I wouldn’t be surprised if it is exaggerated, like E.T. on Atari 2600 is. I always felt like even James Rolfe went easy on the Virtual Boy in the AVGN Episode (that is, comparatively to the other episodes.) James had to focus on the negative aspects in it, because that’s what he usually does in AVGN episodes.
If you consider the Virtual Boy as a novelty for teenagers and adults (which isn’t what it was meant for) and not a console for general use or for anyone younger than 13, there is some quality to it. It may only be for the exclusive games on it and what it was (cheaply) trying to do at the time, though. I’d rate it 6 out of 10, eyestrain considered (which I never got by playing it, since I actually took breaks every 15 minutes *and had the settings configured to my eyes.) The A/C Adapter Accessory is a must, though.
The Sega 32x, on the other hand, deserves its bad reputation. I had one of those, too; it was bought brand new in 2003, and it wouldn’t work properly with all games. Some worked, but others didn’t. I eventually found the reason was with the unit, and it was fixable if you knew what was wrong, but it just shows the unit’s bad quality. The 32x is like a bad movie from Vietnam War Era that was trying to be shocking, failed horribly in the market, and aged even worse. It might have a few highlights here and there, but why would you want to play anything but that one scene / game?
@The magic 🅱oi
We long-term borrowed one from a friend of my older brother. It was okay from what I . It’s not worth the effort to try and defend the Virtual Boy’s honor, but I do wonder sometimes if it’s reputation hasn’t been exaggerated by people retelling other people’s s.
I think I first played one when I was 13 or 14, so I was in the clear. I had worse eyestrain from playing computer games for too many consecutive hours in the late 90s.
That thirteen years or older is all over the modern VR headsets, so… yeah, sounds like a good rule of thumb anyway, even without the old ‘blood & darkness’ graphic style of the Virtual Boy.
I had 3 of those, pre-retrogaming market boom. I started retrogaming in 2003 - 2004. Very few people cared from 2000 - 2006, and even up to 2010, though there were collectors at the time and I was one who just picked up the “old, worthless games” from yard sales and whatnot. I actually bought 2 of them for under $10 each at the time, no kidding.
With that said, the Virtual Boy is decent in small amounts. They put in the “take a break at 15 minutes in?” feature for a reason, though. Also, don’t let a kid under 9 years old play it, since their eyes are still developing. Maybe don’t even let anyone under 13 play it.
I played galactic pinball for HOURS, you just have to get the settings dialed in just right which can be tedious.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it is exaggerated, like E.T. on Atari 2600 is. I always felt like even James Rolfe went easy on the Virtual Boy in the AVGN Episode (that is, comparatively to the other episodes.) James had to focus on the negative aspects in it, because that’s what he usually does in AVGN episodes.
If you consider the Virtual Boy as a novelty for teenagers and adults (which isn’t what it was meant for) and not a console for general use or for anyone younger than 13, there is some quality to it. It may only be for the exclusive games on it and what it was (cheaply) trying to do at the time, though. I’d rate it 6 out of 10, eyestrain considered (which I never got by playing it, since I actually took breaks every 15 minutes *and had the settings configured to my eyes.) The A/C Adapter Accessory is a must, though.
The Sega 32x, on the other hand, deserves its bad reputation. I had one of those, too; it was bought brand new in 2003, and it wouldn’t work properly with all games. Some worked, but others didn’t. I eventually found the reason was with the unit, and it was fixable if you knew what was wrong, but it just shows the unit’s bad quality. The 32x is like a bad movie from Vietnam War Era that was trying to be shocking, failed horribly in the market, and aged even worse. It might have a few highlights here and there, but why would you want to play anything but that one scene / game?
@Meanlucario
It probably is long-term use that causes issues, not that I ever experienced it.
*Edit: added the bit in the brackets, after the asterisk.
Edited
@ZONESS
I heard it’s long-term use where it starts to get real bad.
We long-term borrowed one from a friend of my older brother. It was okay from what I . It’s not worth the effort to try and defend the Virtual Boy’s honor, but I do wonder sometimes if it’s reputation hasn’t been exaggerated by people retelling other people’s s.
I think I first played one when I was 13 or 14, so I was in the clear. I had worse eyestrain from playing computer games for too many consecutive hours in the late 90s.
Edited
That thirteen years or older is all over the modern VR headsets, so… yeah, sounds like a good rule of thumb anyway, even without the old ‘blood & darkness’ graphic style of the Virtual Boy.
With that said, the Virtual Boy is decent in small amounts. They put in the “take a break at 15 minutes in?” feature for a reason, though. Also, don’t let a kid under 9 years old play it, since their eyes are still developing. Maybe don’t even let anyone under 13 play it.
Edited