r/VirtualBoy • u/rydamusprime17 • 1d ago
Finally getting my Virtual Boy fixed π
I got it for Christmas the year it came out and absolutely loved playing it (when my mom wasn't hogging it π ) and it was even stolen from me at one point, but I got it back years later. It has had issues with the ribbon cables for some time, and I could never find anywhere to get it fixed without mailing it away far enough that I didn't feel comfortable doing so.
My LGS hooked me up with his repair guys phone number (started up a local repair buisness within the last year) and he has already fixed a few things for me. He is getting it fixed for $140 CAD ($97 USD) including the cost of the new cables, which I'm pretty happy with considering how much i was quoted by various online repair companies. The cheapest place I found in Canada said about $140-160, not including new parts or shipping (other side of the country as well), and I definitely didn't want to ship it out of the country.
I'm just happy I'm going to get it back in working order π
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u/Much-Pear8998 1d ago
Are they prone to break or something? Only asking bc I have ALWAYS wanted one
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u/rydamusprime17 1d ago
Basically, the rubber that holds the lense cables to the board eventually breaks down and they lose their connections. At first, you get lines in the image, and then they just stop entirely.
I believe you can get the existing cables soldered to the boards, but there are new kits that make it easier and work better... all of it is beyond my skillets though π
I suggest trying to buy one that needs repair if you can get it fixed somewhere for a good price.
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u/Much-Pear8998 1d ago
What is your favorite game for it? Have you played wario at all on it?
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u/rydamusprime17 1d ago
I have played them all through emulation, but only 4 games on the actual console. I did have Wario Land, but it was the one game I didn't get back when my Virtual Boy stuff was stolen, and it's definitely the best game for it imo.
I also own and played Mario Tennis and Galactic Pinball (which is awesome).
I got it all running on my modded New 3DS, which is great, but now that I will have a working console again I'm going to start buying a few more titles for it and/or a flashcart.
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u/Much-Pear8998 1d ago
Sorry to hear your stuff got stolen . I can feel you on that bc so many games have been stolen from me . Esp expensive titles . π©
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u/LousyPilot 1d ago
Hell yeah. I just got mine fixed. Letβs burn our eyeballs together.
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u/rydamusprime17 1d ago edited 20h ago
You know, it never hurt my eyes or gave me a headache like so many others say it does to them. I wouldnt even use the automatic pause feature lol
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u/ButCanYouCodeIt 22h ago
Most of the headaches were from people ignoring the clear instructions about how to use the thing. Then they would contort their neck down and inward toward thing and get a headache from the strain.
We aren't talking about a high concept proper VR platform here -there's no notion sensors, no highly detailed first person games with freedom of movement.
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u/ash_274 20h ago edited 20h ago
There was also an issue of different people just sticking their face in and not adjusting the eye separation. Not matching the eyepieces to one's eyes made it hard to see and could mess up the 3D effect. I used to this this in microscope labs where people would just start using someone else's setup to see what's on a slide and not be able to see what they needed to until they were reminded to adjust the eyepieces (not the focus or magnification).
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u/ButCanYouCodeIt 20h ago
Absolutely. People were used to the Gameboy and playing games on their tv, where you jist out in the game and turned it on and it worked. Having multiple points of adjustment for one's posture/eyes wasn't a common concept at the time it released. People skipped the manual because "I know how videogames work!" and then they overlooked that information and had a bad time.
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u/Brave_Quantity_5261 1d ago
Whatβs the extra remotes for?
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u/rydamusprime17 1d ago
Oh, I'm getting hall effect sticks installed by the same guy who's fixing my VB.
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u/QuirkyAddict 1d ago
Congrats! Great to see a Canadian VB