As somebody who witnessed its preliminary launch, I’m delightfully baffled that Nintendo is resurrecting the Digital Boy. We aren’t simply getting a passing point out or a trophy in a Smash Bros. recreation; we’re getting a full-blown revival, together with a devoted NSO app, a $100 genuine duplicate peripheral, and a $25 cardboard cutout for the Labo diehards.
All this for the console that married Sport Boy visuals with Vectrex-style wireframes, stuffed them right into a View-Grasp shell, and doused the entire package deal in a color palette straight out of a Nineteenth-century darkroom.
Yeah, that Digital Boy.
For 30 years, Nintendo’s first rule of Digital Boy was “You don’t discuss Digital Boy,” but right here we’re in 2026, and Nintendo is embracing probably the most eccentric chapter of their storied historical past. I’m dumbfounded, however actually, I’m right here for it.
1995: Rose-Colored Glasses
For many, the Digital Boy is extra meme than reminiscence – notably for European avid gamers who missed it solely. When it launched, I used to be a online game columnist for the Journal-American, proper within the coronary heart of Nintendo of America’s yard: the Seattle Eastside. My journalistic credentials earned me an early have a look at the Digital Boy, plus day one copies of the console and all 4 launch titles.
My August 18, 1995 article coated the launch, and I used to be surprisingly optimistic, as evidenced by my headline “Nintendo’s 3-D gaming system first step in the fitting course”. I noticed potential in Mario’s Tennis and the wireframe marvel, Crimson Alarm, and I even theorised that if video games stored popping out, the Digital Boy would turn out to be as a lot of a family identify because the Sport Boy.
I used to be half proper. It grew to become a family identify alright, simply not for the explanations Nintendo’s advertising group had hoped.
A Foolish Seven Months
By any measure, the Digital Boy had a tough life. With solely 22 video games worldwide and fewer than 800,000 models bought, its homeowners belonged to one of the vital unique golf equipment in gaming historical past.
The VB’s gross sales had been so poor that in 1996, just a little greater than a yr post-launch, my youthful brother received an award at Sears for promoting a single system. By that time, transferring one unit was the retail equal of promoting dust to a desert dweller.
Frustration was palpable even inside Nintendo’s inside circles. I bear in mind visiting the places of work of Golin/Harris, Nintendo’s advertising consultants, and listening to them complain that main magazines like Digital Gaming Month-to-month (EGM) couldn’t be bothered to evaluation Digital Boy video games.
EGM ignored it, however Nintendo’s Tripod made an look in my different writing gig on the time, the 3-2-1 Contact journal. My colleague, Rusel, wrote critiques for the complete Digital Boy launch lineup, whereas I had the extra enviable process of reviewing Chrono Set off on the SNES. I need to’ve drawn the lengthy straw that month.
The Commerce I Gained, after which Misplaced
The Digital Boy got here and went shortly, however I wound up with an entire set of Nintendo-published VB video games. Apparently, Golin/Harris and the Huge N had been desperate to associate with any journalist prepared to look into the pink abyss.
Roughly a decade later, I traded my dusty VB assortment for a candy haul of SNES RPGs, together with each Breath of Fireplaces, Lufia 1 and 2, and each Sq. Enix RPG I didn’t already personal.
I felt nice in regards to the commerce on the time, however taking a look at costs now, yeah, I most likely misplaced out in the long term. I undoubtedly received within the gameplay division, however with complete-in-box Digital Boys promoting for nearly $1000, I clearly missed an funding alternative.
2026: Nintendo Owns the Meme
My private journey with the VB concluded many years in the past, however Nintendo appeared to exile their pink spectacles for even longer. So, why the sudden comeback? And why now? I’ve two theories – one sensible, and one cheeky.
First, it’s onerous to not see this as a nod to final yr’s launch of Crimson Viper, the spectacular fan-made Digital Boy emulator for Nintendo 3DS. After the homebrew group showcased an urge for food for VB emulation, Nintendo might have taken the outdated proverb to coronary heart: the very best time to plant a tree (or re-release a tripod-mounted console) was 20 years in the past; the second-best time is as we speak (or February seventeenth 2026).
