Exploring Forgotten Consoles: Virtual Boy

As time goes on, more and more gaming console will be released and will only get better and better with each year. But as more consoles are released, we forget about the older gaming consoles that shaped how we game. In this mini-series, we'll be looking at some forgotten consoles that you probably had yourself! In our previous blog within this series, we focussed on the Nintendo DSi! This time, we move onto another forgotten console by Nintendo, the Virtual Boy. Sounds familiar? Let's take a look at the Virtual Boy forgotten console. 

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Why did Nintendo make The Virtual Boy:

The Virtual Boy was the first mass-produced virtual reality game system released in 1995. It was the first game console that was supposed to be capable of displaying 3D graphics and was marketed to all as a VR console. It was a red plastic box that had black thin legs to keep it upright. A controller was attached for the player to use, and they had to look inside the lens of the box to play the games. The console produced 4 colours which were essentially lighter and darker shades of black and red. When the game was released, it came with 4 games, Mario's Tennis, Red Alarm, Teleroboxer and Galactic Pinball.

To actually use the console, it portrayed 3D effects which were caused by two 1x224 linear arrays that were directed to each eye. Oscillating mirrors then caused the console to emit a murmur. The Virtual Boy paints an entire 384x224 frames in 5ms, during a fraction of the 20ms frame cycle (50hz) where the angular velocity of the mirror is stable. 

Why was The Virtual Boy a failure?

Although it sounds like a great step for the early days of the VR system, this console performed extremely badly. Probably the worst we've ever seen a console perform. To get straight to the point, it was discontinued within the same year as its global release in 1995. So let's look at some factors as to why this console performed so badly. 

• Price - When released, it was announced in America the console would be $179. In 2025, this is equivalent to around $350, and let's be honest we wouldn't be prepared to pay over $50 for this concept. Nintendo were clearly aware of how ridiculous the price of this console was because, throughout its 6 month availability, there were constant price drops.
• Graphics - The 3D graphics effect was reported to cause trauma in the ocular area which translates to 'constant use of the console could have led to long-term damage and vision loss'. At one point, reports were getting so bad Nintendo urged parents not to let children under 7 play the system since it had the potential to damage eyesight.
• Quality - Overall the console felt very poor quality. Gamers HAD to rest the console on a flat surface to use which wasn't always convenient and the prolonged time looking into the console led to neck and eye strain. The console, in general, was just a plastic box, it was clear it was made as a placeholder until the Nintendo N64 was released in 1997. 
  

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Conclusion:

It appears like The Virtual Boy was destined for failure from the beginning. From the ridiculous price tag to horrifying, painful graphics, even just to the overall cheapness of the console, it was never going to compete with the biggest console at the time, the PlayStation. We think this console became forgotten after having such a short availability window. Nintendo did technically come back to this concept with the Nintendo Labo in 2018 but still, it didn't perform great.