Nintendo Just Turned Its Biggest Flop Into A Massive Switch Surprise

Super Smash Bros. Animal Crossing. A new 3D Mario or mainline Zelda. These were all on my hypothetical bingo card leading up to today’s Nintendo Direct stream. And while there was a fair share of genuinely awesome surprises in the hour-long presentation (new Fire Emblem and Samus on a motorcycle among them), Nintendo still managed to subvert every single viewer’s expectations with one announcement in particular: the Virtual Boy, the company’s biggest hardware flop, is coming to the Nintendo Switch Online.

A total of 14 games from the Virtual Boy’s 22-game library will be playable on Nintendo Switch consoles starting February 17, 2026. Titles will include Mario’s Tennis (the sports series' debut was actually a Virtual Boy pack-in), Tetris, Teleroboxer, and Wario Land. The new addition to the service marks the very first time these games will be playable since their initial release 30 years ago.

And if that wasn’t enough, Nintendo’s taking things one step further. To ensure modern players get the full experience, a dedicated Virtual Boy accessory that replicates the original hardware will be sold via Nintendo’s official website. The unit will open up, allowing players to slot in a Switch or Switch 2 console so the games can be played as they were originally designed. The accessory will go on sale in February and will retail for $100. If that seems a little steep (which it is), Nintendo will also sell a cardboard version for $25.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Virtual Boy, it’s completely understandable and probably by design. The console launched in 1995 and was a rare but colossal flop for Nintendo, one that the company seldom acknowledges. Aside from a few nods in games like Animal Crossing, Splatoon, and Super Smash Bros. Melee, the short-lived console doesn’t spur the same reverence from Nintendo or its fan base.

While there are plenty of behind-the-scenes reasons for the Virtual Boy’s shortcomings (Ars Technica has an excellent look at the console’s development and commercial failure), the actual hardware is ultimately what did it in. The Virtual Boy was sold on the promise of pulling players closer to the game in a virtual reality-adjacent experience. In reality, it was a pair of screens that players uncomfortably peered into to play games no one really wanted. What made matters worse was that the console was only capable of displaying its games in an eye-searing red.

It quickly gained a reputation for causing headaches and was even hazardous to young children. The final nail in the coffin would be its release window. In 1995, the original PlayStation and Sega Saturn debuted. Nintendo’s actual ace in the hole, the N64, followed a year later. The Virtual Boy sold just 770,000 units worldwide. In less than a year, this grand experiment was quietly shuffled off into obscurity.

That was until today. There’s something strangely sentimental about seeing Nintendo embrace its greatest failure like a prodigal son. And as much of an esoteric punchline the Virtual Boy has become over the decades, there are a few games worth playing. Virtual Boy Wario Land is the console’s greatest game, and it’s been long overdue for a proper re-release. Mario’s Tennis will serve as a fun look at the series' humble beginnings ahead of its upcoming ninth entry. And Mario Clash, the stereoscopic remake of the original Mario Bros arcade game, is a fun piece of history during the 40th anniversary of Super Mario Bros.

It’s great to see the Virtual Boy get some due all these years later. While I hope these re-releases will include a few bells and whistles, such as the ability to play them with graphics that won’t strain your eyes after a few minutes, having them preserved at all is a significant win for gaming as a whole. The return of the Virtual Boy is the surprise no one saw coming or even asked for. But I’m very happy that it's happening at all.