Virtual Boy is poised for what once seemed like an unlikely comeback on Switch 2, but while Nintendo might want to celebrate the VR console as a kitschy throwback nowadays, in the '90s, the consequences for the platform's failure were a lot more dire. At least one of Nintendo's closest third-party collaborators still seems a bit incredulous about what happened to Gunpei Yokoi in the wake of Virtual Boy's failure.
Yokoi worked at Nintendo for decades before the company even started making video games. He designed the 1966 Ultra Hand toy and the 1974 electro-mechanical arcade machine Wild Gunman, two bits of Nintendo lore that continue to be referenced in the publisher's modern games. He created the Game & Watch series, mentored Shigeru Miyamoto during the development of Donkey Kong, and led the design of the original Game Boy.
