Nintendo’s lost 1990s “VR” console comes to 3DS thanks to a remarkable emulator

Nintendo has made some daring, bizarre selections with its {hardware} designs. However none had been so daring and bizarre as 1995’s Digital Boy, a “woefully untimely business curio,” as one Ars writer put it, that “rapidly handed unlamented into historical past,” as remarked another. The awkward red-on-black tabletop headset system wasn’t a lot forward of its time as beamed in from an alternate actuality. On this actuality, it did not promote a lot and was largely forgotten.

Nintendo has appeared desperate to let the Digital Boy fade from the collective memory, however intelligent coders have labored to maintain the system accessible outdoors classic {hardware} collections. The most recent, and maybe most accessible, is Red Viper, which performs Digital Boy video games on a (lightly hacked) Nintendo 3DS, the opposite Nintendo system on which 3D options had been underappreciated. It’s full-speed, it helps homebrew video games, you’ll be able to change the drawing shade to one thing aside from crimson, and it’s free. It is constructed on prime of the work of earlier 3DS emulator r3dragon, which itself drew closely from the Reality Boy project for Windows.

Purple Viper makes use of the 3DS’s prime display for recreation show and turns the decrease display right into a system choices panel. It maps the Digital Boy’s personal face buttons onto the touchscreen. In the Twitter thread saying Purple Viper’s basic launch, coder Floogle notes that the emulator is just roughly translating the Digital Boy’s 50 Hz refresh to the 3DS’ 60 Hz by pushing a body each 20 ms. There may be, Floogle supposes, some {hardware} headroom for enchancment.

For his half, Floogle thinks Jack Bros., Wario Land, Teleroboxer, Purple Alarm, Mario Conflict, and Galactic Pinball are significantly value trying out. That is about 27 p.c of the entire 22 video games formally launched for the Digital Boy, which isn’t a foul hit charge in a sure gentle. There’s a entire lot extra homebrewed Virtual Boy material on the market.

Whereas your creator lacks a 3DS, not to mention expertise with a Digital Boy, reception to Purple Viper suggests it is a great way to expertise some intriguing video games, particularly Nintendo’s personal first-party work. The Good Vibes Gaming YouTube channel dubs it “Excellent on 3DS” and a good way to expertise “actual gems.” Meyadin on YouTube uploaded footage of Wario Land running on Red Viper, and whereas you do not get the semi-immersive 3D ingredient, you’ll be able to sense the appear and feel of it, which is just doubtless to enhance after this wider launch.

Ars reporter Benj Edwards has beforehand written a detailed history of the Virtual Boy and its impact. Edwards additionally occurs to have co-written a guide in regards to the obscure console, due out in May from MIT Press.