Hello everyone! This is my first post here.
I first played Virtual Boy at a friend’s house shortly after it was released. Then, after a gap of 18 years and after having moved to Japan, I picked up a couple of systems and games, including a Flashboy. Exploring this library has been a lot of fun, and I’ve come to respect the system much more than I used to.
…But! The biggest issue for me was that it hurt to play it. I’m sure you’re all familiar with sore muscles from using the stand on a desk, and lying down facing up just isn’t a good way to play video games. I used to recline in my chair to about 45 degrees and put the stand on my forearms, which distributed the weight evenly between my arms and face. However, I still had to remain totally still while playing, I still felt a little dizzy playing at that angle, and on top of that, my arms would fall asleep. Coming out of a 30 minute session in that pose felt like waking up from surgery.
This excellent solution cost me about $5. Everything was obtained by through a Japanese 100-yen shop, but I imagine you could do something similar in any other country. Allow me to explain.
Above my chair is a hanging light fixture. I attached to it this doohickey, which was originally built for a headrest of a front seat of a car so that you could hang your suits or your purse or whatever.
To that doohickey, I attached two loops of elastic rope. These came with two s-hooks each, as well as a length-adjustment bit. Don’t worry, the light fixture’s weight tolerance is in no danger of being exceeded.
Those are shoelaces. New shoelaces, of course. You can see how the goggle side is shaped is such a way that the strings won’t slide off, but the other side isn’t, so I had to tie them together there. This also makes a great place to put a head strap. Additionally, the s-hooks can be moved back and forth to adjust the forward tilt of the unit.
Finally, the headstrap. This is the one part I’d kind of like to replace, since it was not made for a head, but for tying books together. It’s not elastic, and it doesn’t grip quite as well as it could. Nonetheless, it’s adjustable, and it has velcro, which is easy to deal with when you can’t see anything because you’ve put the Virtual Boy up to your face.
Whoa yeah, baby. I could play this all day.
So, the ropes hold all the weight of the system, and the strap keeps it in place on my head. I can sit exactly as I do when watching TV or playing a normal console game.
It’s just wonderful. And now there’s nothing stopping me from really getting into these games. Nothing except my wife making fun of me, that is.
If you have any ideas to improve this setup, let me know!
