10 Of Nintendo's Weirdest & Most Forgotten Gaming Experiments
8. Famicom 3D System
Playstation VR who? Nintendo 3DS, what's that? Far before Nintendo had even released the ever so disastrous Virtual Boy, the futuristic Famicom 3D System landed in Japan with a resounding thud.
When players plugged it in, a press of the button would pop 2D graphics (in supported games) into an impressive 3D cut out display inside the enormous goggles. Impressive for the time, at least - you can get the same effect by playing on a 3DS nowadays.
Only a scant few games supported the visual flair - there were only seven in total that worked. The device flopped in Japan for being clunky, dizzying, and having an incredibly meagre game selection. Nintendo chose not to release the device overseas at all - in fact, the NES lacked the necessary extra extension port, making it impossible to release even if the Famicom 3D was a success.
A handful of games such as Rad Racer and World Runner made it overseas by simply substituting the device entirely, packaging cheap red and blue glasses inside and making the Famicom 3D System look like an entirely irrelevant fumble of an experiment. Which it totally was.