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Twenty Years Later, Nintendo's Virtual Boy Is Still an Oddity
An anonymous reader writes: Nintendo launched its Virtual Boy gaming console twenty years ago today. Expectations were high after the company sold tends of millions of its previous devices, but the Virtual Boy only sold about 770,000 units. It was conceived at the height of the '90s VR craze, but the technology of the time just couldn't produce the kind of experience that Nintendo (or gamers) envisioned. An article from Benj Edwards provides insight into the Virtual Boy's development and its inevitable failure.
"A major problem with the idea of making VR32 wearable, according to Makino, was that Nintendo engineers were concerned about placing a chip with high radio emissions near a user's head, since the safety of EMF radiation on the brain had yet to be thoroughly studied. Its proximity also produced visual noise in the displays. 'This meant that the internal CPU had to be covered by a metal plate,' says Makino, 'which made the whole system too heavy, forcing the goggle concept to be abandoned.' Not long after, Yokoi's console evolved from a strap-on headset into a heavier device that one could prop up onto one's face using a clumsy shoulder stand. Again, Nintendo's legal department feared liability issues; the device might cause children to fall down a stairwell while playing. ... Hobbled by liability concerns, VR32 soon evolved into a bulky red viewport mounted to a bi-pod that rested on a table."
"A major problem with the idea of making VR32 wearable, according to Makino, was that Nintendo engineers were concerned about placing a chip with high radio emissions near a user's head, since the safety of EMF radiation on the brain had yet to be thoroughly studied. Its proximity also produced visual noise in the displays. 'This meant that the internal CPU had to be covered by a metal plate,' says Makino, 'which made the whole system too heavy, forcing the goggle concept to be abandoned.' Not long after, Yokoi's console evolved from a strap-on headset into a heavier device that one could prop up onto one's face using a clumsy shoulder stand. Again, Nintendo's legal department feared liability issues; the device might cause children to fall down a stairwell while playing. ... Hobbled by liability concerns, VR32 soon evolved into a bulky red viewport mounted to a bi-pod that rested on a table."
All the "flop flop flop" commentary... no one ever seems to have anything positive to say about it.
I had access to one of these "occasionally" when I was young and I would play it every chance I could get for hours at a time. Which was impressive, because the only game they had for it was the tennis game. Anyhow, I loved it and wished I could get one of my own. Never had any headache problems or double vision. The 3d certainly worked well enough to gauge when to swing at the ball as it was coming towards the screen.
Sam
>> a 10 minute headache/back pain inducer
Funny, my wife says the same thing about...
VR requires individual tuning to be really good. It's not worth the hassle and cost for most people to have it, use it, and/or develop for it. Having built 3 VR Cave/Powerwall systems for large company theaters I have a good amount of experience with subject.
A very minor amount of people think it's great and pay for it which is fine. VR has been, and will remain, a niche market. Most people realize that Johnny2D can kill them in the MMO even when they have VR and don't see the benefit in paying extra.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.