STICH666 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 The system may have failed but Nintendo sure as hell knows how to build a sturdy console. This freaking thing just fell 4 feet off my TV and landed on a thin carpet covering a cement floor. Not a damn thing wrong with it. WTF is your secret Nintendo!?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 You probably just jinxed yourself by saying that. Now the cabling to one of your screens is going to come loose like on so many other VBs... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenegg Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 The VB definitely cannot take a beating. There is a serious issue with the adhesive used for the screen cables, which cause owners tons of problems. They can come lose very easily, causing all sorts of display problems. Luckily this is something that can be fixed (I use a hairdryer to reheat the glue), but it's still a pain to deal with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koopa64 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Too bad this display cable problem isn't just a soldering problem or like on the 32X with a pair of ribbon cables which can cause the unit to not function. VBs may not take beatings very well, but they sure do have one hell of a markup. If it weren't for the ridiculous prices, I'd have bought one a long time ago. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenegg Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Too bad this display cable problem isn't just a soldering problem or like on the 32X with a pair of ribbon cables which can cause the unit to not function. VBs may not take beatings very well, but they sure do have one hell of a markup. If it weren't for the ridiculous prices, I'd have bought one a long time ago. You can actually 'permanently' fix the VB display problem by soldering the wires in place. This isn't an easy job though. I consider myself to have fairly decent soldering skills and it's not something I'm willing to do on my system. If it wasn't so hard to find a system in good condition and the price wasn't so high, I might be willing to give it a shot. As it is now, my blowdryer technique has held up for nearly 6 months now, so I'm happy with that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horst Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Its been my experience that the Virtual Boy is extremely delicate. One little bump and you get funny lines through your display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koopa64 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 You can actually 'permanently' fix the VB display problem by soldering the wires in place. This isn't an easy job though. I consider myself to have fairly decent soldering skills and it's not something I'm willing to do on my system. If it wasn't so hard to find a system in good condition and the price wasn't so high, I might be willing to give it a shot. As it is now, my blowdryer technique has held up for nearly 6 months now, so I'm happy with that How small are the display wires? It might not be too bad. If you aren't that confident in your soldering skills, buy a desoldering iron (even a cheapo one) and get some flux! The latter is a must when doing electronic soldering. It helps solder to stick to certain metal surfaces. I've had lots that my solder didn't like, such as wires or through-hole components. Flux also helps to prevent cold solder joints and it can also help keep solder from touching eachother on closely positioned pins. Oh yeah, if the wires are super tiny, you might want to get a smaller tip for your iron. That's something I should do for when I'm fixing Game Gears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaperman Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) both of my (extremely babied) vb's ran into the screen issue, and I really need to send one for repair. Certainly not something that was designed to last as well as most early nintendo systems. As for how easy it is to do by ones self--it's a ribbon cable solder job, so it's a complete horror show. Edited August 1, 2011 by Reaperman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koopa64 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Ribbon cable, huh? If one puts their mind to it, you can learn and gain the experience to solder something like that. Just do the following: - Get an iron with a small tip, with some rosin core lead-based solder - Buy some flux (works well with rosin core solder) and a desoldering iron (probably with a small tip too) - Practice, practice, practice on worthless stuff like a dead DVD player. I say this because I for one don't know of anyone who specifically offers a service for fixing Virtual Boys. I'm not a good candidate because I'm in Canada and I've never owned a Virtual Boy before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic R Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 my friends VB wasn't so lucky he was hosting a game gathering, mixed with alcohol, and a couple patrons got into a physical scuffle, right next to the table where the VB was… the VB was knocked to the floor and the stand shattered in four pieces - I don't know if the screens were affected, I'll have to ask him… the moral of the story, no more playing Teleroboxer at game gatherings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I'll open up a virtual boy over the week and see how tiny the cables are. I'm really confident with my soldering, so I just may be able to help out you guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaperman Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 (edited) vb repair guide Can't tell exactly how tiny they are though. Edited August 2, 2011 by Reaperman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Ever since I got mine, I've been treating it very delicately, so far the screen on it is perfect. For three years now. I know I probably jinxed myself for saying that, but it's true. The most damage it's taken is probably a small bump into the wall while moving it around or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Itchy Koala Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Mine is doing pretty good so far. It did take a nasty fall (on the fault of my friend), which made my heart sink. But the champ survived it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 (edited) vb repair guide Can't tell exactly how tiny they are though. Its doable for me, but I'm kinda scared about using chemicals on that cable. I have never done anything like that before, and I don't have any spare VB's to test on. They look to be about a dime width apart, maybe a little less, but flux and a steady hand will make this job fairly easy. Non steady hands... can easily bridge them. The contacts themselves look to be pretty thick, so if you just work with the centers of each of the leads, should be very easily doable. I do like the oven method. Edited August 2, 2011 by keilbaca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1500 Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 I thought there would be a video from Keith Apicary wearing his Virtual Boy headset & crashing into everything in the known universe here. But for all we know he could be using a VB husk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_Locomotive Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 (edited) You can actually 'permanently' fix the VB display problem by soldering the wires in place. This isn't an easy job though. I consider myself to have fairly decent soldering skills and it's not something I'm willing to do on my system. If it wasn't so hard to find a system in good condition and the price wasn't so high, I might be willing to give it a shot. As it is now, my blowdryer technique has held up for nearly 6 months now, so I'm happy with that Exactly what I did with mine. I have no where near the skills required to do it though so I tracked down and paid a person experienced in this exact repair, took months before I had a working VB again(all thanks to slow as postal service) but it was worth every cent as it went from being unplayable to perfect. Oh and as for them taking a beating, I keep mine on my shelf with the stand removed so that very thing doesn't get tested. Edited August 2, 2011 by A_Locomotive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animan Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 (edited) While the VB can be delicate, pretty much every other Nintendo system is built like a tank. Once, my friends Wii, while running Smash Bros. Brawl, was pulled down from the table by a GameCube controller plugged into the system. It fell 3 ft. onto the solid, hard floor. The game was still running. Edited August 3, 2011 by Animan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockman_x_2002 Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 I had no idea about these problems with the VB. I guess I've been extremely lucky up to this point that mine's still ticking. The only part that's broken on me is the stand. The middle section broke and now it can't stand up on my desk. I have to use it laying down and looking down into it, which as you can imagine is quite uncomfortable. Of course, the main reason I would continue to play the system is for the games that I have for it (most of them). Now that the 3DS is out, I wonder if Nintendo would consider porting over some of those as part of the Virtual Console series (likely not, since I figure they probably want to distance themselves as far away from the VB as possible). Of course, I'd settle for full-blown remakes of these games, done as true 3DS games. At least that way if my VB ever did kick the proverbial bucket, I would still be able to play the games I have for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Only slightly related, but after reading this thread, I got to wondering about the VirtualBoy, as I've never actually played one, (Still haven't) So, I found RealityBoy (emulator) and Wario for the Virtual Boy. Using that, with the red/blue 3D glasses... I have to say.. That's kind of fun.. I was impressed... Now, I'm playing it on a laptop, not staring into the VirtualBoy itself.. But the depth is pretty good and used well in that game... (Haven't tried any others) If you own a Virtual Boy and have used an emulator, is it in any way comparable?? Supposedly, Reality Boy supports LCD 3D shutters also, but my laptop doesn't support that.. My PC does, or at least it did when I had Windows on it, but that's been quite a while... Just wondering.. desiv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.