Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model)

Hardware Type: Accessory / Misc.

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Review:

More than any other major player in the videogame industry, Nintendo is known for making surprising, out-of-nowhere moves. Yet even for Nintendo, it was quite shocking to see them announce the addition of a Virtual Boy App to their lineup of retro apps for Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. This is because when the Virtual Boy launched in 1995 and was discontinued a half year later in 1996, it came to be regarded as Nintendo’s biggest market failure of any game console they ever released. This is debatable, by the way – the Nintendo 64DD add-on was such a miserable flop that it never made it outside of Japan, and as a result many Westerners don’t even considering it when weighing Nintendo’s big failures.

But I digress – the point is that the Virtual Boy was a massive failure, and in the 30 years since, Nintendo has seemed committed to pretending like the console didn’t exist. Apart from a few small references to the Virtual Boy in games like Tomodachi Life and the WarioWare franchise, Nintendo hasn’t remade or re-released any of the games in the Virtual Boy library, even when it seemed to make sense to do so, such as when the Nintendo 3DS seemed to offer the perfect platform to bring these games back.

However, for whatever reason, now in 2026 we’re seeing the return of the Virtual Boy to Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 for subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, and accompanying the release of this retro app are a new pair of Virtual Boy accessories to turn your Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch 2 into a makeshift Virtual Boy… sorta’. But more on this in a bit.

First, I should note that in order to purchase either of these accessories, you need to have an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription. You will also be limited to one purchase of each accessory. As for the accessories themselves, at a $25 price point we have the Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model), and for $100 you can purchase a full life-size plastic replica of the Virtual Boy. And while you may be tempted to think that the main difference here is price and build quality, there are actually some interesting differences between the two.

The Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model) has received a lot of comparisons to Nintendo LABO VR, and for good reason – its construction is nearly identical to the main unit of the Nintendo LABO VR. The only significant change here, other than the aesthetic design intended to imitate the red and black look of the Virtual Boy, is that the compartment designed to house the Nintendo Switch has been expanded to accommodate either a Nintendo Switch or a Nintendo Switch 2.

This is good news for fans of Nintendo LABO VR, because it means that you can now use the entire library of Nintendo LABO VR-compatible games on Nintendo Switch 2, including games that benefit from a graphics boost on Nintendo Switch 2, like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Super Mario Odyssey, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (provided you’ve purchased the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, at least). That said, I should note that even those games improved on Nintendo Switch 2 are still running at an extremely low resolution when playing them in LABO VR mode, and it’s debatable whether the tradeoff of a huge hit to resolution in exchange for 3D is really worth it.

I should also note that the one exception to Nintendo LABO backward-compatibility are portions of the Nintendo LABO VR software itself – add-on cardboard accessories like the “Blaster” accessory won’t fit the Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model), regardless of whether a Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch 2 console is inside it.

Oh, and just to be sure there’s no confusion, the Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model) will not work with the overwhelming majority of Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 games. Only the Virtual Boy app, and the very few select titles with LABO VR support, will be usable with this accessory.

Finally, one more difference between LABO VR and the Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model) is that the Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model) requires no assembly or construction – unlike Nintendo LABO, it comes fully-made. And the compartment housing the Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch 2 is padded with foam to ensure it sits snug. This is particularly important for the original Nintendo Switch, because its smaller size compared to the Nintendo Switch 2 means that there’s more room for it to jostle around inside the unit.

To insert the Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch 2, you must remove one Joy-Con and slide the console through a slot on the side, placing the Joy-Con back onto the console once it’s all the way through. Both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 rest on the bottom of this slot, and can slide horizontally a bit – you’ll want to make use of this to ensure that the focus is right, and ensure you’re getting each “window” lined up with the lens for that window.

As with Nintendo LABO, you’ll need to physically hold onto the unit while using it. This does have the benefit of making it feel natural to adjust the unit if your focus is a little off, but it means you won’t be using your preferred controller, and you’ll be holding the entire thing up to your face the whole time, possibly tiring out your arms.

Okay, so we’ve seen how the Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model) compares to Nintendo LABO VR and how it works with Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, so how does it compare to the Virtual Boy replica unit for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, apart from its price, aesthetic, and construction.

Well, first and foremost, the Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model) does not come with red-tinted lens covers. This isn’t needed to play Virtual Boy games with their signature red and black look, but does give players using the replica unit the option of playing Nintendo LABO-compatible games that way, if they desire to do so. Gimmicky, and hardly a major feature. Also, and somewhat obviously, the Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model) doesn’t come with legs to stand on… and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Many of those other Nintendo LABO games I’ve mentioned benefit from the player being able to freely look around, and in fact many of them track head movement. While you can still potentially do this with the Virtual Boy replica, it’s a lot more cumbersome to hold the thing and look around with its legs dangling down from the unit. And while it’s true that this means it’s not really the sort of thing you can set down and not have to hold while you play… well, leaning forward to look into the replica unit isn’t going to be comfortable for a lot of people anyway.

I also found that getting a proper focus was much easier with the Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model), which seemed to more easily align the screen with the lenses and then with my face pressed into the unit. By contrast, the foam face mask component of the replica unit seemed to lead to me getting too close to the screen, leading to the screen appearing out of focus, and I had to kinda’ hover my head slightly away from the replica unit to see it properly.

I should note that in both the Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model) and the replica unit, I found that some games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild made it difficult for me to see the entire screen on Nintendo Switch 2, yet another concession you’ll have to make to play these games this way.

By this point, it does seem like there are a lot of concessions that need to be made to enjoy the Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model). I will say that despite its cheaper build, I think I enjoyed using this accessory more than the more-expensive replica unit, even if it lacks the flair of that accessory. However, even then, it’s an extremely niche accessory that’s only going to see very limited use outside of the Virtual Boy app itself, unless you’re a huge Nintendo LABO VR player. As a curiosity, I would say this accessory is worth it… but it’s definitely far from what you would hope for in a VR experience. I really hope that some third-party releases a hands-free headset version of this like the OIVO For NS Pro VR Headset. Until then, this appears to be a decent if imperfect way to enjoy the Virtual Boy and Nintendo LABO VR on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.

tl;dr – The Virtual Boy (Cardboard Model) is an accessory that slightly alters the design of Nintendo LABO VR to work with both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, with its intended use being for the new Nintendo Switch Online Virtual Boy App, but also usable with prior Nintendo LABO VR titles. It does this well enough, but with numerous drawbacks, limitations, and concessions. It makes for a decent-enough way to play these 3D VR titles, and is arguably even better than the much more expensive Virtual Boy replica model, but it’s far from ideal.

Grade: C

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