The system still has a pretty loyal and active fan community around it. There's been some impressive new homebrew and hardware accessories that have been released in recent years.
Honestly, I appreciate the Virtual Boy. It was ahead of it's time, both positively and negatively. The 3D was a sort of prototype for the 3DS' technology, and it worked well, especially for the mid-90s. Having a 32-bit console you can (kind of) carry with you was a dream back then.
The only issue was having to make so many concessions due to the cost of the 3D technology. 2bpp display? Bright red? Giant-ass brick you have to tape to your head? Bleh.
That’s awesome! My friend had one growing up and I briefly played it for just a few minutes. The only thing I remember is red lol. Would love to try one again.
They're unfortunately getting to be pretty pricey things to track down nowadays. Emulation is a thing, but this is one of those quirky systems where it's almost impossible to really replicate the original experience. I've heard there's a really good emulation solution for the Oculus Go though, if you have access to one of those!
I was helping the guy that designed and produced them at RetroOnyx, I did a lot of beta-testing. I also did quite a bit of digital artwork to contribute to the community and he told me to just keep the carts. I bought one of them, the rest came from him for testing/development.
It's nice to be able to flash several of my favorite unreleased commercial games and homebrew onto different carts and be able to just swap them out instead of constantly reflashing 🤷🏻.
Nice. I have one myself so that's why I recognized them. I actually got the first one that had a new non-salvaged from original carts connector. So the entire thing is brand new parts, which was important to me to not destroy an original VB game.
I definitely want more. I have another Virtual Boy that would be nice to store like this too, and I'd love to make one for my Game Boy(s) and another for Game Gear.
I've always been nervous about taking it out of my house (like when someone I know really wants to try one out), but now I feel so much better about it. I've been able to easily take this with me on several trips now just to have it with me!
If this got put away and remained unopened for 40+/- years, what’s the risk of the foam going funky and eating away at the Virtual Boy plastic and rubber?
No idea! Good question, that thought hadn't occurred to me. 🤔
I guess I'll have to make sure to check on on it periodically if I store it away.
Probably a good question to bring up in the Virtual Boy community, not sure if the Blockbuster cases did any damage to the systems as the foam in those decayed?
I mean... I guess so. But if you need a case for your Virtual Boy, no need to wait for me to die - there are tons of cases readily available at sites like Amazon that you can get to make your own!