 was worse.

 

[xSuperMario64x]

The people who developed and released the Virtual Boy were probably delirious the whole time lmao

 

[Corrie]

That red and black screen is enough to kill a man. The fact that it is on a stand and you have to awkwardly lean into it would drive me batty.

 

[Sweetley]

I will never understand the concept behind the Virtual Boy. Especially the red and black graphics, like who thought that this would be a good idea? The longer you look at the games, the more your eyes start to hurt because of this. In general it feels like as if they had an idea for some 'unique' new console but somehow failed so much to implement said idea in a good way.

 

[Stalfos]

Virtual reality was all the rage back in the early 90's. I guess the Virtual Boy was Nintendo's attempt to bring a similar experience to the home market. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), they pulled the plug on the console I think only eight months after it's launch, which means it never got released here in Europe.

I definitely see what Nintendo were going for with the VB but the tech really wasn't there yet nor was it cheap. The four shades of red on a black background was mostly done to cut costs. Even with the stereoscopic graphics the VB was never impressive. The VB was a project doomed from the start and Nintendo should have seen that.

I'm glad it got made though. It's a very interesting console and even though I may never play one, I've still gotten a lot of enjoyment from it's existence. I'm quite frankly surprised that Nintendo is acknowledging the VB to the extent that they are. It was a big failure but it's still a pretty important piece of Nintendo history.

 

[nintendofan85]

Virtual reality was all the rage back in the early 90's. I guess the Virtual Boy was Nintendo's attempt to bring a similar experience to the home market. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), they pulled the plug on the console I think only eight months after it's launch, which means it never got released here in Europe.

I definitely see what Nintendo were going for with the VB but the tech really wasn't there yet nor was it cheap. The four shades of red on a black background was mostly done to cut costs. Even with the stereoscopic graphics the VB was never impressive. The VB was a project doomed from the start and Nintendo should have seen that.

I'm glad it got made though. It's a very interesting console and even though I may never play one, I've still gotten a lot of enjoyment from it's existence. I'm quite frankly surprised that Nintendo is acknowledging the VB to the extent that they are. It was a big failure but it's still a pretty important piece of Nintendo history.

The Virtual Boy, by the way, was rushed the market, and even Gunpei Yokoi, who created it, admitted that. It's just that since the N64 came to the market just a year later in 1996, Nintendo wanted it out as soon as possible.

 

[Flyffel]

Seems like the most basic console ever, idk what you are talking about.


I'd love to try a real Virtual Boy at some point.

 

[Holla]

Random fact, but I find it amusing that Nintendo actually references the Virtual Boy in Luigi's Mansion 3. Especially as in the past they tended to hope that people would just forget about the failure that it was. It isn't even listed on their official hardware sales webpage. If it was included there it would make even the Wii U sales look decent lol.

Each game in the Luigi's Mansion series has a reference to a previous console. The Gameboy Horror (aka. Gameboy Color) in the original, the Dual Scream (aka. DS) in the sequel, and now it's the Virtual Boo (aka. Virtual Boy) in 3. Luigi even wears it on his face and what he sees inside it is the infamous monochrome red screen. No jarring 3D effect though thank goodness.

 

[Alienfish]

I wouldn't say weird in that phrasing, more like an interesting VR child with the hype of its time. I never had one but I tried looking into one and yeah it's nothing you should play on the train like a handheld lol. I don't think I would buy one for the sake of it, but yeah it's not more weird than other things

 

[RoyNumber1]

Nintendo loves to reference the Virtual Boy. I mean, I would too. It's the best thing known to man. It's so powerful, it can destroy planets. I wish I could own one, but they're too ancient and godlike to be owned by mortal hands.

 

[LambdaDelta]

I own it

it's something, alright

 

[MrMister5555]

Hey! I also own a Virtual Boy and let me say it is true. Please don't play for more than 10 maybe 20 minutes at most, even then I got some bad headaches like wow. So just be careful if you get one or get the chance to use one. As for the question, yes it is super bizarre.

The 3DS was a much better executed way of doing something like the Virtual Boy, but I bet with todays technology they could probably make it much better.