15 Master Of Illusion
The main draw of the Virtual Boy was that it displayed games in stereoscopic 3D. Except it didn’t. The 3D was not real 3D. The truth was that the system displayed two images: one red and one black. The red was layered on top of the black to create the illusion of depth. Why was red was the chosen color? Because it was the cheapest. Nintendo claimed that getting the full spectrum of colors for the LCD display would’ve been too expensive. It also reportedly made the images “jumpy” during product testing. So they opted for red, the cheapest color LED lights came in. Yet the system was still famous for causing motion sickness and eye pain so…didn’t quite fix that problem.
14 Maybe Don’t Put That On Your Resumé…
13 From A Certain Point Of View…
12 They Find A Way To Put GameCube Controllers In Everything
11 Intense Multiplayer Action
10 Totally Not Obvious Code Name
9 How Long Did That One Last?
8 Probably Should’ve Taken The Hint
The actual technology for the Virtual Boy was not developed by Nintendo. The concept of a 3D headset that displayed images in red LEDs was first conceived by Reflection Technology Inc. (RTI for short). RTI actually had grander ambitions for the final product, creating a tank game to show off the hardware’s head-tracking capabilities. With it, players could actually control the action on screen by moving their heads. RTI needed funding, so they demonstrated to companies like Hasbro, Mattel, and Sega. They were rejected every time, with Sega even going so far as to cite concerns of motion sickness. Nintendo happily partnered with RTI, producing the Virtual Boy. A console that was often criticized for causing headaches and nausea. Looks like Sega was actually right for once.
7 So THAT’s Where The Wii Got That From
6 Easiest Collection Ever
5 Brother Against Brother
4 What’s The Target Audience Here?
3 Movie Star
2 When Dad Has A Favorite Child
One of the unfortunate effects of the sibling rivalry between the Virtual Boy and Nintendo 64 was that parents had to choose sides. One of those parents happened to be Shigeru Miyamoto, the father of Mario. Miyamoto is an extremely influential figure in Nintendo, and that was even more true during the time of the Virtual Boy’s development. The fact that he put all of his time into Nintendo 64 game development spoke volumes. As the competition for resources heated up, Miyamoto and his Mario 64 seemed like the safest bet. The favoritism got so intense that Nintendo ordered Yokoi to tone down the Mario on the Virtual Boy. The higher ups wanted Super Mario 64 to be the first true 3D Mario experience. So yeah, a Nintendo console with only tiny amounts of Mario. What could go wrong?
