Tag: Virtual Boy

The Virtual Boy was Nintendo’s ill-fated attempt to create a 3D virtual reality gaming system back in the 1990s. The system required that gamers align their eyes with a tabletop viewer, much like those things they make you look into when you get a vision test at the DMV.

The Oculus Rift isn’t even out yet, but there’s already an emulator made for it. Or perhaps it’s precisely because the virtual reality headset isn’t out yet that this emulator came about. The program’s name is vbjin-ovr, an offshoot of a Nintendo Virtual Boy emulator for Windows called vbjin.

The whole idea of Nintendo’s old Virtual Boy gaming system was loaded with flaws. Not only was the headache-inducing red LED 3D display impossible to watch for prolonged periods, the head-mounted display really wasn’t practical for use anywhere – especially not standing up or moving around.

You may not know it, but the Nintendo 3DS wasn’t Nintendo’s first attempt at 3D gaming – it’s actually the third. The first system was a little-known 3D system for the Famicom, but the one most people know was the Virtual Boy, first released back in 1995, and despite the initial excitement about the system, Nintendo put a bullet in it about a year later.

That’s right folks! For the low low price of £5000 (appx. $8,200 USD), you can get the definitive Nintendo Virtual Boy collection! Proof that trash turns to treasure if you give it enough time. And who wants a partial collection of junk?

Seriously, get one now if you’re a fan of the Virtual Boy. That’s a big if, but today I found out that there is a healthy, enthusiastic and eager Virtual Boy-loving community, and they are stoked about Richard Hutchinson‘s update to his first Virtual Boy dev kit.