Virtual Boy
Manufacturer	Nintendo
Type	Portable game console
Generation	Fifth Generation
First available	JP July 21, 1995 NA August 14, 1995
Units sold	More than 700,000 (North America), less than 200,000 (Japan)
Top-selling game	Mario Clash

Nintendo's Virtual Boy (バーチャルボーイ, Bācharu Bōi^?) (also known as the VR-32 during development) was the first portable game console capable of displaying "true 3D graphics." Most video games are forced to use monocular cues to achieve the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional screen, but the Virtual Boy was able to create a more accurate illusion of depth through an effect known as parallax. In a manner similar to using a head-mounted display, the user places their face inside a pair of rubber goggles on the front of the machine, and then an eyeglass-style projector allows viewing of the monochromatic (in this case, black and red) image. It was released on July 21, 1995 in Japan and August 14, 1995 in North America and at a price of around US$180. It met with a lukewarm reception that was unaffected by continued price drops. Nintendo discontinued it the following year.

Technical information

The system does not have a full 384×224 array of LEDs as a display. It uses a pair of 1×224 linear arrays (one per eye) and rapidly scans the array across the eye's field of view using flat oscilating mirrors. These mirrors vibrate back and forth at very high speed (they are what produce the mechanical humming noise from inside the unit) and can be damaged if the Virtual Boy is hit, knocked over, or used while in rough motion (such as in a car). A full-size display, while mechanically simpler, would have increased the Virtual Boy's physical size and unit cost to the point where the system would become uneconomical. Every Virtual Boy game has the option to pause automatically every 15-30 minutes to remind the player to take a break, to prevent undue eye strain and possible headaches.

This screenshot from Mario's Tennis running on an emulator. The red/blue format simulates the Virtual Boy's 3D display.

Monochrome display

The Virtual Boy is iconic for its monochromatic use of red LED lights. The use of the red LED lights was chosen for being the least expensive, the lowest drain on batteries, and for being the most striking color to see. The use of other LED colors proved to be too cost prohibitive and would have forced the system to retail for over US$500. It would not be until 1996 that high-efficiency indium gallium nitride (InGaN) blue and green LEDs would become available from Nichia. During development, a color LCD was experimented with but was found to just cause users to see double instead of creating the illusion of depth.

The Virtual Boy, which uses an oscillating mirror to transform a single line of dots into a full field of dots, requires high-performance LEDs in order to function properly. Because each pixel is only in use for a tiny fraction of a second (384 pixels wide, 50.2 Hz scan rate = approximately 52 µs per scanline), high peak brightness is needed to make the virtual display bright and be comfortable for the user to view. The two-screen system demanded a fast refresh rate, unlike the original Game Boy which had blurry motion, so using an LCD was not an option.

Controller

The Virtual Boy controller

The Virtual Boy, being a system with heavy emphasis on three-dimensional movement, needed a controller that could operate along a Z-Axis. The Virtual Boy's controller was an attempt to implement dual digital "D-pads" to control elements in the aforementioned 3D environment.

The controller itself is shaped like an 'M'. One holds onto either side of the controller and the part that dips down in the middle contains the battery pack. There are six buttons on the controller (A, B, Start, Select, L and R), the two D-pads, and the system's 'on\off' switch. The two directional pads are located on either side of the controller at the top. The 'A' and 'B' buttons are located below the pad on the right side and the 'Start' and 'Select' buttons are located in the same spot on the left side. What would normally be called 'shoulder buttons' ('L' and 'R') are located behind the area where the pads are, on the back of the controller, functioning more as triggers.

In most games for Virtual Boy, like Mario Clash or Jack Bros, the directional pads are interchangeable; both do the same thing. For others with a more 3D environment, like Red Alarm or Teleroboxer, each pad controlled a different feature. For Red Alarm one directional pad controls pitch and direction of the protagonists' ship, while the other controls forward, back and strafe movement. For Teleroboxer, each control pad, in conjunction with the trigger\shoulder buttons, controlled the position of the corresponding fist of the character. Notably, the game Vertical Force featured the option to mirror-image the controls to help left-handed people feel more comfortable playing. This is made possible by the Virtual Boy's symmetrical controller. This kind of concession to left-handed people was repeated with Nintendo 's Wii console.

One of the most unusual features of the controller is the extendable power supply that slid onto the back. It housed the 6 AA batteries required to power the system. This could be substituted with a wall adapter, though a 'slide on' attachment was required to accomplish this. Once the slide on adapter was installed, a power adapter could be attached to provide constant power.

EXTension Port

The system's EXT port, located on the underside of the system near the controller port, was never officially supported since no official multiplayer games were ever published, nor was an official link cable released.

