Virtual Boy Games on 3DS

[Leo_A]

The best chance something like Wario Land has, is to distance itself from the Virtual Boy if it were to be rereleased.

Port and colorize it and position it as a 3D Classic, with no mention of its Virtual Boy roots. And satisfy the fans that are aware of its nature with a setting that can be triggered for original graphics.

I'm reviving this thread to ask, "Why doesn't it happen?" In your opinions, what is the answer? Lack of good VB games? Lack of VB games? Lack of 'real' interest? Difficulty in programming a VB emulator? Shame over the commercial failure of the VB?

I feel like my response earlier in this thread was pretty much right on the mark. To sum up the basic points, it goes pretty much like this.

1. Poor reputation
2. Too expensive to port
3. Too expensive to emulate

But it all goes back to the Virtual Boy's reputation, much of it unfairly earned, as a miserable failure. Sadly, that's not reflective of reality since Nintendo surely knew this was a risky proposition. So that it failed wasn't exactly a shock and shouldn't be held against it to the degree that it has been. I'd say that the Wii U is far worse of a failure with expectations like selling 10 million units alone in 2013, a figure that only now has been reached. They half expected this result with the Virtual Boy, but the Wii U was supposed to be a hit coming off the Wii with its 100 million units sold.

Despite its commercial performance, those that have actually played this and given it a chance have realized that the Virtual Boy has several good games. But much like E.T., too many that know little to nothing about this have been spreading how big of a disaster this was for too many years. That makes it a difficult proposition to justify the expenditure to make some of this material available again.

It's the absence of their early 80's arcade library that is the much more puzzling of the two, and is more deserving of complaints from folks like ourselves. Easy to excuse this, but difficult to justify something like Mario Bros. not being available in arcade form on modern Nintendo platforms.

[The Adventurer]

But it all goes back to the Virtual Boy's reputation, much of it unfairly earned, as a miserable failure. Sadly, that's not reflective of reality since Nintendo surely knew this was a risky proposition.

Oh yeah it was. Nintendo knew full well when the put the system in stores that it was going to flop. But that's business, when you reach a certain point of development and you have contracts with all your manufacturers and developers its cheaper over all to kick your flying turd out the door, rather then shut down the process mid stride. Its just one of those things.


Its also why the DD64 eventually came out in Japan to piss poor support/reception. But at least they didn't push that out in North America too.

[Leo_A]

I really doubt that they knew it was going to flop. At least at some point in the process until fairly late in the going, they must've thought they stood a solid chance of succeeding.

But they undoubtably had to of known that the risk was very high. But they must've also thought it was one worth taking.

[The Adventurer]

Not true, early on it might have looked like a promising bit of tech. But as development went on it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the VB was never going to be a GB replacement purely based on how cumbersome it was.

Nintendo's mistake was trying to turn a bit of novelty technology into a flagship console. If they had licensed the tech to a toy company or something, it might have been a success n some fashion. But as a Nintendo backed console it was doomed to fail.

And when you spend millions developing a turkey, you might as well get a few hundred thousand back on your investment to take the sting out of it. And yes, maybe it might randomly be a success despite itself. But that's usually a realistic expectation.

It's the same reason obviously bad video games are still published (see: Aliens Colonial Marines or Sonic Boom). It's not that company's want to push out turds, it's because they HAVE to after certain amount of money is pumped into it.

[FieryReign]

Don't think I've ever heard so much clamoring for VB games before. People are really digging at the bottom of the barrels from the past. What's next, requests for Nintendo's CDi lineup on WiiU?

Aside from the Wario game, there is nothing worthwhile to play on the system. You can't really expect them to redraw red pixel art. Or do you really like staring at fugly bloody graphics?

The thing was a piece of garbage, anyone defending it or Nintendo for bringing it out is just talking out their ass. They really thought the thing was portable? Did they really expect us to be walking around with big retarded visors strapped to our heads? Or for people just to ignore the headaches and eye strain? I honestly don't think that was their vision for the future. They obviously didn't use quality control and just pushed it out the door. They put too much trust in Mr. Gameboy hoping for lightning to strike twice. Somebody at Nintendo didn't have the cojones to tell him it was a stupid idea.

[Leo_A]

I don't think we really disagree. Nintendo had what they thought was a promising idea, but likely realized fairly late in the going that they were going down the wrong track. That of course left them the choice to either kill it and eat the loss, or experiment and follow through with it and glean what they could from it. Not like they had to worry too much over an experimental failure, considering their reputation and business position at the time.

