Yes, seriously! In a move absolutely no one was expecting, the all-time classic 3D gaming device Virtual Boy is coming to Nintendo Switch, via what looks like the ultimate Labo experiment. Via either a faithful plastic replica of the original device, or even a cardboard version, Nintendo is planning to bring 14 Virtual Boy games back to its systems. The 1995 device wasn’t exactly a break-out success, so it’s fantastic to see it begin given a brand new, deeply bizarre second chance some 30 years later.
The Virtual Boy accessory will cost $100 and is set to launch on February 17, 2026. There will also be a cheaper cardboard version that will only cost $25.
As the subscription service feature that’s now called Nintendo Classics rapidly expands, perhaps there was hope that we might start to see some Wii games getting emulated, and the woefully missing DS category getting added, but it’s safe to say few had Virtual Boy on their bingo card. The three-decade-old device rendered 3D games in a red-on-black format, played by pressing your face into the massive goggles balanced on a stand. When it came out in 1995, it launched with Mario’s Tennis, Red Alarm, Teleroboxer and Galactic Pinball, all of which are set to appear in this new version.
What’s so extraordinary about this is that it obviously can’t just run on your Switch or Switch 2, because the consoles have no means of being a 3D device. Hence the brand new peripheral which recreates the original look, complete with far-too-spindly legs. But there’s also a cardboard version that will likely cost significantly less, and hopefully still recreate the same effect.
The original Virtual Boy did not sell well, partly because it was very expensive for the time, and partly because it rendered games as crude red lines in 1995 when 3D graphics cards were just becoming a big deal. Clearly nostalgia makes all of that irrelevant, and this the most bizarrely appealing idea 30 years on.
Next year, Virtual Boy games will be added to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. 14 games will be added to the collection “over time,” including two versions of Tetris, and the almost forgotten Mario Clash.
