Throwback Thursday: Nintendo Virtual Boy

By on Oct 21, 2010 at 3:47 PM
Gaming October 21, 2010

Ah, Nintendo’s Virtual Boy. What seemed like a push forward in the gaming world at first glace unfortunately never really took off. The Virtual Boy used a pair of monochromatic linear arrays and an oscillating mirror that would vibrate back and forth to create the entire image which would then be seen in 3D. It was easily the most wanted Christmas gift in my book, and when I finally got one, it unfortunately only held my interest for around 2 days. If a gaming system can’t keep a 8 year old engaged, you probably have a serious issue, and Nintendo did. The system was discontinued only 5 months after it’s July 21st, 1995 launch with only 22 games available for sale. It retailed for $180. Who could forget that controller, though?

BGR Throwback Thursday is a weekly series covering our (and your) favorite gadgets, games, and software of yesterday and yesteryear.

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  • brianw

    This thing gave me headaches!

  • bringit

    here kitty.

  • Logicknot

    That thing couldn’t have been made in 2005. If it was then puke it looks dreadful.

    • bringit

      1995

  • dad

    Oh snap!!!! I remember playing this at Blockbuster Video, as a demo, and it still smelled brand new on the foam part of the headset. Memories, it was a total PoS but man, memories.

  • superchunk

    oh but it did take off…. 15 years later as the Nintendo 3DS. Personally can’t wait for the 3DS.

    • KK

      The Virtual Boy and 3DS have as much to do with each other as the Apple Newton and the iPad.

      Nintendo has been experimenting with 3D for 20 years, but don’t pretend their is any Virtual Boy in the 3DS.

      • superchunk

        The 3DS is the finalization of what they started in the Virtual Boy, a fully functional 3D experience. Even Miyamoto stated such on one of many interviews since the 3DS was shown.

  • jsbach79

    I remember this gaming gadget. I actually had one, but only had one game, Mario Land. It gave me headaches and the batteries didnt last long. Just like my attention to play it. You’d get so far and think your doing good, and then BAM!! batteries die, game didn’t auto-save and you’d have to start all over again.

  • MacMan

    +1 on the headaches. I rented this system from blockbuster once and I was happy when it was time to return.

  • whiskeyisfriend

    I actually rented one of these from Blockbuster with a game I believe was called Red Alarm… reminded me of Star Fox. The thing sucked, but as a kid I was too blinded by 3D induced headaches to realize it. I had it for two days, and for two days I was the coolest kid in school. Then back to harsh reality…

  • T

    I only ever touched one at Blockbuster… on a side note, I don’t think I’ve ever gone back to a Blockbuster since.

  • smokydoggg

    This device never even for one moment held my interest. I saw a demo at Toys R Us and played it for 5 minutes before going back to the Vectorman demo on the Genesis and Killer Instinct demo on the Super Nintendo.

  • http://alexknight.net Alex Knight

    I see it keeps cats engaged though. Seems like a win to me :)

  • Giggity

    This thing was such a huge it I don’t even remember it coming out…

  • http://mitchsurp.com mitch

    Wow, we’re more than a dozen comments in and no reference to the AVGN review yet. Well, I’m not one to spoil the fun. I never had a VirtualBoy, and judging by the comments I think I’m glad I never did.

  • Andy M

    I’ve never even heard of this POS before, did it launch here in the UK or did so many Americans take legal action against Nintendo for 3D Induced headaches they just decided to pull it before offering it here. It looks like an early stage prototype, not a retail ready product! Shocker!

  • Sonya The Real One

    I never knew it cost that much. I’ll have to thank my parents because I definitely wasted their money. I played it for about a week and I only had Mario tennis. It was kinda cool though to see the ball coming at you.

    • brianw

      Ah yes. Tennis.
      And for those who don’t know, this was not in color. Merely red 3d lines and shapes agaisnt a black background. Intense. Lol

  • babbleon

    Ah yes, I played with this thing in KB Toys. What a piece of junk!

  • Dima

    OMG, this just brought back some of my childhood. i used to lay on my bed and place that thing so i could play it while laying down.

    i had it brought as a gift from a relative when i still lived in germany….and that was in 95/96

  • offday

    i never got to play it for too long when i was kid, when it first came out, because i never had any relative buy it for me! i wanted it SO bad though haha.

  • Robert H

    This thing made my eyes burn so bad that they’d tear up. I had to stop constantly to wipe my burning eyes. Sucked really bad.

  • Me

    Couldnt afford one of these when they came out, but when they discontinued it I picked up one from TARGET for $15.99

    Still have it with the 2.00 games, MINT!! LOL

  • http://twitter.com/snreese snr

    this idea was fundamentally wrong because the thought of having a gaming device wrapped around your head with the images that close to your eyes would destroy your vision after continued use. If we kept using this, we’d all be wearing super thick glasses by now.

  • jAKE

    I bought one after Nintendo discontinued it at KB Toys for 30 bucks. Best 30 bucks spent ever. I played Wario Land and Wario Tennis a ton.

  • Fyrfyter

    I saw one of these yesterday for sale at a local mall. There is a store there called Games Galore. They have most video game systems from the NES to present. Talk about a walk down memory lane. There was all kinds of cool stuff there.

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