Nintendo’s retro ‘90s VR headset is making a comeback on Switch
The 1995 VR headset was an infamous flop but a cult favourite among fans, now you can experience it
Launched approximately one million years ago – in the ancient year of 1995 – the Virtual Boy was Nintendo’s ill-fated early attempt to kickstart 3D gaming, long before the immensely more successful Nintendo 3DS. Infamous for almost instantly causing splitting headaches, the console is the stuff of industry legend, a commercial disaster that was discontinued less than a year after launch.
But time heals all migraines. Nintendo has just brought a library of Virtual Boy classics to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service, marking the first time these titles have been officially playable since the console was swept under the rug over 30 years ago.
To play these classic games, you’ll need the new Virtual Boy accessory (£66.99, Nintendo.co.uk) an imitation of the original headset (now with simple VR lenses rather than oscillating mirrors) into which you can slot either the Switch, Switch OLED or Switch 2.
Nintendo has also launched an even more basic cardboard version of the Virtual Boy (£16.99, Nintendo.co.uk), which achieves the same 3D effect.
The launch line-up includes seven titles, with Virtual Boy Wario Land the headline act. Often cited as the best game on the system, it cleverly used the console’s 3D depth to let Wario jump between the foreground and background. Joining it are Galactic Pinball, Golf and 3-D Tetris, with further games yet to launch including Mario’s Tennis.
Read more: 29 best Nintendo Switch games for every kind of player
Virtual Boy for Nintendo Switch
The Virtual Boy library is available to download now for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers. This is the premium tier of Nintendo’s subscription service, which costs £34.99 a year for an individual membership and also includes access to Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance and Sega Mega Drive libraries, as well as DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing.
What is the Virtual Boy?
Designed by Gunpei Yokoi – the legendary creator of the Game Boy – the Virtual Boy was a table-top tripod headset that used rapidly oscillating mirrors to create a stereoscopic 3D effect. YouTubers The Slow Mo Guys recently went into fascinating detail about how this wildly innovative piece of tech worked.
Due to cost and battery constraints, the Virtual Boy displayed graphics in a stark, harsh palette of red and black. It hurt people’s heads, it hurt people’s necks, and remains Nintendo’s worst-selling console of all time.
So why bring it back? Despite the hardware flaws the Virtual Boy has become a legendary curiosity, and there were actually some brilliant games hidden in its tiny library. The arrival of the Virtual Boy app on the Switch is a win for game preservation, allowing today’s players to experience a weird chapter of Nintendo history without having to hunt down fragile, expensive hardware on eBay.
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