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Virtual Boy

February 09, 2024

The Virtual Boy[a] is a 32-bit tabletop portable video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. Released in 1995, it was marketed as the first console capable of displaying stereoscopic "3D" graphics. The player uses the console like a head-mounted display, placing the head against the eyepiece to see a red monochrome display. The games use a parallax effect to create the illusion of depth. Sales failed to meet targets, and Nintendo ceased distribution and game development in 1996, having released only 22 games for the system.

Virtual Boy
Virtual Boy with controller
DeveloperNintendo R&D1
ManufacturerNintendo
TypeVideo game console
GenerationFifth
Release date
  • JP: July 21, 1995
  • NA: August 14, 1995
Lifespan1995–1996
Discontinued
  • JP: December 22, 1995
  • NA: August 1996
Units sold770,000[1]
MediaROM cartridge
CPUNEC V810 @ 20 MHz
Memory64 KB work PSRAM
128 KB graphics DRAM
128 KB VRAM
Display384×224
RelatedFamicom 3D System
Nintendo 3DS
Websitewww.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/virtualboy/index.jsp

Development of the Virtual Boy lasted four years and began under the project name VR32. Nintendo entered a licensing agreement to use a stereoscopic LED eyepiece technology which had been developed since the 1980s by US company Reflection Technology. It also built a factory in China to be used only for Virtual Boy manufacturing. Over the course of development, the console technology was downscaled due to high costs and potential health concerns, and an increasing amount of resources were reallocated to the development of the Nintendo 64, Nintendo's next home console. Lead game designer Shigeru Miyamoto had little involvement with the Virtual Boy software. The Virtual Boy was pushed to market in an unfinished state in 1995 to focus on the Nintendo 64.

The Virtual Boy was panned by critics and was a commercial failure, even after repeated price drops. Its failure has been attributed to its high price, monochrome display, unimpressive stereoscopic effect, poor ergonomics, common headaches, lack of true portability, and health concerns. Stereoscopic technology in video game consoles reemerged in later years to more success, including Nintendo's 3DS handheld console. As of March 2021, it is Nintendo's lowest-selling standalone console and the only one to have less than 1 million units sold, seconded by the Wii U's 13.6 million units.[2]

History edit

Development edit

Since 1985, a red LED eyepiece display technology called Scanned Linear Array was developed by Massachusetts-based Reflection Technology, Inc. (RTI).[3][4] The company produced a stereoscopic head-tracking prototype called the Private Eye, featuring a tank game. Seeking funding and partnerships by which to develop it into a commercial technology, RTI demonstrated Private Eye to the consumer electronics market, including Mattel and Hasbro.[4] Sega declined the technology, due to its single-color display and concerns about motion sickness.[4][5]

Nintendo enthusiastically received the Private Eye, as led by Gunpei Yokoi, the general manager of Nintendo's R&D1 and the inventor of the Game & Watch and Game Boy handheld consoles. He saw this as a unique technology that competitors would find difficult to emulate. Additionally, the resulting game console was intended to enhance Nintendo's reputation as an innovator[4][6] and to "encourage more creativity" in games.[7]: 514  Codenaming the project "VR32",[4] Nintendo entered into an exclusive agreement with Reflection Technology, Inc. to license the technology for its displays.[3] While Nintendo's Research & Development 3 division (R&D3) was focused on developing the Nintendo 64, the other two engineering units were free to experiment with new product ideas.[6]

Spending four years in development and eventually building a dedicated manufacturing plant in China,[4] Nintendo worked to turn its VR32 vision into an affordable and health-conscious console design. Yokoi retained RTI's choice of red LED because it was the cheapest,[6] and because unlike a backlit LCD, its perfect blackness could achieve a more immersive sense of infinite depth.[4] RTI and Nintendo said a color LCD system would have been prohibitively expensive,[4][8] retailing for more than US$500 (equivalent to $960 in 2022).[7]: 514  A color LCD system was also said to have caused "jumpy images in tests".[8] With ongoing concerns about motion sickness, the risk of developing lazy eye conditions in young children, and Japan's new Product Liability Act of 1995, Nintendo eliminated the head tracking functionality and converted its headmounted goggle design into a stationary, heavy, precision steel-shielded, tabletop form factor conformant to the recommendation of the Schepens Eye Research Institute.[4][7]: 514 

[W]e experimented with a color LCD screen, but the users did not see depth, they just saw double. Color graphics give people the impression that a game is high tech. But just because a game has a beautiful display does not mean that the game is fun to play. ... Red uses less battery and red is easier to recognize. That is why red is used for traffic lights.

— Gunpei Yokoi[7]: 514 

Several technology demonstrations were used to show the Virtual Boy's capabilities. Driving Demo is one of the more advanced demos; its 30-second clip shows a first-person view of driving by road signs and palm trees. This demo was shown at E3 and CES in 1995.[9] The startup screen of the Virtual Boy prototype was shown at Shoshinkai 1994.[10][11] A "very confident" projection of "sales in Japan of 3 million hardware units and 14 million software units as of March 1996" was given to the press.[12] The demo of what would have been a Star Fox game showed an Arwing doing various spins and motions.[13] Cinematic camera angles were a key element, as they are in Star Fox 2. It was shown at E3 and CES in 1995.

