Editing Virtual Boy (section)

===Development===
Since 1985, a red LED eyepiece display technology called Scanned Linear Array was developed by [[Massachusetts]]-based Reflection Technology, Inc. (RTI).<ref name="GPro67"/><ref name="Unraveling the Enigma"/> The company produced a stereoscopic [[Positional tracking|head-tracking]] 12-inch display device prototype called ''Private Eye'', featuring a tank game.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Edwards |first=Benj |date=2024-05-15 |title=Virtual Boy: The bizarre rise and quick fall of Nintendo's enigmatic red console |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/05/virtual-boy-the-bizarre-rise-and-quick-fall-of-nintendos-enigmatic-red-console/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}</ref> Seeking funding and partnerships by which to develop it into a commercial technology, RTI demonstrated Private Eye to the consumer electronics market, including [[Mattel]] and [[Hasbro]].<ref name="Unraveling the Enigma"/> [[Sega]] declined the technology, due to its single-color display and concerns about [[motion sickness]].<ref name="Unraveling the Enigma"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://revrob.com/sci-tech/264-tom-kalinske-talks-about-his-time-overseeing-sega-as-its-ceo-in-the-90s-reveals-that-sega-passed-on-virtual-boy-technology-considered-releasing-3do|title=Tom Kalinske Talks About His Time Overseeing Sega As Its CEO In the 90s; Reveals That Sega Passed On Virtual Boy Technology, Considered Releasing 3DO|last1=Vinciguerra|first1=Robert|website=The Rev. Rob Times|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025155922/http://revrob.com/sci-tech/264-tom-kalinske-talks-about-his-time-overseeing-sega-as-its-ceo-in-the-90s-reveals-that-sega-passed-on-virtual-boy-technology-considered-releasing-3do|archive-date=October 25, 2015|access-date=September 21, 2015}}</ref>

Nintendo enthusiastically received the Private Eye, as led by [[Gunpei Yokoi]], the general manager of Nintendo's [[Nintendo Research & Development 1|R&D1]] and the inventor of the [[Game & Watch]] and [[Game Boy]] handheld consoles. He saw this as a unique technology that competitors would find difficult to emulate. Additionally, the resulting game console was intended to enhance Nintendo's reputation as an innovator<ref name="Unraveling the Enigma"/><ref name="Boyer">{{cite magazine |last=Boyer |first=Steven |title=A Virtual Failure: Evaluating the Success of Nintendos Virtual Boy |magazine=[[Velvet Light Trap]] |issue=64 |date=Fall 2009 |volume=64 |pages=23–33 |doi=10.1353/vlt.0.0039 |s2cid=190682178 |url=https://archive.org/details/VirtualFailure/mode/2up}}</ref> and to "encourage more creativity" in games.<ref name="Ultimate History of Video Games"/>{{rp|514}} Codenaming the project "VR32",<ref name="Unraveling the Enigma"/> Nintendo entered into an exclusive agreement with RTI to license its display technology.<ref name="GPro67">{{cite magazine|url=https://retrocdn.net/images/c/c7/GamePro_US_067.pdf|title=April Brings Virtual Boy|date=February 1995|magazine=[[GamePro]]|url-status=live|issue=67|page=162|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007040143/https://retrocdn.net/images/c/c7/GamePro_US_067.pdf|archive-date=October 7, 2018}}</ref> While Nintendo's [[Nintendo Research & Development 3|Research & Development 3 division]] (R&D3) was focused on developing the [[Nintendo 64]], the other two engineering units were free to experiment with new product ideas.<ref name="Boyer" />

Spending four years in development and eventually building a dedicated manufacturing plant in China,<ref name="Unraveling the Enigma"/> Nintendo worked to turn its VR32 vision into an affordable console design. Yokoi retained RTI's choice of red LED because it was the cheapest,<ref name="Boyer" /> and because unlike a backlit LCD, its perfect blackness could achieve a more immersive sense of infinite depth.<ref name="Unraveling the Enigma"/> RTI and Nintendo said a color LCD system would have been prohibitively expensive,<ref name="Unraveling the Enigma"/><ref name="Guardian Super Mario"/> retailing for more than {{USD|500|1995|long=yes|round=-1}}.<ref name="Ultimate History of Video Games"/>{{rp|514}} A color LCD system was also said to have caused "jumpy images in tests".<ref name="Guardian Super Mario"/> With ongoing concerns about motion sickness, the risk of developing [[Amblyopia|lazy eye]] conditions in young children, and Japan's new Product Liability Act of 1995, Nintendo eliminated the head tracking functionality and converted its headmounted goggle design into a stationary, heavy, precision steel-shielded, tabletop form factor conformant to the recommendation of the Schepens Eye Research Institute.<ref name="Unraveling the Enigma"/><ref name="Ultimate History of Video Games"/>{{rp|514}}

