Virtual Boy: Difference between revisions

{{quote2|We saw the future, and it was black and red.|''{{wp|Official Nintendo Magazine}}''}}

The '''{{wp|Virtual Boy}}''' is a video game system developed by [[Nintendo]] and released in 1995. It consisted of a red box on black legs with a black visor that players would look into for gameplay. It was created by [[Gunpei Yokoi]], and his 60-headed research team, together with Reflection Technologies. This team worked on the console for over three and a half years. Virtual Boy game images are 3D and are displayed using mirror-scanning technology. They appear on LEDs in four shades of red with a black background. The image is reflected off oscillating mirrors, which create the apparent thickness of the image. This type of graphics was once referred to by Nintendo as "true 3D." Digital stereo sound is emitted from the self-contained speaker system found on either side of the visor. The console was a commercial failure for many reasons, including its lack of portability and the headaches gameplay caused in a matter of minutes, hence the reason why the Virtual Boy automatically paused gameplay every 15 minutes.  

[[File:Virtual Boy Color Palette.png|frame|left|The four colors the Virtual Boy is able to display]]

The Virtual Boy was released early to keep fans occupied during the long wait for the [[Nintendo 64]]. It had an original retail price of about US$179.95 upon its release.<ref>Edwards, B. (August 21, 2015). [https://www.fastcompany.com/3050016/unraveling-the-enigma-of-nintendos-virtual-boy-20-years-later Unraveling The Enigma Of Nintendo’s Virtual Boy, 20 Years Later]. ''Fast Company''. Retrieved April 25, 2020.</ref> Due to its failure in the Japanese and American video game markets, the Virtual Boy was never released in Europe or Australia, and it was discontinued less than a year after its release. It shipped only 800,000 units and sold 770,000 of them during its lifetime.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080906185209/http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/111823/the-10-worst-selling-consoles-of-all-time-page-2-of-2/ GamePro - 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time (pg. 2/2)]</ref>

The Virtual Boy has an EXT. port that was most likely made to support two-player mode. Games such as ''[[Mario's Tennis]]'' support this mode, but the cable was never released since the system was discontinued so quickly.

 

Years later, Nintendo released a handheld system with 3D support, the [[Nintendo 3DS]].

[[File:VB Controller.png|150px|thumb|The Virtual Boy Controller.]]

==''[[Super Mario (franchise)|Super Mario]]'' games on the Virtual Boy==

==Appearances in the ''Super Mario'' franchise==

====''[[Super Smash Bros. for Wii U]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''====

[[File:Gamer SSB4.png|thumb|200px|A Virtual Boy can be seen on the shelf on the right side of the [[Gamer (stage)|Gamer]] stage.]]

[[File:SPM Francisroomright.png|thumb|''Super Paper Mario'']]

Virtual Boy-First Concept Drawings.png|First concept drawings, 1993

Virtual Boy-Shoshinkai Controller.png|Early controller with a similar casing to a default GameCube controller; Shoshinkai 1994