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Joystiq Presents: Sinan buys a Virtual Boy
Mike Suszek (@mikesuszek) talks with Joystiq's Sinan Kubba (@SinanKubba) about the lengths Sinan went to buy a Virtual Boy during a trip to the United States as a teenager. He also discusses his time covering games and spending time with the staff at Joystiq. Listen to the MP3 Listen to other Joystiq Presents episodes.
This guy wants $164,000 for his gigantic video game collection
Do you have $164,000 handy? If so, you can snag nearly every retro console game since the beginning of the NES era. Ebay seller "reel.big.fish," also known as Nintendo Twizer, is selling a positively massive collection of games and consoles, spanning everything from the NES to Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Game Gear, Game Boy and much more. He claims to have complete sets of every single game for Super Nintendo, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Virtual Boy, 32X, Sega Master System, Game Gear and NES (except for Stadium Events), in addition to several incomplete sets for other consoles, notably a hefty Sega Genesis collection. On top of all the games, there are also multiple variants of various consoles, including every single N64 color. There's far too much to list here – almost 6,000 games – so you may as well watch the video above, and you can also peruse the master list of every single game in the collection. The catch is that it's all being sold as a single lot, with a $164,000 asking price. That's pretty steep, to be sure, but before you scoff at the price, don't forget the crown jewel of the collection, a framed copy of "No One Wants to Play Sega with Harrison Ford," signed by artist Brandon Bird.
The Daily Grind: Would you buy a VR headset for MMOs?
Not that I have $500 or so to drop on an Oculus Rift when it comes out, but I must say that there's a part of me that would love to have one if more MMOs sign up to support it. Already we're seeing titles from Elder Scrolls Online to EVE Valkyrie lending support to this virtual reality headset, which makes me wonder whether this is just a fad or if it's the next big thing for gaming. After all, we've been down the VR headset road before, particularly in the '90s. I mean, that picture up there? That's Angela Lansbury from Murder She Wrote in 1993. I might also bring up the topic of Virtual Boy if it didn't depress me so much. Man, I really wanted VR to be real back then... but maybe its time is yet to come. Would you buy a VR headset for MMOs? If so, what would the cost need to be and what level of service would it need to supply to get you to go for it? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Oculus Rift already has a Virtual Boy emulator
While the Oculus Rift is currently the world's great hope for a future lived inside digital spaces, it's not the first stereoscopic box developers have asked us to cram our faces into. For most of us, that honor goes to Nintendo's Virtual Boy, herald of vectorized headaches (in 3D!) to 700,000 or so hopeful people with $180.If you're one of the lucky people with an Oculus Rift development kit, however, you can now recreate that ol' black-and-red magic with VBjin-ovr, a freeware Virtual Boy emulator for the Oculus Rift. As seen in this video from YouTuber Cymatic Bruce, wherein VBjin-ovr is used to play the obscure first-person survival horror game Insane Mouse Mansion, the Rift primarily functions as a head-mounted display, as Virtual Boy games have no use for the device's various bells and head-tracking whistles.Still, the experience seems about as accurate as one could hope for without the real deal. Is there an Excedrin emulator out there?
Lost Virtual Boy game NikoChan Battle found and being re-released
Planet Virtual Boy forum users stumbled on a copy of the unreleased Faceball game for Virtual Boy. Known as NikoChan Battle in Japan, iterations of the game were published on a number of platforms by Bullet-Proof Software, including Game Boy and SNES.Those looking to add the rare game to their collection are in luck; reproduction cartridges for Virtual Boy will be released in February for $100, while the ROM of the game will be free to download.
Microsoft patent application gives us hope for head-mounted successor to Virtual Boy
Patent applications are full of hope and broken dreams, as it's far too easy to let a rampant imagination read beyond the layers of patent-attorney penned boilerplate. In the realm of the realistic, this application from Microsoft concerns a head-mounted display with a narrow-beam laser packing two dilation optics (us neither). If you then variate the diffraction grating between the two eyepieces, you create a three-dimensional virtual reality display. As much as we'd like to prowl the digital touchlines in Fifa Soccer with the Xbox equivalent of the Virtual Boy, it's more likely that we'll be stuck prowling our couches for years to come.
