VR's gaming history is a cycle of hype and disappointment. Nintendo's Virtual Boy (1995) was a red-and-black headache machine that flopped so hard it became a collector's joke. Then came decades of silence until Oculus Rift's Kickstarter in 2012 reignited excitement. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion in 2014, Sony launched PSVR in 2016, and the Valve Index pushed high-end VR in 2019. Half-Life: Alyx (2020) proved AAA VR games could be stunning, and Meta's Quest 2 sold over 20 million units. But VR still hasn't crossed the mainstream threshold. It's an enthusiast market that keeps getting closer to a breakthrough without quite arriving.