How Does The Virtual Boy Produce 3D Images?
Conceived by Metroid and Game Boy creator Gumpei Yokoi, the Nintendo Virtual Boy was one of Nintendo’s only console flops; the unit was released nearly dead on arrival. Only 22 games were released over a six month period in Japan and the USA (the rest of the world did not get a crack at the unit) before Nintendo pulled the plug on the whole endeavour. Looking somewhat like an overgrown Viewmaster, the Virtual Boy perched atop a small stand and the player looked into the unit’s viewing windows to play the games. While the VB is in use visual sights from the “real world” are blocked out by a black foam guard around the viewing windows; during play the only thing a player can see is the game itself. Incidentially, the Virtual Boy is the last Nintendo system to include a pack-in game – Mario’s Tennis – and even then this was only in the USA; the Japanese units did not come with a game. Once the system died an untimely death Yokoi left Nintendo in disgrace. The Specs • Processor: NEC v810 3