DIY Virtual Boy arcade cabinet costs only a headache to play
As you may have noticed, we have a bit of a soft spot for Nintendo's other 3D device, the Virtual Boy -- despite its many, many flaws. So, it seems, does DIYer Tighe Lory, who liked the oddball console so much that he built an full-size arcade cabinet for it. As you can see above, that comes complete with some custom joysticks that replace the Virtual Boy's controller, along with a sliding mechanism that lets you adjust the Virtual Boy itself to just the right height instead of forcing you to hunch over a table. It even has some buttons on each side specifically for Galactic Pinball, and some other authentic arcade touches like a Nintendo serial plate and a backlit marquee. Head on past the break for Tighe's grand tour on video.
Ben Heck crafts Atari-styled Xbox-360, takes us back to the '70s
Our man Ben Heck has done it again -- this time, he's taken modding to a new, retro level. Atari requested that Heck create a modded system as a promo for its new games, so our man teamed up with element14 and did what he does best. The master of mods has gutted an Xbox 360 and shoved it into a one-of-a-kind Atari 2600-esque case that he calls 'Xbox 360 1977 Edition.' The system's got switches from old Atari systems had that control disc-ejection and controller synchronization. Just like the classic Ataris, Heck's portable gaming laptop's got wood panels and a black finish -- and it's huge. The best part of this mod? Well, playing Street Fighter on Xbox 360 hidden inside of what would be a modern version of a classic like Atari is pretty cool, in our opinion. As cool a classic like the Virtual Boy though? We'll leave that for you to decide. Oh, and be sure to hit the source link to watch the mod get formed in 23 glorious minutes.
Nintendo Virtual Boy review
The 3DS is not Nintendo's first foray into the world of 3D gaming. In fact, it's not even the company's second. First up was a 3D headset for the good 'ol Famicom (NES in the US), but that never saw American shores and it wasn't anything more fancy than a set of active shutter glasses anyway -- the same sort HDTV manufacturers are trying to sell you today. However, the company's second 3D offering did make it to the US, where it landed with a spectacular thud. It was the Virtual Boy, a 32-bit portable console powered by six whole AA batteries and remembered by many for its ability to inspire more headaches than excitement in the gamers who tried it. It was released in the US in August of 1995 for $180 and was discontinued less than a year later. With the 3DS sitting now in back rooms of videogame and electronics stores nation-wide, waiting to spring into availability on March 27th, we thought this would be a good time to look back and give the Virtual Boy the full review it has always deserved but has never received.
Nintendo tried 3D on GameCube and GBA
In a new Nintendo-organized roundtable discussion with the excitable Earthbound writer and all-around Japanese celebrity Shigesato Itoi, company president Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto discuss how the 3DS came about, revealing Nintendo's long history with 3D experimentation. In fact, the company had 3D running on both the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance SP, which was also used as a test platform for the DS's touchscreen technology. "Making three-dimensional images that can be seen by the naked eye requires a special liquid crystal, so we tested it out by putting it in the Game Boy Advance SP," Iwata reveals. "But the resolution of LCD was low then, so it didn't look that great and it never made it to being a product." Of course, Nintendo's most famous dalliance with three-dimensional technology, the Virtual Boy (pictured), actually made it into stores, where it ... didn't do much. Miyamoto attempts to cast the odd goggle thing as a toy, like the Ultra Hand or the Love Tester, rather than what was intended to be the next step in the company's game console line. "I imagined it as something that people who were on the lookout for new entertainment or who could afford to spend a bit of money could buy and enjoy, even if the price was a little expensive," he offers. "But the world treated it like a successor to the Game Boy system." "That was also true within Nintendo," Miyamoto adds. "Our sales department treated the Virtual Boy as an extension of our licensing business." In hindsight, it does make sense for Nintendo to file away the Virtual Boy, along with its low sales and small game library, as a weird, one-off toy, instead of a true platform iteration. Of course, all the headaches it caused are probably best forgotten.
Retro consoles torn apart, ancient innards exposed
If you want to see just how far game consoles have come over the last few decades, check out iFixit's teardown of the Atari 2600. As you can see, there's not much to onetime king of home entertainment. Just look at how complex an iPhone 4 is in comparison! The Atari teardown was part of a full week of retro console deconstructions, including the Famicom, Magnavox Odyssey and even the Virtual Boy. Check them out for yourself -- if you think you can handle all that naked, aging PCB.
