Yes, You Can Buy Virtual Boy Merch At The Nintendo Museum

It's nice to see, but Nintendo really missed their chance to give the Virtual Boy its due on 3DS.

Virtual Boy emulation is one of the best reasons to jailbreak a 3DS. It's great that this weird little experiment in Nintendo's history can finally be explored without tracking down (and likely repairing) expensive original hardware.

I never thought Nintendo felt shame for the VB but rather it probably centers around their feelings about G. Yokoi, which I imagine are entirely respectful as he fathered in an organizational sense the great minds at Ntdo and really set the tone for Nintendo as a tech manufacturer. Now of course G. Yokoi passed tragically not long after his resignation following work on the VB. I could believe his departure and death were enough reason for Nintendo to retire that number, if commercial failure is not the sole factor.

@Razieluigi i agree (and love the virtual biy emulation). But for me the story might be something else here. Maybe the outside world should stop treating Nintendo as if it was a person, with all kinds of heavy emotions and one they have a personal relationship with.

@Razieluigi

Yep, they really should have done

Now we just need to make sure the merchandise doesn't cause dizziness. 😁

@Razieluigi Red Viper was a nice way to bring the legacy of the VB full circle. Really nice to have. Nintendo declined to delve back into that project for reasons manifold I imagine, but I think certain legacies in gaming are being realized by fans of preservation when the official source can’t commercialize them.

I thought it was widely accepted that the Virtual Boy was vindicated by the fact it all but certainly laid down the foundations of, eventual, success with the 3DS?

I think the Virtual Boy is impressive for the time. Not being funny, but it's not like VR is anywhere near decent even now, in 2024.

AR and VR have massively stalled. Wearable technology in general has massively stalled. We haven't even reached a point where everyone wears a smart watch, let alone all the other items you would think could and should follow.

In terms of the merchandise... pretty uninspiring isn't it? A whole load of tat and a t shirt (which is all but certainly terrible quality and will look dreadful after 3 washes) if we're being honest?

@romanista Totally agreed. I do think we tend to personify companies and forget that they don't actually care about anything other than making the next dollar.

But Nintendo does make a lot of those dollars by leveraging this exact same sense of personal connection, so I feel like they still missed a marketable opportunity by not bringing a few VB games to the 3DS.

A flight from the eastern United States is around $1162.40 right now. From North GB it's actually cheaper; $939.97

The real shame for Nintendo are the CD-i games, when can we buy the Unholy Triforce Trilogy merchandise?

@VGScrapbook Now that's a water bottle, key ring, t shirt, fridge magnet and pencil case I NEED!

@romanista Nintendo might not be a person, but it’s been shown that they recognize that they are a company of persons. Particularly in the Iwata era, it’s been hinted that do they have an ‘emotional culture’. Not accidentally, but they actively lead with an emotional culture in order to increase longevity and productivity, and make the kinds of products they do. Maybe it stems from it once being a very old family business that to this day maintains long held alliances among its workers. It does stand in contrast to the more pervasive and so called corporate culture or ‘cognitive culture’ that focuses on competition and business intellect. That often is the sole culture of large businesses. So I don’t feel people are completely missing the mark when they feel Nintendo does make some decisions with feelings, and that there’s something to be admired there.

@nocdaes

"Now that's a water bottle, key ring, t shirt, fridge magnet and pencil case I NEED!"

...and this ashtray!

@nocdaes don't forget pins and shot glasses and comically oversized pillows

Nintendo for 29 years: We don’t acknowledge Virtual Boy

Nintendo 2024: We’ll do anything for a buck, and we’ve just emptied your bank account 😃👍

@-wc- ya Jerk!

He hates these cans!!! 😂✌️

@nocdaes How is VR not decent now? Virtual Boy can't even be compared to VR. VR requires tracking. The Virtual Boy was solely 3D.

@Blast16 Did you read the article? Nintendo has acknowledged it over the years.

"it appeared in Tomodachi Life, WarioWare and even as a bonus item in the 3DS StreetPass mode."

@Lanmanna Yes, I read the article.

Joke attempt missed. Was trying to have a bit of fun.

Feels like Nintendo was mostly ashamed of the Virtual Boy outside of Japan. I remember how in your trophy room in Smash Brothers Melee a Virtual Boy would only appear in the background with all the other consoles if the language was set to Japanese, otherwise I think either a flower or blank shelf was in it's place.

@Cyber_Akuma this is exactly the kind of thing I was getting at, but I didn't know that trivia about Melee. Cool!

@Lanmanna I'm not comparing VB to, say PSVR, I'm just pointing out that VR is just as dreadful today as it has ever been.

The sales are low.

The technology is mediocre. The size of that battery pack. On my head...

The software is non existent.

But that's all nothing compared to the fact that nobody is even close to fulfilling the potential...

In 2024 I still can't use VR/AR to put a flat pack wardrobe together with ease.

I can't "visit" locations on a map - nowhere. Not even famous landmarks, let alone local beauty spots or even a shopping centre to see exactly where a shop is located / how accessible the store is.

I can't "sit" in the stadium of the World Cup Final and look around whilst the match plays out.

Nobody is selling me a VR ticket to a music festival. I watch Glastonbury on a flat TV screen. Still. Why? Why am I not being offered... say £50 for access to any stage I want, to watch anything I want at the show? The cameras are all there...?!

Seriously. VR and AR are closer to Virtual Boy than they are to being anywhere near meeting their potential.

@Razieluigi Feels crazy to hear Virtual Boy hardware has become so expensive, to one who can remember seeing Target trying to get rid of unsold consoles for $30 in 1997.
Probably about as shocking to learn Best Buy had to go as low as $6 at some point trying to sell off EarthBounds. And I'm angry to learn I somehow missed that because EB was one of my favorite rental games as kid. How excited I'd have been as a teen to have finally owned an original copy with the book too!

I don’t care about who is ashamed of what. I am selling a kidney to buy as much merch as I can.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Virtual Boy within 3DS Badge Arcade. They were a hard set of badges to collect!

This article reminds me to go back and play more VB on my 3DS, and finally beat Wario Land.

Also I wanted to point out that the "3DS StreetPass" link highlighted above does not work anymore. Can someone fix it?