August 21st, 2015 by Benj Edwards
Nintendo released the Virtual Boy 20 years ago today in North America (on August 21, 1995). I wrote an article about the creation of the Virtual Boy for FastCompany, which was just published today.
I hope you enjoy it.
Tags: 1995, anniversaries, FastCompany, freelance work, Nintendo, Virtual Boy
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August 21st, 2015 at 6:14 pm
Wow Benj, yet again another great article. I was not aware of all that back story with the Virtual Boy. I did get to use one a couple of times and I have to admit, that despite it being all red and black, it was actually pretty fun. I think if it had more software support it might have taken off despite those drawbacks. Having read your article though, I have to say, it kinda makes me wish I had one now. 🙂
August 22nd, 2015 at 7:12 am
As a proud Virtual Boy owner(I got a 3DS in large part because a red+black case variant was available, and refer to it as my Virtual Boy 2), I really enjoyed that article.
Really pleased to see there’s a logical(if not actually GOOD) reason for the bizarre half-portable, half-console nature of the hardware.
August 23rd, 2015 at 9:05 pm
Fascinating article. Even more in depth than I imagined.
I remember seeing Virtual Boys stacked on display out in the aisle near a pile of Sega 32x’s. I recall thinking neither must be that good since they weren’t locked behind the glass like all the other gaming goodies.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:55 am
This is a really interesting article. One quibble: The picture described as the Ultra Hand is just Yokoi.
August 24th, 2015 at 11:51 am
Great article as always Benj. I always appreciate the research that you put into these. I, too, had no idea of the Virtual Boy’s US origins.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:53 pm
Thanks, guys. I’m really glad you like the article!
And KarMaster, I think I picked up both my Virtual Boy and 32X machines around the same time in Toys’R’Us (about $30 each). I remember thinking I wish I could have bought more of them to save a few in boxes, but I was a teenager at the time and didn’t have the money.
I particularly remember a big stack of 32Xs (two units high, maybe two or three deep) lining the top of one end of a low, U-shaped aisle that the store made people walk through when they entered the building.