Nintendo Virtual Boy Retrospective + Gameplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5CsQFvBv4s
Joypad Of The Day: The Nintendo Virtual Boy Joypad (Joy Stick, Game Pad)
Video Link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkhsd89Atgo
Virtual Boy
 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Manufacturer | Nintendo |
| Type | Video game console |
| Generation | Fifth generation era |
| Retail availability | |
| Discontinued | |
| Units sold | 770,000[1] |
| Media | Game Pak (cartridge) |
| CPU | NEC V810 |
| Related articles | Famicom 3D System Nintendo 3DS |
The Virtual Boy (バーチャルボーイ Bācharu Bōi) was a table-top video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was the first video game console that was supposed to be capable of displaying "true 3D graphics" out of the box, in a form of virtual reality. Whereas most video games use monocular cues to achieve the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional screen, The Virtual Boy creates an illusion of depth through the effect known as parallax. In a manner similar to using a head-mounted display, the user looks into an eyepiece made of neoprene on the front of the machine, and then an eyeglass-style projector allows viewing of the monochromatic (in this case, red) image.
It was released on July 21, 1995 in Japan and August 14, 1995 in North America at a price of around US$180. It was not released in PAL markets. It met with a lukewarm reception that was unaffected by continued price drops. Nintendo discontinued it the following year.[1]
Contents |
Development
The Virtual Boy was first announced via press release on 14 November 1994. Nintendo promised that Virtual Boy would "Totally immerse players into their own private universe."[2] The system was formally unveiled the next day at the Shoshinkai (初心会) Show.[3] Nintendo of America unveiled the Virtual Boy at the Consumer Electronics Show on 6 January 1995.[2]
While Nintendo's Research & Development 3 division (R&D3) was focused on developing the Nintendo 64, the other two engineering units were free to experiment with new product ideas.[3] The Virtual Boy was designed by Gunpei Yokoi, the general manager of Nintendo's R&D1, and the inventor of the Game & Watch and Game Boy handheld consoles. He saw the Virtual Boy as a unique technology that competitors would find difficult to emulate.
Initial press releases and interviews about the system focused on its technological capabilities, avoiding discussion of the actual games that would be released.[3] The company entered into an exclusive agreement with Reflection Technology to license the technology for the Scanned Linear Array displays.
Problems emerged when Nintendo attempted to turn its vision into an affordable console, searching for low-cost hardware components.[3] Yokoi opted for red LEDs because they were the cheapest;[3] Nintendo said a color display would have been prohibitively expensive.[4] Color was also said to have caused "jumpy images in tests."[4] LEDs were also the lowest drain on batteries, and for being the most striking color to see.[citation needed] In addition, LCDs at the time had low refresh rates, and were often blurry.[citation needed] They also consumed more power than LEDs.[citation needed] Even with cost-saving measures in place, Nintendo priced the Virtual Boy at a relatively high US$180.[3] While slightly less expensive than a home console, this was considerably more costly than the Game Boy handheld.
While more powerful and with seemingly more advanced graphics, the Virtual Boy was not intended to replace the Game Boy in Nintendo's product line, as use of the system requires a steady surface and completely blocks the player's peripheral vision. According to David Sheff's book Game Over, Yokoi never actually intended for the console to be released in its ultimate form. However, Nintendo pushed the Virtual Boy to market so that it could focus development resources on the Nintendo 64.[5] Design News described the Virtual Boy as the logical evolution of the View-Master 3-dimensional image viewer.[6]
Release
3D red cyan glasses are recommended to view this image correctly.The Virtual Boy was released on July 21, 1995 in Japan and on August 14, 1995 in North America with the launch titles Mario's Tennis, Red Alarm, Teleroboxer, and Galactic Pinball.[7] It was not released in PAL markets. In North America, Nintendo shipped Mario's Tennis with every Virtual Boy sold, as a pack-in game.[8] Nintendo had initially projected sales of 3 million consoles and 14 million games.[2] At the system's release, Nintendo of America projected hardware sales of 1.5 million units and software sales numbering 2.5 million by the end of the year.[9][10]
Nintendo extensively advertised the Virtual Boy, and claimed to have spent US$25 million on early promotional activities.[3] Advertising promoted the system as a paradigm shift from past consoles; some pieces used cavemen to indicate a historical evolution, while others utilized psychedelic imagery. Nintendo portrayed the system as a type of virtual reality, as its name indicates; it was to be more than just another gaming console.
