Feel free to double-check the calendar… yes, it is in fact September 12th and not April 1st. Nintendo, always managing to surprise in one way or another, is reviving its infamously failed 3D gaming console, the Virtual Boy.
First released in 1995, the Virtual Boy was portrayed as a type of “virtual reality” experience, but considering its small field-of-view, lack of motion tracking, and single-color (red) display, it was functionally just a 3D display on a stand. Still, the console has been culturally associated with “virtual reality” ever since—and it’s not exactly a positive association.
Ambitious as it was, Virtual Boy was an infamous failure of a game console, owing largely to its minimal game catalog, single-color display, and reports of motion sickness while playing. It was discontinued less than a year after its launch. Even so, the console was not without its fans.
Now, for some reason, Nintendo announced it’s reviving the Virtual Boy with a new $100 replica accessory that uses the Switch or Switch 2 (but not the Switch Lite) as the brains and display for the device. And this isn’t just a facade; Nintendo is re-releasing original Virtual Boy games (first released 30 years ago) to be played on the device.
The company says it will launch first with Mario’s Tennis, Teleroboxer, and Galactic Pinball, with 14 games in total to be released over time. That may not sound like many, but it’s more than 50% of the entire Virtual Boy game catalog.
It’s unclear at this point if the games are simply being emulated or if they have been retouched or remastered. In any case, we hope they’ll be at least updated to render at the native Switch or Switch 2 resolutions, rather than the tiny 0.086MP (384 × 224) per-eye resolution of the original Virtual Boy.
It’s also unclear if the new Virtual Boy accessory will allow users to play a handful of existing Nintendo games with an optional ‘VR mode’, like Zelda Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, which were updated alongside the Nintendo Labo VR Kit back in 2019.
And speaking of infamous VR products, Nintendo is going a step further to make these retro games accessible: the company is also releasing a “Virtual Boy Cardboard Model,” which certainly brings back some memories. Priced at $25, it’s definitely more accessible, but it looks like the accessory is played by holding the entire Switch or Switch 2 console up to your face with the controllers attached… not the most comfortable thing for more than a few minutes.
Both the replica of the Virtual Boy and the Virtual Boy Cardboard Model will be available starting February 17th, 2026, directly from Nintendo.
Weird as the move may seem, it’s honestly pretty cool to see a company revive and revere a piece of its history, even if it wasn’t a particularly successful one. In an era where companies can shut down servers or revoke ‘ownership’ of games from paying customers, Nintendo is bringing back games that were essentially inaccessible.
,