The big question: Why?

Why do I have a HyperScan? Why did I go through the effort of setting up a blog all about this flash-in-the-pan console?

The short version: Heck if I know. The longer version: I blame Virtual Boy.

When I was but a wee pup, in the winter of '95, I received a Virtual Boy as my big Christmas present. I remember that I'd seen them in the stores before then and thought they looked cool, but I don't remember if I'd specifically asked for one. At any rate, I got my parents to set it up and started playing immediately.

Virtual reality! Nifty!

It was very mid 1990s. Oh, how foolish we were.

But I digress. I liked the system fine but never fell in love with it the way I had with my NES and Super Nintendo. Fortunately, I never had the headache or eye strain issues that some gamers had, but I did experience what was for me the main problem with the system--it was too big to be portable, and it was too self-contained for more than one person. I was used to my entire family gathering 'round the old t.v. to play a game or sometimes just watch one person play; you couldn't do that with the Virtual Boy.

I played it on and off through the year and eventually sold the system when I was in grad school and (1) had no money and (2) had no free time to play games anyways. But owning and playing and defending and, even, not hating a system such as the Virtual Boy does something to you. Like root for the underdog. Like seek out the obscure and the notorious.

Like want to buy a HyperScan.