Stereoscopic Masks for Video Games - Text 4
Another major problem was that many users complained of headaches, backache and dizziness after using the console, pushing Nintendo to add a warning to players.[10] Some games even suggested players take regular breaks to avoid dizzy spells.
Another disappointment described by Zachara and Zagal was a product of one’s experience of Virtual Boy, which was entirely individual, isolating the player and making it impossible to share the game with family or friends.[11] There was a port for connecting several consoles in order to play together, but no game was able to take advantage of this option given the limited lifespan of the console.
Although the three-dimensional display constituted the console’s principal interest, this was the greatest sales challenge, because the only way to experience it was to try it[12]. It is hard to introduce a 3D product by means of two-dimensional media such as magazines and television: “Playing is believing.”[13] Nintendo would even join forces with Blockbuster to offer rentals for only $10, and it organized draws with NBC to distribute more than $200,000 in prizes, including of course Virtual Boy games and consoles,[14] with the goal of creating enthusiasm and an appetite for the product.
Finally, the lack of attractive games, commonly called “killer apps,” was the console’s coup de grace, because it reduced players’ interest and lowered game sales, discouraging the development of new experiences. With only twenty-two games available in Japan and on the North American market, the Virtual Boy games library never had the success necessary to attract an audience. In addition, the same graphic systems and modes of playing were used from one game to the next; the sole added value was the impression of depth.[15] As an example, Virtual Boy Wario Land, generally seen as the best Virtual Boy game, provided very few 3D effects[16] and was closer to Super Mario World than to an immersive experience.
Despite these issues, deriving from technology and marketing, Virtual Boy nevertheless left its mark on the industry. Nintendo focused on the new Nintendo 64, and the failure of Virtual Boy taught it, among other things, how to present a three-dimensional world in real time.[17] Unfortunately, Virtual Boy’s lack of commercial success also marked Gumpei Yokoi’s departure from Nintendo. He then founded his own company, Koto, and developed a portable console reminiscent of Gameboy; it was launched by Bandai under the name Wonder Swan before Yokoi’s tragic death in an automobile accident in 1997.[18]
Even though Nintendo quickly forgot this escapade in virtual reality, one sees some family resemblance between it and the portable console Nintendo 3DS, which offered stereoscopic 3D without glasses, or the VR edition of Nintendo Labo, which made it possible to construct cardboard glasses in order to transform the console Switch into a modern Virtual Boy in a manner reminiscent of Google Cardboard. We might think, therefore, that the DNA of Virtual Boy is still present at Nintendo. Today the console is prized by video game collectors seeking a unique piece. Despite all its faults enumerated here, Virtual Boy represents at one and the same time Nintendo’s most stinging failure and the company’s originality and risk-taking, along with those of innovative employees such as Gumpei Yokoi.
