Virtual Boy - a personal mystery...

[Blackjax]

I'm not posting a 'rip the system' thread here - heck, I have one and an armload of games, and still consider it $20 well spent. However...

Why red?

Why of all the colors in the rainbow that Nintendo could have chosen for the screen did they pick that horrible, dark, often hard to see, headache inducing red?

A slightly lighter color might have made the games look better - just look at VB in an emu. Yes, I know it's not exactly the same, but the games look just fine in other colors, including plain old white.

Was it a marketing decision? Did red cause the least ammount of headaches in playtesters? Flip of a coin?

I don't know if anyone knows the reason red was picked, but hopefully someone does.

[om3ga]

Because red & black work well together.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Hmmmm.... :?

[PhoeniX]

Humans do a lot better with green, nightvision is often tinted green for this reason. Green, however, doesn't have that flare; red really does look (and sound) cool... That is until your playing red alarm past the first hour and your eyes are so bloodshot that you have an obligitory case of the munchies...

[AB Positive]

the red LCD screens were MUCH cheaper to use in production, and had a sharper contrast for clear lines where green was more expensive and gave a 'soft' feel. For cost and asthetics, Nintendo went with red.

-AG

[SoulBlazer]

My question is, has'nt technology gotten advanced enough that a all color virtual boy could be made now for under $300? :hmm:

[Querjek]

Does red have a larger or smaller wavelength than blue? I would imagine that this somehow plays into the cost to manufactuer each screen.

[pixelsnpolygons]

The forums remind me of Virtual Boy graphics.

[Avenger]

The forums remind me of Virtual Boy graphics.

not me i change my skin to the cool wood one :D...so in my case it reminds me off...

a tree...

[Sylentwulf]

the red LCD screens were MUCH cheaper to use in production, and had a sharper contrast for clear lines where green was more expensive and gave a 'soft' feel. For cost and asthetics, Nintendo went with red.

-AG

Ding!

[Sniderman]

My question is, has'nt technology gotten advanced enough that a all color virtual boy could be made now for under $300? :hmm:

Since VB was a commecial failure, I doubt they'd revisit the tech. Just as I don't think they'll be people standing in line for a Color Game.com. Initial failure = no chance of rebirth.

[Brian_Provinciano]

I would love to see a colour Virtual Boy, but know Nintendo will never do such a thing. The technology is there. In fact, you can buy cheap "3D" cameras with special viewfinders. They operate basically the same as the Virtual Boy.

As a developer, I sure would love to code up a Virtual Boy or other real 3D game one day. Despite the commercial failure, it sure would have been quite an experience to work on those games. Tedious I'm sure, but a positive experience none the less.

The VB was a little like junk food though. Really not too good for you, but you want to play it anyways... until you feel sick, heh. Anyone who's played it knows how wacky it feels when taking your eyes out of it after playing for a bit... very unpleasant.

[EnemyZero]

red was the cheapest colorr to used because it murdered your eye sight after an hour LOL

[thehistorian]

Humans do a lot better with green, nightvision is often tinted green for this reason.

The reason Nightvision is green is that our eyes can more quickly adjust back to full dark from a low light level of green. The issue is the chemical in the eye, rhodopsin - commonly called visual purple, is broken down quickly by light. The main issue then is intensity; color is only an issue because the rods (responsible for night vision) are most sensitive at a particular color. That color is a blue-green similar to traffic light green. It would seem that using the lowest brightness (using this color) additional light needed for a task is the best bet to retain this dark adaptation because it allows rods to function at their best.

Why red? The center 1.5% of your retina (the fovea) which provides you with most detailed vision is packed almost exclusively with red sensitive cones.
There are fewer total green sensitive cones than red. The number of blue sensitive cones is very small compared to green and red.

[Sylentwulf]

Since VB was a commecial failure, I doubt they'd revisit the tech. Just as I don't think they'll be people standing in line for a Color Game.com. Initial failure = no chance of rebirth.

Yet, we DO have the N-gage QD....

[Ed Oscuro]

Nokia isn't willing to cut the string. They don't really have another product to fall back on, y'see.

[sisko]

My question is, has'nt technology gotten advanced enough that a all color virtual boy could be made now for under $300? :hmm:

Since VB was a commecial failure, I doubt they'd revisit the tech. Just as I don't think they'll be people standing in line for a Color Game.com. Initial failure = no chance of rebirth.