As a result of increasing competition for internal resources alongside the flagship Nintendo 64, and little involvement from lead game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Virtual Boy software was developed without Nintendo's full attention.[4] According to David Sheff's book Game Over, the increasingly reluctant Yokoi never intended for the increasingly downscaled Virtual Boy to be released in its final form. However, Nintendo pushed it to market so that it could focus development resources on its next console, the Nintendo 64.[14]

Release edit

The New York Times previewed the Virtual Boy on November 13, 1994.[15] The console was officially announced via press release the next day, November 14. Nintendo promised that Virtual Boy would "totally immerse players into their own private universe".[16] Initial press releases and interviews about the system focused on its technological capabilities, avoiding discussion of the actual games that would be released.[6] The system was demonstrated the next day at Nintendo's Shoshinkai 1994 trade show.[6] Nintendo of America showed the Virtual Boy at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 6, 1995.[16]

Even with cost-saving measures in place, Nintendo priced the Virtual Boy at a relatively high US$179.95 (equivalent to $360 in 2022).[4][6][7]: 513  Though slightly less expensive and significantly less powerful than a home console, this was considerably more costly than the Game Boy handheld. With seemingly more advanced graphics than Game Boy, the Virtual Boy was not intended to replace the handheld in Nintendo's product line, as use of the Virtual Boy requires a steady surface and completely blocks the player's peripheral vision. Design News described the Virtual Boy as the logical evolution of the View-Master 3D image viewer.[17]

The Virtual Boy was released on July 21, 1995, in Japan and on August 14, 1995, in North America[18][failed verification][19] with the launch games Mario's Tennis, Red Alarm, Teleroboxer, and Galactic Pinball.[20] It was not released in PAL markets. In North America, Nintendo shipped Mario's Tennis with every Virtual Boy sold, as a pack-in game.[21] Nintendo had initially projected sales of 3 million consoles and 14 million games.[16] The system arrived later than other 32-bit systems like PlayStation, 3DO, and Saturn, but at a lower price.[8]

At the system's release, Nintendo of America projected hardware sales of 1.5 million units and software sales numbering 2.5 million by the end of the year.[18][22] Nintendo had shipped 350,000 units of the Virtual Boy by December 1995, around three and a half months after its North American release.[23] The system is number 5 on GamePro's "Top 10 Worst Selling Consoles of All Time" list in 2007.[24]

The Virtual Boy had a short market timespan following its disappointing sales. The last game officially released for the Virtual Boy was 3D Tetris, released on March 22, 1996.[25] More games were announced for the system at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 1996, but these games were never released.[6] The Virtual Boy was discontinued on December 22, 1995, in Japan and August 1996 in North America without any announcement.[6][24][26] In June 1996, Nintendo reported to Famitsu worldwide sales of 770,000 Virtual Boy units, including 140,000 in Japan.[1] Next Generation reported that 13,000 Virtual Boy units were sold in December 1996.[27]

Promotion edit

Nintendo extensively advertised the Virtual Boy and claimed to have spent US$25 million on early promotional activities.[6] Advertising promoted the system as a paradigm shift from past consoles; some pieces used cavemen to indicate a historical evolution, while others utilized psychedelic imagery. Nintendo targeted an older audience with advertisements for the Virtual Boy, shifting away from the traditional child-focused approach it had employed in the past.[6] Nintendo portrayed the system as a type of virtual reality, as its name indicates. Nintendo also focused on the technological aspects of the new console in its press releases, neglecting to detail specific games.[6]

Challenged by showing 3-dimensional gameplay on 2-dimensional advertisements, the company partnered with Blockbuster and NBC.[6][28] A $5 million campaign promoted NBC's late 1995 lineup alongside the Virtual Boy.[29] American viewers were encouraged via television advertisements on NBC to rent the console for $10 at a local Blockbuster. This affordable demonstration[6] provided 750,000 consoles for rent, some in a clamshell Blockbuster case.[30] Upon returning the unit, renters received a coupon for $10 off its purchase from any store.[28][31] The promotion included 3,000 Blockbuster locations, and sweepstakes with prizes including trips to see the taping of NBC shows.[29] The popular rental system proved harmful to the Virtual Boy's long-term success, allowing gamers to see just how non-immersive the console was.[6] By mid-1996, Blockbuster was selling its Virtual Boy units at $50 each.[32] The marketing campaign overall was commonly thought of as a failure.[33]

Hardware edit

The CPU is an NEC V810 32-bit RISC chip,[3] making the Virtual Boy Nintendo's first 32-bit system.[8] The Virtual Boy system 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 oscillating mirrors. These mirrors vibrate back and forth at a very high speed, thus the mechanical humming noise from inside the unit. Each Virtual Boy game cartridge has a yes/no option to automatically pause every 15–30 minutes so that the player may take a break before any injuries come to the eyes. One speaker per ear provides the player with stereo audio.[34]

Display edit

 
The screens of the Virtual Boy

The Virtual Boy is the first video game console that was supposed to be capable of displaying stereoscopic "3D" graphics, marketed as a form of virtual reality.[35] Whereas most video games use monocular cues to achieve the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional screen, the Virtual Boy creates an illusion of depth through the effect known as parallax. Like using a head-mounted display, the user looks into an eyeshade made of neoprene on the front of the machine, and then an eyeglass-style projector allows viewing of the monochromatic red image.

The display consists of two 2-bit (four shade) monochrome red screens of 384×224 pixels[36] and a frame rate of approximately 50.27 Hz.[37] It uses an oscillating mirror to transform a single column of 224 red LEDs into a full field of pixels. Nintendo claimed that a color display would have made "jumpy" images and have been too expensive.[8] A color display would have required red, green, and blue LEDs; blue LEDs were then considerably expensive. This, plus the other drawbacks, influenced the decision for monochrome.

Controller edit

 
The Virtual Boy controller, and battery pack instead of AC adaptor

The Virtual Boy is meant for the player to be seated at a table,[15][38] and Nintendo promised but did not release a harness to wear while standing.[8]

The Virtual Boy's heavy emphasis on three-dimensional movement requires the controller to operate along a Z-axis. Its controller is an attempt to implement dual digital D-pads to control elements in the 3D environment. The controller is shaped like an "M", like a Nintendo 64 controller.[39] The player holds onto either side of the controller which has a unique extendable power supply that slides onto the back, housing the system's six AA batteries. The batteries can be substituted with a wall adapter, via a "slide-on" attachment for constant power.

