Ahoy - deploy Toy-Cons and Joy-Cons!
January 18, 2018 2:25 AM Subscribe
Nintendo Labo is a series of DIY kits for their Switch console, each consisting of cardboard sheets, stickers, string, and rubber bands that can be constructed into RC cars, fishing rods, motorbikes, a piano, and even a giant robot backpack, all accompanied by games and (possibly) some kind of simple programming system. Labo follows in a long tradition of cardboard crafting and toys, from the glorious Polypops cardboard toys and furniture from 1966, to the Amsco Playsets of the 1970s, and of course Kenner's Star Wars Playsets (via @tealtan) – not to mention Nintendo's own Paper Model series dating back to the early 70s.
Labo kits start form $70. Nintendo plans to offer replacement cardboard sheets, although according to the Guardian the components can be easily repairing with glue or tape.
Naturally, the announcement of Labo has been excellent Tweet fodder.
Labo kits start form $70. Nintendo plans to offer replacement cardboard sheets, although according to the Guardian the components can be easily repairing with glue or tape.
Naturally, the announcement of Labo has been excellent Tweet fodder.
Uggghhhh I love it when Nintendo goes and demonstrates just how Nintendo they are. My favorite description of this announcement so far has been “the exact opposite of the HTC Vive”
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:03 AM on January 18, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:03 AM on January 18, 2018 [11 favorites]
On the one hand this is unlikely to carry any games with strong narratives or deeply immersive worldbuilding, on the other hand popping out perforated cardboard pieces and constructing interactive thingies from them
posted by Mizu at 4:05 AM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Mizu at 4:05 AM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
@Pendragon, from the Guardian:
The piano, especially, is quite amazing, and takes about two hours to build. The infrared camera on the Joy-Con controller can see reflective strips of tape on the back of the keys, which come into view when a key is pressed, telling the game software to play the right note. Cardboard dials and switches modify the tone and add effects to the sound.posted by adrianhon at 4:34 AM on January 18, 2018 [14 favorites]
Nintendo has a tendency to behave as though the 1990's never happened and Nintendo is still the only video game company that matters. Sometimes, as in their online services, this is a bad thing. And sometimes...
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:44 AM on January 18, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:44 AM on January 18, 2018 [9 favorites]
I wish my kid were a little older so she could enjoy building this stuff, but it sure is neat and Nintendo-y and I just might have to buy it.
Also the video is really bonkers. I had no idea what I was going to see when I clicked it last night and I'm still not sure what I watched.
posted by uncleozzy at 4:53 AM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also the video is really bonkers. I had no idea what I was going to see when I clicked it last night and I'm still not sure what I watched.
posted by uncleozzy at 4:53 AM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Nintendo, I think, is the only game company that still believes their purpose is to facilitate play, and it shows in everything they do.
Also, I feel like this is a bit of a challenge to third party peripheral manufacturers. "Miyamoto-san made this in a cave, with a box! Not even a box of scraps, just the box."
posted by tobascodagama at 5:24 AM on January 18, 2018 [29 favorites]
Also, I feel like this is a bit of a challenge to third party peripheral manufacturers. "Miyamoto-san made this in a cave, with a box! Not even a box of scraps, just the box."
posted by tobascodagama at 5:24 AM on January 18, 2018 [29 favorites]
Everyone in our office is talking about this in our gaming Slack channel. This office is mostly focused on PC Gaming and/or Sony related news and yet we're all talking about how innovative and cute the entire thing is. It's perfectly suited for the Switch.
I don't have kids and I'm thinking that I might just pick it up because it'd be fun to mess around with building things.
posted by Fizz at 5:29 AM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't have kids and I'm thinking that I might just pick it up because it'd be fun to mess around with building things.
posted by Fizz at 5:29 AM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
*Ponders tiny arcade cabinets with old tablets running emulators*
posted by GallonOfAlan at 5:31 AM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by GallonOfAlan at 5:31 AM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
Oh my goodness the crazy possibilities for the next Paper Mario game.
posted by jason_steakums at 5:34 AM on January 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 5:34 AM on January 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
This looks cool, but upon reviewing the pile of cruft generated by a few years worth of Kiwi Crate membership, I shudder as if the cold hand of doom has brushed cardboard fingers across my cheek, the faint smell of rubber bands and tape wisping past my nostrils.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:39 AM on January 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:39 AM on January 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
I love how before they announced this the Twitterati was convinced this was Nintendogs, and generally seemed to feel like that was a bold enough move.