Sad but true. Not only could the unit be full color, it could be much smaller with longer battery life. I'd buy one, especially if it were sideways compatible with GBA games.

[fishsandwich]

Humans do a lot better with green, nightvision is often tinted green for this reason.

The reason Nightvision is green is that our eyes can more quickly adjust back to full dark from a low light level of green. The issue is the chemical in the eye, rhodopsin - commonly called visual purple, is broken down quickly by light. The main issue then is intensity; color is only an issue because the rods (responsible for night vision) are most sensitive at a particular color. That color is a blue-green similar to traffic light green. It would seem that using the lowest brightness (using this color) additional light needed for a task is the best bet to retain this dark adaptation because it allows rods to function at their best.

Why red? The center 1.5% of your retina (the fovea) which provides you with most detailed vision is packed almost exclusively with red sensitive cones.
There are fewer total green sensitive cones than red. The number of blue sensitive cones is very small compared to green and red.

I love these technical responses! Great job!

:D

[SegaAges]

everytime something about a vb "rebirth" comes up, i have to post about a dream i had (this dream as so real, i swore it was real).

i had a dream a few years back that they were going to bring back the vb, an this time they would produce them in cool colors (like instead of the case looking red, it could be blue or something), and that they were going to rerelease some games for it.

i hopped onto a nintendo chat room once (where noa officials were chatting as well), and asked them when it was coming out, because i was pretty excited. i had even told some of my friends who also wanted to put money down on a vb.

it turned out that nobody ever said that, and that it was all in my head, which means that i had a dream about it.

i guess i truly, do love the vb. i can't explain it, but somehow, i do.

[tritium]

I remember hearing the reason that green screens aren't used anymore (POS systems) is because they discovered that prolonged exposure to green writing, could cause damage to the eye. OR something of the sort. Headaches maybe?

-Tritium

[Tritoch]

Why red?

Because Green Alarm just didn't sound as cool.

[Avenger]

no one has mentioned blue yet...why didnt they use blue?

[rbudrick]

The eye is most receptive to green and red (green moreso). In fact, astronmers use red flashlights to look at star maps outside because white light destroys your night vision, which can take up to 120 minutes to fully regain. Nintendo chose red because it is easiest on the eyes and for expense. People get sick enough using the Virtual Boy. Readjusting from darkness to normal light can also be disorienting, so Nintendo tried to minimize this.

Avenger, they didn't use blue because, like thehistorian said, the human eye is far less responsive to blue (much less blue cones).

My theory is that the human body evolved to be less receptive to blue due to the higher frequency, shorter wavelength to sort of even things out with the red, longer wavelengths. I dunno, maybe not. Just a guess.

-Rob

[koolkid13]

My question is, has'nt technology gotten advanced enough that a all color virtual boy could be made now for under $300? :hmm:
VirtualBoy was a "poor" attempt to cash in on the 'three dee' craze of the nineties. Today it might work if it had pretty graphics like most casual gamers want.

[neuropolitique]

Back in the day, I bought some 3D goggles for about $600. They were basically the same as the Virtual Boy, except they were in color and could track your head movement. I played some Decent, and I must say, it was freakin awesome. It took a moment to adjust when you begin. It's very easy to get lost, but just close your eyes, open them again, and everything is fine.

The resolution was horrible. I can't remember the exact resolution, but text was unreadable. That's actually why I returned them. If I had been able to use them for everyday use, in addition to gaming, I would have kept them.

Today, consumer level 3D goggles would be sick. They'd be both better and cheaper. While a new Virtual Boy isn't likely, I do expect you be able to buy a pair for a console, if not the coming generation, then the next.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Humans do a lot better with green, nightvision is often tinted green for this reason. Green, however, doesn't have that flare; red really does look (and sound) cool... That is until your playing red alarm past the first hour and your eyes are so bloodshot that you have an obligitory case of the munchies...


That is until your playing red alarm past the first hour and your eyes are so bloodshot that you have an obligitory case of the munchies...
LOL

[AB Positive]

I just played Red Alarm for an hour for the first time. What's up with the random things appearing when you shoot them, like the bikini lady and the fish swimming upstream?

Love the game though, I thought it was giong to suck for some reason. Might go up there next to Panic Bomber as one of my favorite VB Games.

-AG