Well, the whole nature of the glitchy display problem is the FFC can sometimes have spotty electrical connections depending on the adhesive and the movement of the cable and various things. So it’s very possible that by moving the cable around you will see the screen go from being perfect to really bad. My guess is if you saw it glitchy at one point, it will be back again.

Cool, that looks like the same bit I ordered, and about the same amount of grinding. I ended up replacing the screws with philips screws though, just because I hate the VB screws.

There was an eBay auction that just ended that had a VB, controller and 4 games, cincluding 3D Tetris, complete with box and manual, all in good condition. I don’t think the guy knew 3D Tetris was worth more than probably the rest of his auction combined. It sold for like $70 I think, for the whole bundle. I was going to bid, but the VB was in pretty bad shape, so I found another deal on 3D tetris (game only) and it should be coming in the mail today!

I bought a copy of 3D tetris so I’m really excited to try that one out when it gets here.

I absolutely LOVE Red Alarm. Wireframe graphics are awesome and the depth is incredible. Plus I love the way the controls let you strafe left/right and also up/down. The controls were WAY ahead of their time on this game.

Before I got my VB I thought I would hate Red Alarm, because every review I have ever read on the internet says it is a crappy game and extremely hard to tell what you’re doing. I found the opposite when I actually played it. It’s very easy to tell what’s going on, in almost all situations.

Exactly, that’s where I’m at. I want to dremel some of the plastic away on those rectangular eye holes, but I don’t really want to at the same time. But I *must* have the visor assembly on my VB, both because it serves its purpose and blocks out the ambient light, and because the VB looks naked without it.

Deadly-D wrote:

Vaughanabe13 wrote:
Nice! I always thought about making a HTPC in a NES case.

Dude you should go for it! I’m not very far with it at all. All i’ve done is used a dremel to holo it out. I have too many projects right now 1 my MAME Arcades hard drive burned out 2 NES PC 3 I have a VB housing that i want to put led’s in so the eyes light up red and 4 i want to build what looks like an old 50’s TV but its really a multiple game emulator. Lol sorry didn’t mean to hi jack the thread.

I wish, but I have a lot of projects going on too, plus my last semester of classes are starting next week and I’ll also be working part time. Maybe some day!

Nice! I always thought about making a HTPC in a NES case.

You never want to put your NES back together then?

What do you guys set the “depth” option at in Red Alarm? (Found in the options menu)

I took the VB screws with me to Menards and found a replacement.

It’s a pack of 22 “Sheet Metal #4 1/2″ Combo Pan Head” screws. They fit in the VB perfectly, and have the same thread spacing and approximately the same dimensions as the VB screws, only slightly longer in length. This didn’t seem to be a problem at all when I was fitting them in the VB screw holes. The top of these screws have a combo head that will accommodate a standard flat head screwdriver or a Philips. I bought a slender Philips driver with a magnetic tip while I was there and it worked perfect for this application.

So yeah, I imagine any screws that fit the description above will work in the VB. If anything you want screws that are slightly shorter than 1/2″, but 1/2″ should work. The only other difference between these screws and the VB screws is the ends of the VB screws are flat, and these are pointy. It doesn’t matter though.

When putting my unit back together I left out the red eye pieces, to see if it fixed the blurry edges problem. As I had suspected, the edges were almost perfect without the lenses or visor assembly. Only a very slight distortion if my move my head off-center. Then I put the red lenses back in and I was actually pretty surprised to see that the edges are about the same with the red lenses. Maybe a tiny bit more blurry/distorted on the very right and left edges of the screen, because of how the lenses tilt up at an angle toward your face. But still, it wasn’t nearly as blurry as before.

And then I put the visor assembly back on and WOW, what a huge difference. The blur was back with a vengeance, and the edges were very distorted.

So my conclusion is that the red lenses cause a little bit of blur, but nothing worth removing them over. And the rectangular eye-holes of the visor display cause almost all of the screen distortion. I think I could use my dremel to widen the eye holes and get rid of the distortion, but I don’t know if I want to yet…

OMG the R-Zone!!!! HAHAHAHAHA. What a POS, but I remember thinking it looked so cool and futuristic at the time. Didn’t it retail for like $30?

Welcome! Do you have a Virtual Boy to play around with yet?

Weird, everything I have read said the screens were comparable, and that the pocket pro was close to the GB Pocket. I think it even says that last part on the wiki.

Haha, that was supposed to be the biggest selling point of the system (internet connectivity). That’s why the name of the system is “Game.com”. Of course, the internet functionality required an extra modem adapter, and if you actually wanted to get on the internet you also needed the browser cartridge. And internet browsing was text-only and apparently really lousy. Plus you had to pay for the internet service and there was no actual online gaming, so very few people ever used it for that.

Yes, the LCD screen was bad, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were the exact same LCD the original Gameboy used. The re-release of the Game.com (called the Pocket Pro) had a better LCD with better refresh rates.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game.com

22 here. Not the youngest, but I’m guessing I’m on the younger end of the spectrum here.

Those other games from Radica are not as cool as the Stealth Assault. But if you’re a vintage game collector that’s a pretty good deal.

Here are some problems I have with this article:

However, there is one bellyflop in Nintendo history that is simply unavoidable. It was a failure so high profile that gamers still chortle about it today.

Who are these people “chortling” about the VB, other than gamers who have never played one? Perhaps the fact that a pretty active VB community still exists 15 years later is a testament to the fact that the VB wasn’t a complete failure.

Nintendo stuck with red LED displays so that the Virtual Boy showed only black, red, and every hue in-between.

As we know, the VB can’t show “every hue in-between” red and black. Get your facts straight, IGN.

The 3D itself was created by projecting the twin single-line displays – one for each eye – on to oscillating mirrors that tricked your vision into seeing a depth of field that wasn’t really there.

This is the most infuriating argument against the VB. They say the 3D effect is faked, but ALL stereoscopic 3D is “not really there.” It’s the same concept as modern shutter glasses, only in a red display. So if the VB is not real 3D, neither is the current 3D technology.

Between the all-red display and the somewhat jarring 3D effect, the Virtual Boy gained a reputation for taxing the eyes and causing either headaches or nausea.

No, the VB gained a reputation because people didn’t read the manual and adjust the IPD/Focus correctly. Or maybe I’m the only guy who has never gotten a single headache from playing the VB, and never had any eye strain issues. And these myths were perpetuated through word of mouth. Last time I checked, anecdotes could be passed on and embellished in ways other than the internet.

The Virtual Boy, though, insisted that the gamer give 100-percent of their attention to the game. You totally shut out the world when you put your face to the Virtual Boy.

That sounds like a selling point to me – I love the feeling of immersion you get playing the VB in the dark!

What fun is playing a game and being completely unable to share the fun with a friend? It’s not.

Oh, you mean like the way you can only see the 3D effect on a 3DS if you are staring at it right at the “sweet spot?” Maybe other people can see your game but they won’t see the 3D.

Don’t alienate the ones who don’t want 3D. Let’s say you are one of those people that cannot see 3D imaging for one reason or another. Or 3D indeed made you nauseous. You never could get any pleasure out of the Virtual Boy.

This is a NON-ISSUE. What idiot who can’t see 3D or gets sick would think it was a good idea to buy a VB?

Do not depend on a hardware “gimmick” to sell the system.

The VB may be gimmicky, but the games are surprisingly deep and fun, which apparently IGN doesn’t know.

If you check eBay, there is a guy that sometimes sells just the displays with the ribbon cable. I think he charges something like $15 for each display.

Gotcha, I didn’t think it was broken because I was under the impression broken stands wouldn’t hold up the VB…