iFixit celebrates Friday with teardown of Virtual Boy, the greatest game console man has ever known
We still have memories -- some would say nightmares, but we digress -- of hanging out at a neighbor's house and taking turns playing matches of Mario's Tennis, our biological ocular displays assimilated into a rubber mask that engulfed our brains and left us in a permanent state of viewing the world in red wireframe. Crude 3D though it may be, it's still a part of history we must accept, and if you happen to own a Virtual Boy, we have just two things to say to you. One: we're insanely jealous. Two: if you ever need to know how to rip it to shreds for repair / stress relief, iFixit's got you covered. In the world of Man with Screwdriver vs. Game Console, yet again Man wins. Seems a perfect ending to a week that featured Atari 2600, Nintendo Famicon, RCA Studio II, and Magnavox Odyssey 100. Check out highlights in the gallery below, or hit up iFixit for the whole shebang. %Gallery-101218%
Flashboy Plus breathes life into Virtual Boy (yes, you red that right)
We apologize that we can't deliver this post to you in glorious red monochrome 3D. Unfortunately, that technology hasn't been invented yet and hopefully never will be. So here in boring old 2D, we bring you news that Nintendo's unloved offspring, the Virtual Boy, is back. Well, sorta. It's back in the sense that someone has actually made a new flash cart that allows for homebrew devs to make games for it. (Or -- and this is never going to happen -- unscrupulous individuals to play pirated ROMS on it.) That "someone" is Richard Hutchinson and the something he's built is the Flashboy Plus. Hutchinson introduced the original Flashboy back in 2007; the Plus model, costing $130 and already sold out until late this year, can store one game and has battery backup for a single save slot. (Swap games and that save state gets wiped, too.) We know it's a long shot, but perhaps this device will lead to fan ports of 3DS games to the superior Virtual Boy. Mark our words: Glasses-free 3D is a fad; nothing is more immersive than pressing your face into a sweaty eye hood for hours at a time.
Flashboy Plus revives Nintendo's Virtual Boy, literally one game at a time
When a beloved console like the Sega Dreamcast rises from the ashes it's not a huge surprise, but we never thought we'd see the day when the homebrew community would unearth Nintendo's Virtual Boy. Behold: the Flashboy Plus, the second of two flash carts developed specifically to spur development for Nintendo's original stereoscopic system, featuring a new backup battery (unlike the 2007 original) and a full 16Mbit of memory, reportedly enough to fit any one of the system's 22 commercially released games. Since the battery only keeps one save state stored at a time and there's no way to read the battery-backed memory, you'll still have to finish one game before you start another, but at least this way you don't lose your progress every time you shut the system off. Believe it or not, the first batch of 50 units has already been spoken for, but you haven't necessarily missed out yet; €90 (about $113) is your ticket to an elite (read: tiny) virtual utopia of piracy and homebrew when the second set ships at year's end.
Time ranks Virtual Boy, Farmville among top 50 worst inventions
We rarely, if ever, write rebuttals to stories posted on the esteemed, list-friendly publication known as Time, but we've got more than a few bones to pick with its recently posted "50 Worst Inventions" list. Around every turn, the list seems to get it wrong. For instance: FarmVille? There are 70 million people who'd disagree with that one. And Virtual Boy? The world's first fully-3D game console/amateur LASIK surgery machine? That's about as progressive and brilliant as inventions get. Check out the full list of so-called failed products on Time's site, and see if you share our feelings. Like, auto-tuning, guys? Really? One of the worst inventions ever? And Olestra? The ultimate nutritional cooking supplement? Did they read this list before they published it? [Via Kotaku]
WRUP knows its real roots
We return to the roots of Joystiq's WRUP series, celebrating one of the best examples of a "missing link" between handheld and home consoles. Nintendo's Virtual Boy wasn't exactly sure which one it was supposed to be; 13 years later, we're still not sure, either. Fun fact: Nintendo only shipped 800,000 of these worldwide. Compare that to the Nintendo DS' total sales of 2.41 gazillion units. Alexander Sliwinski: I've got my first WoW raid in almost eight months tonight. It's time to prep for WotLK and relearn my Paladin. Probably get a couple more CivRev achievements (still need conquer on Deity). Otherwise, patiently awaiting Fable 2's arrival on Tuesday. I tried Amazon's new "release day" shipping, so I'm curious to see if it works. Christopher Grant is turning Japanese-ah, I really think so. And truth be told, he's a very tall guy, so it might take awhile. Griffin McElroy: I am currently nearing the end of Evidence: The Last Ritual (In Memoriam 2 for European readers), which, I believe it's worth noting, is much more terrifying than that Dead Space title my cohorts seem so infatuated with. I would wager that the antagonist of their game doesn't send them e-mails informing