Nintendo is bringing back the Virtual Boy, and it's just as weird as you remember. But here's where it gets controversial: while the new Virtual Boy shell is a faithful replica of the original system, it's not a perfect recreation. The Virtual Boy was the black sheep of Nintendo's console family, and its failure in the 1990s was due to its awkward design and harsh graphics. Now, Nintendo is bringing it back as a Switch accessory, but will it change its reputation? The new Virtual Boy shell is a physical enclosure designed to hold your Switch or Switch 2, with lenses that let you stare at two halves of the system's screen, enabling stereoscopic 3D. It's not new technology, but it's a great addition for collectors. However, the lack of a controller and the limited games available make it a less-than-ideal experience. The launch games include Wario Land, Tetris, and others, but they're not as complex as the best Game Boy games. The Virtual Boy app's most interesting feature, a color palette swap, won't be available at launch, either. Despite my complaints, I'm happy to see the Virtual Boy's resurrection, but it's more collectible than playable. And this is the part most people miss: the Virtual Boy was a novelty when it debuted, and it still is.
