Topic: Nintendo Announces Labo VR Kit: Releasing April 12

[Shaymin]

ALL HAIL THE VIRTUAL *checks* CARDBIRD.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/49910/nintendo-announces-labo-vr-kit-releasing-april-12

Nintendo is taking another swing at Labo, and returning to VR at the same time.

The fourth Labo kit will be a kit themed around virtual reality, and launch on April 12. The kits will support the Switch being used for the screens, and the Joy-Con will be used for tracking. Six kits will be available: VR Goggles, Blaster, Camera, Bird, Elephant, and Wind Pedal.

There will be two sets sold in stores on April 12: the VR Kit, which includes all six kits for US$79.99/C$99.99, and the Starter Kit which includes the software, VR Goggles, and Blaster for $39.99/$49.99. Purchasers of the starter pack can buy the other kits for $19.99/$24.99 (Elephant+Camera, Wind Pedal+Toy Bird) exclusively from the Nintendo online store.

Nintendo World Report indicated on February 15 that a VR experiment was in the works at Nintendo, with many similarities to the Labo kit. Some of the kits were also spotted in the initial reveal trailer for Labo from January 2018, including the bird and camera.

[ShyGuy]

I'm interested!

[TOPHATANT123]

Curious what the game's are going to be like.

[broodwars]

Really? They're marrying one stupid gimmick to another? 

[UncleBob]

Should make it easier for you to skip, right?

[lolmonade]

Nintendo was never going to be a source for "serious" VR.  This is exactly where they belong in the space. 

Look forward to the outcry about how there's no virtual boy ports to strap to your head, like those games were any less playable without having it right up to your face.

[broodwars]

Should make it easier for you to skip, right?

Yep. I just wish that companies would stop trying to make headset VR a "thing." Until we have holodeck-scale technology without bulky headgear, it's not really a viable thing.

[Ian Sane]

Should make it easier for you to skip, right?

Yep. I just wish that companies would stop trying to make headset VR a "thing." Until we have holodeck-scale technology without bulky headgear, it's not really a viable thing.

We probably won't get there though without the steps in between.

It doesn't seem like Labo really caught on so I don't get why Nintendo is still trying to make it a thing.  There is a section of Nintendo that is still obsessed with the Wii-era novelties and gimmicks when that path sunk Nintendo big time once the fad was over and their comeback with the Switch is totally unrelated to such ideas.  Stuff like Labo and 1-2-Switch are footnotes.  The Switch matters because series like Zelda and Mario finally burst out with some big ambitious games after years of intentionally restricting themselves.  The Switch matters because the concept of a home console that is also a portable is a fantastic concept that the market was begging for.  Cardboard and motion control have no substance (and at this point VR doesn't really either) so fads are their ceiling.  The consoles that sell big and build an audience and keep them have a variety of games with substance and depth.  The Switch has that so it's a big success.

If Nintendo keeps doing the things that make the Switch a success then their systems will continue to be successful.  If they go back into Wii-era gimmicks they'll turn off the actual videogame audience and be back to Wii U levels of irrelevance.  They can release this and it probably won't really catch on and as long as they don't make stuff like this their focus the Switch will be fine.

[pokepal148]

They seem to want to make Labo into a moderate success but it doesn't seem to be a major focus for them at all.

[Mop it up]

This seems less interesting than the previous kits.

I wonder if the reason they're separating this one into a starter kit and expansions is to see what happens if they sell a kit with a lower price than the last ones. Though, things could get messy since that's 4 products they're trying to put on store shelves.

[Shaymin]

This seems less interesting than the previous kits.

I wonder if the reason they're separating this one into a starter kit and expansions is to see what happens if they sell a kit with a lower price than the last ones. Though, things could get messy since that's 4 products they're trying to put on store shelves.

I added this to the original story, but the $20 expansion kits are only sold from Nintendo's online store. So it's just the full and starter in general availability.

[Ian Sane]

This seems less interesting than the previous kits.

I wonder if the reason they're separating this one into a starter kit and expansions is to see what happens if they sell a kit with a lower price than the last ones. Though, things could get messy since that's 4 products they're trying to put on store shelves.

I added this to the original story, but the $20 expansion kits are only sold from Nintendo's online store. So it's just the full and starter in general availability.

...and those expansion kits are going to be collector's items someday.  Stuff that's sold online through Nintendo always ends up rare.  My Gamecube component cables are one of the most valuable retro items I own entirely because of that (and I just bought them to, you know, hook up my Cube to my new TV back in 2003 or so).  Pokémon Box is the same idea.

[Mop it up]

Ah, that makes a little more sense. I wonder if the starter kit mentions that the expansions are only online.