nintendolabo
Latest
Nintendo adds a Labo VR view to 'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' (updated)
It looks like you'll soon be able to beat up your friends in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from an entirely different perspective. It seems the hit Switch fighting game is getting a virtual reality mode via the Labo Toy-Con VR Goggles, according to a Twitter bot for SSBU patch notes (which has a track record of revealing them around 12 hours before Nintendo does).
Nintendo’s holiday deals include two Labo kits for $99
Black Friday is right around the corner and Nintendo has a couple of deals on the way. The first bundle it's offering includes a Nintendo Switch system and a download code for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and it's priced at $300. The second comes with a Nintendo 2DS system with Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS pre-installed. That bundle costs $80. Nintendo says both deals are only available on Black Friday and they'll be available from Target, Best Buy, Walmart, GameStop and Amazon.
Nintendo is bringing Labo to elementary school classrooms
Nintendo's Labo kits for the handheld Switch platform have always had a STEM foundation, which is why the company's latest announcement makes complete sense. Nintendo is partnering with the Institute of Play to introduce Labo kits into elementary school classrooms around the country.
Nintendo Labo Vehicle Kit: Rewarding builds with better games
Nintendo Labo has been out for a while now. We've been charmed by the company's inventive designs and the way they fuse cardboard with the Switch's powerful Joy-Con controllers. The product line hasn't been a runaway success, though. In its last quarterly earnings, Nintendo revealed that 1.39 million Labo sets were sold between their debut in April and the end of June 2018. That's by no means a disaster, and not a huge surprise given Labo is more education focused than Nintendo's usual wares. The kits are also a tad more expensive than a typical Switch game like ARMS.
Nintendo's Vehicle Labo kit delivers cardboard driving fun
The Nintendo Labo family of cardboard Switch accessories is growing, with a third kit that will arrive September 14th. The Toy-Con 03 Vehicle Kit can be configured to control an on-screen car, plane or submarine, plus a key to activate them. The various pieces and rubber bands put your Joy-Con to work in a steering wheel, pedal or joystick-like configuration, similar to the other Labo kits (Robot and Variety). Once they're built you can link them to your Switch and go adventuring via land, sea or air in one- or two-player modes. We've seen a few expansions arrive already for the existing Labo devices like an update adding support for use as a Mario Kart controller, and anticipate similar enhancements for this one. When it arrives, it will go on sale for $70 just like the existing Variety kit, which is $10 cheaper than the Robot setup.
Nintendo Labo contest champions include a solar accordion and teapots
If it wasn't already apparent that you can do much more with Nintendo Labo than what comes in the box, it is now. Nintendo has unveiled the winners of a Creators Contest that challenged them to produce games and musical instruments, and the results go well beyond what you might expect. One of the more inventive examples is Momoka Kinder's solar-powered accordion. It uses the Joy-Cons to both play notes (when you cover one of the holes with your finger) and change volume based on tilt, while pressing buttons on the Switch screen controls the octave. You probably won't serenade someone with it, but it's complete and relatively easy to make (you can use tissue boxes if you like).
Watch Ariana Grande and The Roots make music with Nintendo Labo
Nintendo Labo presents new and innovative ways to use your Switch, and the musical aspect of this is on display in a video from The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, along with The Roots and Ariana Grande. Ariana Grande sings "No Tears Left to Cry" and is accompanied by Fallon and members of The Roots on Nintendo Labo instruments. The sound is coming from the actual Switch instruments and the music is being played live. You can see the video below.
Nintendo’s Switch is a moneymaking hit and the future looks good
The last time Nintendo opened its books, we learned that the Switch had already sold more in nine months than the Wii U had in its entire lifetime. But it's only natural that after a spike in interest over the holiday period, things would start to slow down. And that's exactly what we're seeing today in Nintendo's latest earnings, marking the end of its financial year. Over the past three months, Nintendo has shifted 2.93 million Switch consoles. That's nowhere near the 7.23 million figure for the three months prior, but it still pushes total sales up to a tasty 17.79 million.
Nintendo knows you will destroy Labo's cardboard
It's fair to say that the first reactions to Nintendo's Labo kits were...mixed. Did it usher in a new era of DIY fun, or was the veteran video game company making bank off selling expensive stacks of cardboard? Once we got our hands on it, some of our fears were put to rest -- except for the durability issue. What happens when kids tear through the less-durable material, or a parent accidentally throws pieces away? The Labo launched publicly today, but lucky for us, Nintendo is selling replacement sheets in its store.
Nintendo Labo gadgets can be remixed with 'Toy-Con Garage'
Nintendo stunned the gaming world last month when it unveiled Labo, a system that uses the Switch and some cardboard to make lovably homely little minigames. Reception among the Engadget staff was... mixed. But Nintendo might have nullified a growing concern about the system's longevity with its latest announcement. At a hands-on press event earlier today, the company introduced the Toy-Con Garage, a feature in the Labo's base software that lets users essentially create their own Switch-empowered cardboard toys.
Nintendo Labo kits are available to pre-order
On the heels of the Nintendo Labo unveiling, the DIY cardboard accessories and associated software for the Switch are now available to pre-order on Amazon. You can grab three (overpriced) sets, two of which pack the cardboard sheets and software that you can craft into a quirky gameplay experience. The other includes stickers and colored tape for added customization (currently UK only), which at £8.99 sees Nintendo going to YouTube influencer-like lengths to squeeze cash from parents.
Nintendo Labo: Overpriced or innovative?
Weird Nintendo is often the best Nintendo, or so it is said. After all, two of its biggest successes (the Wii and the Switch) are far from ordinary consoles. Now, with a year of huge Switch sales behind it, Nintendo is getting even weirder with Labo -- cardboard accessories that kids can build themselves and use to immerse themselves in a game's world. So far, Nintendo has shown off a mini piano, fishing rod, robot fighting suit, remote-controlled robot walkers ... and what amounts to a cardboard house with your Switch screen built right into the middle. All of these are controlled in some way by the Switch Joy-Cons. It's incredibly unusual and rather expensive (the initial sets start at $70), but it's also the kind of thing that only Nintendo would dream up. Of course, the company's imagination sometimes takes it to places that don't work as well (Wii U, Virtual Boy, the list goes on). Many of Engadget's editors had immediate reactions to Nintendo's Labo, ranging from disgust to extreme excitement -- here are some of the things we've been thinking in the day since Labo was made official.
Nintendo unveils Labo, DIY cardboard add-ons for the Switch
If you thought Minecraft was the best thing for kids on the Switch, get ready for Nintendo to (once again) blow your mind. Behold Labo, a set of DIY tools built on cardboard sheets that turns the console into a powerhouse of play. Make a piano, with the Switch's screen for music! No, wait, a motorcycle game with cardboard handlebars! A house, with the Switch displaying an interior you can customize! Now is the era of the Toy-Con (yes, that's an official term).
