List of Virtual Boy games

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A Virtual Boy console with its controller Virtual-Boy-Set.jpg
A Virtual Boy console with its controller

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. [1] The following lists contains all of the games released for the Virtual Boy.

Contents

Originally unveiled at Nintendo's Shoshinkai Show in Japan on November 15, 1994 and at Winter CES in North America on January 6, 1995, [2] [3] 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, [4] [5] retailing at US$179.95 but in mid-1996, Blockbuster was selling Virtual Boy units at $50 each. [6] [7] [2] [8] : 513 

The system was overwhelmingly panned by critics and was deemed a commercial failure, [9] selling only 770,000 units before being discontinued both in Japan and North America on December 22, 1995 and March 2, 1996 respectively, [10] making it the second lowest-selling hardware by Nintendo after the 64DD and its marketing campaign was commonly thought of as a failure. [11] 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. [2]

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 [lower-alpha 1] 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 [2] including Bound High! , Dragon Hopper , NikoChan Battle , and Zero Racers .

Title [12] Genre(s)Developer(s)Publisher(s) [12] Release date
JapanNorth America
3D Tetris Puzzle T&E Soft Nintendo Unreleased [lower-alpha 2] March 22, 1996
Galactic Pinball Pinball Intelligent Systems NintendoJuly 21, 1995August 14, 1995
Golf Sports T&E SoftT&E Soft (JP)
Nintendo (NA)		August 11, 1995November 1995
Innsmouth no Yakata First-person horror Be TopI'MaxOctober 13, 1995Unreleased [lower-alpha 3]
Jack Bros. Action Atlus AtlusSeptember 29, 1995October 1995
Mario Clash Action Nintendo R&D1 NintendoSeptember 28, 1995October 1, 1995
Mario's Tennis Sports
NintendoJuly 21, 1995August 14, 1995
Nester's Funky Bowling Sports Saffire NintendoUnreleasedFebruary 1996
Panic Bomber PuzzleHudson Soft (JP)
Nintendo (NA)		July 21, 1995December 1995
Red Alarm Shoot 'em up T&E SoftT&E Soft (JP)
Nintendo (NA)		July 21, 1995August 14, 1995
SD Gundam Dimension War Tactical role-playing game Locomotive Bandai December 22, 1995Unreleased
Space Invaders Virtual Collection Shoot 'em up Taito TaitoDecember 1, 1995Unreleased
Space Squash SportsTomcat SystemCoconuts Japan EntertainmentSeptember 29, 1995Unreleased
Teleroboxer Fighting Nintendo R&D1NintendoJuly 21, 1995August 14, 1995
V-Tetris PuzzleLocomotive Bullet-Proof Software August 25, 1995Unreleased
Vertical Force Shoot 'em upHudson SoftHudson Soft (JP)
Nintendo (NA)		August 12, 1995December 1, 1995
Virtual Bowling Sports Athena AthenaDecember 22, 1995Unreleased
Virtual Boy Wario Land Platform Nintendo R&D1NintendoDecember 1, 1995November 27, 1995
Virtual Fishing Fishing Locomotive Pack-In-Video October 6, 1995Unreleased [lower-alpha 4]
Virtual Lab PuzzleNacotyJ-WingDecember 8, 1995Unreleased
Virtual League Baseball Sports Kemco KemcoAugust 11, 1995September 11, 1995
Waterworld Shoot 'em up Ocean of America Ocean of AmericaUnreleasedDecember 21, 1995

Notes

  1. ↑ This number is always up to date by this script.
  2. ↑ Canceled in development as Polygo Block
  3. ↑ Canceled in development as House of Insmouse
  4. ↑ Canceled in development

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References

  1. ↑ "Introduction by Nintendo". The New York Times. August 22, 1995. Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 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.
  3. ↑ "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.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ King, Geoff; Krzywinska, Tanya (2006). Tomb Raiders and Space Invaders : Videogame Forms and Contexts.
  12. 1 2 "Virtual Boy Games" (PDF). Nintendo of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 2, 2006. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
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