Many of us probably know Nintendo as the makers of great games and consoles like Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, The Nintendo Gameboy, and soon to be coming Nintendo Wii... but among all these unforgettable game play experiences is one forgettable gadget that ... nicely put is ahead of its time when it comes out, but others wish it never come to light...
presenting to you the Nintendo Virtual Boy:
Looks very futuristic eh? Until you realise you got to put this thing onto your head for hours while staring only the colours red and black! (Ooo it matches the colour of the console.. bah!)
For those who are into video gaming you would perhaps marvel at the nice looking controller and the "promise" of true 3D graphics on a 32-bit system. But how are the games like? Look below:
Erm, true 3D graphics?? And no the colours are not edited... this is exactly what you see in game. And how do you play it?
Besides looking incredibly geeky, you probably get a bad headache looking into the deep "vortex" of red and black, strapping on the "portable" console that weighs 2 pounds... and people having more fun watching you.... er.... having fun.
Alot of info can be accessed via this website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Virtual_Boy
From this site I'll pick out the points that answers the assignment questions:
The console was designed by Gunpei Yokoi, inventor of the Game & Watch and Game Boy handhelds, as well as the Metroid franchise. While compact and seemingly portable, 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, Gunpei never actually had intended for the console to be released in its present form. However, Nintendo had grown impatient with the amount of time that he had taken with the project. It wanted to focus on the Nintendo 64, and quickly rushed the Virtual Boy to market.
Hype surrounding the device before its release included public musings by Nintendo that the device might resemble a gun set vertical, projecting a 3D image in the air above it. The actual device was considered a disappointment compared to this description when it arrived.
'...the Virtual Boy produced very impressive 3-D effects, although the monochromatic graphic style proved to limit the appeal of the visuals.' - (NOA website) [1]
The Virtual Boy was a flop in the marketplace, for several reasons:
- To fill in for the long delay in the development of the Nintendo 64, it was pushed to market before it was ready. Not only was it rushed out the door, but the public was unwilling to spend so much money on what they saw as a stopgap videogame system, especially knowing the Nintendo 64 was coming shortly.
- It was marketed as a portable system, but it was not as portable as gamers thought it should be. Due to its size and weight, the Virtual Boy was nearly impossible to use while in motion, and doing so could cause damage to the unit.
- It was considered too expensive, with a $180 initial price.
- The console's box and manual warned that the display could cause eyestrain and eye problems, especially for those under 7 years of age. Despite having been added primarily for liability reasons, the warnings frightened away potential buyers. Some that did buy it suffered from headaches or even seizures from short times spent playing games on the machine.
- Many believed there was a poor selection of games available at launch, and very few software developers wanted to invest time and money in such a new, unproven gaming system. This led to a circular supply-and-demand problem and resulted in a system with few games available. In total only 22 titles were available between the North American and Japanese markets.
- Additionally, there were few plans for any flagship titles (such as Metroid, Zelda, or Star Fox) or popular third party titles (such as Final Fantasy or other Squaresoft games) to be released.
- Other game problems were related to the format of the console itself, which did not seem especially suited for certain types of games, giving players the impression that it was a rather limited system.
- The base of the system could not be adjusted vertically. This meant that the system has to be placed on a table to play (which could be uncomfortable) or that users had to lie down to use it.
- The base was also somewhat flimsy and replacement parts were not very common.
Due to the nature of the Virtual Boy system, other players could not watch, which took away the social aspect of gaming. A multiplayer option was in the works, via a cable that would hook two units together, but the product failed before such an addition could be made. - Because of its failure in the Japanese and American markets, the console was never released in Australia or Europe. This contributed to a supply-and-demand problem (undersupply) for Nintendo products (especially Super Famicom and SNES games) in the middle of the 1990s that existed mainly due to continuous delays of the Nintendo 64.
- The failure of the Virtual Boy was regarded by many as the catalyst that led to Gunpei being driven from Nintendo. According to Game Over, the company laid the blame for the machine's faults directly on the creator.
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