Last Friday, Nintendo surprised everyone by announcing that Virtual Boy games will soon be available through Nintendo Switch Online, along with a completely new accessory intended to recreate the legendary, mildly headache-inducing experience of 1995.
Even more striking, however, is that the company is going a step further than expected. Among the upcoming titles is Athena's Virtual Bowling, a game currently listed on eBay for as much as $10,000. Originally one of the final official releases for the Japanese Virtual Boy console, the game was printed in extremely small numbers and has long been considered a holy grail for collectors. According to Chris Kohler, former journalist and now at Digital Eclipse, that scarcity is what drives its high value.
That said, completed eBay listings suggest no one has actually sold a copy for that price in quite some time, around 2020 the going rate was closer to $1,200-$1,800, according to Racket Boy. But for many fans, that's beside the point: being able to play the game legally is a minor sensation in itself. Nintendo has confirmed that Virtual Bowling will be joined by classics such as Mario's Tennis, Wario Land, Jack Bros, 3D Tetris and several other Virtual Boy icons when the service launches later this year.
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