Well, it sure ain’t Nintendogs.
posted by dirtdirt at 5:52 AM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Well, it sure ain’t Nintendogs.
posted by dirtdirt at 5:52 AM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is just genius. I need to get it even though I don't have a kid.
This is the brilliance of Nintendo. I realize I'm gushing like an annoying fanboy but they nail it. They nail what it is to feel like a kid. Grown ass adults like me are wanting to "play". It's nice to have this kind of positivity associated with gaming.
posted by Fizz at 5:55 AM on January 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
This is the brilliance of Nintendo. I realize I'm gushing like an annoying fanboy but they nail it. They nail what it is to feel like a kid. Grown ass adults like me are wanting to "play". It's nice to have this kind of positivity associated with gaming.
posted by Fizz at 5:55 AM on January 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
I think this is almost like video game Legos? I really like this idea, I like that you are physically building something which is so satisfying and you are building something that you can then use to play and you own it and it's really yours because you made it and you understand how it's put together. This is a really cool thing.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 5:57 AM on January 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 5:57 AM on January 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
Preordered the variety kit. And requested off work the day it's out. And invited my games buddy over for pizza and piano building, 3 months in advance. So happy to be an adult for once - I can feel the burning want that kid-me would have had, and there's not a chance in hell I'da been able to have something like this.
Another cool-if-true thing I saw on twitter yesterday (and can't find now) is that apparently templates for the cardboard parts are going to be made openly available, and the software purchasable from the e-shop, so you can go the advanced route if you want.
posted by Ennis Tennyone at 5:59 AM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Another cool-if-true thing I saw on twitter yesterday (and can't find now) is that apparently templates for the cardboard parts are going to be made openly available, and the software purchasable from the e-shop, so you can go the advanced route if you want.
posted by Ennis Tennyone at 5:59 AM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Another cool-if-true thing I saw on twitter yesterday (and can't find now) is that apparently the templates for the cardboard parts are going to be free, and the software purchasable from the e-shop, so you can go the advanced route if you want.
I think this was reported by IGN France and has been amended; this is unfortunately not the case.
Au moment de l'annonce, nous avions alors expliqué qu'il serait possible de récupérer gratuitement les patrons de ces cartons afin de créer soi-même les accessoires. Nintendo nous a confirmé que ce n'était pas le cas.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:02 AM on January 18, 2018
I think this was reported by IGN France and has been amended; this is unfortunately not the case.
Au moment de l'annonce, nous avions alors expliqué qu'il serait possible de récupérer gratuitement les patrons de ces cartons afin de créer soi-même les accessoires. Nintendo nous a confirmé que ce n'était pas le cas.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:02 AM on January 18, 2018
This is also giving me a case of the squeeees because the first time I actually got in trouble with someone that wasn't my mom was in first grade for coloring on my (my!) speak & spell to pretty it up. Got sent to the prinicples office, had to sit out recess that day, and 100% did NOT get what the big deal was.
I AM SO PUMPED TO COLOR ALL OVER THESE MF'ERS - IN YOUR FACE MISS YALCH.
posted by Ennis Tennyone at 6:06 AM on January 18, 2018 [18 favorites]
I AM SO PUMPED TO COLOR ALL OVER THESE MF'ERS - IN YOUR FACE MISS YALCH.
posted by Ennis Tennyone at 6:06 AM on January 18, 2018 [18 favorites]
Most of the negatives online are like "$70? For some cardboard?" Internet bros HATE actually having to pay for things, especially software. They just like announcing to the world how broke they are.
posted by fungible at 6:14 AM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by fungible at 6:14 AM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
The cardboard is obviously not expensive to manufacture in volume, although the size of packaging may pose more of a problem for retailers. What's expensive is R&D, design, QA, and testing of how the software interacts with the physical cardboard; I can imagine quite a lot of back and forth as the games change the cardboard and vice versa. And while we don't know yet, the software could be quite deep and complex.
