Who bought a Virtual Boy at launch?

I’m just curious, who here bought a VB when it launched in August of 1995 and what’s your launch story?

It was the summer before my senior year of High School and I was the only one of my friends who even considered getting a VB back then. I was always a huge Nintendo fan and was totally psyched about the VB after reading all about it in Nintendo Power. All of my friends were more interested in the Sega Saturn and the upcoming Sony Playstation, but I had no interest in either of those. I was a Nintendo fan through and through and the VB was just my pit stop on the way to the Nintendo 64.

On VB’s launch day I called a bunch of video games stores like Electronics Boutique and Funcoland to see if it was in. Apparently Software Etc. was the first store to receive a shipment in my area, so my friend drove me to the mall to pick it up. Not only was I the only customer in the store interested in the VB, I was the only customer in the store period. I had no pre-order, nor did I need one. Compared to other system launches, it was anti-climactic. The store clerk even asked me if I was sure I wanted to buy one.

When I took the system home and stuck my free batteries in the controller, I was at first disappointed since I was expecting virtual reality along the lines of The Lawnmower Man. However, after playing the system for a few hours I realized how cool it was and I loved Mario’s Tennis. My friends thought I was stupid for spending $169.99 on the system, but that I didn’t care.

I eventually bought Teleroboxer since I heard it was like Punch-Out! and also got Red Alarm once it came out month or so after launch. But in only a few months it was clear the VB was a failure. Blockbuster got rid of all their VB stock (which I happily purchased) and stores quickly put their VB games on clearance. It was great to pick up games for such a cheap price ($9.99 for 3D Tetris, $4.99 for Vertical Force, $4.99 for Jack Bros) but that also meant that I would never get any new ones.

To this day it’s still one of my favorite systems and Flashboy has only renewed my interest. I always consider myself lucky to have experienced the rise and fall of the VB first-hand.