Nintendo's Newest Switch Accessories Are DIY Cardboard Toys (theverge.com)

sqorbit writes: Nintendo has announced a new experience for its popular Switch game console, called Nintendo Labo. Nintendo Labo lets you interact with the Switch and its Joy-Con controllers by building things with cardboard. Launching on April 20th, Labo will allow you to build things such as a piano and a fishing pole out of cardboard pieces that, once attached to the Switch, provide the user new ways to interact with the device. Nintendo of America's President, Reggie Fils-Aime, states that "Labo is unlike anything we've done before." Nintendo has a history of non-traditional ideas in gaming, sometimes working and sometimes not. Cardboard cuts may attract non-traditional gamers back to the Nintendo platform. While Microsoft and Sony appear to be focused on 4K, graphics and computing power, Nintendo appears focused on producing "fun" gaming experiences, regardless of how cheesy or technologically outdated they me be. Would you buy a Nintendo Labo kit for $69.99 or $79.99? "The 'Variety Kit' features five different games and Toy-Con -- including the RC car, fishing, and piano -- for $69.99," The Verge notes. "The 'Robot Kit,' meanwhile, will be sold separately for $79.99."

Comments

Re:Who is buying the stupid thing

[MightyYar]

We have one. It's fun because - even though there aren't many games out - the games tend to do multiplayer well. Most of the time it's 4 of the local kids playing Minecraft, Brawlout, or Mario Cart. Or 6 playing Just Dance (you can use any smart phone as a controller). If you are playing games solo, I assume you have better options - but I have no idea because that's not my hobby.

it's a money pit

[known_coward_69]

$300 for the console, $60 for the games, $50 or whatever for the SD card because Nintendo is cheap on space, $80 or so for extra controller, taxes and now $70 each for CARDBOARD toys that cost $1 or so to make.

They can be #3 in the console game and still make out from all the suckers willing to shell out all this money

meanwhile one of my kids can't get enough for a $27 copy of Minecraft on the PC and the other one plays Forza on a $189 xbox one s

Re:it's a money pit

[Anonymous Coward]

You buy the game, it comes with cardboard. If you ruin the cardboard you can download the plans directly from Nintendo for $0 and make it yourself. If you don't like it, don't buy it.

Re:it's a money pit

[pots]

At first glance I made this mistake too. For some reason they've chosen to focus their marketing effort on the cardboard, and not on the game that you play with the cardboard. This gives the impression that you're shelling out really a lot of money for some punched cardboard that have have to assemble yourself. In fact, that $80 robot kit comes with a $60 game. The cardboard is just a substitute for the plastic controllers which were so popular on the Wii.

If you look at it in that light, the cardboard is an improvement: It's cheaper than the plastic controllers, it's more environmentally friendly, it takes up less shelf space, etc. The only downside is that it's not as sturdy. This is possibly a large drawback.

The confusing bit is that they don't call the game a game, they call it "kit software," and it makes up a very small part of the advertising. I think they're trying to spin it as educational, and the fact that you have to assemble it yourself is a positive because... creativity. Or something. The problem is this gives the impression that this whole business is way overpriced.

This will be fun!

[ElectraFlarefire]

Looking forward to taking one of these cardboard interface devises and using a OpenMV camera making my own generic interfaces.
Very well done Nintendo! Not interested in the games at all, but the ideas and implementation of the cardboard part is very good.

Won't someone please think of the children

[LordKronos]

Seriously, I'm sure many of you will be happily mocking Nintendo's newest effort. But I think this particular product isn't aimed at virgin gamers living in their mothers' basements. This product is aimed at families with children. My 7 year old daughter loves to cut up every cardboard box we get and make something out of it. She makes houses, cars, planes, and even a recreation of Wall-e. This sort of stuff is aimed at them. Only now they don't just get to create lifeless box items for their imagination. They can see the mechanics of how steering wheels, pianos, and fishing reels work. The can see the pulley's and cameras driving this stuff. This is engineering for elementary school kids. You want to promote kids getting into STEM fields? Try cultivating their imaginations instead of mocking it.

Re:Won't someone please think of the children

[damnbunni]

That's some interesting math.

Using Amazon's prices as representative street prices, instead of MSRP, the Xbox One S is $234, the PS4 is $279.

Full retail games for all the consoles are the same price.

So a Switch with Minecraft and Rocket League (assuming you paid list, not a sale price) would still leave you with $163 in change from the other consoles alone to buy games with.

There are plenty of reasons to have an Xbox and a PS4 instead of a Switch, and 'I want to play Forza' is certainly a valid one.

But 'a Switch is more than an Xbox and a PS4 put together' is not one of them.