In more traditional two-dimensional games, the two directional pads are interchangeable.[40] For others with a more 3D environment, like Red Alarm, 3D Tetris, or Teleroboxer, each pad controls a different feature. The symmetry of the controller also allows left-handed gamers to reverse the controls, as does the Atari Lynx.[41]

Connectivity edit

During development, Nintendo promised the ability to link systems for competitive play.[8] A Virtual Boy link cable was being worked on at Nintendo as late as the third quarter of 1996.[32] The system's EXT (extension) port, located on the underside of the system below the controller port, was never officially supported because no "official" multiplayer games were ever published. Two games were intended to use the EXT port for multiplayer play, but the multiplayer features were removed from Waterworld[42] and Faceball was canceled.[43]

Games edit

Main article: List of Virtual Boy games
 
Mario's Tennis, the North American pack-in for Virtual Boy, is converted by an emulator to anaglyphic red and blue format, to simulate the Virtual Boy's stereoscopic display on a 2D display.
  3D red cyan glasses are recommended to view this image correctly.

Nintendo initially showcased three launch games and planned two or three per month thereafter.[8] Given the system's short lifespan, only 22 games were actually released. Of them, 19 games were released in the Japanese market, and 14 were released in North America.[44] Third party support was extremely limited compared to previous Nintendo platforms. According to Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi had dictated that only a select few third-party developers be shown the Virtual Boy hardware before its formal unveiling, to limit the risk of poor-quality software appearing on the system.[45]

When asked if Virtual Boy games were going to be available for download on the Virtual Console for the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé said he could not answer, as he was unfamiliar with the platform. He noted that, given his lack of familiarity, he would be hard-pressed to make the case for the inclusion of the games on the Virtual Console.[46]

The hobbyist community at Planet Virtual Boy has developed Virtual Boy software.[6] Two previously unreleased games, Bound High and Niko-Chan Battle (the Japanese version of Faceball) were released.

Reception edit

 
Using the Virtual Boy eyepiece

The Virtual Boy garnered negative critical reviews and was a commercial failure.[47] It failed for several reasons including "its high price, the discomfort caused by play [...] and what was widely judged to have been a poorly handled marketing campaign".[33]

Gamers who previewed the system at the Shoshinkai 1994 trade show complained that the Mario demo was not realistic enough, was not in full color, and didn't motion-track the image when players turn their heads.[8] In the lead editorial of Electronic Gaming Monthly following the show, Ed Semrad predicted that the Virtual Boy would have poor launch sales due to the monochrome screen, lack of true portability, unimpressive lineup of games, and the price, which he argued was as low as it could get given the hardware but still too expensive for the experience.[48] Next Generation's editors were also dubious of the Virtual Boy's prospects after the show, and concluded their article on the system by commenting, "But who will buy it? It's not portable, it's awkward to use, it's 100% antisocial (unlike multiplayer SNES/Genesis games), it's too expensive and – most importantly – the 'VR' (i.e. 3D effect) doesn't add to the game at all: it's just a novelty."[49]

Following its release, reviews of the Virtual Boy tended to praise its novelty but questioned its ultimate purpose and longtime viability. The Los Angeles Times described the gameplay as being "at once familiar and strange".[20] The column praised the quality of motion and immersive graphics but considered the hardware tedious to use and non-portable. In a later column, the same reviewer found the system to be somewhat asocial, but held hope for its future.[50] Reviewing the system shortly after its North American launch, Next Generation said, "Unusual and innovative, the Virtual Boy can be seen as a gamble in the same way that the Game Boy was, but it's a lot harder to see the VB succeeding to the same world-conquering extent that the Game Boy did." They elaborated that while the sharp display and unique 3D effect are impressive, aspects such as the monochrome display and potential vision damage to young gamers severely limit the system's appeal. They added that the software library was decent, but failed to capitalize on Nintendo's best-selling franchises because games from The Legend of Zelda and Metroid were absent, the Mario games were not in the same style as the series's most successful installments, and it lacked a system seller to compare with the Game Boy's Tetris.[51]

Though Nintendo had promised a virtual reality experience, the monochrome display limits the Virtual Boy's potential for immersion.[6][51] Reviewers often considered the 3-dimensional features a gimmick, added to games that were essentially 2-[6] or even 1-dimensional.[52] The Washington Post said that even when a game gives the impression of 3-dimensionality, it suffers from "hollow vector graphics".[52] Yokoi, the system's inventor, said the system did best with action and puzzle games,[51] although those types of games provided only minimal immersion. Multiple critics[6][33] lamented the absence of head-tracking in the Virtual Boy hardware. Critics found that, as a result, players were unable to immerse themselves in the game worlds of Virtual Boy games. Instead, they interacted simply via a controller, in the manner of any traditional 2-dimensional game. Boyer said the console "struggles to merge the two distinct media forms of home consoles and virtual reality devices". Though the device employs some basic virtual reality techniques, it does so like the traditional home console with no bodily feedback incorporated into gameplay.[6]

Many reviewers complained of painful and frustrating physiological symptoms when playing the Virtual Boy. Bill Frischling, writing for The Washington Post, experienced "dizziness, nausea and headaches".[52] Reviewers attributed the problems to both the monochromatic display and uncomfortable ergonomics. Several prominent scientists concluded that the long-term side effects could be more serious, and articles published in magazines such as Electronic Engineering Times and CMP Media's TechWeb speculated that using any immersive headset such as the Virtual Boy could cause sickness, flashbacks, and even permanent brain damage.[53] Nintendo, in the years after Virtual Boy's demise, has been frank about its failure. Howard Lincoln, chairman of Nintendo of America, said flatly that the Virtual Boy "just failed".[6]

Legacy edit

According to Game Over, Nintendo blamed the machine's faults directly on its creator, Gunpei Yokoi.[14] The commercial failure of the Virtual Boy was reportedly a contributing factor to Yokoi's withdrawal from Nintendo, although he had already planned to retire years prior and then finished the successful Game Boy Pocket, which was released shortly before his departure.[54] According to his Nintendo and Koto colleague Yoshihiro Taki, Yokoi had originally decided to retire at age 50 to do as he pleased but had simply delayed it.[55] Nintendo held that Yokoi's departure was "absolutely coincidental" to the market performance of any Nintendo hardware.[56] The New York Times maintained that Yokoi kept a close relationship with Nintendo.[57] After leaving Nintendo, Yokoi founded his own company, Koto, and collaborated with Bandai to create the WonderSwan, a handheld system competing with the Game Boy.

