Nintendo’s ambitious 3D console has been nearly forgotten by the general public, and by Nintendo themselves. When introduced, the Virtual Boy represented a new form of portable gaming, and what could have shaped the future of the industry. Instead, the Virtual Boy failed, with its name often evoking laughter among the masses. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the short-lived console, the Official Nintendo Magazine has created a feature that discusses the Virtual Boy in depth, reminding readers what went wrong.
Gunpei Yokoi was the man responsible for the Virtual Boy. As the head of Nintendo’s Research and Development group, and the producer behind NES classics Donkey Kong and Metroid, Yokoi was more known for his hardware contributions. At that time, Yokoi was responsible for the Game Boy, the Game & Watch, and the NES robot, R.O.B. His string of successes brought Nintendo to his feet in hopes to develop the next portable gaming console for the company.
Yokoi began working on what become the Virtual Boy, a large and hardly portable device that covers the player’s face. Throughout his time at Nintendo, Yokoi practiced the simple philosophy of using existing technologies to help lower the overall costs of creating hardware. This is exactly how the Virtual Boy ended up with its infamous red screen. Using red LED pixels only, Nintendo opted not to include the blue and green LED pixels, offering an extremely limited, Terminator-esque red and black viewing experience.
Graphics were the biggest downfall for the system, ironic considering Nintendo has achieved great success from their post VB consoles, none of them a graphics front runner. Because the VB’s viewfinder covers both eyes, it allowed Nintendo to achieve a 3D effect, showing a different moving image in each eye. However, the effect caused most users to become nauseous with prevalent headaches instantly. With the development of the Nintendo 64 on its heels, Nintendo rushed the Virtual Boy into the market with poor reaction. Releasing for $180, the console’s price dropped to just $99 within the first six months. Regardless of price, the negative reaction to the console aided in the destruction of the Virtual Boy, with production ceasing within the first year. Only 22 games were created, and 770,000 consoles were sold, making it easily Nintendo’s biggest blunder in the company’s history (you’re lucky Wii Music).
Yokoi felt solely responsible for the console’s failure. Even to this day, Nintendo makes no mention of the console’s existence. Shortly after the Virtual Boy’s failure, Yokoi resigned from Nintendo to work on a rival handheld. Unfortunately, Gunpei Yokoi was killed in a car accident during its development.
While the Virtual Boy was certainly a commercial failure, Nintendo’s efforts should be applauded. Developing with innovation through a different means of gameplay has made Nintendo as successful as they are today. The Wii’s motion controls and the DS’ dual touch screens have offered gamers both new and old these newer and advanced gaming experiences. Although their business model has barely changed, the company has refined their thinking and execution. Nintendo has never escaped the love/hate fanboy criticism for their business decisions, but they’ve continuously delivered classic consoles for each generation.
For a complete history lesson on the Virtual Boy, visit the Official Nintendo Magazine article below.
