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Why Domi couldn’t try out the Nintendo VR headset from 1995

25/6/2023

Translation: Elicia Payne

My colleague Domagoj Belancic wanted to spend a week gaming on the Virtual Boy – Nintendo’s VR headset from the last millennium. But in doing so, he would’ve definitely got some sort of eye disease. Luckily for him, the headset is broken and I was unable to repair it.

I give up after two minutes. Mario’s Tennis' on the Virtual Boy gives me a headache and burning eyes. The Virtual Boy was Nintendo’s attempt at a stationary virtual reality headset in 1995. Instead of putting the thing on your head, you use it on a stand on the table. The headset has two displays. They consist of red LEDs on a black background. This makes the image black and white. The displays have a resolution of 384 × 224 pixels.

You control the Virtual Boy (right, centre) with a controller (right, bottom). Since it can’t be fixed to your head, you put it on a tripod (left).
Source: Kevin Hofer

This is what it looks like when I play on the Virtual Boy.
Source: Kevin Hofer

At least in theory. In practice, there’s no clear picture on the right display of Domagoj «Domi» Belancic’s model. That’s the only reason I really get to «enjoy» the headset. I’m asked to repair it. I suspect the problem are the ribbon cables that connect the lenses to the board. They have solder joints that go bad over time. As a result, the contact becomes dodgy. Instead of an image, black and red stripes appear on the display.

There’s something I should be seeing here, I just don’t know what.
Source: Kevin Hofer

Ironing electronics

To fix this, I follow RoXolid Productions’ instructions. The idea is to use a [foil iron](/search?q=foil iron) to melt the existing solder that connects the ribbon cable to the lens, thereby restoring contact. In other videos, people solve this by throwing the lens, including the ribbon cable, into the oven. That doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. With the iron, I can apply heat where it’s needed. In an oven, everything is heated, including the plastic.

I use a special screwdriver to open the Virtual Boy.
Source: Kevin Hofer

So I unscrew the Virtual Boy. Contrary to my usual practice, I can’t use my iFixit screwdriver for this. Not because the required 4.5 millimetre Gamebit is missing, but because some holes are so deep I can’t reach down far enough. Luckily, I still have the right size screwdriver from my Game Gear repair.

A whole eleven screws need to be taken out before I can get a look inside. When the headset is apart, I can see the lenses on the left and right. Attached to this are the suspected culprits: the ribbon cables. Before I mess with those, I have to unscrew them first.

This is what a Virtual Boy looks like from the inside.
Source: Kevin Hofer

Taking a closer look at the solder joints, I don’t get the impression they’re bad. Nevertheless, I decide to go ahead with the planned repair. I heat my foil iron to 165 degrees Celsius.

I place the lens with ribbon cable on a soldering pad.
Source: Kevin Hofer

I put the foil iron on for one minute.
Source: Kevin Hofer

Once the iron has reached the required temperature, I place it at the contact point between the ribbon cable and lens for one minute. Now it looks like the cable sits better on the lens. I repeat the process on the other side. Even if it still looks good, I figure it can’t hurt to freshen up the solder joint.

This is what the contact point looked like before ironing.
Source: Kevin Hofer

This is what the contact point looked like after ironing.
Source: Kevin Hofer

My failure

Now I have to put everything back together. Once I’ve done that I put in Mario’s Tennis and start the game. It looks the same as before. On the left you can see the image but on the right its just lines.

In the comments column on the RoXolid Productions tutorial, I find hints as to why it might not have worked. I’m supposed to apply the foil iron for a longer time. So I screw everything back open and repeat the procedure.

That didn’t do anything. The lens needs to come back out again.
Source: Kevin Hofer

That doesn’t resolve anything, rather the opposite. Now I just have lines on the left display and nothing at all on the right. Dammit, it didn’t work. I suspect that the ribbon cables have all gone now and need to be replaced. How do I tell my colleague Domi?

I admit to him that it didn’t work. Fortunately, he takes it in his stride: «That’s a shame, but it’s not like you broke it.» Unfortunately, that’s why nothing came of his article for the Focus Week and you’re reading this instead.

Although Domi doesn’t mind, I don’t want to just leave him with the broken Virtual Boy. So my question to you is do you know about the Virtual Boy or know someone who does and would be willing to fix it? Then please write my colleague Domi an e-mail or leave a comment.

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Kevin Hofer

Senior Editor

kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.ch

From big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.

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