The commercial failure of the Virtual Boy reportedly did little to alter Nintendo's development approach and focus on innovation.[6] The console's focus on peripherals and haptic technology reemerged in later years.[58] The original inventor, Reflection Technology, Inc., was reportedly financially "devastated" by the Virtual Boy's performance, with dwindling operations by 1997.[4]

The Nintendo 3DS console was launched in 2011, as a handheld gaming console with autostereoscopic 3D visuals, without any special glasses. Prior to launch, Shigeru Miyamoto discussed the Virtual Boy. He said it renders wireframe graphics, but its effects are generally used for two-dimensional games with depth-separated planes. He stated that the graphics are not as appealing, and while developing the Nintendo 64, he had ruled out the use of wireframe graphics as too sparse to draw player characters. Finally, he stated that he perceived the Virtual Boy as a novelty that should not have used the Nintendo license so prominently.[59]

In February 2016, Tatsumi Kimishima stated that Nintendo was "looking into" virtual reality but also explained that it would take more time and effort for them to assess the technology,[60] and in a February 2017 interview with Nikkei, he stated that the company was "studying" VR, and would add it to the Nintendo Switch once it is figured out how users can play for long durations without any issues.[61] Nintendo introduced a VR accessory for the Switch as part of Labo, a line of player-assembled cardboard toys leveraging the console's hardware and Joy-Con controllers. In this case, the console is used as a head-mounted display for the headset.

Hobbyists adapted Virtual Boy to other displays. Emulation enabled modern stereoscopic goggles such as Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift in 2016.[62][63] In 2018, hobbyist Furrtek released a board that replaces the display circuitry, allowing the Virtual Boy to be played on a VGA monitor or television set.[64]

Nintendo has referenced the Virtual Boy in other games, such as Tomodachi Life—where a trailer for the life simulation game included a scene of several Mii characters worshipping the Virtual Boy.[65][66] In Luigi's Mansion 3, Luigi uses a device by Professor E. Gadd known as the "Virtual Boo" to access maps and other information in-game (succeeding the use of devices referencing the Game Boy Color and first-generation Nintendo DS in previous installments). Its menus use a red and black color scheme, while E. Gadd optimistically boasts that the device would "fly off the shelves".[67]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Virtual Boy (Japanese: バーチャルボーイ, Hepburn: Bācharu Bōi)

References edit

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  61. ^ Dr. Serkan Toto [@serkantoto] (February 1, 2017). "Just in: Nintendo president Kimishima tells the Nikkei Switch's online service will be priced at 2-3,000 yen ($17.50 – $26.50) *YEARLY*" (Tweet). Retrieved October 10, 2017 – via Twitter.
  62. ^ Liszewski, Andrew (May 9, 2016). "Hack Lets You Play Virtual Boy Games Through Google Cardboard". Gizmodo. from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  63. ^ "VBjin-OVR v3.0 - EmuCR". March 31, 2016. from the original on January 19, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  64. ^ Doolan, Liam (January 28, 2020). "Random: This Mod Turns The Virtual Boy Into A Proper Console You Can Play On Your Television". NintendoLife. from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  65. ^ Purchese, Robert (April 10, 2014). "Nintendo's very bizarre Tomodachi Life video". Eurogamer. from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  66. ^ Wawro, Alex (April 10, 2014). "Nintendo goes offbeat with Tomodachi Life marketing video". Gamasutra. from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  67. ^ "Luigi's Latest Parody Nintendo Console Is The Best One Yet". Kotaku. October 16, 2019. from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.

Further reading edit

  • Yokoi, Gunpei; Makino, Takefumi (May 1997). Yokoi Gunpei Game House (横井軍平ゲーム館, Yokoi Gunpei Gēmu-kan). ASCII. ISBN 978-4-89366-696-3.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virtual Boy.

