The Virtual Boy is a 32-bit tabletop video game console developed and designed by Nintendo, first released in Japan on July 21, 1995 and later in North America on August 14 of the same year. The following lists contains all of the games released for the Virtual Boy.
Originally unveiled at Nintendo's Shoshinkai Show in Japan on November 15, 1994 and at Winter CES in North America on January 6, 1995, it was never intended to be released in its final form but Nintendo pushed the Virtual Boy in its unfinished state to market so that it could focus development resources on the then-upcoming Nintendo 64 and arrived later than other 32-bit systems such as the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn but at a lower price, retailing at US$179.95 but in mid-1996, Blockbuster was selling Virtual Boy units at $50 each.
The system was overwhelmingly panned by critics and was deemed a commercial failure, selling only 770,000 units before being discontinued both in Japan and North America on December 22, 1995 and March 2, 1996 respectively, making it the second lowest-selling hardware by Nintendo after the 64DD and its marketing campaign was commonly thought of as a failure. Several additional titles were announced to be released for the Virtual Boy at E3 1996, but ultimately they were never released due to the system’s discontinuation by Nintendo themselves, as were several localizations that were only released in one region.
This lists all games commercially released for the Virtual Boy. For games that were announced or in development but never released, see the list of cancelled Virtual Boy games.
Games
Listed here are all 22 officially released Virtual Boy games. Of these, eight titles were exclusive to Japan, three to North America and the other 11 were released in both regions. The Americas saw 14 releases and Japan, Hong Kong, and other Asian territories had 19. A number of games were either announced or already in development before ultimately being cancelled including Bound High!, Dragon Hopper, NikoChan Battle, and Zero Racers.
Title | Genre(s) | Developer(s) | Publisher(s) | Release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Japan | North America | ||||
3D Tetris | Puzzle | T&E Soft | Nintendo | Unreleased | March 22, 1996 |
Galactic Pinball | Pinball | Intelligent Systems | Nintendo | July 21, 1995 | August 14, 1995 |
Golf | Sports | T&E Soft | T&E Soft (JP) Nintendo (NA) |
August 11, 1995 | November 1995 |
Innsmouth no Yakata | First-person horror | Be Top | I'MAX | October 13, 1995 | Unreleased |
Jack Bros. | Action | Atlus | Atlus | September 29, 1995 | October 1995 |
Mario Clash | Action | Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | September 28, 1995 | October 1, 1995 |
Mario's Tennis | Sports |
|
Nintendo | July 21, 1995 | August 14, 1995 |
Nester's Funky Bowling | Sports | Saffire | Nintendo | Unreleased | February 1996 |
Panic Bomber | Puzzle | Hudson Soft (JP) Nintendo (NA) |
July 21, 1995 | December 1995 | |
Red Alarm | Shoot 'em up | T&E Soft | T&E Soft (JP) Nintendo (NA) |
July 21, 1995 | August 14, 1995 |
SD Gundam Dimension War | Tactical role-playing game | Locomotive | Bandai | December 22, 1995 | Unreleased |
Space Invaders Virtual Collection | Shoot 'em up | Taito | Taito | December 1, 1995 | Unreleased |
Space Squash | Sports | Tomcat System | Coconuts Japan Entertainment | September 29, 1995 | Unreleased |
Teleroboxer | Fighting | Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | July 21, 1995 | August 14, 1995 |
V-Tetris | Puzzle | Locomotive | Bullet-Proof Software | August 25, 1995 | Unreleased |
Vertical Force | Shoot 'em up | Hudson Soft | Hudson Soft (JP) Nintendo (NA) |
August 12, 1995 | December 1, 1995 |
Virtual Bowling | Sports | Athena | Athena | December 22, 1995 | Unreleased |
Virtual Boy Wario Land | Platform | Nintendo R&D1 | Nintendo | December 1, 1995 | November 27, 1995 |
Virtual Fishing | Fishing | Locomotive | Pack-In-Video | October 6, 1995 | Unreleased |
Virtual Lab | Puzzle | Nacoty | J-Wing | December 8, 1995 | Unreleased |
Virtual League Baseball | Sports | Kemco | Kemco | August 11, 1995 | September 11, 1995 |
Waterworld | Shoot 'em up | Ocean of America | Ocean of America | Unreleased | December 21, 1995 |
Notes
- This number is always up to date by this script.
- Canceled in development as Polygo Block
- Canceled in development as House of Insmouse
- Canceled in development
References
- "Introduction by Nintendo". The New York Times. August 22, 1995. Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- ^ Boyer, Steven. "A Virtual Failure: Evaluating the Success of Nintendos Virtual Boy." Velvet Light Trap, No. 64 (2009): 23-33. ProQuest Research Library. Web. May 24, 2012.
- "Nintendo introduces video game players to three-dimensional worlds with new virtual reality video game system « Press Releases « Planet Virtual Boy". planetvb.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- Sheff, David; Eddy, Andy (1999). Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children. GamePress. ISBN 978-0-9669617-0-6. OCLC 26214063.
- KEVIN RAFFERTY, IN T. "Super Mario Takes Leap into Three Dimensional Space." The Guardian (pre-1997 Fulltext): 0. November 16, 1994. ProQuest. Web. July 8, 2013.
- Q, The (September 1996). "Gaming Gossip". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 86. Ziff Davis. p. 34. Archived from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- Edwards, Benj (August 21, 2015). "Unraveling The Enigma Of Nintendo's Virtual Boy, 20 Years Later". Fast Company. Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- Kent, Steven L. (2002). The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World. New York: Random House International. pp. 513–515, 518, 519, 523, 524. ISBN 978-0-7615-3643-7. OCLC 59416169. Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- Lisa Foiles. "Top 5 Hardware Super Fails | Top 5 with Lisa Foiles Video Gallery | The Escapist". Escapistmagazine.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- Snow, Blake (May 4, 2007). "The 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time". GamePro.com. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- King, Geoff; Krzywinska, Tanya (2006). Tomb Raiders and Space Invaders : Videogame Forms and Contexts.
- ^ "Virtual Boy Games" (PDF). Nintendo of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 2, 2006. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
External links
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