Virtual Boy: Gumpei's Last Stand
By Adam Pearson

(Introduction)
Virtual Boy, originally entitled VR32, is the 32-bit system by Nintendo
that wasn't exactly at the forefront of Virtual Reality. With a pack-in
title known as Mario's Tennis, the system didn't exactly have lasting
appeal with all audiences. And with an introductory price of $199.99,
for a system the size of a sneaker, people were turned off.

(The Technology)
Gumpei Yokoi, creator of Game Boy, Metroid, and other such Nintendo
treasures, had an idea. He wanted to make a system that immersed you.
Put you in a "virtual reality". How it works, is you look into the
Virtual Boy. That's all. No body gloves or anything. You use a
controller, with two digital pads on both sides. But, the downside was
a big headache. If you played for too long, you would get kind of
dizzy. They had to put in Automatic Pause in every one of the games, so
that you could rest your eyes. When you removed your head from out of
the headset, everything around you looked blurry. The graphics were
cool, though. The screen of play actually had depth, and stuff popped
in and out. It looked real.

(Problems)
What made the Virtual Boy a failure, in my opinion?
* "Mario's Tennis" wasn't very popular at the lunch table.
* You had to shell out $200, a price that went drastically down in a
matter of months.
* Not many games. No 3-D shooters, the main topic of most virtual
arcade games at the time.* Headache and blurred vision.
* Kids under 7 were not to play. (Doctors said it may cause some harm
to young kids' eyes.)* Advertising wasn't too well planned out.
* The screen fogged up too much!

(Software)
So, what did come out for the Virtual Boy?
Galactic Pinball - A pinball game with a puck. Lots of mini-games.
Golf - 3D Golf. Yep. Looked pretty good.
Jack Bros. - An overhead maze game. 
Mario Clash - The original "Mario Bros" (not Super), with a foreground
and background.
Mario's Tennis - Pack-in game. It's Tennis, oh wow.
Nester's Funky Bowling- A bowling game with the early mascot of
Nintendo Power Magazine.
Panic Bomber - A 2d puzzle game with Bomberman.
Red Alarm - Cool game. Like Starfox, with Vector Graphics.
Teleroboxer - A tough boxing game. Each pad controlled a glove. Hmm...
Punch Out VB?
Tetris 3-D - Instead of Lines, you clear by layers.
Vertical Force - An overhead 2D shooter with a top layer and a bottom layer.
Virtual League Baseball - It's Baseball! The field-work looked pretty cool.
Wario Land - Everyone's favorite VB game. Like the GB game, with
foreground and background action. Loads of fun.
Waterworld- Just like Asteroids, with a first person view.

(Downfall)
Well, it didn't do too great, sadly. A year later, after VB's release,
Mr. Yokoi died in a car accident. What a way to go, with a dead system
at the end of your career. But hey, he did make Game Boy and Metroid,
two of Nintendo's greatest accomplishments. We will remember him by these
things.

(Future)
VB Emulation - Yes, that everpresent problem of copyright madness has
claimed this system. The law says, after two years of a system's
technology being obsolete and unprofitable, it is OK to emulate it, and
(semi-legally) download ROMS for it. I think it's great, though,
because people can enjoy the system in a manner that won't give you a
headache, on your monitor. And, it'll be preserved for years to come.
Perhaps your grandchildren will enjoy it.

Game Boy 32 - If the Game Boy ever gets updated, the carts will
probably be about the same size as Virtual Boy's Cartridges. Perhaps
they will make it compatible with Virtual Boy, as well?