Your Nintendo Switch Labo VR Headset Won't Play Virtual Boy Games After All

Your Nintendo Switch Labo VR Headset Won’t Play Virtual Boy Games After All

Last updated: 2026/02/09 at 2:20 AM

News Room Published 9 February 2026

Nintendo’s failed VR platform, Virtual Boy, is part of an upcoming celebration that will allow you to play ’90s games using new accessories through Switch Online. A Nintendo representative previously said you’d be able to use your existing Labo VR Goggles to play the titles, but it has now backtracked on that promise.

On Thursday, Nintendo told Nintendo Life that it had “incorrectly stated” that the cardboard VR headset for the original Switch was compatible. “The Nintendo Labo VR Goggles are not officially supported for the Virtual Boy – Nintendo Classics library,” it said. Instead, it wants you to buy either a new plastic Virtual Boy headset accessory for $99.99 or a cardboard alternative for $24.99.

The wording in Nintendo’s statement may suggest some functionality will be possible with the original Labo VR headset. Nevertheless, Nintendo says it won’t be officially supporting Labo VR, so you shouldn’t expect the full experience if you choose to try it out.

Labo VR headset for the original Switch (Credit: Will Greenwald/PCMag)

The Virtual Boy rerelease games are set to come to Switch Online on Feb. 17. The service will start with a release of 3-D Tetris, Galactic Pinball, GOLF, The Mansion of Innsmouth, Red Alarm, Teleroboxer, and Virtual Boy Wario Land.

Other titles coming later in the year include Mario Clash, Mario’s Tennis, Jack Bros., Space Invaders Virtual Collection, Vertical Force, Virtual Bowling, and V-Tetris. It will also include two previously unreleased titles: D-Hopper and Zero Racers.

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PCMag’s Will Greenwald has tried out the new accessory and says it is a fun novelty, especially for classic game collectors. “The games are fun for a few minutes, but, like the system itself, there isn’t much staying power compared with the other Nintendo Switch Online systems, such as the SNES, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, and Sega Genesis. The Virtual Boy was a novelty when it debuted, and it still is,” he says.

Earlier this week, Nintendo’s original Switch became the second-best-selling console of all time. It overtook the Nintendo DS, originally released in 2004, and may even eventually beat the Sony PlayStation 2, which is thought to have sold over 160 million units.