Virtual Boy Games on 3DS

[TonyTheTiger]

Are they actually referring to the red 3DS as a Virtual Boy throwback or is it just coincidental? I've been under the impression for a long time that Nintendo would sooner erase the Virtual Boy from the annals of history.

While faithful ports, and maybe full color enhanced versions, would be awesome I just don't know if Nintendo has the cajones to celebrate what is popularly seen as its greatest embarassment.

[Gamereviewgod]

I've said this since the system was announced. At the very least, put out some games like Wario Land and you know what? Maybe people would stop bashing the VB hardware so readily. Despite not having much, a lot of the library was great.

[ubersaurus]

I've been wanting to see that since the VC was announced for the 3ds. I hope Nintendo goes for it, though admittedly I don't know how easy the emulation would go. I'd love to be able to play VB games without having to shell out of the VB itself (and find space for it) and still get the 3D experience. I remember liking Wario Land, Mario Clash, Mario's Tennis, and Red Alarm from playing them back in the day, and quite a few other games looked pretty interesting as well.

[Leo_A]

I think the big road block will be cost. There are just a few games worthwhile enough to rerelease. So I'm not sure I see Nintendo going through the trouble of porting them (The more likely of the two so they can offer optional colorization) or developing an emulator for such a small group of releases.

And unlike the niche Game & Watch rerelease line, there's so much negativity towards the system, especially from the masses that never played one but were told it failed, that I think Nintendo might prefer to continue ignoring it like they've done the past 15 years. For the Game & Watch, people either never heard of it, have no recollection of it anymore, or have fond memories of it. I'd expect to see effort channeled into a rerelease program for their classic arcade games before seeing this, to be honest. Seems like there would be more money to be had there, a larger potential lineup, and greater demand from gamers.

And would they want to release games that, in some cases, all but required the 3D effect to be playable on a handheld that otherwise fully supports optional 2D viewing for those customers that can't view the 3D effect or prefer running it in 2D? I've been told that the excellent Wario Land release is one such game that probably wouldn't translate too well in 2D due to the excellent use of the 3D effect in the title (I've never played a Virtual Boy, I have a lazy eye so I can't).

Would be nice to see it happen. I think the 3DS is the perfect avenue for this and there's some nice games, it seems, that deserve to not be forgotten. But I bet they don't.

[Cornelius]

I don't know, Leo. I think some of that "remember how terrible" vibe the VB has might actually drive sales today, at least for a portion of the market. Then there is another portion of the market that might be in the "wish I could have tried it out" category. We "these games are good and deserve recognition" gamers are a very slim market, but we do exist. But yeah, now that I type all this it occurs to me that 95% of the people that buy 3DS games still probably have never even heard of the VB.

And yet the G&W Ball reproduction exists in the Club Nintendo marketplace.

[Aussie2B]

I would imagine that the fascination with the G&W series these days stems largely from its inclusion in Smash Bros.

[Gameguy]

Can Virtual Boy games even be ported over to the 3DS properly? I haven't read up on how the 3DS displays 3D but wouldn't it be different to how the Virtual Boy did it?

[j_factor]

I would imagine that the fascination with the G&W series these days stems largely from its inclusion in Smash Bros.

Game & Watch Gallery came well before that. It was pretty popular, as I recall.