Virtual Boy (Oh Yeah!!)

[manny_c44]

After the $20 budget gaming bliss of Katamari Damacy I was after a purchase that would be even more bizarre and hopefully pay similar dividends. And then I remembered Nintendo's other two screened innovation, incessantly mocked even ten years after it was shamefully pulled from shelves. So I looked up Virtual Boy on ebay and discovered it was indeed within that budget price and that it was indeed still off-it's-tits crazy, so I did what anybody would do and bought it, it's bundled game Mario Tennis, and Virtual Boy Wario Land, knowing I could just sell them off at a similar price if it was a total bust.

It's wierd, you know, but the system really had nothing but good intentions and actually was innovative (more than the DS anyway). The kind of depth you get from playing Tennis with VB is pretty awesome, I have to admit. The VB game is just like the real life one, at first you'll whiff the hits and swear that you should've gotten it, but you'll be directing it around the court with ease after some practice. Another big plus of the game was not struggling with picking a character, a modern Tennis game would leave you scratching your head and saying "Who the fuck is Tommy Haas?", but in the mario universe you know that Donkey Kong is the badass and that, conversley, Toad would give it up in the big house for a pack of cigarettes.

Wario uses depth as more of a gimmick, but has a really fantastic opening sequence coupled with good old wario gameplay. The vintage gameboy music in all of these games really takes you back, and I wondered how they could engineer something like VB so compactly back in 94 or whenever.

Nothing here is really classic (best Tennis game ever, but that could hardly sell a system), but if you ever wanted know just what those Nintendo executives were pedaling for $200 back in the day I wouldn't not recommend buying it temporarily (how's that for a cautious recommendation?).

Oh, and the red and black graphics didn't strain my eyes or make me naseous, it just made everything really blue after I stopped playing. Terribly uncomfortable though.

[Lechimp]

Yeah, I got a virtual boy from my cousin. It's not a bad system if you didn't pay for it, but it's easy to tell why it flopped. And after 10 minutes of using it, I go blind.

[lailoken]

well to me THAT sounds like a serious flaw! you should return those eyes and demand new ones! If they should fail to comply right away, demand to see the manager, that'll teach 'em

[Aussie Ben]

Galactic Pinball is a must-own if you have a Virtual Boy. A really great example of the 3D working well (it's like the whole pinball table is floating in space, quite incredible) and the tables are just so great in design, as well. None of this Mario Pinball Land/Super Mario Ball rubbish!

[loonyboi]

The Virtual Boy is the only game system ever to make me sick to my stomache.

Aside from the cheesy "3D" effects, the glaring, mind-numbingly painful red color was just too much for me to bear.

Gunpei Yokoi was a genius. The Virtual Boy was a disaster.

I'm told the games don't suck nearly as much if you play them on an emulator (and change the color). But I have such a poor taste in my mouth (nearly literally!) from my attempt to play it that I just can't give it a fair chance ever again.

[Jake]

I've only spent about 20 minutes playing VB in my life (in various store and game rental stores when it came out) and it had no effect on me other than my wondering if it was really as gimmicky as it seemed. I still wanted one though of course

[manny_c44]

If nothing else VB prooved that Nintendo does whatever the hell it thinks is right, and even with game production costs hovering near 2 million dollars a pop (Nintendo has $7 billion in the bank, no joke) we're probably going to see crazier things every generation.

The games were always good though, no matter the gimmick, that's what makes them not totally 'onsanie'.

[Lechimp]

Yeah, a lot of the games were actually good. So it's actually kinda worth buying, if anything for the fact that you can say that you have a virtual boy and then people will go "WTF? WHY?" The system itself sucks though, it's a gameboy that's not portable, other people can't watch you play, it runs out of power quickly if you use batteries, and the red color is painful.

[netmonkey]

So, can we see any pictures of you and the Virtual Boy?

I agree with my ape-like compadre. The Virtual Boy may have had the best games ever, but the presentation of it was just plain silly. who wants to sit down with a pair of goggles and play games and such. Although that technology is available, it wasn't to the point of being accessible enough to be enjoyed and liked by many.

Maybe in a few years it will make a similar return... one that doesn't mess up your eyes and doesn't look as goofy.