Confronted with the challenge of showing 3-dimensional gameplay on 2-dimensional advertisements, the company partnered with Blockbuster and NBC in a coordinated effort.[3] American viewers were encouraged via television advertisements on NBC to rent the console for US$10 at a local Blockbuster. This made it affordable for a large number of gamers to try the system,[3] and produced 750,000 rentals.[11] Despite its popularity, the rental system proved harmful to the Virtual Boy's long-term success, allowing gamers to see just how un-immersive the console was.[3] Taken as a whole, the marketing campaign was commonly thought of as a failure.[12]
Nintendo had shipped 350,000 units of the Virtual Boy by December 1995, around three and a half months after its North American release.[13]
Nintendo announced additional titles for the system at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 1996, but these games never saw the light of day.[3] The last official title to be released for the Virtual Boy was 3D Tetris, released on March 12, 1996.[14] The Virtual Boy was discontinued in late 1995 in Japan and in early 1996 in North America. Nintendo killed the system without fanfare, avoiding an official press release.[3]
Reception
Reviews of the console tended to praise its novelty, but question its ultimate purpose and longtime viability. The Los Angeles Times described gameplay as being "at once familiar and strange."[7] The column praised the quality of motion and immersive graphics, but considered the hardware itself tedious to use and non-portable. A later column by the same reviewer found the system to be somewhat asocial, although it held out hope for the console's future.[15]
While Nintendo had promised a virtual reality experience, the monochrome display limited the Virtual Boy's potential for immersion.[3] Reviewers often considered the 3-dimensional features a gimmick, added to games that were essentially 2-dimensional[3] or even 1-dimensional.[16] Yokoi, the system's inventor, noted the system's strengths with action and puzzle games, although those types of games provided only minimal immersion. Multiple critics[3][12] lamented the absence of head-tracking in the Virtual Boy hardware. Critics found that, as a result, players were unable to immerse themselves in the game worlds of Virtual Boy games. Instead, they interacted with the fictional worlds in the manner of any traditional 2-dimensional game. The Washington Post felt that, even when a game gives the impression of 3-dimensionality, it suffers from "hollow vector graphics."[16] The Virtual Boy failed for a number of reasons, among them "its high price, the discomfort caused by play [...] and what was widely judged to have been a poorly handled marketing campaign."[12]
Many reviewers complained of painful and frustrating physiological symptoms when playing the Virtual Boy. Bill Frischling, writing for The Washington Post, experience "dizziness, nausea and headaches."[16] Reviewers attributed the problems to both the monochromatic display and uncomfortable ergonomics.
Nintendo, in the years after Virtual Boy's demise, has been frank about its failure. Howard Lincoln, chairman of Nintendo of America, said flatly that the Virtual Boy "just failed."[3]
Legacy
The commercial demise of the Virtual Boy was considered to be the catalyst that led to Yokoi being driven from Nintendo.[17] Nevertheless, The New York Times maintained that Yokoi kept a close relationship with Nintendo[18] despite Yokoi having later created a rival handheld system for Bandai. According to Game Over, the company laid the blame for the machine's faults directly on the creator.[5]
Although considered a failure in the traditional sense, the Virtual Boy did little to alter Nintendo's development approach and focus on innovation.[3] If anything, it encouraged a more open-ended metric for success than finances or sales.
