Bit late to this article, but yeah. I had one of these as a kid. We were pretty hard up when I was young and I would've got this around the time my dad turned the corner at work and started earning enough for presents like this. So it was a really big deal, my big present of the year, and it just... didn't deliver. It's basically a calculator with a barely-functional barcode scanner bolted on, and a very rudimentary battle system.
No story. No gameplay beyond "roll some numbers". When you see images of it running, you are looking at everything it has to offer.
It was a cynical cash-grab of a product, from a time when shady companies knew that they could create dreck without worrying about consumers educating each other online, and I've no nostalgia for it at all, really.
@obijuankanoobie Seconding this. If you've never played a Virtual Boy, go in with modest expectations. You're probably not going to play it for long, honestly. Even if the display doesn't cause upsets, the ergonomics of it are comically terrible.
I do still really regret selling mine, not only because it's now worth 10x what I sold it for, but also because it's a really unique thing and there's just nothing else like it.
I am surprised so many people here think LRG are manufacturing the cartridges themselves. That's surely not the case? They'll have used Chinese manufacturers, because they're cheaper than everyone else. They're cheaper than everyone else because they pull this kind of shit.
Realistically though, if the game uses FRAM that isn't manufactured any more (or only sold for stupid money), their choices are probably somewhat limited. I'm a little surprised they didn't modify the ROM to fit modern manufacturing, instead of dicking around with what passes for NOS from Shenzhen.
The main thing they're fighting here is lack of domestic interest in this stuff. It's no accident that the main guy leading the charge here isn't even Japanese himself.
Google "mono no aware" if you want to get an idea of why it's like this. The short version is that culturally there's a kind of wistful romance for the eventual passing of all things. If something is lost, oh well - it happens. Practically, they just don't have the preservation mentality that we do in the West, not to the same degree anyway. I imagine if we lived on a tsunami-battered volcano we'd all get a bit more lax about the things getting lost over time, but it's maddening from an archivist's perspective.
ETA: the interview with Yuichi Toyama might have more views if it wasn't unlisted (i.e. not discoverable in any way except direct linking)...
@XiaoShao Yes, all properly licenced carts are made in Japan by Nintendo (per Nintendo themselves, anyway). So occasional reports of people saying "I bought a Switch cartridge from LRG and it bricked my console" are not credible evidence, IMO. Of course it is possible that their Switch died, but Switches die all the time for any number of reasons.
The MiSTer core also allows overclocking, which fixes the main deal-breaker with N64 games for me: that bloody framerate. I can cope with 3D at 320x240, I'll even put up with the fullscreen bilinear filter (the pea soup blur effect), but that slide-show framerate is a non starter for me these days.
I've been tempted to pick up a modded N64 recently, but honestly the N64 core looks to be a much better way of doing it.
@KingMike This is the killer for "PSP as a console" projects TBH. I picked up a PSP 3000 not long ago thinking I'd be able to use the component out to get a decent picture one way or another... yeah, not the case. Video out on the PSP was a kludge for SD CRTs and early flat panels, and it doesn't play nice with either.
I couldn't see any real fix for it on the PSP side, the only route forwards was going to be using an expensive scaler, and even then it wasn't going to look right. It needs a proper engineering project to tap the video data out of the LCD bus and convert to HDMI, not just a little 3D printed case like this.
I don't often say this, but yeah, stick to your emulator.
@Sketcz Chaotix is a great game once you get into it, there is definitely a point where it starts to "click" and it becomes a lot more fun after that. Unfortunately that point is quite a long time in, and you'll need significantly more patience than most people have to get there. I am a big fan of brutally hard physics platformers though, so maybe take my opinion with a grain of salt!
I've read that the stuff about a war between Sega of the East and West is overblown - that there were squabbles, but nothing like the drama played up in the popular history. Who can say though, eh?
Comments 11
Re: Earthion Launches Next Month, Mega Drive Version Pushed Into 2026
I wonder why they've pushed the MD release back so far?
Re: You Can Now Play This Sega Mega Drive Patlabor Game In English, Thanks To Fans
@nilcam Do a search for "retrogametalk patlabor genesis" without quotes.
Re: Barcode Battler, The Early '90s Classic That's So Crap, It's Almost Cool
Bit late to this article, but yeah. I had one of these as a kid. We were pretty hard up when I was young and I would've got this around the time my dad turned the corner at work and started earning enough for presents like this. So it was a really big deal, my big present of the year, and it just... didn't deliver. It's basically a calculator with a barely-functional barcode scanner bolted on, and a very rudimentary battle system.
