This Apple Vision Pro emulator lets you relive the VR experience of the 90s

If you’ve got an Apple Vision Pro lying around doing nothing, you can now use it to take a trip down memory lane. VirtualFriend, a Nintendo Virtual Boy emulator, lets you experience Nintendo’s early take on Virtual Reality on Apple’s premium Mixed Reality headset.

The Nintendo Virtual Boy was a VR gaming console — nope, not really a headset — released in 1995. It is one of the earliest takes on VR gaming, back when the technology for it just didn’t exist. That’s not to say the Virtual Boy didn’t work. It’s just that there wasn’t enough good content, not to mention the headaches it gave people, to make it a success.

But you know what it was? An ambitious attempt from Nintendo. And I respect them for that. With the VirtualFriend emulator you can experience the Virtual Boy for yourself, but with more options.



The emulator lets you explore the entire Virtual Boy library, including popular homebrew titles. You also get more options for how you want to explore said titles. The emulator is available on iOS and iPadOS with the option to play using touch controls, regular controllers or a keyboard. Lastly, you can even change the color scheme if Nintendo’s red and black isn’t to your liking.

Don’t expect to be blown away or anything. This emulator is more for nostalgia or tech history enthusiasts like myself. If you grew up during the Virtual Boy era, or owned one, this emulator will let you experience those carefree days once more. And if you’re like me — very interested in the history of gaming — this’ll be quite the educational experience.

The Nintendo Virtual Boy might not have been one of the best VR headsets ever made, but it’s a piece of VR history. And I’m quite glad someone acknowledged that. Enough to bring it to today’s fancy headsets, which seems quite fitting.

You can get the VirtualFriend emulator for Vision Pro here.