Because Nintendo only shipped 770,000 Virtual Boy units worldwide, it is considered a valuable collector's item.[19]
During the lead-in to the release of Nintendo's 3DS, Shigeru Miyamoto discussed what he felt were the issues with the Virtual Boy. One was the actual use of the three dimensional effects - while it was designed to render wireframe graphics, it was generally used to separate two-dimensional games into different planes separated by depth. Further, Miyamoto stated that the graphics were not as appealing, and while developing the Nintendo 64, had ruled out the use of wireframe graphics as too sparse to draw players. Finally, he stated that he perceived the Virtual Boy as a novelty that should not have used the Nintendo license so prominently.[20]
As of 2007, Virtual Boy still has software being developed by the homebrew community at Planet Virtual Boy forums, with the first ever Flash cartridge designed by Richard Hutchinson for purchase, the "FlashBoy" (フラッシュ ボーイ - FurasshuBōi) arrived. The Flashboy has since been updated to have save features in the FlashBoy+ which is currently available for puchase as of 2012. Members of PlanetVB, citing an admiration of the Virtual Boy's lofty ambitions toward virtual reality.[3] Boyer noted that, while the console itself failed in many regards, its focus on peripherals and haptic technology reemerged in later years.[21] The hope of developing a virtual reality gaming platform has considerably outlived the Virtual Boy itself.[3]
Games
Nintendo initially showcased three games. They planned to release three titles at launch, and two or three per month after that.[4]
Due to the short lifespan of the system, only 22 games were released. Of them, 19 games were released in the Japanese market, while only 14 were released in North America.[22]
When asked if Virtual Boy games were going to be available for download on the Virtual Console for the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime told gaming web site Kotaku that he could not answer, as he was unfamiliar with the platform. He noted that, given his lack of familiarity, he would be hard-pressed to make the case for inclusion of the games on the Virtual Console.[23]
Technical information
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2012) |
The Virtual Boy system uses a pair of 1×224 linear arrays (one per eye) and rapidly scans the array across the eye's field of view using flat oscillating mirrors. These mirrors vibrate back and forth at a very high speed, thus the mechanical humming noise from inside the unit. Each Virtual Boy game cartridge has a yes/no option to automatically pause every 15–30 minutes so that the player may take a break.
One speaker per ear provides the player with audio.[24]
Display
The Virtual Boy, which uses an oscillating mirror to transform a single line of pixels into a full field of pixels, requires high-performance LEDs in order to function properly. Because each pixel is only in use for a tiny fraction of a second (384 pixels wide, 50.2 Hz scan rate = approximately 52 µs per scanline), high peak brightness is needed to make the virtual display bright and comfortable for the user to view. The two-screen system demanded a fast refresh rate, unlike the original Game Boy which had blurry motion, so using an LCD was not an option.
Control
The Virtual Boy, being a system with heavy emphasis on three-dimensional movement, needed a controller that could operate along a Z axis. The Virtual Boy's controller was an attempt to implement dual digital "D-pads" to control elements in the aforementioned 3D environment.
The controller itself is shaped like an "M" (similar to a Gamecube controller).[citation needed] One holds onto either side of the controller and the part that dips down in the middle contains the battery pack. There are six buttons on the controller (A, B, Start, Select, L and R), the two D-pads, and the system's "on/off" switch. The two directional pads are located on either side of the controller at the top. The "A" and "B" buttons are located below the pad on the right side and the "Start" and "Select" buttons are located in the same spot on the left side. What would normally be called "shoulder buttons" ("L" and "R") are located behind the area where the pads are, on the back of the controller, functioning more as triggers.
In more traditional 2-dimensional games, the two directional pads are interchangeable.[citation needed] For others with a more 3D environment, like Red Alarm, 3D Tetris, or Teleroboxer, each pad controls a different feature. The symmetry of the controller also allows left-handed gamers to reverse the controls (similar to the Atari Lynx).[citation needed]
One of the unique features of the controller is the extendable power supply that slides onto the back. It houses the six AA batteries required to power the system. This can be substituted with a wall adapter, though a "slide on" attachment is required for the switchout. Once the slide on adapter is installed, a power adapter can be attached to provide constant power.
