sorry if this has been discussed yet, but I am fairly confident that the ‘Revolution’ game console eluded at this year’s E3 by Mr. Iwata will be the spiritual successor to the virtual boy. Why? just think about it. first of all, we know that Nintendo hates to lose in the console wars, and is constantly looking for ways to revamp and improve upon their gaming creations. A dual 64 processor virual reality machine with red, blue and green may very well be in the cards. the timing couldn’t be better- Nintendo with Miyamoto and Iwata at the helm are pushing the game play experience over graphical powerhousing, saying that gamers are not really looking for more advanced 3d but a “new” refreshing way to play video games- nothing could be more innovative than the dual screened, touch sensitive, wireless, voice activated machine DS that is going to be one of the best selling consoles of all time, perhaps surpassing sony playsation (just a hopeful guess 😉 ) In the DS, we see that Nintendo has built upon of Gunpei Yokoi’s ideas (sort of like the whole company is built on Yokoi’s ideas!) in using the dual screen format first unveiled in the game and watch series. the virtual boy is the only other console to utilize dual screens. It is not unimaginable given NIntendo’s incredibly bold move with the DS that Virtual Boy 2 is forthcoming.

Uh, no.

Nintendo is already insane enough to have 2 portable systems on the market simultaneously. Granted I love both of them, but having a 3rd system that is not a standard console would be suicide. The revolution is simply going to be the follow up to GameCube, that’s it. PS3’s and Xenon’s specs are out and updating, Nintendo just wants to develop what it can for now, then just like Microsoft and Sony they will release specs and them change them every 3 months.

Yes, they have the technology to easily make a new 3d system, but there is basically STILL NO MARKET! People don’t want to be trapped in a box by themselves… there’s just some sort of temporary novelty to it for most people. Many just can’t take it seriously. They need some grip of their surroundings.

Do you see any mainstream 3d peripherals? Nope. i-glasses aren’t even doing well, and they were the closest thing to mainstream. I have shutterglasses for PC. They are the greatest invention since sliced bread but they’re still for a niche audience, and there’s no one company on top raking in the profit. In fact, there’s dozens of companies making them and they basically all do the same thing. Shutterglasses have been around for decades and will never die, but they will most likely never get popular.

If Nintendo wanted to, they could have put the DS into a helmet, added a focus and ipd knob, and make more 3d games. Instead they opted to keep it friendly to the masses.

Do you see mainstream touch-sensitive peripherals? Yup. Loads of people are familiar with PDAs, so Nintendo took a gamble and thought it’d be an original and fun idea to have a touch-sensitive screen. Were there dual screen systems before DS? Sort of. Nintendo Game and Watch LCD games were basically the same design as the DS, and sold quite well back in the 80s.

i guess you’re forgetting that the original VB was designed to be multiplayer, it just didn’t pan out. Is there some inherent reason why VB2 couldn’t include the gamelink cable slot, or even be equipped with a wireless chip to allow LAN or even WWW play? heck, the nintendo of today is obsessed with innovative game play mecahanisms and peripeherals– ie gamecube / gameboy advance connectivity- which requires a gamecube, game, and each player to have a gba for certain games. Or look at the ereader If these two concepts don’t fill the model for supposed ‘econonomic inviability’ I don’t know what does. (sort of like sega cd or 32x, which at the outset required gamers to shell out at least 500 dollars to play the new console.. base unit + add-on)
As for the revolution, know one really knows waht it is except a few Nintendo execs and R&D, so everyone is just guessing. I can just go on Iwata’s comments at E3, in which, before anouncing the machine would create a “revolution” in gaming, reminded us all that gamers are tired of next-gen machines constantly riding on more advanced graphics. After all, gunpei’s salespitch for vb was thatit was a new system unlike anything played before, and that people didn’t really see anything “new” in the 32 bit systems. He couldn’t have been more wrong on that last point, so let’s just hope if the big N does attempt VB2, that ‘get it right’ this time!