RETRO

NINTENDO VIRTUAL BOY 1995

Remembering the tech of yesteryear

© EVAN AMOS ON WIKIMEDIA

When you think of gaming flops, the Nintendo Virtual Boy immediately comes to mind. Even the concept was strange: a gaming headset mounted on legs that you placed on a tabletop, giving stability to the heavy device. Games were shown solely in black and red tones to prolong battery life, with stereoscopic tech lending games a 3D visual effect. Several titles were released, but the lack of full colour rendering, relatively high $179.99 price tag (about $380 today) and disappointingly gimmicky 3D experience made the device a tough sell. Nintendo had initially projected sales of three million consoles and 14 million games within the first 12 months. One year after release, though, just 770,000 Virtual Boys had been sold, dooming it to a swift demise. Still, Nintendo is back for another swing, recently announcing a revamped version that’s made for the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 – slot the console into the headset and it acts like the original device. Whether it will prove any more successful at the second time of asking is anyone’s guess.