The Virtual Boy[a] is a 32-bit tabletop portable video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. Released in 1995, it was marketed as the first console capable of displaying stereoscopic 3D graphics. The player uses the console like a head-mounted display, placing the head against the eyepiece to see a red monochrome display. The games use a parallax effect to create the illusion of depth. Sales failed to meet targets, and Nintendo ceased distribution and game development in 1996, having released only 22 games for the system.
Development of the Virtual Boy lasted four years and began under the project name VR32. Nintendo entered a licensing agreement to use a stereoscopic LED eyepiece technology that had been developed since the 1980s by US company Reflection Technology. It also built a factory in China to be used only for Virtual Boy manufacturing. Over the course of development, the console technology was downscaled due to high costs and potential health concerns, and an increasing amount of resources were reallocated to the development of the Nintendo 64, Nintendo's next home console. Lead game designer Shigeru Miyamoto had little involvement with the Virtual Boy software. The Virtual Boy was pushed to market in an unfinished state in 1995 to focus on the Nintendo 64.
The Virtual Boy was panned by critics and was a commercial failure, even after repeated price drops. Its failure has been attributed to its high price, dark display consisting of only red and black, unimpressive stereoscopic effect, poor ergonomics, lack of true portability, and health concerns due to it giving many players headaches, dizziness, nausea and eye pain. Stereoscopic technology in video game consoles reemerged in later years to more success, including Nintendo's 3DS handheld console. As of March 2021[update], it is Nintendo's lowest-selling standalone console and the only one to have less than one million units sold, seconded by the Wii U's 13.6 million units.[2]
^"Weekly Famitsu Express". Famitsu. Vol. 11, no. 392. June 21, 1996. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019. Lines 4 and 16 have units sold in Japan and other regions, respectively.
^"IR Information : Sales Data – Hardware and Software Sales Units". Nintendo Co., Ltd. Archived from the original on June 21, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
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The VirtualBoy is a 32-bit tabletop portable video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. Released in 1995, it was marketed as the first...
The VirtualBoy is a 32-bit tabletop video game console developed and designed by Nintendo, first released in Japan on July 21, 1995 and later in North...
the Wii Virtual Console for the Japanese region. The Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console launched with 7 Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles. New Virtual Console...
were released for VirtualBoy in North America, but only a few were met with positive reception. Nintendo discontinued the VirtualBoy within a few months...
game was a tech demo of what would have been a Star Fox game had the VirtualBoy adopted the series. The closest game to it is Red Alarm. Cinematic camera...
VirtualBoy Wario Land is a 1995 platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the VirtualBoy. It stars Wario, who finds himself deep underground...
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world...
The Game Boy portable system has a library of games, which were released in plastic ROM cartridges. The Game Boy first launched in Japan on April 21,...
Game Boy games List of Super Nintendo Entertainment System games List of Super Game Boy games List of Satellaview broadcasts List of VirtualBoy games...
This is a list of cancelled VirtualBoy video games. The VirtualBoy is a 32-bit tabletop video game console developed and designed by Nintendo. The system...
issue was the May 1995 issue of Gekkan Famicom Tsūshin. VirtualBoy Tsūshin covered the VirtualBoy. Only one issue was ever published in 1995. Famitsū PS...
R&D 1 began planning on a new stereoscopic 3D console which became the VirtualBoy. Hiroshi Yamauchi also bought majority shares of the Seattle Mariners...
resemble the directional pad of the Game Boy but larger and with a steeper slope inwards. Since the VirtualBoy was designed for single player use, the...
in the 1980s, most notably with Mattel's Power Glove and Nintendo's VirtualBoy. With the introduction of the first consumer-ready VR product, the Oculus...
2018-03-23. "Virtual Bomberman". Virtual-Boy.Net. Archived from the original on 2011-11-16. Retrieved 2018-03-21. "Virtual Bomberman". Planet VirtualBoy. Retrieved...
Game Boy games List of cancelled Super NES games List of cancelled VirtualBoy games List of cancelled Nintendo 64 games List of cancelled Game Boy Color...
Classics NES Disk System Game Boy Super NES Satellaview Super Game BoyVirtualBoy Nintendo 64 64DD Game Boy Color Game Boy Advance Nintendo e-Reader GameCube...
a video game released for the Nintendo 64 GoldenEye 007, a cancelled VirtualBoy video game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, a video game released for the PlayStation...
Sugino has served as a design group manager. He also created and designed VirtualBoy. Feature Story from GamePro Interview: The Man Behind the GBA SP v t...
Newspapers. Retrieved 24 May 2012. Boyer, Steven (2009). "A Virtual Failure: Evaluating the Success of Nintendos VirtualBoy". Velvet Light Trap. No. 64. pp...
success of the original Game Boy handheld and the Metroid series of games, resigned from the company shortly after the VirtualBoy ceased sales in order to...
the Game Boy line and VirtualBoy. They include: Nintendo Entertainment System Game Pak Super Nintendo Entertainment System Game Pak Game Boy Game Pak...
Classics NES Disk System Game Boy Super NES Satellaview Super Game BoyVirtualBoy Nintendo 64 64DD Game Boy Color Game Boy Advance Nintendo e-Reader GameCube...
Virtual Lab is a 1995 falling block puzzle video game developed for the VirtualBoy. Its gameplay involves the player moving different shapes that descend...
Global Information
