Nintendo has just announced their newest innovation in the gaming space, Nintendo Labo. While this product is, as they said prior to the announcement, aimed at kids and those who are kids-at-heart, it is still an intriguing and unique concept, and oh, so very Nintendo. Nintendo Labo allows kids and kids-at-heart to build items out of cardboard, such as a piano, fishing rod, or house, and use a combination of the Switch itself and the Joy-Cons to create a wholly new experience. The first two Kits, as they are calling them, are the Variety Kit and the Robot Kit, and they will sell for $69.99 and $79.99 respectively.
The Variety Kit includes the following, straight from Nintendo;
- Toy-Con RC Car: Insert the Left and Right Joy-Con into your newly built RC Car and control its movement using touch screen controls on the Nintendo Switch console. The HD Rumble feature in the Joy-Con controllers will cause vibrations that move the car in the direction you choose. Materials to construct two RC Cars are included.
- Toy-Con Fishing Rod: Construct the Fishing Rod with an active, rotating reel that is attached by string to a cradle holding the Nintendo Switch console. Catch one of many exotic fish shown swimming on the Nintendo Switch screen by casting your Fishing Rod and unwinding the reel to lower the hook. Once you feel a vibration from the Joy-Con inserted in the reel, you must tug the Fishing Rod upward and crank the reel quickly to try and complete the catch!
- Toy-Con House: By inserting various assembled blocks into openings in the sides and bottom of the House, you can interact with, play games with and feed a cute creature on the front-facing Nintendo Switch screen. Each differently shaped block is detected by the IR Motion Camera on the Right Joy-Con inserted on top of the House.
- Toy-Con Motorbike: Insert each Joy-Con into an assembled set of handlebars to drive a motorbike on the Nintendo Switch screen. Pressing the ignition button starts the engine, while twisting the right handle activates the throttle. Leaning your body or turning the handlebars left and right controls the motorbike.
- Toy-Con Piano: After assembling a beautifully crafted 13-key piano and inserting the Nintendo Switch console and Joy-Con, you can experiment with your own musical creations by pressing different keys. You can even insert different assembled knobs to create new sound effects and tones!
The Robot Kit will let you “build an interactive robot suit with a visor, backpack and straps for your hands and feet, which you can then wear to assume control of a giant in-game robot.”
Both of these kits will contain everything you need, including all the cardboard pieces and the software that will be required to play the included games. There is also a $10 Customization Set that includes stencils, stickers, and colored tape to customize and/or fix your creations.
Nintendo Labo launches on April 20th, 2018 with the arrival of the Variety Kit at $69.99 and the Robot Kit at $79.99.
I, for one, can’t wait to see what the future holds for Labo, especially when/if Nintendo properties receive the Labo treatment.
