Nintendo Labo: when cardboard boxes really comes to life

Time to interact with your Switch in a brand new way

Nintendo Labo announcement made with the help of a trailer

Nintendo have been teasing that today, at 5PM Eastern Time, a kid-friendly Switch announcement would be made, I think nobody expected what it consisted of. A trailer on their Youtube channel shows a brand new line of products.

Cardboard boxes coming to life

Nintendo revealed a new line of product called Nintendo Labo. It will have a series of DIY (Do-It-Yourself) experiences, in which you will make accessories to use with your Nintendo Switch console and interact with them in ways that are not completely different than the tons of accessories the Wii had during its lifetime. You can see it in action in the video below.

According to IGN, all of those modular cardboard creations are called Toy-Cons and are conceived to interact with specific software. They are sturdy enough to receive the console and Joy-Cons. Here is an example :

[…] you can make a functioning 13-key piano that brings your musical arrangements to life once the Nintendo Switch console and right Joy-Con controller are inserted. As you play, the IR Motion Camera in the right Joy-Con detects which keys are pressed and plays each note through the console’s built-in speakers.

Different type of bundles available

Multiple kits will be available at launch. First, a $69.99 US Variety Kit includes material to build 2 RC cars, a fishing rod, a house, a motorbike and a piano. A $79.99 US Robot Kit consists of having what is necessary to build a robot suit. There will also be customization kits available at $9.99 US, which will include 2 stencil sheets, 2 sticker sheets and 2 decorative tape rolls.

The video announces that Nintendo Labo is launching April 20th in North America and April 27th in Europe.

Combining video games and plastic arts, is brilliant. I’m sure kids will really dig it. The interactivity present in this kind of DIY will please them for sure. it is something that really intrigues me. I want to experience this with my five daughters at home.

What do you think? Is it a good idea? Are young kids going to dig this line of product? Let us know in the comments.