Connectivity
During development, Nintendo promised the ability to link systems for competitive play.[4] The system's EXT (extension) port, located on the underside of the system below the controller port, was never officially supported since no "official" multiplayer games were ever published, nor was an official link cable released. (Although Waterworld and Faceball were going to use the EXT port for multiplayer play, the multiplayer features in the former were removed[25] and the latter was canceled.)[citation needed]
Specifications
| Processor | NEC V810 (P/N uPD70732) 32-bit RISC Processor @ 20 MHz (18 MIPS) 1 KB instruction cache |
|---|---|
| Memory | 128 KB dual-port VRAM 128 KB of DRAM 64 KB WRAM (PSRAM) |
| Display (× 2) | Reflection Technologies Inc. (RTI) Scanning LED Array (SLA) P4 1 × 224 pixel resolution (when scanned; 384 x 224) Monochromatic color resolution (black + 4 different red LED shades which each form 32 intensities of Red forming 128 colors) 32-Bit Graphics 50.2 Hz Horizontal Scan Rate |
| Power | 6 AA Batteries or DC10V 350mA AC Adapter/Tap (third-party Performance Adaptor DC 9V 500mA) |
| Sound | 16-bit Stereo |
| Controller | 6 buttons and 2 D-pads uses NES controller protocol |
| Serial Port | 8 pin cable |
| Hardware Part Numbers | VUE-001 Virtual Boy Unit VUE-003 Stand VUE-005 Controller VUE-006 Game Pak VUE-007 Battery Pack VUE-010 Eyeshade VUE-011 AC Adapter Tap ("Use With Super NES AC Adapter No. SNS-002 Only") VUE-012 Eyeshade Holder VUE-014 Red & Black Stereo Headphones |
| Weight | 750 grams |
| Dimensions | 8.5"H × 10"W × 4.3"D |
| 128 megabit addressable ROM space (4–16 megabit ROM used in released games) 128 megabit addressable RAM space (0–8 kilobyte Battery Backed RAM in released games) 128 megabit addressable expansion space (unused in any released games) Expansion interrupt available to the cartridge Left and right audio signals pass through cartridge 60-pin connector |
See also
- List of Virtual Boy demos
- Entex Adventure Vision, a 1982 video game console with similar mechanical operation
- Sega VR, a 1993 prototype virtual reality add-on for the Sega Genesis
- R-Zone, a 1995 handheld game console released by Tiger Electronics.
- Nintendo 3DS, a 2011 handheld game console released by Nintendo
- Head-mounted display
Notes
- ^ a b Blake Snow (2007-05-04). "The 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time". GamePro.com. Archived from the original on 2007-05-08. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
- ^ a b c http://www.planetvb.com/modules/advertising/?r17
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Boyer, Steven. "A Virtual Failure: Evaluating the Success of Nintendos Virtual Boy." Velvet Light Trap.64 (2009): 23-33. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 24 May 2012.
- ^ a b c d Rafferty, Kevin. "Super Mario Takes Leap into Three Dimensional Space." The Guardian (1959-2003): 2. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Guardian (1821-2003) and The Observer (1791-2003). Nov 16 1994. Web. 24 May 2012.
- ^ a b Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children by David Sheff, 1993, Random House.
- ^ "BreakTime: Virtual Boy Updates the Viewmaster Idea." Design News. 6 (1995): 192.
- ^ a b Curtiss, Aaron. "Valley Weekend; VIDEO GAMES; Virtual Boy a Blend of Familiar and Strange; although Hardware for the Latest Nintendo Offering is Odd and Cumbersome, the Play Action is Big and Loud." Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext): 14. Los Angeles Times. Aug 31 1995. Web. 24 May 2012.
- ^ http://www.flickr.com/photos/dionisio/2833237521/sizes/o/in/photostream/
- ^ "Introduction by Nintendo." New York Times: D.7. New York Times. Aug 22 1995. Web. 24 May 2012.
