Neither the GameCube nor the Wii U: it’s Nintendo’s most unsuccessful console

For as many successful systems as Nintendo has (like the Game Boy, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo Switch), the company has also had some stumbles. Some of the minor missteps were limited to accessories, such as the clunky e-reader or the Nintendo 64DD that was never released outside of Japan. But entire consoles have also flopped, which stings even more.

When you think of failing Nintendo platforms, the GameCube or Wii U may come to mind. During the sixth generation, the GameCube came in third place behind the wildly successful PS2 and newcomer Xbox. And the Wii U represented one of Nintendo’s darkest periods, offering many mixed-reception games for confusing and poorly marketed hardware.

But the worst-performing Nintendo console was neither. Rather, it was a short-lived system from the mid-1990s that didn’t even last a year and sold only a fraction of the units. And as lambasted as it is, a recent comeback means it’s easier than ever to try today.

You’ll realize the Virtual Boy is unusual just by looking at it. Rather than a traditional video game console that connects to a TV or portable console that you hold in your hands, the Virtual Boy hits a happy medium. It uses a stand-supported “binocular” design viewfinder to guide you through the flagship feature: rudimentary three-dimensional visuals. The proper term for this is “stereoscopic 3D”, where a different image is shown to each of your eyes to create the illusion of 3D. And while this technology seemed impressive for its time, it was actually an undercooked and fraught mess.

Nintendo began selling the Virtual Boy in North America in August 1995, shortly after its release in Japan. This was before the arrival of the Nintendo 64 or the Game Boy Pocket revision in 1996, meaning that Nintendo’s hardware market had been quiet since the North American release of the SNES in 1991. In March 1996, the final Virtual Boy game was released in North America (3D Tetris), Nintendo silently discontinuing the system shortly after. Europe never even understood it.

In June 1996, Nintendo announced that the console had sold 770,000 units. This makes it by far the least sold Nintendo console – the Wii U is a close second, but still miles away with 13.6 million sold.

If you are wondering how to play Virtual Boy comfortably, you have come across the first major problem. Setting up the Virtual Boy’s stand on a table meant you had to lean forward to put your face inside, which was not a comfortable position to hold for long periods of time. Tilting the stand might help, or you could get creative with different angles, like lying down. A strap would have been great, but Nintendo never released one. It’s not a good sign when just understanding how to start using a system is a challenge.

For power, the Virtual Boy used six AA batteries on the back of the controller (or an optional adapter for a wall outlet that slid into the back of the controller instead). Its controller had a unique dual D-pad design, used by several games. However, the A/B and Start/Select buttons being the exact same shape made it easy to forget which was which, as it was difficult to look down to see them.

There were also complaints at the time about not being connected to the people around you when playing, since the Virtual Boy was a single-person experience. Other members of the household could not monitor you or easily pass the controller around. It clearly wasn’t a portable console either; using it in a car would have been ridiculous.

The Virtual Boy’s discomfort isn’t limited to putting your face in the device. Once you lay eyes on the screen, another of its huge problems becomes apparent: the screen is only black and red. According to Nintendo, adding the color would have made production far too expensive. The color palette usually caused eye strain and headaches, especially considering how close your eyes are to the screen.

Aside from a single and boring color, the Virtual Boy’s 3D display technology made people nauseous. Internally, the system used oscillating mirrors to reflect a line of single-pixel LEDs and create the images you see during playback (this video from The Slow Mo Guys illustrates this well). Because everyone’s eyes are different, the device had a slider on top to adjust the distance between the mirrors. I’m sure many people didn’t do it correctly (or at all), which contributed to the headaches and eye pain.

Nintendo was aware of these problems, which is why the Virtual Boy had a built-in reminder to take a break every 15 minutes or so. The longer you go without stopping, the worse you are likely to feel. It’s difficult to become absorbed in an experience when you have to constantly break the immersion.

Maybe people would have forgiven the hurdles of using Virtual Boy if the games were worth playing. Unfortunately, almost all of the system’s titles were mundane. Many were hurt by the dull graphics of primitive wireframes and vast pools of black. Releases also fell into repetitive genres like sports, arcade, and puzzle. Additionally, Nintendo’s best-known franchises were largely absent; Zelda, Metroid, Kirbyand many others were nowhere to be found.

A few Virtual Boy games were strong points, but barely justified the console’s price. Teleroboxer had a lot of the same “puzzle combat” elements as Punch!!while the title of the pack Mario’s tennis was a good showcase for 3D effects (and is the first game in the Mario-Tennis series). But due to their short length and basic gameplay, almost the entire library felt like tech demos rather than must-play releases.

Almost everyone agrees Virtual Boy Wario Land is the best game for the system, with crisp graphics and a neat gimmick where you can switch between background and foreground layers. It’s a brief, but fun experience – one that’s unfortunately stuck on Virtual Boy.

Obviously, the Virtual Boy arrived on shelves in an incomplete state; it was rushed so Nintendo could focus on the upcoming N64. Unlike the Wii, where everyone who tried one wanted their own, people trying the Virtual Boy at a friend’s house or through a Blockbuster rental promotion realized how superficial it was. Its competition hasn’t helped the situation either. In North America, the PlayStation arrived a month after the Virtual Boy (in September 1995) and offered much superior 3D graphics.

Aside from some minor references in other games, Nintendo remained mostly silent on Virtual Boy until September 2025, when it revealed that Virtual Boy games would be integrated into the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service. Place your Switch or Switch 2 in a cardboard slot or a replica of the original Virtual Boy and you’ll see what the Virtual Boy looked like. Two images are displayed on your system’s screen, with lenses creating the 3D effect. Your Switch controller of choice is compatible, while an August 2026 update made it possible to change the color to something other than red.

The expansion pack costs $50/year (there is no monthly payment option), with the replica model costing $100 and the cardboard version $25. There is no option to turn off the 3D effect, so you cannot play these games on the TV. It’s quite expensive to try out such a limited library of games, but those curious about Nintendo’s biggest flop should still have fun with it.