Nintendo unveiled what it calls a “new interactive experience” for Nintendo Switch today that’s unlike anything else on the console. Called Nintendo Labo, it’s a “new line of interactive build-and-play experiences that combine DIY creations with the magic of Nintendo Switch,” according to Nintendo.
Labo will let Nintendo Switch owners build cardboard versions of real-world items like a 13-key piano, fishing rod or motorbike. Nintendo calls those cardboard creations Toy-Cons. And, by inserting Joy-Con controllers into those Toy-Cons, players will be able to play games themed to the cardboard creations.
This is a great idea, and such a novel thing to do with a games console.
makes it possible
I like the idea a whole lot. However the execution with cheap cardboard seems very underwhelming to me and looks like something that may end up being thrown away in no time. I want to build models that provide a sense of accomplishment and long term entertainment.
What I really miss a lot are the vintage erector sets – the real ones sold originally and not the modern wannabes. I’m not even sure if people born in the past 40 years will remember those.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYzmuMddIMQ
I bet nintendo thought about real erector sets too, but with today’s inflated steel prices, it’s probably impossible to make something affordable for nintendo’s target demographic.
… but still, cardboard?
Metal->plasic->cardboard == modern progress!
Edit:
This is what an erector set kit looked like BTW:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxfsnjXttjY
Edited 2018-01-18 03:23 UTC
i think cardboard is a great idea, it’s a resource everyone has access to, it can be easily cut, changes and personalised. If a cardboard project was to break then either sticky tape or cutting out a new cardboard part should be easy.
What i would love to see is Nintendo provide a web site in which you can code new apps or interactive functions, which the switch can then download and run.
Be nice to see this kind of lab/coding extended
REM2000,
Yeah I know, I like the DIY angle, but I’m honestly not tempted to buy one. But if nintendo had something like an affordable 3d printer, then it would change everything. I’m not in the market for a nintendo switch now, but if they got into 3d printing for fun & education, I have to admit my creative side would really want to have one!
There are already 3d printing communities of course, but nintendo could introduce it to completely new audiences who wouldn’t ordinarily be exposed to it. They could make it affordable and I bet schools would line up to buy them too. It would be a completely new market for nintendo, I honestly think they could do well in 3d printing edutainment. I see what they’re going for, but cardboard doesn’t have the same appeal. On the other hand, kids probably won’t judge it for being cardboard, haha
Edited 2018-01-18 09:58 UTC
3d printing would also be a complete tangent for them. And in many ways a retrograde step. They are encouraging creativity and imagination, using renewable sources. Melting hot plastics at high heat creating further pollution doesn’t feel the right way to go…
Adurbe,
If you’re suggesting 3d printing isn’t creative, then you’re not using your imagination
It’s every bit as creative as the cardboard, I say, especially if you start making your own designs. And plastic can be recycled. We may be soon be able to recycle plastic at home, ready for printing:
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-new-device-recycles-plastic-bottle…
Using it as a source for 3d printing material wouldn’t be a bad thing at all – it could be a source of material AND be good motivation for curbing our tendencies to pollute. Kids could actually become excited about recycling if it enables them to build bigger and bigger things. The more I think about it, the more I like this idea!
Edit: Just to be clear, I love what nintendo’s is doing with DIY here. But I do think building cardboard models has limited practical applications and people may loose interest over time. 3d printing though could prove to be a genuinely useful skill throughout one’s life. People who master it through novel DIY games may continue to use it beyond just as a toy. This is the point I’m trying to make.
Edited 2018-01-18 21:58 UTC
Alfman,
Don’t worry, Lego is on its way…
Considering the price of 70-80$, I bet nobody expects to use those things a long while.
I do, I had a few of them. They were awesome. The plastic versions these days really don’t cut it.
darknexus,
I know right! I feel like my creations playing around with heavy duty erector set gear assemblies as a kid were considerably more advanced than prototypes I can achieve with the tools at my disposal today.
Obviously programmable automation wasn’t readily available, but that would be the dream kit for any maker: vintage erector sets plus modern digital microcontrollers!
Turning the concept of junk food into games. Great! Most of the stuff displayed in the video won’t last for fifteen minutes with actual kids. But Nintendo won’t care because they can always sell you another one.
Edited 2018-01-18 08:40 UTC
My two kids played in a cardboard castle with two other kids for hours and all that broke was a string controlling the bridge. A 15 second repair provided hours more of playtime.
The 75 dollar you pay includes the game (normally 50 dollar) and there will be patterns and stickers that you can download so you can (re)create broken parts.
This is by far the best implementation that I have ever seen of combining the physical and digital world.
Dont forget, its not just the game itself. Its the act of building it (hopefully with family as a collaborative thing) and decorating! The time involved in colouring in and similar would likely captivate the kids for a long time. The results games seem (stealthily) educational too. You can imagine building the piano, then leading on to teaching your kid chopsticks or twinkle twinkle. In 20 years time, we’ll hear how a prominent artist started thanks to Nintendo.. (like lego and architects)
Edited 2018-01-18 16:09 UTC
I love the ideas shown but would be a bit worried not about the durability of the cardboard itself but the risks for the Switch, which is quite an expensive toy.
Edited 2018-01-18 09:13 UTC