{{blockquote|[W]e experimented with a color LCD screen, but the users did not see depth, they just saw double. Color graphics give people the impression that a game is high tech. But just because a game has a beautiful display does not mean that the game is fun to play. ... Red uses less battery and red is easier to recognize. That is why red is used for traffic lights.|Gunpei Yokoi<ref name="Ultimate History of Video Games"/>{{rp|514}}}}

Several {{visible anchor|Technology demonstrations|text=technology demonstrations}} were used to show the Virtual Boy's capabilities. ''Driving Demo'' is one of the more advanced demos; its 30-second clip shows a first-person view of driving by road signs and palm trees. This demo was shown at [[Electronic Entertainment Expo|E3]] and [[Consumer Electronics Show|CES]] in 1995.<ref name="Driving">{{cite web |url=http://www.planetvb.com/modules/games/index.php?t002g |title=F1 Demo « Games « Planet Virtual Boy |publisher=Planetvb.com |access-date=November 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921065852/http://www.planetvb.com/modules/games/index.php?t002g |archive-date=September 21, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> The startup screen of the Virtual Boy prototype was shown at [[Nintendo Space World#Shoshinkai 1994|Shoshinkai 1994]].<ref name="Mario">{{cite web |url=http://www.planetvb.com/modules/games/index.php?t003g |title=Mario Demo « Games « Planet Virtual Boy |publisher=Planetvb.com |access-date=November 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921065824/http://www.planetvb.com/modules/games/index.php?t003g |archive-date=September 21, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NP Jan 1995 VB">{{cite magazine|date=January 1995|title=Virtual Boy Is Born at Shoshinkai November, 1994|url=https://archive.org/stream/NintendoPower1988–2004/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20068%20%28January%201995%29#page/n77/mode/2up|magazine=[[Nintendo Power]]|issue=68|pages=52–53}}</ref> A "very confident" projection of "sales in Japan of three million hardware units and 14 million software units as of March 1996" was given to the press.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Nintendo+introduces+video+game+players+to+three-dimensional+worlds...-a015923459|title=Nintendo introduces video game players to "three-dimensional" worlds with new virtual reality video game system; 32-bit "Virtual Boy" shown at Shoshinkai Software Exhibition in Japan|date=November 14, 1994|publisher=BusinessWire|location=Tokyo, Japan|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327195123/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Nintendo+introduces+video+game+players+to+three-dimensional+worlds...-a015923459|archive-date=March 27, 2019|access-date=June 27, 2018}}</ref> The demo of what would have been a ''[[Star Fox]]'' game showed an [[Arwing]] doing various spins and motions.<ref name="Star Fox">{{cite web |url=http://www.planetvb.com/modules/games/index.php?t006g |title=Starfox Demo « Games « Planet Virtual Boy |publisher=Planetvb.com |access-date=November 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921065910/http://www.planetvb.com/modules/games/index.php?t006g |archive-date=September 21, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> Cinematic camera angles were a key element, as they are in ''[[Star Fox 2]]''. It was shown at E3 and CES in 1995.

As a result of increasing competition for internal resources alongside the flagship Nintendo 64, and little involvement from lead game designer [[Shigeru Miyamoto]], Virtual Boy software was developed without Nintendo's full attention.<ref name="Unraveling the Enigma"/> According to [[David Sheff]]'s book ''[[Game Over (Sheff book)|Game Over]]'', the increasingly reluctant Yokoi never intended for the increasingly downscaled Virtual Boy to be released in its final form. However, Nintendo pushed it to market so that it could focus development resources on its next console, the [[Nintendo 64]].<ref name="Game Over by David Sheff">{{cite book | last1=Sheff|first1=David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b_N5FzzD3hsC|title=Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children|last2=Eddy|first2=Andy|publisher=GamePress|year=1999|isbn=978-0-9669617-0-6|oclc=26214063|author-link=David Sheff}}</ref>