February 09, 2024
virtual, tabletop, portable, video, game, console, developed, manufactured, nintendo, released, 1995, marketed, first, console, capable, displaying, stereoscopic, graphics, player, uses, console, like, head, mounted, display, placing, head, against, eyepiece, . The Virtual Boy a is a 32 bit tabletop portable video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo Released in 1995 it was marketed as the first console capable of displaying stereoscopic 3D graphics The player uses the console like a head mounted display placing the head against the eyepiece to see a red monochrome display The games use a parallax effect to create the illusion of depth Sales failed to meet targets and Nintendo ceased distribution and game development in 1996 having released only 22 games for the system Virtual BoyVirtual Boy with controllerDeveloperNintendo R amp D1ManufacturerNintendoTypeVideo game consoleGenerationFifthRelease dateJP July 21 1995NA August 14 1995Lifespan1995 1996DiscontinuedJP December 22 1995NA August 1996Units sold770 000 1 MediaROM cartridgeCPUNEC V810 20 MHzMemory64 KB work PSRAM128 KB graphics DRAM128 KB VRAMDisplay384 224RelatedFamicom 3D SystemNintendo 3DSWebsitewww wbr nintendo wbr com wbr consumer wbr systems wbr virtualboy wbr index wbr jspDevelopment of the Virtual Boy lasted four years and began under the project name VR32 Nintendo entered a licensing agreement to use a stereoscopic LED eyepiece technology which had been developed since the 1980s by US company Reflection Technology It also built a factory in China to be used only for Virtual Boy manufacturing Over the course of development the console technology was downscaled due to high costs and potential health concerns and an increasing amount of resources were reallocated to the development of the Nintendo 64 Nintendo s next home console Lead game designer Shigeru Miyamoto had little involvement with the Virtual Boy software The Virtual Boy was pushed to market in an unfinished state in 1995 to focus on the Nintendo 64 The Virtual Boy was panned by critics and was a commercial failure even after repeated price drops Its failure has been attributed to its high price monochrome display unimpressive stereoscopic effect poor ergonomics common headaches lack of true portability and health concerns Stereoscopic technology in video game consoles reemerged in later years to more success including Nintendo s 3DS handheld console As of March 2021 update it is Nintendo s lowest selling standalone console and the only one to have less than 1 million units sold seconded by the Wii U s 13 6 million units 2 Contents 1 History 1 1 Development 1 2 Release 1 3 Promotion 2 Hardware 2 1 Display 2 2 Controller 2 3 Connectivity 3 Games 4 Reception 5 Legacy 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksHistory editDevelopment edit Since 1985 a red LED eyepiece display technology called Scanned Linear Array was developed by Massachusetts based Reflection Technology Inc RTI 3 4 The company produced a stereoscopic head tracking prototype called the Private Eye featuring a tank game Seeking funding and partnerships by which to develop it into a commercial technology RTI demonstrated Private Eye to the consumer electronics market including Mattel and Hasbro 4 Sega declined the technology due to its single color display and concerns about motion sickness 4 5 Nintendo enthusiastically received the Private Eye as led by Gunpei Yokoi the general manager of Nintendo s R amp D1 and the inventor of the Game amp Watch and Game Boy handheld consoles He saw this as a unique technology that competitors would find difficult to emulate Additionally the resulting game console was intended to enhance Nintendo s reputation as an innovator 4 6 and to encourage more creativity in games 7 514 Codenaming the project VR32 4 Nintendo entered into an exclusive agreement with Reflection Technology Inc to license the technology for its displays 3 While Nintendo s Research amp Development 3 division R amp D3 was focused on developing the Nintendo 64 the other two engineering units were free to experiment with new product ideas 6 Spending four years in development and eventually building a dedicated manufacturing plant in China 4 Nintendo worked to turn its VR32 vision into an affordable and health conscious console design Yokoi retained RTI s choice of red LED because it was the cheapest 6 and because unlike a backlit LCD its perfect blackness could achieve a more immersive sense of infinite depth 4 RTI and Nintendo said a color LCD system would have been prohibitively expensive 4 8 retailing for more than US 500 equivalent to 960 in 2022 7 514 A color LCD system was also said to have caused jumpy images in tests 8 With ongoing concerns about motion sickness the risk of developing lazy eye conditions in young children and Japan s new Product Liability Act of 1995 Nintendo eliminated the head tracking functionality and converted its headmounted goggle design into a stationary heavy precision steel shielded tabletop form factor conformant to the recommendation of the Schepens Eye Research Institute 4 7 514 W e experimented with a color LCD screen but the users did not see depth they just saw double Color graphics give people the impression that a game is high tech But just because a game has a beautiful display does not mean that the game is fun to play Red uses less battery and red is easier to recognize That is why red is used for traffic lights Gunpei Yokoi 7 514 Several technology demonstrations were used to show the Virtual Boy s capabilities Driving Demo is one of the more advanced demos its 30 second clip shows a first person view of driving by road signs and palm trees This demo was shown at E3 and CES in 1995 9 The startup screen of the Virtual Boy prototype was shown at Shoshinkai 1994 10 11 A very confident projection of sales in Japan of 3 million hardware units and 14 million software units as of March 1996 was given to the press 12 The demo of what would have been a Star Fox game showed an Arwing doing various spins and motions 13 Cinematic camera angles were a key element as they are in Star Fox 2 It was shown at E3 and CES in 1995 As a result of increasing competition for internal resources alongside the flagship Nintendo 64 and little involvement from lead game designer Shigeru Miyamoto Virtual Boy software was developed without Nintendo s full attention 4 According to David Sheff s book Game Over the increasingly reluctant Yokoi never intended for the increasingly downscaled Virtual Boy to be released in its final form However Nintendo pushed it to market so that it could focus development resources on its next console the Nintendo 64 14 Release edit The New York Times previewed the Virtual Boy on November 13 1994 15 The console was officially announced via press release the next day November 14 Nintendo promised that Virtual Boy would totally immerse players into their own private universe 16 Initial press releases and interviews about the system focused on its technological capabilities avoiding discussion of the actual games that would be released 6 The system was demonstrated the next day at Nintendo s Shoshinkai 1994 trade show 6 Nintendo of America showed the Virtual Boy at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 6 1995 16 Even