Poor old George Costanza. This neurotic, self-loathing character from the popular comedy sitcom Seinfeld never did have much luck in life. It turns out in addition to being unfortunate in love (and virtually everything else) George also made equally terrible choices when buying video gaming hardware.
While idly relaxing at Nintendo Life Towers watching some old episodes of Seinfeld on Amazon Prime (not like we have anything better to do), we had to do a double take when we spotted a Virtual Boy casually propped up on the desk in his apartment.
We spotted this in Season 8, Episode 1 ("The Foundation"), which originally aired in September 1996. Considering that the ill-fated Virtual Boy was discontinued in March 1996 in North America it seems George was still clinging on, hoping that the unfortunate console might make a comeback. We already knew that Costanza was a keen gamer; he famously held the high score on Frogger.
We can only guess why the set designer placed a Virtual Boy in George's apartment, but we can't think of a better case of serendipity. It just feels so right.
Comments 35
Kramer was a huge fan of the original version of Mike Tyson's Punch Out.
At least it's immortalized
(In costanza's voice)
She wouldn't let me play teleroboxer, Jerry!
http://www.wfpblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ronburgandy-alligators.jpg
3 days before the Switch comes out and this gets posted. Nintendo's silence shows that even they are not confident in their product anymore.
@Yasume I see you are still enjoying your favorite hobby.
I think they put a lot of thought into George's apartment set, especially as I don't remember it appearing much.
Can't find an English version of this, but Sophia was given a Gameboy in the 80s/90s sitcom, The Golden Girls.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3fpV9jFrCg
@Yasume lol what? Nintendo probably has no idea this article exists.
@Yasume yes, Switch will crash and burn, we've got the memo. Buy a different console to suit your needs in the meantime, and better luck in another five years with Nintendo Wii Wow. :^)
This is excellent. I actually really liked the virtual boy. If only it could have been lighter to make it truly portable....
@Yasume What are Nintendo supposed to do? They have adverts to sell the Switch, which are far more effective than a list of specs, which only 0.000001% will buy or not based on.
@Yasume I'm confused - what does this post have anything to do with what Nintendo's doing today? The Switch is going to be great, Nintendo has beem marketing it like crazy, unlike the Wii U. It won't fail. This is just a post about a Virtual Boy sighting in Seinfeld, nothing more.
@Yasume Nintendo's silence? Yeah, I wish they'd done so much more. Some advertising would be nice - an ad during the super bowl would have been cool. They haven't bothered doing any game trailers. The media doesn't even have review units - some cool previews of Zelda or the hardware would make all the difference. They could have put on events where people could try out demos on the consoles themselves, that would have been great, such a missed opportunity. They could have done a handy video about setting up the system. Maybe we would even be getting a Nindie showcase sometime soon.
It's such a shame Nintendo has no confidence in their console...
Lol at the people that was incited by that persons post. You all know that you actually took the bait right?
This article put a smile on my mouth.
here's a thought ..
what if Nintendo releases its VB Collection as a complete set for Nintendo SWITCH later in the year when and IF they have Virtual reality headset.
here's to hoping! I like Jack Bros. and Wario Land the most from the console,but it does have some cool games.
@Yasume Don't forget the Nindies video.
@kingc8 I've played an VB emulator that's Grayscale and found it way more enjoyable than the deep red.,but I'm thinking the sale of VB Collection for Nintendo Switch couldn't be at a better time than when the VR kicks in.
@Yasume You do know there's a Nindies Direct Showcase today right. 12 Eastern. There could maybe be a new announcement for something.
@abbyhitter Word. There's also footage of the little nerdy kid in Step by Step with a game gear. The 90's ruled.
Ha ha, nice. I love when I spot something in a show or movie like that. Even better when the console or show/movie is older.
Always wished I had one. Hope to see some kind of Vitual Console release of ots games someday, though I'm not holding my breath.
Good to see attention-seekers get well taken of here.
Come on peeps - Don't bite, don't feed.
a Virtual Boy eh?
Not that there's anything wrong with that...
There are NES carts on Seinfeld's shelf too. By all accounts he was a big fan and put them in as references.
...why are people still feeding the trolls? Just ignore them already.
@Yasume
Hi. Lamenting again about Nintendo ?
@gcunit It's strange that the "community rules" don't say anything about blatant trolling. Even the cesspool of comment-refuse known as ign bans people for that.
@chardir hahaa, well said. Yasume needs to get a life.
I wonder if that Virtual Boy makes an appearance in any other episodes. I will have to re-watch this season and find out.
Suddenly I feel slightly awkward owning a Virtual Boy......
No wonder he needed glasses. It's cool to watch older shows and see some old tech from the era sprinkled around.
Being a fan of Seinfeld and having seen each episode at least 5 times, I never noticed the VB.
That's awesome.
And I remember the Frogger episode.
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