No story. No gameplay beyond "roll some numbers". When you see images of it running, you are looking at everything it has to offer.
It was a cynical cash-grab of a product, from a time when shady companies knew that they could create dreck without worrying about consumers educating each other online, and I've no nostalgia for it at all, really.
Re: 'Sega's Switch' Lives On Thanks To This Absolutely Incredible Mod
@obijuankanoobie Seconding this. If you've never played a Virtual Boy, go in with modest expectations. You're probably not going to play it for long, honestly. Even if the display doesn't cause upsets, the ergonomics of it are comically terrible.
I do still really regret selling mine, not only because it's now worth 10x what I sold it for, but also because it's a really unique thing and there's just nothing else like it.
Re: Limited Run And Retro-Bit Under Fire For Using Recycled Chips In Shantae Advance
I am surprised so many people here think LRG are manufacturing the cartridges themselves. That's surely not the case? They'll have used Chinese manufacturers, because they're cheaper than everyone else. They're cheaper than everyone else because they pull this kind of shit.
Realistically though, if the game uses FRAM that isn't manufactured any more (or only sold for stupid money), their choices are probably somewhat limited. I'm a little surprised they didn't modify the ROM to fit modern manufacturing, instead of dicking around with what passes for NOS from Shenzhen.
Re: We Might Be About To Lose A Powerful Force In The World Of Video Game Preservation
The main thing they're fighting here is lack of domestic interest in this stuff. It's no accident that the main guy leading the charge here isn't even Japanese himself.
Google "mono no aware" if you want to get an idea of why it's like this. The short version is that culturally there's a kind of wistful romance for the eventual passing of all things. If something is lost, oh well - it happens. Practically, they just don't have the preservation mentality that we do in the West, not to the same degree anyway. I imagine if we lived on a tsunami-battered volcano we'd all get a bit more lax about the things getting lost over time, but it's maddening from an archivist's perspective.
ETA: the interview with Yuichi Toyama might have more views if it wasn't unlisted (i.e. not discoverable in any way except direct linking)...
Re: "This Cartridge Is A Tiny Time Bomb" - Limited Run Accused Of Selling Carts Which Can Damage Your NES
@XiaoShao
Yes, all properly licenced carts are made in Japan by Nintendo (per Nintendo themselves, anyway). So occasional reports of people saying "I bought a Switch cartridge from LRG and it bricked my console" are not credible evidence, IMO. Of course it is possible that their Switch died, but Switches die all the time for any number of reasons.
Re: You Can Play The Dreamcast GTA III Port Right Now
@Serpenterror "GTA2 was on Dreamcast and it didn't do so well."
That'd be because it wasn't GTA3, mate.
Re: Mario 64 Modder Explains Why N64 Has More RAM Than You Think
The MiSTer core also allows overclocking, which fixes the main deal-breaker with N64 games for me: that bloody framerate. I can cope with 3D at 320x240, I'll even put up with the fullscreen bilinear filter (the pea soup blur effect), but that slide-show framerate is a non starter for me these days.
I've been tempted to pick up a modded N64 recently, but honestly the N64 core looks to be a much better way of doing it.
Re: For $275, You Can Have A PSP In Home Console Form
@KingMike This is the killer for "PSP as a console" projects TBH. I picked up a PSP 3000 not long ago thinking I'd be able to use the component out to get a decent picture one way or another... yeah, not the case. Video out on the PSP was a kludge for SD CRTs and early flat panels, and it doesn't play nice with either.
I couldn't see any real fix for it on the PSP side, the only route forwards was going to be using an expensive scaler, and even then it wasn't going to look right. It needs a proper engineering project to tap the video data out of the LCD bus and convert to HDMI, not just a little 3D printed case like this.
I don't often say this, but yeah, stick to your emulator.
Re: Don't Forget The Sega 32X Turns 30 This Year, Too
@Sketcz Chaotix is a great game once you get into it, there is definitely a point where it starts to "click" and it becomes a lot more fun after that. Unfortunately that point is quite a long time in, and you'll need significantly more patience than most people have to get there. I am a big fan of brutally hard physics platformers though, so maybe take my opinion with a grain of salt!
I've read that the stuff about a war between Sega of the East and West is overblown - that there were squabbles, but nothing like the drama played up in the popular history. Who can say though, eh?