This week, Nintendo surprised us all by announcing that it would be bringing Virtual Boy games to Nintendo Switch Online, along with an absolutely bonkers accessory that delivers the full, headache-inducing VB experience to 2025 players.
It is commendable that Nintendo is embracing one of its most notable commercial flops in this way, but the company is going above and beyond by bringing a game to the service that is currently being sold for around $10,000 on eBay.
As pointed out by former journalist and Digital Eclipse Editorial Director Chris Kohler, Athena's Virtual Bowling, one of the platform's last official Japanese titles, regularly fetches insane prices online. Its low print run makes it one of the most sought-after Virtual Boy games in the eyes of hardcore collectors, and this has driven its value up over the decades.
However, while there are a few copies on eBay being sold for around $10,000, filtering 'completed listings' reveals that nobody appears to have actually sold one at this price for a while.
According to Racket Boy, around 2020, the game was worth between $1,200 and $1,800.
"Virtual Bowling features impressive visuals and atmospheric sounds, which combined with great controls make it a lot of fun to play," is what our friends over at Nintendo Life had to say when they reviewed the game all the way back in 2009, awarding it a respectable 7/10. "There are, however, some problems, such as the default power meter option making getting a strike too easy and the game not saving your high scores. A two-player option would be a great benefit, but the tournament mode is excellent, and overall, Virtual Bowling is a very impressive bowling sim."
Nintendo has confirmed that Virtual Bowling will be joined on NSO by Mario's Tennis, Galactic Pinball, Teleroboxer, Wario Land, Red Alarm, Jack Bros, Vertical Force, Mario Clash, Golf, Insmouse No Yakata, Space Invaders: Virtual Collection, V-Tetris and 3D Tetris.
Out of those games, Jack Bros is another title that fetches high prices on the secondary market.