posted by adrianhon at 6:28 AM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by adrianhon at 6:28 AM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
I guess I'm interested in seeing how people will sort of "hack" their way around this in buying their own cardboard and making their own custom home kits. It may not be easy but I have no doubt that people are going to try to do this on their own.
posted by Fizz at 6:51 AM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 6:51 AM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
This looks so simultaneously dumb and fun that I'm probably going to end up buying a Switch. Sooner than I probably would have bought one.
posted by graventy at 6:55 AM on January 18, 2018
posted by graventy at 6:55 AM on January 18, 2018
To be fair, you’re not paying $70 for a stack of cardboard, you’re paying $70 for a stack of cardboard and the game cartridge to use them with. At normal video game prices that means you’re paying a much less wild ten bucks for the cardboard.
posted by Itaxpica at 6:56 AM on January 18, 2018 [12 favorites]
posted by Itaxpica at 6:56 AM on January 18, 2018 [12 favorites]
Nintendo are really hammering away at my resolve to save money instead of splurging on a Switch and a heap of games. This looks amazing.
I guess I'm interested in seeing how people will sort of "hack" their way around this in buying their own cardboard and making their own custom home kits.
Yep, that was my first thought. This does look like an awesome set of toys, but my impression is that it's less like lego and more like an airfix kit: there's one specific way you're expected to build and play with it, with little scope for going off-script. But if it can be used with some sort of game-maker software so I can e.g. build the piano and use it as a controller for a little musical platformer I've designed, or build my own controllers/toys and map arbitrary inputs to game events, that could give rise to an incredible homebrew/indie scene. The official Best Thing Ever would be to create a system-level ability to remap inputs from my cardboard and tape monstrosity to normal JoyCon inputs, letting me build custom controllers for any Switch game in my library. I can't imagine Nintendo ever allowing that last one, though.
I guess this is all stuff you could already do with things like Arduino or MakeyMakey for PC games, but basing it on the Joycons and some beginner-friendly software could get to a much wider audience.
posted by metaBugs at 7:21 AM on January 18, 2018
I guess I'm interested in seeing how people will sort of "hack" their way around this in buying their own cardboard and making their own custom home kits.
Yep, that was my first thought. This does look like an awesome set of toys, but my impression is that it's less like lego and more like an airfix kit: there's one specific way you're expected to build and play with it, with little scope for going off-script. But if it can be used with some sort of game-maker software so I can e.g. build the piano and use it as a controller for a little musical platformer I've designed, or build my own controllers/toys and map arbitrary inputs to game events, that could give rise to an incredible homebrew/indie scene. The official Best Thing Ever would be to create a system-level ability to remap inputs from my cardboard and tape monstrosity to normal JoyCon inputs, letting me build custom controllers for any Switch game in my library. I can't imagine Nintendo ever allowing that last one, though.
I guess this is all stuff you could already do with things like Arduino or MakeyMakey for PC games, but basing it on the Joycons and some beginner-friendly software could get to a much wider audience.
posted by metaBugs at 7:21 AM on January 18, 2018
I wonder if Nintendo have either copyrighted the markings (and programmed the software to only accept the original ones) or else patented the technical features of the design. They infamously locked out third-party development on their 8-bit consoles by requiring a copyrighted magic string in all cartridges, so there's precedent.
posted by acb at 7:34 AM on January 18, 2018
posted by acb at 7:34 AM on January 18, 2018
My nearly-21-year-old son texted me and my husband last night and basically said, "So does Nintendo have like a chip in my brain or something I AM PRE-ORDERING THIS AND YOU CANNOT STOP ME."
He is very excited. And I'm excited for him!
posted by cooker girl at 9:03 AM on January 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
He is very excited. And I'm excited for him!
posted by cooker girl at 9:03 AM on January 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
Someone posted a deep-dive on Imgur speculating about how all the toy-cons work.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:18 AM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 9:18 AM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
the first time I actually got in trouble with someone that wasn't my mom was in first grade for coloring on my (my!) speak & spell to pretty it up. Got sent to the prinicples office, had to sit out recess that day, and 100% did NOT get what the big deal was
Hey, Ennis Tennyone's first grade teacher, if somehow you happen to be reading this: you stink!
