Virtual Reality Technologies That Failed Hard

These days, there's big money in 1990s nostalgia. Many of the pop culture fads of that decade have reemerged in new forms (like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The X-Files, and the godawful Fuller House). The world of tech isn't immune from the nostalgia bug either, as proven by the renewed interest in virtual reality, or VR, that began in earnest with the successful crowdfunding of the Oculus Rift (and its subsequent purchase by Facebook for a cool $2 billion).

Since then, tech companies from Sony to Valve have announced their own VR headsets. Virtual reality technology, however, has had many false starts over the years. It seemed like every video game company took a shot and ultimately failed at VR technology in the 1990s. Here are a few virtual reality technologies, all from the 1980s and 1990s, that were either met with consumer indifference or simply never became a reality—virtual or otherwise.

In 1989, Nintendo released the Power Glove peripheral for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Theoretically, the glove allowed players to control their NES games by making specific movements with their hand. The hype around the glove reached a fever pitch when it appeared in the Nintendo movie/advertisement-in-sheep's-clothing, The Wizard. The unlucky kids who received it for Christmas that year soon realized that the device did not work as advertised. The glove barely functioned with the the few games that Nintendo designed for it. Also, forget about playing Super Mario Bros., Ninja Gaiden, or any of your other favorite NES games with any sort of precision. Eventually kids ripped it off their arms in frustration and grabbed the nearest controller. The Power Glove taught a generation of us to be cynical about new technology. Thanks, Nintendo.

The company, Virtuality, decided to cash-in on the VR craze in the 1990s by designing arcade games. These usually took the form of LCD-equipped helmets that the player would wear to interact with the game universe. Among the most popular of these game was Dactyl Nightmare. It was an early multiplayer, first-person shooter in which the players could destroy their rivals and the titular pterodactyls. While the arcade versions of Samurai Showdown or Killer Instinct may cost two quarters to play, the Viruality machines averaged at five bucks per session. The company even designed a prototype device, called the Jaguar VR, for Atari's ill-fated 64-bit console. Atari cancelled the project, however, shortly after showing it to the public at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 1995. Ultimately the proliferation of advanced home consoles like the Sega Dreamcast and Sony Playstation is what felled Viruality's fortunes, and arcades as a whole. 

What's worse than the Virtual Boy? A Virtual Boy knock-off. Tiger Electronics notoriously released cheap, portable, LCD video game systems onto the market. The stilted, bottom of the barrel graphics made your NES look like a PlayStation 4 by comparison. In 1995, Tiger released its own virtual reality headset, the R-Zone, for approximately $30. This console was simply a head strap with a screen attached to it. Essentially it's like having red-hued Tiger Electronics game displayed inches away from your now strained retina. Aside from the awful graphics, sound, and abysmal games, the notable problem with the R-Zone was that the screen only covered your right eye. This design forced players to close or cover their left eye in order to focus on the screen. Much like the Virtual Boy it sought to emulate, the R-Zone failed in the marketplace. Presumably Tiger stopped production of the system before the CDC could label it a health hazard.