with cost saving measures in place Nintendo priced the Virtual Boy at a relatively high US 179 95 equivalent to 360 in 2022 4 6 7 513 Though slightly less expensive and significantly less powerful than a home console this was considerably more costly than the Game Boy handheld With seemingly more advanced graphics than Game Boy the Virtual Boy was not intended to replace the handheld in Nintendo s product line as use of the Virtual Boy requires a steady surface and completely blocks the player s peripheral vision Design News described the Virtual Boy as the logical evolution of the View Master 3D image viewer 17 The Virtual Boy was released on July 21 1995 in Japan and on August 14 1995 in North America 18 failed verification 19 with the launch games Mario s Tennis Red Alarm Teleroboxer and Galactic Pinball 20 It was not released in PAL markets In North America Nintendo shipped Mario s Tennis with every Virtual Boy sold as a pack in game 21 Nintendo had initially projected sales of 3 million consoles and 14 million games 16 The system arrived later than other 32 bit systems like PlayStation 3DO and Saturn but at a lower price 8 At the system s release Nintendo of America projected hardware sales of 1 5 million units and software sales numbering 2 5 million by the end of the year 18 22 Nintendo had shipped 350 000 units of the Virtual Boy by December 1995 around three and a half months after its North American release 23 The system is number 5 on GamePro s Top 10 Worst Selling Consoles of All Time list in 2007 24 The Virtual Boy had a short market timespan following its disappointing sales The last game officially released for the Virtual Boy was 3D Tetris released on March 22 1996 25 More games were announced for the system at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 1996 but these games were never released 6 The Virtual Boy was discontinued on December 22 1995 in Japan and August 1996 in North America without any announcement 6 24 26 In June 1996 Nintendo reported to Famitsu worldwide sales of 770 000 Virtual Boy units including 140 000 in Japan 1 Next Generation reported that 13 000 Virtual Boy units were sold in December 1996 27 Promotion edit Nintendo extensively advertised the Virtual Boy and claimed to have spent US 25 million on early promotional activities 6 Advertising promoted the system as a paradigm shift from past consoles some pieces used cavemen to indicate a historical evolution while others utilized psychedelic imagery Nintendo targeted an older audience with advertisements for the Virtual Boy shifting away from the traditional child focused approach it had employed in the past 6 Nintendo portrayed the system as a type of virtual reality as its name indicates Nintendo also focused on the technological aspects of the new console in its press releases neglecting to detail specific games 6 Challenged by showing 3 dimensional gameplay on 2 dimensional advertisements the company partnered with Blockbuster and NBC 6 28 A 5 million campaign promoted NBC s late 1995 lineup alongside the Virtual Boy 29 American viewers were encouraged via television advertisements on NBC to rent the console for 10 at a local Blockbuster This affordable demonstration 6 provided 750 000 consoles for rent some in a clamshell Blockbuster case 30 Upon returning the unit renters received a coupon for 10 off its purchase from any store 28 31 The promotion included 3 000 Blockbuster locations and sweepstakes with prizes including trips to see the taping of NBC shows 29 The popular rental system proved harmful to the Virtual Boy s long term success allowing gamers to see just how non immersive the console was 6 By mid 1996 Blockbuster was selling its Virtual Boy units at 50 each 32 The marketing campaign overall was commonly thought of as a failure 33 Hardware editThe CPU is an NEC V810 32 bit RISC chip 3 making the Virtual Boy Nintendo s first 32 bit system 8 The Virtual Boy system 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 oscillating mirrors These mirrors vibrate back and forth at a very high speed thus the mechanical humming noise from inside the unit Each Virtual Boy game cartridge has a yes no option to automatically pause every 15 30 minutes so that the player may take a break before any injuries come to the eyes One speaker per ear provides the player with stereo audio 34 Display edit nbsp The screens of the Virtual BoyThe Virtual Boy is the first video game console that was supposed to be capable of displaying stereoscopic 3D graphics marketed as a form of virtual reality 35 Whereas most video games use monocular cues to achieve the illusion of three dimensions on a two dimensional screen the Virtual Boy creates an illusion of depth through the effect known as parallax Like using a head mounted display the user looks into an eyeshade made of neoprene on the front of the machine and then an eyeglass style projector allows viewing of the monochromatic red image The display consists of two 2 bit four shade monochrome red screens of 384 224 pixels 36 and a frame rate of approximately 50 27 Hz 37 It uses an oscillating mirror to transform a single column of 224 red LEDs into a full field of pixels Nintendo claimed that a color display would have made jumpy images and have been too expensive 8 A color display would have required red green and blue LEDs blue LEDs were then considerably expensive This plus the other drawbacks influenced the decision for monochrome Controller edit nbsp The Virtual Boy controller and battery pack instead of AC adaptorThe Virtual Boy is meant for the player to be seated at a table 15 38 and Nintendo promised but did not release a harness to wear while standing 8 The Virtual Boy s heavy emphasis on three dimensional movement requires the controller to operate along a Z axis Its controller is an attempt to implement dual digital D pads to control elements in the 3D environment The controller is shaped like an M like a Nintendo 64 controller 39 The player holds onto either side of the controller which has a unique extendable power supply that slides onto the back housing the system s six AA batteries The batteries can be substituted with a wall adapter via a slide on attachment for constant power In more traditional two dimensional games the two directional pads are interchangeable 40 For others with a more 3D environment like Red Alarm 3D Tetris or Teleroboxer each pad controls a different feature The symmetry of the controller also allows left handed gamers to reverse the controls as does the Atari Lynx 41 Connectivity edit During development Nintendo promised the ability to link systems for competitive play 8 A Virtual Boy link cable was being worked on at Nintendo as late as the third quarter of 1996 32 The system s EXT extension port located on the underside of the system below the controller port was never officially supported because no official multiplayer games were ever published Two games were intended to use the EXT port for multiplayer play but the multiplayer features were removed from Waterworld 42 and Faceball was canceled 43 Games editMain article List of Virtual Boy games nbsp Mario s Tennis the North American pack in for Virtual Boy is converted by an emulator to anaglyphic red and blue format to simulate the Virtual Boy s stereoscopic display on a 2D display