Specifications

Reception

The console was designed by Gunpei Yokoi, inventor of the Game & Watch and Game Boy handhelds, as well as the Metroid franchise. While compact and seemingly portable, Virtual Boy was not intended to replace the Game Boy in Nintendo's product line, as use of the system requires a steady surface, and completely blocks the player's peripheral vision. According to David Sheff's book Game Over, Yokoi never actually had intended for the console to be released in its present form. However, Nintendo had grown impatient with the amount of time that he had taken with the project. It wanted to focus on the Nintendo 64, and quickly rushed the Virtual Boy to market.

Hype surrounding the device included public musings by Nintendo that the device might resemble a gun set vertical, projecting a 3D image in the air. The actual device was considered a disappointment compared to this description.

"...the Virtual Boy produced very impressive 3-D effects, although the monochromatic graphic style proved to limit the appeal of the visuals." - (Nintendo of America website) [1]

Video game analysts believed Virtual Boy was a flop in the marketplace, for several reasons:

• To fill for in the delay of the Nintendo 64, it was pushed to market before it was ready. The public was unwilling to spend money on what they saw as a stopgap videogame system, especially knowing the Nintendo 64 was coming shortly.

• It was marketed as a portable system, but it was not as portable as gamers thought it should be. Due to its size and weight, the Virtual Boy was nearly impossible to use while in motion, and doing so could cause damage to the unit.

• It was considered too expensive, with a US$180 initial price.

• The console's box and manual warned that the display could cause eyestrain and eye problems, especially for those under seven years of age. Despite having been added primarily for liability reasons, the warnings frightened away potential buyers. Some players suffered from headaches or even seizures from short times spent using the machine.^{[citation needed]}

• There was a poor selection of games available at launch and very few software developers wanted to invest in a new, unproven gaming system. In total only 22 titles were available between the North American and Japanese markets. Other game problems were related to the format of the console, which did not seem suited for certain types of games, giving players the impression that it was a rather limited system.

• The base of the system could not be adjusted vertically. This meant that the system has to be placed on a table to play (which could be uncomfortable, particularly for the player's back) or that users had to lie down to use it. The base was also somewhat flimsy and replacement parts were not very common. A vertically-adjustable stand was planned but never brought to market.

• Due to the nature of the Virtual Boy system, other players could not watch, which took away the social aspect of gaming. A multiplayer option was in development, via a cable that would hook two units together, but the product flopped before such an addition could be made.

• Because of its poor performance in the Japanese and American markets, the console was never released in Australia or Europe. This contributed to a supply-and-demand problem (undersupply) for Nintendo products (especially Super NES and Super Famicom games) in the middle of the 1990s that existed mainly due to continuous delays of the Nintendo 64.

The commercial demise of the Virtual Boy was regarded by many as the catalyst that led to Yokoi being driven from Nintendo. According to Game Over, the company laid the blame for the machine's faults directly on the creator. The system was listed as number five in PC World's "The Ugliest Products in Tech History" list.^[1]

Cultural references

• In 2001, the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. Melee had a Virtual Boy in the Trophy Collection Room on a shelf. Due to its failure, however, Nintendo of America decided that it was best not to display that particular system and it is removed from localized versions.
• In the Wii game Super Paper Mario, a Virtual Boy can be seen on the shelf of one of the rooms of Fort Francis.
• A Virtual Boy is seen strapped to the head of a hotel desk aid in the Julia Roberts blockbuster Runaway Bride. The sound indicates that he is playing Mario's Tennis.

• In an X-Play episode, "The 10 Scariest Games of All Time", the villain named Memory Card tortures Attack of the Show host Kevin Pereira uses a Virtual Boy to parody the "Reverse Beartrap" scene from Saw. The police comment they found the victim his eyes were burned out, mocking the Virtual Boy's tendency to cause eye strain.

• In the Nintendo Wii game WarioWare: Smooth Moves one of the minigames requires you to sift sand away revealing on level 1 a pack of Nintendo Cards, on level 2 a Game Boy and finally on level 3 a Virtual Boy.

Trivia

• None of the Japanese games were packaged in shrink-wrap like the American versions.
• Complete sets of games (19 Japanese, 14 North American) are very rare to find, fetching extremely high prices (especially in Europe where the Virtual Boy was never released) if in mint condition.
• Voice-overs for advertisements were done by Dylan Bruno. ^[2]

See also

• List of Virtual Boy games
• List of cancelled Virtual Boy games
• List of Virtual Boy demos

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Virtual Boy

• Nintendo of America's list of US-released Virtual Boy-games - includes licencees and release dates
• PLANET VIRTUAL BOY - Big Virtual Boy related archive
• VIRTUAL-BOY.NET - Large Virtual Boy fansite
• The Unofficial Nintendo Virtual Boy Home page - Virtual Boy development info
• Fredrik's Virtual Boy Collection - A Swedish Virtual Boy site with a huge collection + Many of info + Over 50 items for sale/trade etc...]
• Virtual Boy news, informaton and emulators

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