- ^ Nintendo co.: U.S. unit begins shipping virtual boy video system. (1995, Aug 22). Wall Street Journal, pp. B10-B10. http://search.proquest.com/docview/398447594?accountid=14749
- ^ "Nintendo/Nickelodeon/Blockbuster." Mediaweek 6.30 (1996): 36-. ABI/INFORM Global; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 24 May 2012.
- ^ a b c King, Geoff; Krzywinska, Tanya (2006). Tomb Raiders and Space Invaders : Videogame Forms and Contexts.
- ^ Ahmad-Taylor, Ty. "A Crowded Field: Portable Video Games." New York Times (1923-Current file): D5. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2008). Dec 04 1995. Web. 24 May 2012.
- ^ 3-D Tetris for VBOY. GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
- ^ Curtiss, Aaron. "VALLEY WEEKEND; Nintendo Virtual Boy Measures Up to Billing; as its Library of Titles Slowly Grows, the 3-D System is Becoming More Well-Rounded and Less of a Headache." Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext): 15. Los Angeles Times. May 02 1996. Web. 24 May 2012.
- ^ a b c Frischling, Bill. "Sideline Play." The Washington Post (1974-Current file): 11. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1995). Oct 25 1995. Web. 24 May 2012.
- ^ "N-Sider Profiles". Retrieved 2008-08-19.
- ^ Pollack, Andrew (1997-10-09). "NYTimes - Gunpei Yokoi, Chief Designer Of Game Boy, Is Dead at 56". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
- ^ Earnest Cavalli (2008-09-15). "'Lost' Virtual Boy Cache Found in Dubai". Wired.com. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ "Shigeru Miyamoto Talks About Virtual Boy". Iwataasks.nintendo.com. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
- ^ "Introduction." Velvet Light Trap.64 (2009): 1-2. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 24 May 2012.
- ^ Kolan, Patrick (2008-01-14). IGN Retro: Virtual Boy's Best Games. IGN. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
- ^ http://kotaku.com/#!5690257/argue-for-a-virtual-boy-store-on-the-nintendo-3ds-if-you-can
- ^ Powell, Doug. "A Virtual Backlash." Computing Canada Dec 21 1994: 1,1,4. ABI/INFORM Global. Web. 24 May 2012.
- ^ http://www.vr32.de/modules/interviews/?3
References
- Kent, Steven L. (2001). The Ultimate History of Video Games. Roseville, California: Prima. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4.
- "Virtual Boy Is Born at Shoshinkai November, 1994". Nintendo Power (68): 52–53. January 1995.
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Virtual Boy |
- Virtual Boy at Nintendo.com (archived versions at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
- List of Virtual Boy games at GameFAQs
- Virtual Boy at the Open Directory Project
- Virtual Boy Hardware Specifications at Planet Virtual Boy
- Virtual Boy Programmers Manual at Planet Virtual Boy
- Performance Adapter Set at virtual-boy.org
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Go there...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Boy
Virtual Boy Game was a table-top video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo
- File:Mario's Tennis screenshot.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- File:Virtual Boy - Akihabara, Otaku Style.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Virtual Boy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- File:Virtual-Boy-Eyes.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- File:Virtual-Boy-Underside.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- File:Virtual-Boy-Set.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Official Nintendo Rewards Program | Club Nintendo
- Game Search - GameFAQs
- Open Directory - Games: Video Games: Console Platforms: Nintendo: Virtual Boy
- Open Directory Project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Planet Virtual Boy | Hardware - Virtual Boy - Specifications |
- vbprog.pdf (application/pdf Object)
- Adapterset2
- Nintendo Virtual Boy Retrospective + Gameplay - YouTube
- virtual boy game was a table-top video game console developed and manufactured by nintendo - Google Search
- YouTube - Virtual Boy - YouTube
- Joypad Of The Day: The Nintendo Virtual Boy Joypad - YouTube
- Virtual Boy Game was a table-top video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo - Google Search
- List of Virtual Boy games - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- E3 (1995) - Nintendo Virtual Boy - Gunpei Yokoi - YouTube
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