them that they are waiting just outside their door, anxiously awaiting the chance to turn their skin into some sort of hat. Kevin Kelly: I'm jumping on the Dead Space bandwagon as well, and for some strange reason I started playing through the Halo 3 campaign again and I have no idea why. I'm also still trying to get the Bayonet for my Springfield Rifle in Call of Duty: World at War. Damn bolt-action gunplay! Kyle Orland: James Ransom-Wiley: With Dead Space put to rest (and the Phils just resting!), I'm clear to head out of town for the girlfriend's sister's law school family weekend -- that's right, folks, I'll be playing the new, WORLD EXCLUSIVE bonus content for the game of Life! In my absence, my best friend has volunteered to apartment-sit (a.k.a. shut himself in, pull the curtains, and finally sink into MGS4). Nothing quite like the first time, is there? Jason Dobson: Finishing cleaning up the creepy crawlies cluttering up the Ishimura this weekend, as well as putting the finishing details on my Halloween costume. But what will Jason be? Justin McElroy: OK, I think I'm finally going to crack open Dead Space. Also, I'm going to try to get some Warhammer Online. (Praag sever, Order side, I'm Amundsen, say "hi".) Ludwig Kietzmann: I've got a deadline to work with this weekend. With my copy of Dead Space arriving on Monday, I'll have to clear out my survival-horror plate -- meaning Silent Hill Homecoming -- before Sunday calls it quits. When I'm not immersing myself in a corroded iron nightmare, I'll be traipsing through the more cheerful lands of Vesperia. And when real-time combat grows tiresome, I've always got my turn-based fodder to fall back on in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Randy Nelson: I had been planning to scare myself silly playing Dead Space. Instead, I think I'll just do something silly in LittleBigPlanet. What? It's been delayed? But I have my boxed copy right here! Wow, this really is a rare gaming experience ... in more ways than one. [Ed. Note: All those in favor of beating Randy to a bloody pulp, say "I."] Ross Miller will be jumping back-and-forth between Dead Space and -- not to take as much heat as Randy LittleBigHalfNelson -- Fallout 3.
Virtual Boy blowing up in UAE
Want even more proof that everything Nintendo touches turns to gold? There's a new hot, impossible-to-find toy in the United Arab Emirates, and it's ... the Virtual Boy. That's right, even Nintendo's poorly conceived, poorly executed leavings are flying off the shelves.OK, so the box of 100 of the ill-fated consoles, recently unearthed in a Dubai warehouse, is probably so popular thanks to rabid collectors wanting to snap them up, and not because the children of the UAE want to finally experience Teleroboxer for themselves. Just don't be surprised to see Nintendo including them in its NPDs next month.[Thanks, Ben]
Lost cache of Virtual Boys discovered in Dubai
Dubai is like the most magical place in the world. They're trying to build underwater hotels, spinning buildings and now they apparently have open worm holes that lead back in time. That's the only explanation for over 1,000 Virtual Boys being discovered in a warehouse in the Rashidia area there by a business owner. It looks like you can toss out that DeLorean you got on eBay.38-year-old electrical engineer Mohammed Omran was stoked to hear of the new surge in product, snatching one up as soon as he could. As you read this, he's probably eye-deep in red tennis players and other headache-inducing sprites. "I was chasing it in all the shops and all the markets in Dubai Khour, but everything was always vanished," he said. "It's not an easy system to find."That probably has to do with it making you feel like your eyeballs are melting after 10 minutes of gameplay.[Via Kotaku]
Virtual Boy looks cool for the first time ever
It turns out that staring at red-on-black images isn't so bad when you don't have to cram your face into a machine to do so. This shirt, created for German Virtual Boy fansite vr32.de, almost makes the Virtual Boy's reviled display palette appear ... artistic. As if Nintendo limited the display of the system because it would look cool, and not for technological reasons. It looks great on a shirt, anyway.It features a Virtual-Boy-as-octopus design on the front and Planet Virtual Boy branding on the back. We doubt that many were made, but for the moment they're available for 17 Euros plus shipping (which would probably be a lot!) by contacting Planet Virtual Boy's DrAetzn.[Via Nintendo-Online]
Become a Virtual collector
New to Nintendo handhelds with the DS? Interested in learning firsthand about one of Nintendo's weirdest, most baffling missteps? Or maybe you just want the full catalog of releases for a Nintendo system, and want to take the easiest way out? The DS has hundreds of games-- you can't collect all of those! Maybe you love red.Whatever the (crazy) reason, you now have the opportunity to buy the full set of US-released Virtual Boy games for $1,500 (or best offer.) They're all complete in their boxes, where they should remain for all time. It even includes Nester's Funky Bowling, the only game to star a character created for Nintendo Power magazine! Well, the only game other than Pilotwings 64, which kind of featured Nester as well.[Via GameSniped]
