Oh, how I have missed you Nintendo. You sure took your sweet time but it's nice to have you back. Since about 2012 Nintendo has been missing at the grown-ups table. They were seemingly busy with their own little experiments on the floor. The Wii U wasn't a success and the games were lacking to boot. Nintendo would attend major gaming conventions, but they wouldn't have a lot to show for it as much as they used to.
This all changed when Nintendo revealed the Switch. A clever console that can be used as a console on a TV or, alternatively, it can be used as a portable device that you can use on your bed, on the bus or even on an aeroplane on your way to Barcelona. A console alone doesn't mean success as it needs games to back it up. The Switch, however, does have games that don't just back up but extends the Switch experience to that of a necessity. If you have a Switch you NEED to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and the new Super Mario Odessey. Nintendo has not only come to the grown-ups table, but they have dominated the conversation and eaten more meat than Microsoft.
Nintendo has released a video on their YouTube channel that showcases their new groundbreaking innovation in the world of gaming. About 8 hours ago, so this news is still fresh. Breaking, if you will. They're showcasing their new peripheral for the Nintendo Switch. It's called the Nintendo Labo and it's a revelation.
The Nintendo Labo is clever as it uses cardboard to create the peripherals needed to play certain games Nintendo is planning on releasing. Some forms include a piano, a house, a mouse-like figure, motorcycle handlebars and a fishing rod among many others. The Switch controllers and screen are added into these cardboard peripherals to turn them into working controllers.
We've all known Nintendo were the real masters of fun. We were just waiting for them to reveal what they have been working on for the past couple of years before the Switch. Ever since the Switch released they've been hitting home-run after home-run. The Nintendo Labo is fun and smart for a number of reasons as I've stated before.
When buying a Labo box, you don't just add it to your controllers and play the game.
No.
One first has to build the peripheral. This seems to go against the Plug-and-Play mentality of all other gaming companies, but what Nintendo has done is make the process of building the peripheral very fun. In their video one can see that there are fully integrated tutorials on whatever you need to build. Nintendo has made the process of building a gaming add-on into a game itself, which is ingenious!
Children tend to break a lot of stuff. They get toys and after a (very short) while, the toys turn into two halves. This is mildly infuriating when the toys that parents buy are quite expensive. Controllers don't last as long as they should when cream-soda and cookie dough is being spilt and messed on it. Labo side-steps this as well as it is a peripheral made out of cardboard. "But that means it degrades even faster!" Yes, yes it does, but it also means that it is wildly inexpensive to manufacture and should be very cheap in stores. The contents of the box are just a fraction more expensive than the packaging it arrives in. This is all speculation, though, Nintendo tends to add a couple of dollars to their price because they know people will still buy their product.
Once again Nintendo shows us why they are the kings of gaming and that they are still here to provide fun to kids and adults alike. Nintendo has stated some decades back that they are the innovators of gaming and the release of the Nintendo Labo only accentuates this statement even further. Have a good one Nintendo, you deserve it!
Source: 1, 2, 3, 4
First Look at Nintendo Labo (Video)
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