Editing Virtual Boy (section)

==Reception==
[[File:Virtual Boy - Akihabara, Otaku Style.jpg|thumb|Using the Virtual Boy eyepiece]]
The Virtual Boy garnered negative critical reviews and was a [[List of commercial failures in video games|commercial failure]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Lisa Foiles |date=March 1, 2011 |title=Top 5 Hardware Super Fails |work=The Escapist |url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/top-5-with-lisa-foiles/2796-Top-5-Hardware-Super-Fails |access-date=June 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707201630/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/top-5-with-lisa-foiles/2796-Top-5-Hardware-Super-Fails |archive-date=July 7, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> It failed for several reasons including "its high price, the discomfort caused by play [...] and what was widely judged to have been a poorly handled marketing campaign".<ref name="Tomb Space" />

Gamers who previewed the system at the [[Nintendo Space World#Shoshinkai 1994|Shoshinkai 1994]] [[trade show]] complained that the ''Mario'' demo was not realistic enough, was not in full color, and didn't [[Match moving|motion-track]] the image when players turn their heads.<ref name="Guardian Super Mario" /> In the lead editorial of ''[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]'' following the show, Ed Semrad predicted that the Virtual Boy would have poor launch sales due to the monochrome screen, lack of true portability, unimpressive lineup of games, and the price, which he argued was as low as it could get given the hardware but still too expensive for the experience.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Semrad|first=Ed|date=January 1995|title=Nintendo Stumbles with Virtual Boy Intro!|url=https://retrocdn.net/images/8/8d/EGM_US_066.pdf|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=66|page=6|access-date=September 13, 2020|archive-date=October 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007040332/https://retrocdn.net/images/8/8d/EGM_US_066.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]''{{'}}s editors were also dubious of the Virtual Boy's prospects after the show, and concluded their article on the system by commenting, "But who will buy it? It's not portable, it's awkward to use, it's 100% antisocial (unlike multiplayer [[SNES]]/[[Sega Genesis|Genesis]] games), it's too expensive and – most importantly – the 'VR' (i.e. 3D effect) doesn't add to the game at all: it's just a novelty."<ref>{{cite magazine|date=March 1995|title=Nintendo Pins Hopes on Virtual Boy|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=3|pages=20–21 |url=https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-003/page/n21/mode/2up}}</ref>

Following its release, reviews of the Virtual Boy tended to praise its novelty but questioned its ultimate purpose and longtime viability. ''[[The Los Angeles Times]]'' described the gameplay as being "at once familiar and strange".<ref name="LAT" /> The column praised the quality of motion and immersive graphics but considered the hardware tedious to use and non-portable. In a later column, the same reviewer found the system to be somewhat [[asociality|asocial]], but held hope for its future.<ref name="LAT2">{{cite news|last=Curtiss|first=Aaron|title=VALLEY WEEKEND; Nintendo Virtual Boy Measures Up to Billing; as its Library of Titles Slowly Grows, the 3-D System is Becoming More Well-Rounded and Less of a Headache|page=15|work=Los Angeles Times|date=May 2, 1996|via=ProQuest|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/293327145/F8C1FD056543408EPQ/|access-date=August 26, 2020|archive-date=February 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207095409/https://www.proquest.com/docview/293327145/F8C1FD056543408EPQ|url-status=live}}</ref> Reviewing the system shortly after its North American launch, ''Next Generation'' said, "Unusual and innovative, the Virtual Boy can be seen as a gamble in the same way that the [[Game Boy]] was, but it's a lot harder to see the VB succeeding to the same world-conquering extent that the Game Boy did." They elaborated that while the sharp display and unique 3D effect are impressive, aspects such as the monochrome display and potential vision damage to young gamers severely limit the system's appeal. They added that the software library was decent, but failed to capitalize on Nintendo's best-selling franchises because games from ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' and ''[[Metroid]]'' were absent, the ''Mario'' games were not in the same style as the series's most successful installments, and it lacked a system seller to compare with the Game Boy's ''[[Tetris (Game Boy)|Tetris]]''.<ref name="NGen12">{{cite magazine|title=Which Game System is the Best!?|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=12|date=December 1995|pages=36–85|url=https://www.retromags.com/magazines/usa/next-generation/next-generation-issue-12/|access-date=August 26, 2020|archive-date=August 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809173346/https://www.retromags.com/magazines/usa/next-generation/next-generation-issue-12/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Though Nintendo had promised a virtual reality experience, the monochrome display limits the Virtual Boy's potential for immersion.<ref name="Boyer" /><ref name="NGen12"/> Reviewers often considered the three-dimensional features a gimmick, added to games that were essentially two-<ref name="Boyer" /> or even one-dimensional.<ref name="WaPo">{{cite news|last=Frischling | first=Bill|title=Sideline Play|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=11|via=ProQuest|date=October 25, 1995}}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'' said that even when a game gives the impression of three-dimensionality, it suffers from "hollow vector graphics".<ref name="WaPo" /> Yokoi, the system's inventor, said the system did best with action and puzzle games,<ref name="NGen12"/> although those types of games provided only minimal immersion. Multiple critics<ref name="Boyer" /><ref name="Tomb Space" /> lamented the absence of [[Match moving|head-tracking]] in the Virtual Boy hardware. Critics found that, as a result, players were unable to immerse themselves in the game worlds of Virtual Boy games. Instead, they interacted simply via a controller, in the manner of any traditional two-dimensional game. Boyer said the console "struggles to merge the two distinct media forms of home consoles and virtual reality devices". Though the device employs some basic virtual reality techniques, it does so like the traditional home console with no bodily feedback incorporated into gameplay.<ref name="Boyer" />

Many reviewers complained of painful and frustrating physiological symptoms when playing the Virtual Boy. Bill Frischling, writing for ''[[The Washington Post]]'', experienced "dizziness, nausea and headaches".<ref name="WaPo" /> Reviewers attributed the problems to both the monochromatic display and uncomfortable ergonomics. Several prominent scientists concluded that the long-term side effects could be more serious, and articles published in magazines such as ''[[Electronic Engineering Times]]'' and [[CMP Media]]'s ''TechWeb'' speculated that using any immersive headset such as the Virtual Boy could cause sickness, [[Flashback (psychology)|flashbacks]], and even [[permanent brain damage]].<ref>{{cite magazine|date=September 1995|title=VR Headsets Get Warning|url=https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_074_September_1995/page/n141/mode/2up|magazine=[[GamePro]]|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|issue=84|page=140}}</ref> Nintendo, in the years after Virtual Boy's demise, has been frank about its failure. [[Howard Lincoln]], chairman of [[Nintendo of America]], said flatly that the Virtual Boy "just failed".<ref name="Boyer" />