Virtual Boy System/accessory by Nintendo Reviewed by The Avardancer Released: 1995 Height: About four inches high (Without "legs") Width: About a foot long Depth: about four inches (What a monster!) Weight: About 3 pounds. Battery Life: 20+ hours Colors on-screen: Red and black. Black is the abscense of color. Total Palette: four shades of red ROM Sizes: 1 megabit to 32 megabits (Or 512 kilbits to 4 megabytes) Use with: Virtual Boy games, and products +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Opening Snide Remarks: Remember those freaky commercials where the Virtual Boy chased that guy in a loin cloth around like something out of "War of the Worlds"? Anyways, Nintendo of America considers this a "failure" system. Let us see if I agree. Here's my opinon on the beleagured 32-Bit creature. After all.. I can't honestly call it a system.. it's more of a creature. You stick your face in the creature. Do I like the creature? Well.. let us see. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Impressions: For one, it's not a portable device.. I would say, more of a table top device, similar to the Vectrex, it's self-contained. Nintendo tried to market it as a portable device. The unit is bulky and funny looking. It seems that Nintendo has tried to "disown" the Virtual Boy in the USA. The Virtual Boy only had about 14 games in the USA and Japan before it.. "died". It was designed by the same person who designed the Game Boy and it's various incarnations. The unit itsself is odd looking and would probably scare away many consumers. The device was also frowned upon by US optometrists (Eye Doctors) and it had a warning label. You gotta admit.. Nintendo had guts to release it in the states. The game uses dual lenses to create an illusion of "3-D" space. The same as those red and blue "glasses". It sounds questionable in theory; and was implemented poorly at first. The games weren't a problem. The bad press from many magazines and the "7+ warning" were the problem. The system, while akward to use was supported very limply. It had no real third party support and because of it's nature.. many places were wary of it. The device's games were not bad. Some of them are quite good. One of my friends claims that the Golf game on Virtual Boy is the best Golf ever. (I find that a bit scary.. I need to borrow his copy of the game.) I bought my Virtual Boy for $30. Than.. I returned it. I bought it a little later for $10 and I kept it. Liked: The Virtual Boy does NOT suck. It's ill-concieved and wasn't supported at all; but it didn't suck. It was fun. It's like looking back on a one night stand. You don't think: "Man, that was awful". You think: "That was fun while it lasted." Okay, that was a bad example. This creature had some very cool games; if you gave it a chance. It had decent sound and graphics, the red didn't bother me. The systems 3-D gimmick was a nice novelty and the system has not collected much dust over here at my house. It just needed a redesign and some more games. It had potential. Hated: It was bulky and big, it also seemed fragile. It was a pain to adjust it; and it was marketed wrong. Other than that.. I have no complaints. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Improve: It may never happen; but the Virtual Boy just needs a redesign; and it would have been ready for the big time. Give the V-Boy a chance! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Final Words: The system is now quite rare; don't think twice about snatching up a Virtual Boy and some of its games. Do it for nostalgia, do it for the novelty, do it because it's not expensive; but mostly.. do it to play some truly unique games. The system was fun while it lasted and I liked how it looked. The device was red to prevent high costs. It's not bad; it isn't for everyone; but for the hardcore.. get this and be more hardcore. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Score: 76% +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Secrets: It is easier to play this if you lie down on your back and let its "legs" rest of your chest. You may need to spread the legs a bit. But, it's much more comfortable and allows the ceature to eat your brain in a more compfortable position.