Topic: Virtual Boy and How It Compares to 3DS

[NWR_Neal]

I know this might go in the line of being a shameless plug, but I think there's merit to discuss this on the forums as well.


My first freelance article went up on 1UP.com today. It's on the Virtual Boy and how it ties into the 3DS. Let me know what you all think.

[Kytim89]

I honestly think that the virtual boy will have a second life in through the 3DS in two ways. First, the entire 3DS system itself and the games for it are trying to do what the virtual boy failed to do in the first place: 3D handheld gaming. Second, I could easily see all of Nintendo's virtual boy games being remade as cartridge titles for the 3DS, or they will encompass the backbone of the 3DSware service. For example, take a game like Tellero Boxer that neal reviewed not too long ago. That game could be remade into a download title for the 3DSware shop. The same goes for Mario Tennis and Wario Land, just to name a few. Overall, the 3DS is the virtual boy 2.

[Halbred]

Let the record show this is the SECOND time Neal has briefly abandoned us all. LOL

It was an awesome read, Neal. Congrats again!

[King of Twitch]

"The Virtual Boy was clunky to use, and the games that were shown off, including a full-on Mario platformer (later unreleased), were very early and not appealing."

"The Virtual Boy's pre-release buzz was decidedly negative"

If it had something about headaches or the price tag I could see it, but what was it about the games that made it so unappealing?

[Stratos]

I enjoyed the VB. Snagged it dirt cheap after Nintendo dropped it. System was like $35 and games were about $10 a piece. I had a chance to buy nearly all of the US released games including the rare ones but I couldn't afford all of then and didn't realize all of them would be such treasures today.

I still think we should have a VB RetroActive of sorts where we play through all of the games we can and talk about the system. With the impending launch of 3DS I think doing something like that is even more relevant.

[NWR_Neal]

Zap, when I did research for the piece, I found that pretty much every member of the media despised the Virtual Boy when it was shown off. There was also stuff like games wouldn't work (the baseball game famously wouldn't let you swing the bat).

So...the pre-release buzz was really negative, and the games weren't appealing when they were first shown off.

[UltimatePartyBear]

Let the record show this is the SECOND time Neal has briefly abandoned us all. LOL

Does that make him NWR's Ronaghan, Roff-again staff member?

[NWR_insanolord]

Let the record show this is the SECOND time Neal has briefly abandoned us all. LOL

Does that make him NWR's Ronaghan, Roff-again staff member?

That's just so horrible, I had to applaud you for it.

[Halbred]

Let the record show this is the SECOND time Neal has briefly abandoned us all. LOL

Does that make him NWR's Ronaghan, Roff-again staff member?

That's just so horrible, I had to applaud you for it.

That pun will be on the next Newscast. I guarantee it.

[FZeroBoyo]

Yeah, some skeptics are saying that the 3DS will just be a repeat of the Virtual Boy. Then again, one can't help but think a bit more when they realize that dozens of third-parties are already prepping titles for the system, as was shown at E3. Whether or not it's the successor to the DS or a variation, as the DSi seems to be, has yet to be determined.

[TJ Spyke]

Actua

Whether or not it's the successor to the DS or a variation, as the DSi seems to be, has yet to be determined.

No, not really. Nintendo themselves made it quite clear 3 months ago that it is a new system, not another variation. With all we know about it, I don't know why anyone would think it's just another variation.

So far skeptics are in the very tiny minority. The Virtual Boy had almost no positive coverage and had many flaws. The 3DS has gotten almost universal praise. I have no doubt it will be a huge success and have tons of great games.

[DAaaMan64]

I honestly think that the virtual boy will have a second life in through the 3DS in two ways. First, the entire 3DS system itself and the games for it are trying to do what the virtual boy failed to do in the first place: 3D handheld gaming. Second, I could easily see all of Nintendo's virtual boy games being remade as cartridge titles for the 3DS, or they will encompass the backbone of the 3DSware service. For example, take a game like Tellero Boxer that neal reviewed not too long ago. That game could be remade into a download title for the 3DSware shop. The same goes for Mario Tennis and Wario Land, just to name a few. Overall, the 3DS is the virtual boy 2.

No. The 3DS is nothing like the virtual boy. The virtual boy was playing off the idea of virtual reality and a virtual reality helmet. Really being in your environment and seeing nothing else.

The 3DS just does 3D and has a better sense of depth.

[King of Twitch]

There was also stuff like games wouldn't work (the baseball game famously wouldn't let you swing the bat).

I never knew that, very interesting.

[Ian Sane]

When the Virtual Boy was first announced I was confused.  I knew this "Ultra 64" thing was just around the corner so what the **** was this?  It didn't make sense to me to have this product co-existing with the N64.  I saw it a lot like I saw the 32X in that it was some weird stop-gap before the REAL next console was released.  This was also around a time where DOA consoles were pretty damn common.  The 3DO, CD-i and Jaguar had all been released and been huge flops.  The Turbo Duo and Neo-Geo had been niche products at best.  I didn't make any assumptions about console stability.  It seemed that most systems bombed at that time.  It was a crowded market place and there was always someone trying to rip you off on a videogame system or accessory that had no legs.  After Sega had done it numerous times I figured the VB was Nintendo's crack at it.  I figured it was doomed entirely because I knew it wasn't the follow-up to the SNES.

[NWR_insanolord]

It wasn't the follow up to the SNES or the Game Boy; it was the original third pillar.

[Ian Sane]

It wasn't the follow up to the SNES or the Game Boy; it was the original third pillar.

Yeah, and that made it confusing.  There is a clear purpose to having the Wii and the DS.  One is for use at home, the other is for on the go.  There is no clear purpose to having a third option.  I knew the DS was never going to truly be the third pillar because if it co-existed with the GBA the DS had no purpose.  To the surprise of probably no one it replaced the GBA and everything made sense.  The Virtual Boy had no purpose.  If this virtual reality stuff was so cool why couldn't the next home console just include it?  I know the technical reasons why it couldn't but conceptually that's how it would make sense.  The 3D screen of the 3DS works well as a new feature on the new handheld.  As a seperate product it would be pointless because we already have a portable Nintendo videogame system.  We don't need multiple portables or consoles with specialized features.

[Stratos]

I figured that the 3rd pillar talk was their way of protecting their butts since it was a great experiment. If DS failed they could fall back on the GameBoy brand with no damage to the name. It was also a way to reassure people that they weren't going to be left hanging with a dead system like the VB because Nintendo stated that they would support all three.