Growing up, my friend and I each had very extensive gaming collections. His mainly involved games from the retro-ish era (Atari-PS2), while mine is focused more on N64-Wii. In total, we each have several hundred games on about a dozen or so systems. Recently though, we’ve both (though mainly him) been downsizing and selling off parts of our collections due to lack of space/money/time for games, though it’s certainly also due in part to our interest in gaming waning with each passing year (we’re in our late twenties now, not to say that people in their thirties and forties and later don’t game, of course).

Anyway, he’s been more adamantly selling off his gear than I, so I made a point of asking him around a year ago to let me know if his Virtual Boy was ever going to be for sale, as that’s practically the final game system, new or old, that I wouldn’t mind owning, and I made him an advance offer of $100 for the system with the seven games he had for it.

I swung by his place a couple weeks ago to visit him and his wife, and he surprised me with the system… for free! It came with the stand, Mario Clash, Mario’s Tennis, Wario Land, Vertical Force, Red Alarm, Panic Bomber, and Teleroboxer (all loose cartridges only, with a couple dust covers). The system works great and has the foam eye shielder (or whatever it’s called) still attached to it and in great condition. The only knock is that the stand’s plastic lock is broken off, but the system still sits on top of it just fine.

Apparently, his cousin bought the system when it launched, then basically regretted it and didn’t play it once Nintendo dropped it. About ten years later, my friend’s aunt asked if my friend wanted it (as his cousin sure didn’t anymore), and gave everything to him, which was when we both first tried it (2005 or so). And now, he was gracious enough to give it to me. He’s always been a really nice guy, so it’s pretty in-character of him, haha.

It also came with this carrying case:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VB-Nintendo-Virtual-Boy-3D-Performance-SOFT-CASE-softshell-/120923510805?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c279a5815

(^I only linked to this because I wanted to show what model of case it was, but… that nut wanted $126 for that?! That’s more than a used system tends to go for online!)

I thanked him greatly, and he basically said that he’d prefer me to keep it rather than selling it down the line, and I assured him that wouldn’t happen (I’d give it back to him before doing that).

And that… is my story. It’s proudly on display on the lower-level of our couch-side table (hard to describe what I mean, but basically a small square coffee table with a “floor” and four posts holding up the “roof”) in our living room. My girlfriend is fine with it being there too, (though she’s fine with most of my gaming collection being on display anyway), though she still raises an eyebrow anytime I play it, heh.

It really is a unique little system, isn’t it? I tend to root for the underdog systems that had potential (*looks at my Famicom edition Game Boy Micro*), so I find it pretty cool, and a pretty nice conversation piece for guests (who have been willing to give it a try more often than not).

Anyway… hi!

Welcome, that’s amazing for free! I recommend playing it often, as you will begin to truly love it.

FlashBoy+ should be on your purchase list!