Nintendo Virtual Boy

The Virtual Boy, released by Nintendo in July 1995, was the first portable game console that was capable of displaying true 3D graphics. Whilst the majority of video games use perspective to achieve the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional screen, the Virtual Boy created a more accurate illusion of depth through the use of parallax. In order to achieve this, the user placed their face inside a pair of rubber goggles on the front of the console in order to view a monochromatic (black and red) image. Despite the use of this innovative technique, the Virtual Boy was met with little enthusiasm and the console was discontinued just one year later.

3-D Effects

The Virtual Boy used a pair of 1 x 224 linear arrays of LEDs as a display (one per eye), rather than a full 384 x 224 array. The unit then scanned the array rapidly across the eye's field of view using flat oscillating mirrors to transform the single line of dots into a full field of dots. As each pixel was in use for only a tiny fraction of a second second (384 pixels wide, 50.2 Hz scan rate = approximately 52 µs per scanline), it was necessary to use high peak brightness to make the virtual display bright enough and be comfortable for the user to view. Every Virtual Boy game had the option to pause automatically every 15-30 minutes in order to remind the player to take a break, to prevent possible headaches and undue eye strain.

The Virtual Boy used red LED lights, chosen as red was the most striking colour to see, the least expensive and the lowest drain on batteries. Other LED colours were too expensive and would have forced the system to sell for over $500. It would not be until 1996 that high-efficiency indium gallium nitride (InGaN) green and blue LEDs would became available. Although a colour LCD was tested in development, it was found to cause users to see double rather than creating the illusion of depth.

Whilst the console was compact and seemingly portable, the use of the spinning mirrors meant that the console had to be placed on a steady surface, and completely blocked the player's view of their environment, making it completely unsuitable for using when out and about.

Controller

As the games for the Virtual Boy were set in a3D environment, it was important that the console's controller could operate along a Z-Axis. The controller was shaped like the letter 'M', with the player holding the two vertical pieces and the part that dipped down in the middle containing the battery pack. There were six buttons on the controller (A, B, Start, Select, L and R), the system's on\off switch, and two D-pads located at the top of the controller on either side. The 'A' and 'B' buttons were located below the D-pad on the right side and the 'Start' and 'Select' buttons are located in the same spot on the left side. The 'L' and 'R' buttons were located on the back of the controller behind the D-pad areas, where they functioned as additional trig...