If nothing else, by following through, I bet this early experiment in 3D gaming provided some valuable research for the preliminary stages of the development of the 3DS, over a decade later.

But as development went on it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the VB was never going to be a GB replacement purely based on how cumbersome it was.

I wasn't paying attention to the media at that time, but I would hope that they weren't even trying for that since at least in retrospect, it seems like an idiotic idea to replace a portable line with something as cumbersome and bulky as this. Rather, to borrow a word that I think didn't appear in Nintendo lexicon until a number of years later, I imagine/hope it was an attempt to create a "third tier" of Nintendo hardware.

That said, the Game Boy line sure seemed pretty static back in 1995...

[Leo_A]

Meant to edit all this into that post above...

Oh well

What's next, requests for Nintendo's CDi lineup on WiiU?

http://www.nintendolife.com/forums/w...nd_zelda_games

Came across that recently, so there does seem to be be someone out there that actually wants to see that happen. And I can understand how it bugs a Zelda fanatic that there's some videogames out there with that plastered across the title screen, that they don't have access to.

Of course, few would actually ever play through these games. A much better wish would be to see Nintendo craft a playable game out of the Link to the Past based BS Zelda broadcasts from the Satellaview, since people would actually enjoy such a thing and it would be more than just a mere curiosity for most.

Aside from the Wario game, there is nothing worthwhile to play on the system.

I suspect that Wario Land really is what everyone has in mind with this idea. That, and it just seems like a neat idea to rerelease early 3D attempts from Nintendo, on today's 3D capable Nintendo platform.

Hopefully they remake that Wario Land game one of these days. A remake, rather than a port or emulation, is a much more sensible option in my eyes. So something more along the lines of the Game & Watch conversions, that turns this...



Into this...



Although the geek inside of me would love to see the option of original graphics like they provide with those G&W releases, even though I'd never really play it with that setting.

[Jorpho]

Is there actually a full-speed Virtual Boy emulator with sound for any platform at the moment? Last time I checked, there was no such thing, or at least it was pretty CPU-demanding.

Of course, lack of emulation doesn't rule out the possibility of remakes – except unless they kept the development materials around, trying to replicate things with nothing but an actual VB sounds laborious.

[Tanooki]

Fiery that's a bit over the line both on the VB and even the CDi stuff (well some of it.)

Leo is right, people want it. I've seen stories over the years wanting VB stuff a lot more than the CDi, but in the present market where the 3DS is fine and the WiiU is an anchor I've seen more of these stories pop up and the comments feeds strongly show(they're long) people having an interest. Surely it would be dumbassed entirely to make a physical release as it's still a gamble, but it's nothing Nintendo hasn't done before (again Leo - Game & Watch Gallery 1-4 classic vs modern modes.) With the 3DS already doing 3D you could take the existing materials and just either recode or emulate the old game, then do a modern colorized version (in this case I'd make the red a throwback fun mode for those wanting it.)

Sure the library was crap for size but the games there were actually fairly good. Nintendo gambled and rightly lost on that one, too much $, stuck to a table, and a vocal minority even helped bury it bitching about eye damage and head aches. Wario Land is key, but second to that 3rd party left to the side here (as Panic Bomber is on TG16 CD too and Super Famicom), Mario Clash, Nester's Funky Bowling, Teleroboxer, Galactic Pinball, and Red Alarm as good candidates to do the conversion. As a 3D Classics type download item it could work. Mario and Wario would sell itself. Red Alarm is star fox lite, and the sports and pinball stuff people tend to be attracted to on various platforms.


Jorpho (and others) http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php...boy/vbjin.html <-- emulator
VB Emulator FOR the 3DS!
http://www.planetvb.com/modules/newb...forumpost30678
https://gbatemp.net/threads/red-drag...r-port.374558/

Snatcher Demo 1 just release for the Virtual Boy
http://www.planetvb.com/modules/news/

People still make games and port to it, plus protos have been popping up and getting finished up! (if needed) or just released as they're done too.
http://www.planetvb.com/modules/news/

Even Hyper Fighting (aka Street Fighter 2)
http://www.planetvb.com/modules/news...hp?storyid=395

Unreleased(officially) games, some like Faceball, Bound High, english version of Space Squash, and others have popped up too.
http://www.planetvb.com/modules/games/?u

Surprisingly people do give a shit about the Virtual Boy and it has an active development community both with emulation, emulation on other hardware, and also releasing lost games and making/porting their own and come out with slower regularity.