nbsp 3D red cyan glasses are recommended to view this image correctly Nintendo initially showcased three launch games and planned two or three per month thereafter 8 Given the system s short lifespan only 22 games were actually released Of them 19 games were released in the Japanese market and 14 were released in North America 44 Third party support was extremely limited compared to previous Nintendo platforms According to Gunpei Yokoi Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi had dictated that only a select few third party developers be shown the Virtual Boy hardware before its formal unveiling to limit the risk of poor quality software appearing on the system 45 When asked if Virtual Boy games were going to be available for download on the Virtual Console for the Nintendo 3DS Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils Aime said he could not answer as he was unfamiliar with the platform He noted that given his lack of familiarity he would be hard pressed to make the case for the inclusion of the games on the Virtual Console 46 The hobbyist community at Planet Virtual Boy has developed Virtual Boy software 6 Two previously unreleased games Bound High and Niko Chan Battle the Japanese version of Faceball were released Reception edit nbsp Using the Virtual Boy eyepieceThe Virtual Boy garnered negative critical reviews and was a commercial failure 47 It failed for several reasons including its high price the discomfort caused by play and what was widely judged to have been a poorly handled marketing campaign 33 Gamers who previewed the system at the Shoshinkai 1994 trade show complained that the Mario demo was not realistic enough was not in full color and didn t motion track the image when players turn their heads 8 In the lead editorial of Electronic Gaming Monthly following the show Ed Semrad predicted that the Virtual Boy would have poor launch sales due to the monochrome screen lack of true portability unimpressive lineup of games and the price which he argued was as low as it could get given the hardware but still too expensive for the experience 48 Next Generation s editors were also dubious of the Virtual Boy s prospects after the show and concluded their article on the system by commenting But who will buy it It s not portable it s awkward to use it s 100 antisocial unlike multiplayer SNES Genesis games it s too expensive and most importantly the VR i e 3D effect doesn t add to the game at all it s just a novelty 49 Following its release reviews of the Virtual Boy tended to praise its novelty but questioned its ultimate purpose and longtime viability The Los Angeles Times described the gameplay as being at once familiar and strange 20 The column praised the quality of motion and immersive graphics but considered the hardware tedious to use and non portable In a later column the same reviewer found the system to be somewhat asocial but held hope for its future 50 Reviewing the system shortly after its North American launch Next Generation said Unusual and innovative the Virtual Boy can be seen as a gamble in the same way that the Game Boy was but it s a lot harder to see the VB succeeding to the same world conquering extent that the Game Boy did They elaborated that while the sharp display and unique 3D effect are impressive aspects such as the monochrome display and potential vision damage to young gamers severely limit the system s appeal They added that the software library was decent but failed to capitalize on Nintendo s best selling franchises because games from The Legend of Zelda and Metroid were absent the Mario games were not in the same style as the series s most successful installments and it lacked a system seller to compare with the Game Boy s Tetris 51 Though Nintendo had promised a virtual reality experience the monochrome display limits the Virtual Boy s potential for immersion 6 51 Reviewers often considered the 3 dimensional features a gimmick added to games that were essentially 2 6 or even 1 dimensional 52 The Washington Post said that even when a game gives the impression of 3 dimensionality it suffers from hollow vector graphics 52 Yokoi the system s inventor said the system did best with action and puzzle games 51 although those types of games provided only minimal immersion Multiple critics 6 33 lamented the absence of head tracking in the Virtual Boy hardware Critics found that as a result players were unable to immerse themselves in the game worlds of Virtual Boy games Instead they interacted simply via a controller in the manner of any traditional 2 dimensional game Boyer said the console struggles to merge the two distinct media forms of home consoles and virtual reality devices Though the device employs some basic virtual reality techniques it does so like the traditional home console with no bodily feedback incorporated into gameplay 6 Many reviewers complained of painful and frustrating physiological symptoms when playing the Virtual Boy Bill Frischling writing for The Washington Post experienced dizziness nausea and headaches 52 Reviewers attributed the problems to both the monochromatic display and uncomfortable ergonomics Several prominent scientists concluded that the long term side effects could be more serious and articles published in magazines such as Electronic Engineering Times and CMP Media s TechWeb speculated that using any immersive headset such as the Virtual Boy could cause sickness flashbacks and even permanent brain damage 53 Nintendo in the years after Virtual Boy s demise has been frank about its failure Howard Lincoln chairman of Nintendo of America said flatly that the Virtual Boy just failed 6 Legacy editAccording to Game Over Nintendo blamed the machine s faults directly on its creator Gunpei Yokoi 14 The commercial failure of the Virtual Boy was reportedly a contributing factor to Yokoi s withdrawal from Nintendo although he had already planned to retire years prior and then finished the successful Game Boy Pocket which was released shortly before his departure 54 According to his Nintendo and Koto colleague Yoshihiro Taki Yokoi had originally decided to retire at age 50 to do as he pleased but had simply delayed it 55 Nintendo held that Yokoi s departure was absolutely coincidental to the market performance of any Nintendo hardware 56 The New York Times maintained that Yokoi kept a close relationship with Nintendo 57 After leaving Nintendo Yokoi founded his own company Koto and collaborated with Bandai to create the WonderSwan a handheld system competing with the Game Boy The commercial failure of the Virtual Boy reportedly did little to alter Nintendo s development approach and focus on innovation 6 The console s focus on peripherals and haptic technology reemerged in later years 58 The original inventor Reflection Technology Inc was reportedly financially devastated by the Virtual Boy s performance with dwindling operations by 1997 4 The Nintendo 3DS console was launched in 2011 as a handheld gaming console with autostereoscopic 3D visuals without any special glasses Prior to launch Shigeru Miyamoto discussed the Virtual Boy He said it renders wireframe graphics but its effects are generally used for two dimensional games with depth separated planes He stated that the graphics are not as appealing and while developing