By Dan Moren
January 18, 2018 9:22 AM PT
Nintendo Labo is augmented…cardboard?
Note: This story has not been updated for several years.
Nintendo, always known for its lateral-thinking, has announced its newest venture: Labo. What is Labo? Well, check out this video:
Wild. It’s like the company took a look at Google Cardboard and thought, “How much further could we take it?”1
As someone who just got a Switch a few weeks back, I’ve been hugely impressed with the hardware. But as with the Wii before it, I’ve been impressed at how Nintendo has continued to think outside of the box of traditional consoles. If you don’t want to compete on sheer pixel-pushing power, then compete on innovation. Safe to say you’re not going to see Sony or Microsoft get into the cardboard business.
The Labo sets cost a little more than a standard game ($70 for the Variety Kit, which includes a host of different constructs plus a game cartridge; $80 for the Robot Kit, which turns you into a freaking robot), but the fact that they get you doing something other than staring at a screen is perhaps the most compelling part.
- It’s worth remembering that Nintendo started its life as a company that made playing cards, back in 1889. So, to paraphrase Tim Cook, I guess you could say that cardboard’s in their DNA. ↩
[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His latest novel, the supernatural detective story All Souls Lost, is now available for pre-order.]
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