It took more than two decades, but Nintendo has finally got fans to care about the Virtual Boy, as it’s somehow managed to sell out in the US.
Although Nintendo has been on a major winning streak over the past two console generations, it’s not like everything it does is a guaranteed success. The Wii U (which I loved because I have good taste) is perhaps the most well-known Nintendo miss, but there’s an even bigger flop further back in the company’s history.
I am, of course, talking about the Virtual Boy, Nintendo’s strange red-and-black headset that almost instantly failed and ended up only having 22 games worldwide. The Virtual Boy has been a bit of an embarrassment for Nintendo over the years, but it recently decided to embrace its past by announcing a Virtual Boy accessory for Switch 2 to go alongside it joining the Nintendo Classics library.
After 21 Years, The Virtual Boy Is Finally A Success
Turns Out $99 Wasn’t Too Much For Most Fans
The Virtual Boy went up for sale on the Nintendo Store back in December, and although many fans said that $99 for a joke was simply too much, it seems like a lot of them ended up caving. As pointed out by Nintendeal on Twitter, the Virtual Boy has actually managed to sell out on the Nintendo Store in the United States.
One Week On, The Virtual Boy Was The Still Best Part of the Nintendo Direct
The Virtual Boy was a disaster, but what a beautiful one it was
Although the store page for the Virtual Boy just says that the pre-purchase window for the Virtual Boy has ended, it’s still available to pre-order on the UK Nintendo Store, suggesting it really has sold out. It’s likely that more stock for the Virtual Boy will come as the accessory launches later this month, but it’s still a surprise to see as much interest in it as there is.
It’s not just the proper Virtual Boy accessory that’s sold out, either. The much cheaper cardboard model is also out of stock on the Nintendo Store. While the Virtual Boy games will be playable if you don’t have either of the accessories, they’ll look a bit weird, so it’s not too surprising that fans have also gobbled up a much more cost-effective way to play a strange part of Nintendo’s history.
- Brand
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Nintendo
- Original Release Date
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June 5, 2025
- Original MSRP (USD)
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$449.99
- Operating System
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Proprietary
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