Nintendo's Vitrual Boy...What does everyone think?

[JB]

The big question I have (this coming from a person who played the VB maybe once at a display years ago and doesn't really remember it all too well) is how well does this unit mimic a boy? The products name might be extremely accurate. It doesn't mention the word reality at all. I myself don't remember what a boy is like and since I have no children and don't play with boys I would be a bad one to comment on the choice of names. Some people have suggested the word "virtual" doesn't belong in this products name. I'm assuming these are mature men who can testify the Virtual Boy doesn't feel like a real boy at all and therefore, since I have nothing else to go by... I will agree with them.

892197[/snapback]

Hmmm.... maybe if we give Jackson a VB he'll quit showing up on the news...

 

Yes, and we've had "multimedia" ever since books were published with illustrations.

 

Print. Be it picture or word, it is only one medium.

But it's text AND graphics. Thus, it qualifies.

[chadtower]

Okay, you guys really need some dictionaries.

 

With various nonapplicable meanings snipped...

 

me·di·um    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (md-m)
n. pl. me·di·a (-d-) or me·di·ums 

An intervening substance through which something else is transmitted or carried on. 

 

The BOOK is the medium. The contents of the book are irrelevant. The medium is the delivery mechanism and not the content being delivered. A book is a single medium and therefore cannot be multimedia.

[ZylonBane]

That's not what ham means.  Ham is meat from the hamstring area of an animal, from the back of the knee up to the butt.  It is a meat industry term that does not specifically tie to a pig.  That is why hamburger is called hamburger.

No, idiot, hamburger is called that because it originated in Hamburg, Germany. Hence my point.

 

And the meat industry usage is irrelevant to common usage. I've never heard of beef ham. Have you?

[chadtower]

Ah yes, the "common usage" argument. It's always good to lower oneself to the lowest common demoninator, i.e. the stupid people who barely understand their own language.

 

The stupid people use the word this way, thus that is the only way in which it should be used.

 

Anyway, this has gone way OT, and it's boring now, so have fun with your beef against the VB for not being something it wasn't.

[Stingray]

have fun with your beef against the VB for not being something it wasn't.

892300[/snapback]

 

Beef? I thought we were talking about ham.

 

-S

[chadtower]

Psst... that was the joke.

[Jess Ragan]

It's the revenge of TheAveng!

 

JR

[ZylonBane]

So in conclusion, that VB is much-beloved by people who are inclined to forgive or rationalize all flaws.

[moycon]

So in conclusion, that VB is much-beloved by people who are inclined to forgive or rationalize all flaws.

 

Hmmm and since there is no man or any man produced product without flaws that must be either overlooked or accepted (rationalized or forgiven if you will).... I think what Zylon is saying is that everyone loves this unit.

 

Good deal.

[JB]

So in conclusion, that VB is much-beloved by people who are inclined to forgive or rationalize all flaws.

892471[/snapback]

Much like every other game system made.

[Jess Ragan]

So in conclusion, that VB is much-beloved by people who are inclined to forgive or rationalize all flaws.

892471[/snapback]

 

Those people must love YOU a whole lot!

 

JR

[shep]

So in conclusion, that VB is much-beloved by people who are inclined to forgive or rationalize all flaws.

892471[/snapback]

 

 

Oh bite me.

[Jess Ragan]

I like my snappy comeback better.

 

JR

[thegamezmaster]

I've got one I picked up complete for $5 and like it myself.

[junglehunter]

I used to have all but two titles, but my mother sold them all as I was still under their control at that age...but now I have one again its one of my favorites consoles.  Im a huge VB fan!  http://virtual-boy.org is a great resource for the unreleased games...Mario Kart would have been a hit!

Wow that site brings back a lot of great memories. I used to visit it quite frequently when I got into the Virtual Boy about 4 years ago. I contributed an article (I believe the text only one) but I don't see my name anywhere in the credits.

 

Anyways, this little system isn't too bad. I still think everyone bullshits when they talk about eye sore and headaches. I could play it forever with no problems.

[BassGuitari]

I've only played Virtual Boy a couple times, and the games I got to play (Wario Land and Vertical Force) were pretty cool. The VB's games don't look like anything the SNES couldn't handle, though. But maybe they are, I don't know the technical aspects of this stuff.

 

If if found one for $5 I would definately pick it up!

Edited July 17, 2005 by BassGuitari

[JB]

The VB's games don't look like anything the SNES couldn't handle, though. But maybe they are, I don't know the technical aspects of this stuff.

They are.

Aside from resolution, the SNES can only scale/rotate one graphical object(via graphics mode 7). And that comes at the cost of ALL your background layers in all scanlines the "3D" object can be in(hence why the final battle of Mario World has no status bar and a black background).

VB regularly does more than this.

 

As for Red Alarm... heck, the VB has trouble rendering that, and it's got a MUCH more powerful processor.

[+FujiSkunk]

Okay, you guys really need some dictionaries...

