nintendo unveils DIY cardboard robots to enhance gaming on switch

nintendo unveils its latest release and its’ a little less techy than you might expect. nintendo labo is a series of DIY accessories for the switch console made entirely out of cardboard allowing people to build a range of different creations and play with them on games that interact with the components.

images courtesy of nintendo

the cardboard accessories – dubbed toy-cons – work just like actual gaming controllers. all you have to do is pop out the pieces, create, insert the switch’s joy-con controllers and play.

nintendo‘s goal with labo is to get kids involved in playing games on the switch in a more hands-on way. they characterise the platform with three key words: make, play and discover. a trailer hosted on the new release’s dedicated page shows users transforming the device into a piano, a fishing rod, a motorbike and even a robot suit.

as well as building your own accessories, the platform helps teach you a little about their inner-workings. once completing something, you’re able to view a 3D model of the toy-con explaining how the inserted joy-con is able to turn a cardboard model into a gaming device.

a variety kit and a robot kit is coming out on april 20, 2018, with pricing starting at $69.99. nintendo is also selling labo customization kits for $10 that will ship at the same time, providing stencils, stickers and tape that allow you to customize the creations. 

first look at nintendo labo
video by nintendo