the Nintendo 64 he had ruled out the use of wireframe graphics as too sparse to draw player characters Finally he stated that he perceived the Virtual Boy as a novelty that should not have used the Nintendo license so prominently 59 In February 2016 Tatsumi Kimishima stated that Nintendo was looking into virtual reality but also explained that it would take more time and effort for them to assess the technology 60 and in a February 2017 interview with Nikkei he stated that the company was studying VR and would add it to the Nintendo Switch once it is figured out how users can play for long durations without any issues 61 Nintendo introduced a VR accessory for the Switch as part of Labo a line of player assembled cardboard toys leveraging the console s hardware and Joy Con controllers In this case the console is used as a head mounted display for the headset Hobbyists adapted Virtual Boy to other displays Emulation enabled modern stereoscopic goggles such as Google Cardboard Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift in 2016 62 63 In 2018 hobbyist Furrtek released a board that replaces the display circuitry allowing the Virtual Boy to be played on a VGA monitor or television set 64 Nintendo has referenced the Virtual Boy in other games such as Tomodachi Life where a trailer for the life simulation game included a scene of several Mii characters worshipping the Virtual Boy 65 66 In Luigi s Mansion 3 Luigi uses a device by Professor E Gadd known as the Virtual Boo to access maps and other information in game succeeding the use of devices referencing the Game Boy Color and first generation Nintendo DS in previous installments Its menus use a red and black color scheme while E Gadd optimistically boasts that the device would fly off the shelves 67 See also edit nbsp Video games portal nbsp 1990s portalEntex Adventure Vision a 1982 video game console with similar mechanical operation Famicom 3D System Nintendo Labo s VR Kit a peripheral to be used in conjunction with the Nintendo Switch R Zone a 1995 handheld game console released by Tiger Electronics Sega VR a 1993 prototype virtual reality add on for the Sega Genesis Virtual reality Virtuality virtual reality based arcade games of the 1990sNotes edit Virtual Boy Japanese バーチャルボーイ Hepburn Bacharu Bōi References edit a b Weekly Famitsu Express Famitsu Vol 11 no 392 June 21 1996 Archived from the original on October 15 2019 Retrieved August 2 2019 Lines 4 and 16 have units sold in Japan and other regions respectively IR Information Sales Data Hardware and Software Sales Units Nintendo Co Ltd Archived from the original on June 21 2017 Retrieved March 11 2021 a b c April Brings Virtual Boy PDF GamePro No 67 February 1995 p 162 Archived PDF from the original on October 7 2018 a b c d e f g h i j k l Edwards Benj August 21 2015 Unraveling The Enigma Of Nintendo s Virtual Boy 20 Years Later Fast Company Archived from the original on July 7 2018 Retrieved December 21 2015 Vinciguerra Robert Tom Kalinske Talks About His Time Overseeing Sega As Its CEO In the 90s Reveals That Sega Passed On Virtual Boy Technology Considered Releasing 3DO The Rev Rob Times Archived from the original on October 25 2015 Retrieved September 21 2015 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Boyer Steven Fall 2009 A Virtual Failure Evaluating the Success of Nintendos Virtual Boy Velvet Light Trap Vol 64 no 64 pp 23 33 doi 10 1353 vlt 0 0039 S2CID 190682178 a b c d e Kent Steven L 2002 The Ultimate History of Video Games The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World New York Random House International pp 513 515 518 519 523 524 ISBN 978 0 7615 3643 7 OCLC 59416169 Archived from the original on July 9 2017 Retrieved October 20 2016 a b c d e f g h i Rafferty Kevin November 16 1994 Super Mario Takes Leap into Three Dimensional Space The Guardian p 0 Archived from the original on February 7 2023 Retrieved August 25 2020 via ProQuest F1 Demo Games Planet Virtual Boy Planetvb com Archived from the original on September 21 2012 Retrieved November 18 2013 Mario Demo Games Planet Virtual Boy Planetvb com Archived from the original on September 21 2012 Retrieved November 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Boy Planetvb com Archived from the original on June 28 2018 Retrieved November 18 2013 BreakTime Virtual Boy Updates the Viewmaster Idea Design News 6 1995 192 a b Introduction by Nintendo New York Times August 22 1995 p D 7 Archived from the original on July 7 2018 Retrieved May 24 2012 VIRTUAL BOY LAUNCH DATE ANNOUNCED Press release Nintendo of America May 11 1995 Retrieved February 15 2023 a b Curtiss Aaron August 31 1995 Valley Weekend VIDEO GAMES Virtual Boy a Blend of Familiar and Strange although Hardware for the Latest Nintendo Offering is Odd and Cumbersome the Play Action is Big and Loud Los Angeles Times p 14 Archived from the original on March 8 2021 Retrieved May 24 2012 Virtual Boy Third Dimension Ad 1995 Flickr Archived from the original on September 4 2015 Retrieved November 18 2013 Nintendo co U S unit begins shipping virtual boy video system Wall Street Journal August 22 1995 p B10 B10 ProQuest 398447594 Ahmad Taylor Ty December 4 1995 A Crowded Field Portable Video 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Retrieved July 30 2011 Takashi Mochizuki mochi wsj February 2 2016 cont d I guess Nintendo isn t planning anything VR in the near future because he said more time and efforts needed to assess technology Tweet Retrieved October 10 2017 via Twitter Dr Serkan Toto serkantoto February 1 2017 Just in Nintendo president Kimishima tells the Nikkei Switch s online service will be priced at 2 3 000 yen 17 50 26 50 YEARLY Tweet Retrieved October 10 2017 via Twitter Liszewski Andrew May 9 2016 Hack Lets You Play Virtual Boy Games Through Google Cardboard Gizmodo Archived from the original on November 8 2020 Retrieved September 1 2020 VBjin OVR v3 0 EmuCR March 31 2016 Archived from the original on January 19 2020 Retrieved July 23 2023 Doolan Liam January 28 2020 Random This Mod Turns The Virtual Boy Into A Proper Console You Can Play On Your Television NintendoLife Archived from the original on September 22 2020 Retrieved September 1 2020 Purchese Robert April 10 2014 Nintendo s very bizarre Tomodachi Life video Eurogamer Archived from the original on September 29 2019 Retrieved September 29 2019 Wawro Alex April 10 2014 Nintendo goes offbeat with Tomodachi Life marketing video Gamasutra Archived from the original on September 29 2019 Retrieved September 29 2019 Luigi s Latest Parody Nintendo Console Is The Best One Yet Kotaku October 16 2019 Archived from the original on October 31 2019 Retrieved October 27 2019 Further reading editYokoi Gunpei Makino Takefumi May 1997 Yokoi Gunpei Game House 横井軍平ゲーム館 Yokoi Gunpei Gemu kan ASCII ISBN 978 4 89366 696 3 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virtual Boy Official website archived versions at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine Virtual Boy at Curlie Virtual Boy Hardware Specifications Archived July 8 2018 at the Wayback Machine at Planet Virtual Boy Virtual Boy Programming Documentation at Planet Virtual Boy Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Virtual Boy amp oldid 1203510192, 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