[celerystalker]

Don't think I've ever heard so much clamoring for VB games before. People are really digging at the bottom of the barrels from the past. What's next, requests for Nintendo's CDi lineup on WiiU?

Aside from the Wario game, there is nothing worthwhile to play on the system. You can't really expect them to redraw red pixel art. Or do you really like staring at fugly bloody graphics?

The thing was a piece of garbage, anyone defending it or Nintendo for bringing it out is just talking out their ass. They really thought the thing was portable? Did they really expect us to be walking around with big retarded visors strapped to our heads? Or for people just to ignore the headaches and eye strain? I honestly don't think that was their vision for the future. They obviously didn't use quality control and just pushed it out the door. They put too much trust in Mr. Gameboy hoping for lightning to strike twice. Somebody at Nintendo didn't have the cojones to tell him it was a stupid idea.

I would never try to defend it as a smart business decision in the least. This post sure leads me to believe that you've never played one, though, to say the games are fugly and that there's nothing other than Wario Land worth playing. There was never good business sense involved, but just objectively playing the games, most look great in motion, and several are quite fun. Teleroboxer is a truly fun game, as are Mario Tennis, Mario Clash, Vertical Force, and Panic Bomber. Do those games make it a good purchase? No. However, as they exist and are fun to play, it's not insane to be interested in a re-release or re-make.

The CD-i lineup... actually, in several other threads I've said this, too, but Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon are fun games with goofy cutscenes that really recall the days of Nintendo's Valiant comics and cartoons. When they were being developed, only 2 wildly different Zeldas had been released, so all of the complaining about their inconsistencies with the main series are ridiculous. They have their issues, but most people who have actually played them tend to have a positive opinion of them, and the same goes for Hotel Mario. I hated Zelda's Adventure, but I don't blame people for wanting a way to officially try it out without spending tons of money.

Overall, both of those systems are poor values. People aren't crazy to want to play legitimately curiousities or quality games that came out on them, and your post makes it sound like you've not actually played any of this on real hardware and are just taking the very typical hardline stance of someone who read about this all online and watched some AVGN reviews.

Edit: I like Tanooki's mention color re-makes with the option for a classic red mode, too.

[SparTonberry]

Don't think I've ever heard so much clamoring for VB games before. People are really digging at the bottom of the barrels from the past. What's next, requests for Nintendo's CDi lineup on WiiU?

Aside from the Wario game, there is nothing worthwhile to play on the system. You can't really expect them to redraw red pixel art. Or do you really like staring at fugly bloody graphics?

The thing was a piece of garbage, anyone defending it or Nintendo for bringing it out is just talking out their ass. They really thought the thing was portable? Did they really expect us to be walking around with big retarded visors strapped to our heads? Or for people just to ignore the headaches and eye strain? I honestly don't think that was their vision for the future. They obviously didn't use quality control and just pushed it out the door. They put too much trust in Mr. Gameboy hoping for lightning to strike twice. Somebody at Nintendo didn't have the cojones to tell him it was a stupid idea.

Actually "Mr. Game Boy" had struck gold a few times. Game & Watch, Metroid, Game Boy...
It's said Virtual Boy was actually an unfinished console and Yokoi quit Nintendo because they rushed his invention out half-cooked. (though we'll never know what he wanted because of his death a couple years later when he was probably still under NDA)

[Guntz]

Don't think I've ever heard so much clamoring for VB games before. People are really digging at the bottom of the barrels from the past. What's next, requests for Nintendo's CDi lineup on WiiU?

Aside from the Wario game, there is nothing worthwhile to play on the system. You can't really expect them to redraw red pixel art. Or do you really like staring at fugly bloody graphics?

The thing was a piece of garbage, anyone defending it or Nintendo for bringing it out is just talking out their ass. They really thought the thing was portable? Did they really expect us to be walking around with big retarded visors strapped to our heads? Or for people just to ignore the headaches and eye strain? I honestly don't think that was their vision for the future. They obviously didn't use quality control and just pushed it out the door. They put too much trust in Mr. Gameboy hoping for lightning to strike twice. Somebody at Nintendo didn't have the cojones to tell him it was a stupid idea.

I can play this game too, watch.