 

The BOOK is the medium.  The contents of the book are irrelevant.  The medium is the delivery mechanism and not the content being delivered.  A book is a single medium and therefore cannot be multimedia.

892285[/snapback]

 

Strictly speaking, you're right. You also missed my point.

 

Some buzzwords have connotations that do not jive with their actual, literal meaning. Marketeers feast on those connotations, knowing full well most people won't know any better, and also knowing they can fall back on the literal meaning of the words should someone try and accuse them of "false" advertising.

 

Going back to "multimedia", consider this definition found at dictionary.reference.com:

 

Of or relating to an application that can combine text, graphics, full-motion video, and sound into an intergrated package.

 

This does not suggest a use of more than one physical medium, and in reality, most things hyped up as "multimedia" in fact only use one medium (CD, DVD, hard drive, etc.). This was also the connotation I was using.

 

Whether or not Nintendo can be accused of such finagling, I don't know. I defer to those who know more about Nintendo's history than I.

Edited July 18, 2005 by skunkworx

[Dusk2600]

Ok, you guys, i brought this old thread back to life because i wanted to do one myself, but i searched it and saw its been done.

 

I love virtual boy, it had some pretty neat games and it is a cool (done b4 its time idea) i like the colors, but if it had all colors it be amazing. My vb doesnt always start up. Does ne1 else have this issue? if not i will buy another cus i really like it but i dont play it cus i dont wanna break it oh well let me kno what you think

[shep]

Oh bite me.

 

 

 

I just wanted to say that again,

[Lord Helmet]

I just sold mine because it sat collecting dust for over 5 years.

[Draikar]

My vb doesnt always start up. Does ne1 else have this issue? if not i will buy another cus i really like it but i dont play it cus i dont wanna break it oh well let me kno what you think

 

Mine takes a few seconds to start up but dose start, maybe yours needs new batteries or find the power cord may work better. But the power cord cost a bit on ebay.

[Video]

The virtual boy was a nice little system, with some raging huge flaws that should have been delt with befor release.

 

One of the biggest ones, is the fact it's on a stand. It should have been put in a helmet format. It's not like it would be that big of a problem, Lot of people complain that it would weigh to much, but I doubt the few pounds it wighs would be a problem, unless it was seriously off balanced. I hear the real reason for it's set up, was Nintendo was afraid some little kids would wear the thing and walk around with it.

 

The second thing, it should have been sold with the power supply. The thing is WAY to big a battery hog to just use batteries. And this playes into one of it's problems. This was touted as a portable unit, but it's not portable in the scense that GameBoy is portable. It's no more portable than a Console. So yeah, it should have definately had a Power supply as a primary power source instead of a batterie pack.

 

And third, well, obviously, color. Everybody says Color would have cost so much, blah, blah, blah. But I personally own one of the TV walkmans from the early 90's, and it's just as high a resolution as the VB was, full color, and at about $50 for the unit, it probably wouldn't have added much to the cost of the VB. (the color LCD screen itself probably was expensive, but part of that $50 has to go for materials, and the tuner, etc)

 

Over all, the VB was one of the few systems Nintendo released that really had a "half-assed-it" feel to it. It was a great Idea, it should have never been sold as a "portable" system, as it isn't, at least not any more than any other console. And the Link cable should have been released in the US (as well as some of the later games)

 

And despite all people's griping, the thing doesn't cause eye cancer (any more than any other video display) and doesn't even cause eyestrain if the thing is focused right. It takes about a second, on the startup screen to get it focused right too.

 

And despite everybody saying it was fragile (whidh I bought into, and actually bought a second system) It's not going to break if you breath on it or anything. Sure, you had to treat it a little better than most consoles, due to moving parts, and the fragile stand. But I've never broken anything on mine. Funny thing, the replacement I bought, was actually broken when I got it.

 

The thing was a decent Idea, but to expensive for a "portable" system, though if it was released today for the same price point it was originally released at, it wouldn't be nearly as outrageous, considering all new handhelds seem to be more than $100, even Nintendo's own systems. I think it's an Idea that could float, if it was rereleased today, but I find it more likely that the Sega 3D glasses woulld come back first.

 

Over all it's got great games, in fact, with the exception of Japanese games, and other stuff never released in the US (which I haven't played), this is one of the few systems I can honestly say has no sucky games. yes, my preference doesn't allow me to play Teleboxer much, but while I don't play it, it's not because the game sucks. The system just got a bad rap early on, and there was to few people willing to give it a chance. And to be truthful, and fair, as I said, it had some issues it shouldn't have had. Even for it's time.

[shep]

...beat a dead horse much...

 

[kevincal]

lol, I went into Toys R Us back in 1995 to pick up the SNES Zelda, and I was floored to see the VB only cost $30...I was only 14 at the time so money was short and I bought the VB instead of Zelda and still have it and about 10 games. It's a neat little system. Plus, it was a good investment as they go for pretty good money on eBay.