In the 1990s, Tiger Electronics was well known for making a line of inexpensive, self contained handheld systems. Most popular video games of the time ended up on a Tiger handheld, and the cheap handhelds were wildly successful.
At the same time, there was a "virtual reality" boom going on. Pop culture referenced it frequently, and Nintendo's Virtual Boy attempted to emulate it, with limited success. Hot on the heels of the Virtual Boy, Tiger launched the R-Zone in 1995.
The original R-Zone model, called the Headgear, featured a head strap with a mirrored surface and was worn around the player's head. The cartridge was plugged into the system and actually displayed the game itself, projecting it onto the mirrored surface, which the player saw as the game. The system's controller was attached to the head unit by a 2.5 foot cable, and was a fairly typical controller unit of the time.
What Makes It Obscure?
First and foremost among the R-Zone's faults was the graphical capabilities. The system's graphics were very limited, and only in red and black. While the Virtual Boy also displayed only in red and black, the graphical detail was much greater. Games on the R-Zone differed primarily in title and subject; gameplay was nearly identical among all titles. The system did not allow saving of data.
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