Nintendo is getting into VR with
its latest kit for Labo, the DIY
cardboard accessory line for the Switch.
But in true Nintendo fashion, it’s not like a
typical VR experience.
VR can be isolating,
and the hardware is daunting.
But Labo is trying to change that.
The games are meant to
be shared by passing the
headset around, so you get these
bite-sized bursts of VR.
And it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
For starters, one of the
controllers is a bird.
The whole thing feels like a fresh take
on VR gaming, and I'm here for it.
Just like the first Labo kit, this comes
with a bunch of flat sheets of cardboard
and Toy-Con software.
It took me and our
production manager, Meg,
about half a day to
build all of the creations,
with the blaster taking
the longest to build.
I had about three hours.
But keep in mind that the
Labo is aimed at kids,
and building is supposed
to be part of the fun.
The step-by-step instructions
are easy to follow,
and I feel this with every
Labo kit that I build.
It’s pretty astounding
how well-designed it is.
Every fold has a purpose,
and there's a reason
for every aesthetic choice.
(cheerful music)
There's no strap for the headset,
and that's intentional.
A lot of the games that are included
are multiplayer.
They are turn-based games meant to
be played with a friend.
So the point isn't really
to isolate yourself
in this immersive VR
environment, but to share
these VR experiences.
You wouldn't necessarily want to play for
a long time anyway.
You're basically sticking
the Switch's 720p screen
right up in your face.
And you have to hold it up the entire time
that you are playing.
Plus, the resolution is not great, and
the display is a little blurry.
There is an option to play some of the
games in 2D mode, but
the games are so short
anyway that the display isn't too
big of an issue.
There are six total creations, which Nintendo
calls Toy-Cons.
There’s the VR goggles,
a blaster, a camera,
an elephant, a bird, and a wind pedal.
Each creation has a few mini-games
attached to it.
The blaster, for example, can be used to
play a game where you
fend off an alien invasion,
or a turn-based game where you shoot food
at hippos to lure them over to your side
away from your opponent.
The elephant, to me, is
the best representation
of how the Labo works.
There's a little camera
on the controller here,
which picks up the IR stickers on the
elephant's mask.
So I'm here with my
friend and Vox editor,
Allegra Frank, and we are going to play
a game of Pictionary.
Basically, it’s going to give me a prompt
of something to draw, and then I'm going to
hand it over to you, and you have to guess
what I drew.
Um, so it’s giving
me a couple of choices,
and I can choose to skip the ones that I
don't feel confident drawing.
I don't want to hit you, but feel
free to duck.
I don't feel confident
in what I've just drawn,
but hopefully you can figure this out.
Okay.
I feel safe now that this is
not in your hands.
It’s just so big.
Yeah.
So what are some of the choices?
Okay, I don't know what this is.
Oh, you know what? Maybe I do.
So the choices are: a roller coaster,
a merry-go-round, a Ferris wheel, and
and haunted house.
I see the house. There's definitely
a house here. And this
very noodly-looking...
Noodly?
Yeah.
Yes, this very spaghetti-looking dude,
coming out of the chimney or something?
Yeah, yes!
This is going
to be a haunted house.
Oh, you can actually
sink it through the floor.
Okay?
(Laughs)
A haunted house on the hill.
It’s
completely gone now.
I'm just burying it.
So that was just nothing.
Oh, okay.
It’s hard not to feel like
a kid as you're holding
these cardboard creations up to your face.
You can use this oversized camera to
be an underwater fish photographer, and it
even makes a clicking sound
as you focus the lens.
(clicking noises)
Now, before you ask, no, you can't play
Pokémon Snap with the camera.
It’s a huge missed opportunity, but
I'm not ruling anything out.
Nintendo recently announced that
Zelda: Breath of the Wild
and Mario Odyssey will be
getting free updates to be compatible for
a Labo VR.
Now, all Nintendo has to do is just bring
Pokémon Snap to the
Switch, and they will sell
like a million of these.
In addition to the games attached to
the creations, there's a VR plaza with
64 mini-games that were actually created
by Nintendo developers
with Toy-Con Garage,
Labo’s coding platform.
Toy-Con Garage is an extremely open-ended
platform that can be
used for everything from
building your own instruments to now
making your own games.
You can set up actions for input nodes,
customize middle nodes
of counters and timers,
and connect them to the output nodes,
which trigger different effects.
With the first Labo kit,
I made a makeshift
guitar and recorded a
song, and that honestly
took all of my brain power to figure out.
♪One, two, three, four♪
(synth piano and guitar playing)
Imagine what that could have done for me
if I was a child?
I would be so smart now.
If you don't feel like creating something
from scratch,
you can use games that are already made
as a blueprint, like this
two-player soccer game,
and play around with customizing it.
You can change the soccer ball to an apple,
for example, and it
will change the physics
of the kick along with it.
Some of these aren't VR games, and
they are not even really games as they
are just activities.
The entire VR kit costs $80, or
you can go with the $40 starter set,
which just comes with the
VR goggles and blaster,
and buy more extensions
perhaps later if you want.
It’s also the one that
bridges the gap for Labo,
taking it from an
educational toy for kids
to a VR accessory that
can be integrated with
actual Switch games like
Zelda and Mario Odyssey.
Yes, you have to hold it up the entire time
while you’re playing,
but if the DIY spirit
of cardboard moves you, you
can always create your own
makeshift strap or helmet.
The point of the Nintendo
Labo is to be creative
with the tools they have given you.
And that's the main
difference Labo has over
other existing headsets.
It’s quick, portable,
shareable, customizable, and
it changes our notions of
what VR can and should be.
It’s virtual reality as
only Nintendo can see it.
So do you know how Beyoncé
doesn't go anywhere
without her fans?
Now, I don't go anywhere
without my wind pedal.
It’s just like, my feet are getting tired.
It’s hard work.