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:47 AM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Hey, Ennis Tennyone's first grade teacher, if somehow you happen to be reading this: you stink!
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:47 AM on January 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Speaking of building things and the Switch, the Basic-like educational programming system FUZE has a Switch port on the way later this year. FUZE looks more capable than whatever programming environment Nintendo is likely to build for Labo. FUZE programs are supposed to be able to access JoyCon sensors, and now I'm imagining what you could do with Labo kits and FUZE together. This is too cool!
posted by skymt at 10:31 AM on January 18, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by skymt at 10:31 AM on January 18, 2018 [6 favorites]
I preordered the variety kit on Amazon this morning.
Looks like fun.
posted by Talez at 11:30 AM on January 18, 2018
Looks like fun.
posted by Talez at 11:30 AM on January 18, 2018
Someone posted this video on the Splatoon subreddit of a papercraft gun which you load your joycons into for playing Splatoon 2 (initially posted a couple of months ago). This and the Labo reveal trailer sell me on the idea of using those tiny controllers with its array of sensors for some cool play ideas.
posted by cyberscythe at 11:31 AM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by cyberscythe at 11:31 AM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
There was some kerfuffle recently about Miyamoto preferring to hire non-gamers and I think that's reflective of a Nintendo culture about how they design things.
Like, if you approached from "things a game console needs" you wouldn't think of this, but if you approach it from "things you can play with" maybe you would.
posted by RobotHero at 12:02 PM on January 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
Like, if you approached from "things a game console needs" you wouldn't think of this, but if you approach it from "things you can play with" maybe you would.
posted by RobotHero at 12:02 PM on January 18, 2018 [7 favorites]
In case, like me, you were wondering what "Labo" means.
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:35 PM on January 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:35 PM on January 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
I wonder if that means these'll be branded as Nintendo Labs in English-speaking countries. They might not; 'Labo' hasn't travelled outside Japan so it works as a brand name, and Nintendo seems to have internalised that their presentations will be seen by an English-speaking audience.
posted by Merus at 6:44 PM on January 18, 2018
posted by Merus at 6:44 PM on January 18, 2018
Yeah, it's already 100% unambiguously "Nintendo Labo" internationally.
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:53 PM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:53 PM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
I WANT TO BELIEVE but a few of those smell like tears. Bends and tears. The foot is not a delicate appendage.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 8:17 PM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Ogre Lawless at 8:17 PM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Crazy kaiju-robot antics only hint at Nintendo Labo’s true potential -- We examine limited footage to figure out the robot suit—and predict Labo's future. (Sam Machkovech for Ars Technica)
Related: Almost a year after it was initially released, Hackers seem close to publicly unlocking the Nintendo Switch, so even if there's some weird DRM that keeps people using "official" cardboard kits in the beginning, nothing stays locked forever.
Also, I am SO HAPPY that this is cardboard, as plastic is now freaking me out -- as China has banned "foreign waste" this past July, western nations are now struggling to figure out how to re-route half of their plastic waste.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:51 AM on January 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Related: Almost a year after it was initially released, Hackers seem close to publicly unlocking the Nintendo Switch, so even if there's some weird DRM that keeps people using "official" cardboard kits in the beginning, nothing stays locked forever.
Also, I am SO HAPPY that this is cardboard, as plastic is now freaking me out -- as China has banned "foreign waste" this past July, western nations are now struggling to figure out how to re-route half of their plastic waste.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:51 AM on January 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
I love it, the designs are so chunky. I remember them mentioning the possible peripherals that the joycons could enable, and this is such a nice way to explore that.
posted by lucidium at 7:53 AM on January 19, 2018
posted by lucidium at 7:53 AM on January 19, 2018
I'm very excited for this! And I'm SUPER excited that this will allow me and the kiddo to build things together, and get to look at how these are put together with some basic engineering, materials knowledge, and construction techniques. And make something fun in the process!
posted by carter at 12:58 PM on January 19, 2018
posted by carter at 12:58 PM on January 19, 2018
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