The Virtual Boy was incredibly unique and too ahead of its time, anyone berating it or Nintendo is just talking out of their ass. The Virtual Boy wasn't meant to be portable like the Game Boy at all, it was portable in the tabletop sense of the word in that it didn't need a TV or speakers or even an AC adapter to work. Nintendo did not release a headstrap, so no I don't think they expected people to wear them while walking around. The Virtual Boy doesn't actually cause headaches or eyestrain, that usually happens if stupid people fail to configure the IPD and focus before using. Although the VB is experimental, it still had an incredible Nintendo quality to it, from the product design to the instruction manuals to the controller. Nearly every individual part of the Virtual Boy has the Nintendo logo on it somewhere. I for one am happy that we have one more game console to remember Gunpei Yokoi by, even if a lot of people hate it.

I own two solder-repaired Virtual Boy consoles and a nice stack of games, it's one of my favorite Nintendo consoles, believe it or not. After having played a fully working VB, I believe 90% of Virtual Boy haters have never actually played one. I for one can tell you that the red graphics aren't anywhere near as harsh as online pictures might have you believe. The soft glow of the LEDs works with the black background to put my eyes in low light mode, where it's easier to take in the red. After a while you will not really notice that everything is in red. I am probably at a massive advantage in that I can play VB for hours and still be able to see in full color in real life shortly after playing, must have something to do with my tolerance for red.

I suspect the main reason why a lot of people say they hate VB is they've only ever looked at screenshots or watched YouTube videos. Both of those sources are almost always displayed against a white web page. That and the images aren't being viewed on the original LED display, which just increases the harshness of the reds. Also, most virtual boy screenshots are really poor, like they were copied from magazines.

[The Adventurer]

My love/interest in the Virtual Boy come from very brief plays on Demo units at SEARS back in the late 90s. That shit blew my mind. The fact that its games are so inaccessible is a frustration of mine as a gamer.

[Rickstilwell1]

Is there actually a full-speed Virtual Boy emulator with sound for any platform at the moment? Last time I checked, there was no such thing, or at least it was pretty CPU-demanding.

Of course, lack of emulation doesn't rule out the possibility of remakes – except unless they kept the development materials around, trying to replicate things with nothing but an actual VB sounds laborious.

The modded Wii has a good one called Wiirtual Boy. I believe it is the best Virtual Boy emulator in existence.

For some reason I haven't been able to find a working rom of Mario's Tennis though (and this includes not working on the crappy PC emulators either). Maybe if I get lucky I'll find a different rom set that identifies the one I downloaded as a bad dump.

[Tanooki]

Good post Guntz, and I know my eyes are 'rare' too as I could take it for hours on end and not end up having issues popping out of it, nor did it ever once make me sick or give me headaches. Portable is subjective, it just wasn't tethered to a tv, but yeah no one ever sold a head strap either. I think it probably was a somewhat unfinished work from talk in the days, as it appeared more likely they had attempted to do RGB and the colors were so bloody expensive in the day they settled on RED to speed it along and get it out for a better (sub $200) price, I think it was $170. I've had most of the US library and a couple of the cheap JP titles too as I've owned it off/on twice since the original retail buy in the 90s. My issue with it isn't that it's crap, it's crap that it's treated like that, got few releases, and little respect so I ran out of stuff to play being bored with it. Had the development community of the last 2~ years been around 4 years ago when I last had one I'd still own it. With all the prototypes coming out finished, or unfinished and people finish them up via hacking, the new games (street fighter 2/turbo clone, that fish game, etc) and the rest been there I'd be satisfied. I'd also have bought that VB flash cart because people charging like a 1000 for Gundam and Space Invaders can suck it.

[Manhattan Sports Club]

I hope this happens eventually. Dragon Hopper is one of my most wanted prototypes of all-time along side Twelve Tales and Sonic 1 beta.

[Tanooki]

Dragon Hopper I read there are a few protos around, but no one is talking as much to straight up admit they physically own it, so who knows. Given the date it should have come out in the US it's likely a finished game and floating, somewhere. Bound High never made it out either, but that one has a ROM you can find online.

[Niku-Sama]

wait the VB failed? I thought they were releasing a hatsune miku game on it on may 26th?

[SparTonberry]

Nintendo did not release a headstrap, so no I don't think they expected people to wear them while walking around.

That would've been a lawsuit waiting to happen.

I played my Game Boy ONCE while walking around before realizing it's a bad idea.
But of course you see idiots running around while staring at their phones instead of where they're going all the time. I remember reading a story once of supposedly NY making laws because of people on their phones walking into traffic regularly. :P

[Tanooki]

Of course people don't have common sense, why do you think they now have to have texting/reading bans while driving. You know because while you're reading you can still use your psychic powers to see the road and your telekinetic ones to manipulate the pedals and wheels. I mean who doesn't do that? Geez.