Virtual Boy

The Virtual Boy was Nintendo's biggest failure ever. Due to the virtual craze of the 90's Nintendo assigned the creator of the GameBoy, Gunpei Yoko, to deisgn the Virtual Boy. Unfortunately, in the beginning of the development of the console, he took his time. After delaying the N64 one year, Nintendo rushed the Virtual Boy to the market to make up for the absense of the N64, even though the Virtual Boy wasn't ready for the market. Although it was a very powerful system, it was a commercial failure, and priced high compared to the GameBoy, and other portable consoles out at the time. Many complained that their eyes hurt after putting on the helmet. It was also impossible to watch other people play the game. Even thought alot of people thought Nintendo tried to replace the GameBoy with the Virtual Boy, Nintendo never intended to do so. Even many price drops failed to save the Virtual Boy. Many were also disappointed that you had to put on a helmet to play it. Many expected it would project a virual screen onto a wall. It was discontinued less than a year after it came out, and was a huge financial loss for Nintendo.

Worldwide Name: Virtual Boy (VB)

Market Share in Beginning of Lifespan: Unknown

Market Share in Middle of Lifespan: Unknown

Market Share in End of Lifespan: Unknown

Best-Selling Game: Mario Tennis

A 32-Bit System

Price at Launch: $180.00

Number of Units Sold: 900,000

Slogans:

Now you're playing with power. Virtual power.

Released Worldwide in: 1995

Discontinued Worldwide in: 1996

Popularity Compared to Competitors:

Worldwide: Last Place

Graphics Comparison:

1st-Virtual Boy

2nd-Sega Nomad

3rd-TurboExpress

4th-Sega GameGear

5th-Atari Lynx

6th-GameBoy