Nintendo's notorious Virtual Boy gets second life as a new Switch and Switch 2 accessory
In 1995, Nintendo released its shortest-lived 32-bit console, called the Virtual Boy, which lasted less than a year in commercial markets.
The Virtual Boy was ahead of its time, a system capable of producing stereoscopic 3D, albeit with a monochrome display that featured red and black colors.
Suffice to say, the system underperformed, panned as a commercial and critical failure, and only managed a small library of 22 games. Worse, players complained of headaches and eye strain when using the system.
Now the console is getting a second life, as a hardware add-on accessory for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. The accessory will have two variants to choose from: A $100 plastic replica of the original device and a cheaper $25 cardboard version.
You will need to purchase either version of the accessory, and a Nintendo Switch + Expansion Pack membership is required to play the games. The Virtual Boy games will be added to the Nintendo Classics library starting February 17, 2026.
Nintendo will release 14 of the 22 games released for the system, including Wario Land, Red Alarm, Mario Clash, Golf, Tetris 3D, Vertical Force, Jack Bros., Mario Tennis, Teleroboxer, Galactic Pinball, and more.
You will also need a Nintendo Switch Online membership to purchase the Virtual Boy accessory. The company will announce a pre-order date in the near future.
Frankly, this makes little sense for anyone but collectors. The games are also still in red/black monochrome and look incredibly dated by today's standards. Nintendo hasn't gone into detail yet on how it plans to solve the headache/eye-strain the Virtual Boy was notorious for.
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